(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman, Elena Mazneva – October 10, 2014) U.S. and European Union moves to pressure Russia by threatening its oil output overlook one detail: a mass of conventional resources across Siberia, according to Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi. Russia will distribute more oil and gas deposits found in traditional areas during the Soviet era, dulling the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Howard Amos – October 9, 2014) Igor Sechin, the most influential figure in Russia’s energy industry, announced last week that a new oil field discovered in the Arctic was to be christened “Pobeda” – the Russian word for victory. Speaking to reporters from a blustery drilling platform, the Kremlin heavyweight, who also heads state-owned oil […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – October 6, 2014) Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has proposed to pay for gas transit through Ukraine using debt owed by Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz. According to experts, this decision is advantageous for Kiev, since it will speed up the renewal of gas supplies to Ukraine. Gazprom […]
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(Interfax – October 6, 2014) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev said on 6 October that the search for a compromise with Ukraine over the gas issue needs to continue, with the understanding that the existing debts should be paid while the terms for Ukraine should be sufficiently acceptable to it. “It is necessary to continue a search for compromises, it […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – October 7, 2014) The price of Brent oil has tumbled to $92.2 a barrel, placing the Russian federal budget in jeopardy. Russian analysts believe that the decrease in oil prices is related to demonstrations in Hong Kong, the strengthening of the dollar, as well as the drastic growth in […]
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MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – The three-party gas protocol of Russia, Ukraine and the European Union is ready and Moscow is currently waiting for Kiev to answer, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Monday. “A draft protocol to be signed by the three sides – Russia, the European Union and Ukraine – has been prepared. Currently, our joint proposal […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jake Rudnitsky – October 2, 2014) Russian oil output rose to near a post-Soviet record last month, a sign the biggest source of revenue for President Vladimir Putin’s government has yet to be eroded by U.S. and European sanctions. The nation increased output 0.7 percent to 10.61 million barrels a day, according to preliminary data from […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov, Ryan Chilcote – September 30, 2014) President Vladimir Putin won’t be swayed by sanctions over Ukraine because he doesn’t allow such pressures to affect his decisions, said Igor Sechin, head of OAO Rosneft (ROSN), Russia’s biggest oil company. “He will never let himself be pressured into making a decision,” Sechin, who’s worked with the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Chris Weafer of Macro-Advisory – September 25, 2014) Chris Weafer is Senior Partner at Macro-Advisory, which offers bespoke Russia-CIS consulting. The main focus of Western sanctions against Russia has been to cause disruption to the banking and oil sectors. The former has directly squeezed the availability of liquidity on the domestic interbank market and […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – September 25, 2014) Consumer demand in Russia, around half of its $2 trillion economy, and the key growth driver over recent years, is stalling over the crisis in Ukraine, according to a World Bank analysis of the economy. Consumption growth will slow to 0.5% in 2015 and 0.6% in 2016, down from around 2% […]
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KHANTY-MANSIISK. Sept 10 (Interfax) – The sanctions imposed by the EU and U.S. against Russia are already affecting the production of tight reserves, Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi said at a briefing in Khanty-Mansiisk. “The sanctions, first due to technology, have not yet impacted [the country’s economy], but are already affecting the production of tight reserves. As a rule, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – September 9, 2014) Novatek, Russia’s largest independent gas producer, has been granted a license to export liquefied natural gas, or LNG, marking the next step on Russia’s gradual liberalization of a market dominated by state-owned giant Gazprom. Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov told the TASS news agency on Saturday that the export […]
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MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev will stop being dependent on Russian gas in five years, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said in an interview to Ukraine’s 1+1 television channel. The “victory” is achieved when Ukraine will not buy Russian gas at all, which could be accomplished in a five-year period, Yatsenyuk said in an interview released on Sunday. […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – September 8, 2014) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/story/gas-war-seen-next-phase-russia-ukraine-conflict] Even if a lasting ceasefire in eastern Ukraine can be secured, the cessation of military hostilities will only mark the beginning of a new fight. The battle between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies is about to restart and will probably come to […]
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MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government is to go ahead with plans to privatize a 19.5 percent stake in oil major Rosneft in 2015, likely in two stages, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Thursday. “The [government] plan is being upheld and preliminary operations have already begun. We are talking about the sale of the entire […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – August 25, 2014) Low price-per-barrel for Urals crude oil is putting pressure on the Russian budget On Aug. 18, Reuters reported that the price for Russia’s benchmark Urals oil fell to $98 a barrel – its lowest level since May 2013. Even as recently as July, Urals crude was […]
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MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Ministry of Finance expects an average oil price of $90-95 per barrel in 2015, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told RIA Novosti on Tuesday. “The price for oil in 2015 will be $90-95 per barrel,” Moiseyev said. The Ministry of Economic Development earlier predicted an average oil price of $100 per barrel over […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Kira Egorova, Anna Kuchma, RBTH – August 19, 2014) On August 14, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law enabling Kiev to introduce sanctions against Russian companies, meaning that if measures are introduced against Gazprom, the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory will be blocked. What threats does the European economy face if […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – August 20, 2014) The price of Urals crude oil, Russia’s key export and the lynchpin of its government finances, fell below $100 this week for the first time in more than a year, after plummeting $15 in under a month. Russia relies on hydrocarbon exports for 50 percent of its budget. Already […]
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(Oilprice.com – Robert Bensh – August 18, 2014) Ukraine’s next crisis will be a devastatingly economic one, as violent conflict destroys critical infrastructure in the east and brings key industry to a halt, furthering weakening the energy sector by crippling coal-based electricity production. The Ukrainian military’s showdown with separatists in the industrial east has forced coal mines to severely cut […]
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MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has alternative routes to deliver oil to Europe if Ukraine decides to stop transit via its territory, but Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic will sustain losses, a spokesman for Russia’s oil transit monopoly Transneft said Friday. Russia delivers about 14 million tons of oil to European consumers via the Druzhba pipeline laid through […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Concorde Capital – July 24, 2014) EU Energy Commissioner GYnther Oettinger opposes sanctions on Russian natural gas and oil but doesn’t rule out sanctions on energy technology and equipment, he told a July 23 press conference in Brussels, as reported by the UNIAN news agency. “I always spoke against including energy supplies of Russian […]
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(Gordon M. Hahn – gordon-hahn@sbcglobal.net – Analyst and Advisory Board Member, Geostrategic Forecasting Corporation, Chicago, Ill, geostrategicforecasting.com; Analyst, Rus Strategic Ltd., Prague, Czech Republic; Senior Researcher, Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, Akribis Group, San Jose, Calif.) Since the Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March in the wake of the revolutionary takeover in Kiev in February, U.S. policy has rested on […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – July 5, 2014) Ukraine’s move Friday toward attempting to sell nearly 50 percent in its gas pipeline system to EU and U.S. investors does not mean that Western buyers will rush to take up the offer, as the system’s value depends on a steady supply of Russian gas, energy analysts told The […]
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(The Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 4, 2014) EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger on Thursday asserted European companies’ right to sell Russian gas back to Ukraine, flying in the face of warnings from Russian energy giant Gazprom as tensions continue to build over energy policy. Energy companies in the EU have an “absolute right to dispose of gas bought from […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Nicholas Watson, Ben Aris, Tim Gosling, Rob Whitford – June 30, 2014) The growing confrontation between Russia and the West ranges across many fronts, none more significant than in an area of rural northwest Bulgaria, where in October workers began welding pipes that will feed a natural gas compressor station near the settlement of […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Frolov, special to RBTH – June 24, 2014) Andrei Frolov is editor in chief of the magazine Eksport Vooruzheny (Arms Exports). Russian expert discusses the importance of nuclear energy in Russia Russia inherited its nuclear energy sector from the Soviet Union and can take pride in the fact that the world’s first […]
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MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s EU-bound gas flows through Ukraine comply with transit contraparameters, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said Monday. “The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine is flowing according to contract parameters with a volume over the last 24 hours of around 205 million cubic meters,” Kupriyanov said. Earlier on Monday, reports appeared in the media that […]
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MOSCOW, June 20 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine needs gas deliveries from Gazprom, while Russia is interested in reliable gas transit to Europe, making bilateral gas cooperation in the interests of both Moscow and Kiev, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Forbes magazine. “In general, the volume of gas that we deliver [to Ukraine] amounted to 25.6 […]
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MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) – Greenpeace has rejected a claim made by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen that Russia funds European environmentalists opposing shale gas production in Europe. “Greenpeace sees this suggestion as absurd because the Organization and many other environmental groups are calling for fracking which used in exploiting shale formations, to be banned across the world,” Greenpeace […]
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(RFE/RL – Claire Bigg – June 17, 2014) Russia has halted gas supplies to Ukraine — a major escalation of a dispute in which Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom is demanding that Kyiv settle its huge gas debt. But in many ways, what many have dubbed the third “gas war” between the two countries is different than previous disputes in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – June 18, 2014) In the wake of Russia’s decision to switch Ukraine to prepayment for gas starting Monday, the European Union is planning a new round of negotiations as the danger of supply disruptions to Europe heightens. European officials say, however, that the bloc is currently far better prepared to cope with […]
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MOSCOW, June 18 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow only intends to resume trilateral gas talks after Ukraine repays its debt for Russian gas supplies, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday. “First of all, we expect payments to be made on the debt for November-December and April-May deliveries. Only after this would we consider having talks, if they are needed,” Novak told […]
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(Interfax – June 18, 2014) Accidents on Ukraine’s gas transportation system will continue because not enough is being spent on maintenance, Gazprom Deputy CEO Vitaly Markelov told journalists, commenting on yesterday’s blast and fire on the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline in Ukraine’s Poltava region. “The gas transportation system, ours and Ukraine’s, was created as a unified gas supply system. We have […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.ru – Teneo Intelligence – June 17, 2014) Following the failure of negotiations on natural gas pricing and debt between Russia and Ukraine last weekend, Russian company Gazprom reduced supply volumes to Ukraine, the main transit country for gas delivered to Gazprom’s EU customers. However, Gazprom continues to deliver contracted amounts to the EU for now, […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – June 16, 2014) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/content/exactly-what-fair-price-ukraine-pay-russian-gas] Russia cut Ukraine off from gas deliveries on June 16 after the emergency talks at the weekend to strike a new price for gas failed. From now on Russia won’t deliver any gas unless Ukraine pays for it in advance. The row has […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – COMMENT: Karine Hirn, Partner and Senior Advisor at East Capital – June 17, 2014) The $400bn Russian gas pipeline deal has been hailed as a game-changer for Russia, but what does it mean for China? Pipelines are the geopolitical equivalent of marriage and China has happily tied itself to Russia for the next 30 […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, June 15, 2014) Moscow believes that there may be a third power behind Ukraine’s intransigent position in its talks with Russia over gas. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian journalists on Sunday [15 June] that the Ukrainian authorities are making use of “impunity because they are being protected by our Western partners, or at least some […]
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[“Russia’s Gazprom reduces gas to Ukraine after deadline passes” – Maria Kiselyova, Denis Pinchuk – June 16, 2014] Reuters reports on Russia’s move to ratchet back gas flows to Ukraine, with potential also to impact Russian gas supplies to the EU: Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom reduced supplies to Ukraine on Monday after Kiev failed to meet a deadline to […]
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GORKI. June 16 (Interfax) – The conditions that were proposed to Kyiv during gas talks were better than the conditions in place under former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) CEO Alexei Miller said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Firstly, the Russian side was ready to guarantee that the discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic […]
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MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) – If Ukraine disrupts Russian gas transit via its territory, the European Commission is ready to negotiate increased deliveries through the Opal pipeline, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Monday. “We have discussed this issue with the European Commission. It is now as follows: if we record problems with transit via the territory of Ukraine, then […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – June 12, 2014) Bloomberg reports that Russia gave Ukraine an extra six days to make payments for natural gas as the countries resumed European Union-brokered talks in Brussels on June 11. The new deadline is 10 a.m. Moscow time June 16, Alexey Miller, chief executive officer of Russian gas […]
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BRUSSELS, June 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will not introduce advance gas payments for Ukraine and review its gas debt downwards if Kiev pays off $2 billion of its gas debt by June 16 and clears arrears in full by June 26, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday. “It was suggested to review the payoff schedule for debts accumulated in […]
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[“Russian gas keeps flowing to Ukraine as deadline passes” – Reuters – June 10, 2014] Reuters reports that Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and the EU have remained stable, despite the passing of a deadline over disputed Ukrainian gas bills. Meanwhile, the European Commission continues to broker related negotiations. Natural gas supplies to Ukraine and the European Union were stable on Tuesday after […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 10, 2014) Bulgaria’s decision to suspend construction of the Russia-led South Stream pipeline project on its territory, undermining Russia’s efforts to diversify its gas transportation infrastructure to Europe away from Ukraine, is an underhanded economic sanction thrust on Russia by the West, a top Russian diplomat and Russian industry analysts said […]
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(Interfax – Archangelsk, June 9, 2014) Other countries benefit from cooperation with the Russian Federation in the energy sector, Russian President Vladimir Putin believes. “Nobody is going to give up energy cooperation (with Russia – Interfax) voluntarily,” Putin said at a meeting with students in Arkhangelsk. Speaking about this, the head of state pointed out in particular that there was […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Elena Mazneva – June 3, 2014) OAO Gazprom (OGZD), Russia’s gas-export monopoly, said U.S. pressure won’t stop it from supplying fuel to Europe and increasing market share in the region. “We understand that the U.S., sitting high on a hill and independent of economic cooperation with us, is pushing Europe to take wild steps,” Gazprom Deputy […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Elena Mazneva, Stephen Bierman, Daryna Krasnolutska – June 2, 2014) Russia gave Ukraine an extra week to pay in advance for gas supplies or risk a cutoff, as the Ukrainian government said its forces killed five pro-Russian rebels in an upsurge in fighting in the eastern city of Luhansk. Russian gas export monopoly OAO Gazprom (OGZD) […]
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MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine has to pay Moscow the remaining part of $2.2 billion gas debt and agree on payment schedule for April-May gas supplies before June 9, press-service of Russia’s Energy Ministry said Monday. “Before this deadline Ukraine has to pay the remaining part of $2.23 billion debt and also agree on payment schedule for the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – COMMENT: Jacob Grapengiesser of East Capital – June 2, 2014) After ten years of haggling, Moscow and Beijing finally signed off on game-changing $400bn gas supply deal, under which Russia will at first supply 38bn cubic metres (cm) of gas to China over 30 years from 2018. Moscow and Beijing are to share the […]
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