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Gazprom’s Demands Shouldn’t Scare Europe – MoneyBeat – WSJ

By Alexis Flynn Here’s your morning jolt of news, insight and analysis on the global energy business. Send us tips, suggestions and complaints: [email protected] Click here to receive this morning email newsletter GAZPROM SPAT REVIVES BAD MEMORIES Hopes that competitive natural gas markets—thanks in large part to the U.S. shale boom—had finally put paid to Gazprom’s ability to squeeze its Western neighbors may be premature. Like the villain in a slasher film, returning from the dead for one last bout of terror, the state-owned gas giant looks to be reprising its tactics from 2006 and 2009, when a payment dispute led Russia to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine. Reviving memories of past “gas wars,” Gazprom complained yesterday that Ukraine still owed it hundreds of millions of dollars that needed to be paid immediately, the Journal’s James Marson reports from Moscow . Although Gazprom hasn’t threatened to halt deliveries, […]

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Russia and shale can solve Europe’s energy problem

The sooner the region realises its energy policy is a mess, the sooner it can grow, says Paolo Scaroni The aim of European energy policy should be to combine economic growth with environmental sustainability. However, we have ended up with energy costs that hamper growth – yet greenhouse gas emissions have not fallen despite the decline in energy consumption. The problem is that we have, so far, failed to grasp the implications of the US shale revolution for Europe. Thanks to the rapid increase in efficient non-conventional gas production, US companies pay about $3.50 per million British thermal units (mBtu) for their natural gas. That is about a third of what Europeans pay. Turning to electricity, not only are European consumers hit by relatively high gas feedstock prices, but they also have to pay an extra charge to cover the more than €30bn of incentives to invest in renewables […]

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Russia demands Ukraine payment, raising fears of new gas war

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom demanded Ukraine pay an overdue gas bill urgently on Tuesday, raising fears of a new "gas war" and increasing pressure on Kiev as it tries to build ties with Europe. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described the payment problems as critical, ahead of Kiev’s signing next month of agreements with the European Union which would mark a historic shift away from former imperial master Moscow. Using language that harked back to earlier spats in which Moscow cut off gas to Ukraine, hitting onward deliveries to Europe, Medvedev told Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ) CEO Alexei Miller Kiev had not taken the payments seriously enough in recent talks. "The (problems) exist and they are absolutely critical," he said at a government meeting. Miller said Ukraine had been given until October 1 to pay for natural gas deliveries in August, but no payment had yet […]

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How Will Russia Increase Crude-Oil Exports to China Given Flat Production?

By Eric Yep Russia is planning to more than triple crude-oil exports to China over the next decade, but it doesn’t look set to increase production proportionally. How will it manage this? The two countries have signed agreements that would increase the amount of oil flowing from Russia to China by around 700,000 barrels a day from 300,000 barrels a day currently, prompting oil watchers to ask where the additional supply will come from. Russia may be the world’s biggest oil and gas producer for now, but the U.S. is overtaking it , according to the International Energy Agency. And while Russia produced more oil last year, the U.S. will likely surpass it this year or next, while Saudi Arabia is still the top producer. Most of the oil fields in Russia’s biggest production center, Western Siberia, which accounts for around two-thirds of its output, are more than three […]

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Dmitry Medvedev: Russia sees China as long-term natural gas partner

BEIJING, Oct. 23 (UPI) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in Beijing major investments are in the works for natural gas supplies in energy-hungry China. Medvedev said Russia is on the cusp of reaching multibillion-dollar natural gas supply deals with China, which, with its expanding economy, is fast becoming the world’s leading energy consumer. Officials with Russian natural gas company Gazprom met this week with their Chinese counterparts to discuss potential agreements in the energy sector. “These agreements that we are on the way to reaching, in particular concerning gas, will soon become [official] documents,” Medvedev was quoted by Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying during a state visit to Beijing Tuesday. Russian energy company Novatek said Tuesday it reached a deal to supply at least 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas to China National Petroleum Corp. under the terms of a 15-year contract. “We […]

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Russia drops piracy charges on Greenpeace activists | Al Jazeera America

Russia dropped piracy charges Wednesday against 30 people involved in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling. They are now charged with lesser offences, cutting their maximum possible jail sentences to seven years from 15. Greenpeace has said the arrests and charges are intended to frighten off campaigners protesting against drilling in the Arctic, a region Putin describes as crucial to Russia’s economic future and its security. The charges against activists, who protested at a Gazprom oil platform off Russia’s northern coast last month, have been changed from piracy to hooliganism, the federal Investigative Committee said in a statement. Greenpeace said the new charges were still “wildly disproportionate,” and promised to contest them. All 30 people who were aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise during the Sept. 18 protest, in which activists tried to scale the Prirazlomnaya platform , are being held in detention in the northern Murmansk region […]

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Russia drops piracy charges on Greenpeace activists | Al Jazeera America

Russia dropped piracy charges Wednesday against 30 people involved in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling. They are now charged with lesser offences, cutting their maximum possible jail sentences to seven years from 15. Greenpeace has said the arrests and charges are intended to frighten off campaigners protesting against drilling in the Arctic, a region Putin describes as crucial to Russia’s economic future and its security. The charges against activists, who protested at a Gazprom oil platform off Russia’s northern coast last month, have been changed from piracy to hooliganism, the federal Investigative Committee said in a statement. Greenpeace said the new charges were still “wildly disproportionate,” and promised to contest them. All 30 people who were aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise during the Sept. 18 protest, in which activists tried to scale the Prirazlomnaya platform , are being held in detention in the northern Murmansk region […]

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Russia and China Agree on Oil and Gas-Supply Deals

By Lukas I. Alpert MOSCOW–Two of Russia’s top energy producers announced Tuesday agreements with China to deliver oil and gas, as the countries move to cement stronger ties. Under the terms of the deal, Rosneft (ROSN.RS) the world’s largest listed crude oil producer will supply Sinopec Group–China’s largest oil refiner–with 10 million metric tons of oil a year for 10 years, Rosneft President Igor Sechin said following a meeting of top energy and political officials in Beijing. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev later told reporters that the Rosneft-Sinopec contract is valued at around $85 billion, Russian news agencies reported. Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer, OAO Novatek (NVTK.RS), said it had agreed to deliver 3 million tons a year of liquefied natural gas from its Yamal LNG project to China National Petroleum Corp. for 15 years. The price will be indexed to the Japanese Crude Cocktail, a commonly used […]

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Russia Lets Down Guard on China

MOSCOW—Russia and China’s largest energy companies on Friday announced a “breakthrough” deal paving the way for joint development of massive energy reserves in eastern Siberia, in a sign that Moscow is overcoming its fear of Chinese encroachment on Russia’s Far East. Their preliminary agreement illustrates how Moscow is increasingly looking to Asia for customers for its abundant energy reserves, and for funding to develop them. Russia’s needs tie in with expected long-term demand growth in oil and gas-deficient China and elsewhere in East and South Asia, and slowing energy consumption in many industrialized nations. Russian state oil giant OAO Rosneft ROSN.RS -1.63% Rosneft Russia: RTS $ 8.67 -0.14 -1.63% Jan. 21, 2013 6:27 pm Volume : 65,000 P/E Ratio 6.95 Market Cap $86.88 Billion Dividend Yield 2.96% Rev. per Employee N/A 10/18/13 Russia, China in Siberia Energ… More quote details and news » ROSN.RS in Your Value Your Change […]

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Russia sees global advantage in oil

DAEGU, South Korea, Oct. 17 (UPI) — With U.S. oil exports restricted and the Middle East and North Africa in turmoil, it’s Russia that can ensure energy security, Rosneft said from South Korea. Igor Sechin , the chief executive officer at state-owned oil company Rosneft, said Russia is in a unique position to meet the world’s energy demands. He said U.S. steps to restrict oil exports in the wake of a 1970s oil embargo by Arab producers, along with security and infrastructure challenges in the Middle East and North Africa, leaves Russia with an advantage. “We will make a considerable contribution to energy security,” he told delegates Thursday at the World Energy Congress in Daegu, South Korea. U.S. oil and gas production gains mean the country is using more of its own resources. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Asian economies like China are expected to need more of […]

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