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So Far, Russia's Oil and Gas Allow It to Act Badly

Of all the lessons one might draw from Russia’s bullying of Ukraine, this may be the most coldblooded of all: If you want to behave badly, it helps to have a lot of oil and gas. Much will be forgiven, or at least ignored. European nations, international energy companies and China are all, in their own ways, driving home the point. The Europeans are afraid of pushing economic sanctions against Moscow too far lest they be cut off from the Russian natural gas that provides a significant share of their energy. The international energy companies are busy reassuring the Russians that they will keep working to help develop Russian energy supplies, the Ukraine crisis notwithstanding. And the Chinese—well, they may be on the verge of completing a deal that has been under negotiation for 10 years to begin buying a lot of Russian natural gas. Russian officials said last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

So Far, Russia’s Oil and Gas Allow It to Act Badly

Of all the lessons one might draw from Russia’s bullying of Ukraine, this may be the most coldblooded of all: If you want to behave badly, it helps to have a lot of oil and gas. Much will be forgiven, or at least ignored. European nations, international energy companies and China are all, in their own ways, driving home the point. The Europeans are afraid of pushing economic sanctions against Moscow too far lest they be cut off from the Russian natural gas that provides a significant share of their energy. The international energy companies are busy reassuring the Russians that they will keep working to help develop Russian energy supplies, the Ukraine crisis notwithstanding. And the Chinese—well, they may be on the verge of completing a deal that has been under negotiation for 10 years to begin buying a lot of Russian natural gas. Russian officials said last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kremlin welcomes EU's 'positive tune' on energy

A spokesman for the Kremlin said Monday the Russian government was optimistic about energy security in Eastern Europe following talks with the European Union.Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned European leaders the region’s energy security was at risk because of Ukraine’s mounting natural gas debt. European consumers get about a quarter of their gas needs met by Russian energy company Gazprom, though most of that gas runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had reassurances from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that both sides could work together for the sake of European energy security. "We have noted the positive tune of the European Commission about dialogue," the spokesman said. Putin said he’d hold off on making any decisions based on Ukraine’s gas debt for now. Gazprom in 2009 cut gas supplies briefly through Ukraine in response […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kremlin welcomes EU’s ‘positive tune’ on energy

A spokesman for the Kremlin said Monday the Russian government was optimistic about energy security in Eastern Europe following talks with the European Union.Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned European leaders the region’s energy security was at risk because of Ukraine’s mounting natural gas debt. European consumers get about a quarter of their gas needs met by Russian energy company Gazprom, though most of that gas runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had reassurances from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that both sides could work together for the sake of European energy security. "We have noted the positive tune of the European Commission about dialogue," the spokesman said. Putin said he’d hold off on making any decisions based on Ukraine’s gas debt for now. Gazprom in 2009 cut gas supplies briefly through Ukraine in response […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Turkey to get more gas from Russia

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Monday his country agreed to increase gas capacity through the Blue Stream pipeline by more than 18 percent.Yildiz said Monday from Ankara his country would take on more natural gas from Russia at what he said was an affordable price. "We agreed with Russia on increasing capacity of the Blue Stream gas pipeline from 565 billion to 670 billion cubic feet per year," he said Russian energy company Gazprom counts Turkey as its second-largest energy importer. The 754-mile Blue Stream stretches across the Black Sea. Turkey serves as a major regional energy hub, hosting portions of the second-longest oil pipeline in the world, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. Turkey will also host a rival European gas network from Azerbaijan, which the European Union sees as a way to break Russia’s grip on the regional energy sector. The Kremlin says European energy security is at risk because of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shell Plans Russian Expansion With Putin Support for Sakhalin-2

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) plans to expand the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East , the country’s only producer of liquefied natural gas, as it seeks to boost its presence in the Asian energy market. Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden won a promise of support for the plan from President Vladimir Putin today at a meeting at the Russian leader’s residence near Moscow. Putin is pushing to add oil and gas routes for Russia to supply Asia, to tap growing demand and ease the country’s reliance on Europe. Shell and state-run OAO Gazprom, its partner in the Sakhalin venture, are looking at expanding capacity by 50 percent before a new wave of supply reaches markets. “We are very keen to grow our position in the Russian Federation,” van Beurden said to Putin today. “We look forward with anticipation and confidence on a very […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU Warns Russia Not to Risk Its Role as Gas Supplier

The European Union warned Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday not to risk his country’s role as a secure supplier of gas to the bloc and said Brussels was willing to start three-way talks quickly with Moscow and Kiev to resolve any concerns. In a letter to Mr. Putin, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the EU’s executive, said the "contractual reliability of the Russian Federation as a supplier of gas is at stake in this matter." The EU meets around a quarter of its gas needs from Russian imports, around half of which reach the bloc through Ukraine. In 2009, some EU consumers were left without energy after pipelines between Russia and Ukraine were shut. Last week, Mr. Putin sent a letter to 18 European leaders, in which he said Russia could force Ukraine to make prepayments for its gas supplies because of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mega oil field discovered in southern Russia

A new oil field with roughly 300 million tons of oil and 90 billion cubic meters of gas has been discovered in the Astrakhan region of Russia. “The field’s reserves are unprecedented, this discovery confirms the high potential of the Astrakhan region in terms of these major discoveries,” Sergey Donskoy, Russia’s Natural Resources Minister said on Wednesday. The field, called “Velikoe” (The Great) was discovered by the AFB Oil and Gas Company, which will likely seek out larger partners to develop it. Two likely candidates are Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned and largest producer, and Lukoil, the country’s second biggest producer. "According to experts, given the lack of large land deposits, project participation will likely come from all major industry players. The most probable partners are Rosneft and Lukoil, which already have projects in neighboring regions,” Uralsib Capital analyst Aleksey Kokin told mail.ru. Kokin estimates the deposits could be worth nearly […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple