MOSCOW, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will increase oil production this year by 0.3 percent to 525 million tons and boost its natural gas output by 4.8 percent to 700 billion cubic meters, the country’s deputy energy minister said Wednesday. “We could increase gas production even more, but there are issues with storage, transportation and consumption,” said Kirill Molodtsov. […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Charles Recknagel – February 11, 2014) The Russian natural-gas giant Gazprom has long had its way in Europe, dominating the continent’s energy market and, according to critics, flaunting its rules with impunity. But that all might be about to change. A long-standing showdown between Gazprom and the European Union over alleged price fixing and monopoly practices […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – February 5, 2014) Gazprom is spending money on useless pipelines that makes the $51 billion spent on the Sochi Olympics look modest, an opposition party investigation said. The state-owned gas giant is lavishing billions of dollars on transportation infrastructure, including the South Stream pipeline to Europe, that will never be used even […]
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MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti) – Crisis-hit Ukraine currently owes Russia about $3.3 billion in unpaid natural gas bills, Russia’s state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom said Monday in an apparent reminder that the long-running conflict over the fuel has not been solved by a recent price cut agreement. Ukraine is unlikely to pay on time for gas imported in January, Vedomosti […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – February 3, 2014) State-controlled oil giant Rosneft had a very good year. That is what company chief executive Igor Sechin told Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday at a meeting to review Russia’s largest oil producer, whose capitalization grew by 18 percent to $73 billion at the end of 2013. Sechin’s optimism […]
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(Interfax – February 3, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed concern over statements by European Union representatives that inter-governmental agreements between Russia and South Stream project participants should be brought in line with the requirements of the Third Energy Package. “We are bewildered and concerned by Brussels’ statements about the need to review the intergovernmental agreements between Russia […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) – Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) is not just undervalued, it is totally undervalued, the Russian gas giant’s deputy CEO, Alexander Medvedev, said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel. “Perhaps now is the very best time to buy back shares,” which could later be sold on the market, Medvedev said. This is Gazprom’s first official […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – January 17, 2014) As a major exporter of fossil fuels, Russia may seem an unlikely candidate for global environmental champion, but macro-economic experts believe the country can play a vital role in reducing carbon emissions and the impact of climate change. This uncommon view of the country’s potential to support ecological improvement […]
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BRUSSELS. Jan 14 (Interfax) – It is necessary to carry out eliminations and exceptions in the European Union law for the South Stream transborder pipeline, Russia’s envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said. Moscow expects EU Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger to elaborate on the way in which Brussels will hold talks on the South Stream on behalf of the […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO, January 9 (RIA Novosti) Russia will nearly triple its production of natural uranium in the next two years, the head of the country’s state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom said Thursday. Sergei Kiriyenko said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that Russia had in recent years been producing some 3,000-3,200 metric tons of uranium annually. “In 2015, we will […]
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KIEV, January 9 (RIA Novosti) Ukraine has ceased buying gas from Europe and will instead purchase the fuel solely from Russia, as it offers the lowest prices, Ukraine’s energy minister said Thursday. Russian gas is “the most profitable [supply option] for today,” said Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavitsky. Kiev has been buying gas from Poland and […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – January 6, 2014) In December, after a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych, Moscow announced that it would give Kiev a $15 billion bailout and slash the gas price by one-third as a reward for Yanukovych’s rejection of an association agreement with the European Union. Donald N. Jensen, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman – January 2, 2014) As Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin argue over human rights in Russia and the fate of fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, the countries’ biggest oil companies are preparing to drill for giant discoveries together in the Arctic Ocean. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM:US) and OAO Rosneft (ROSN) are set to […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 31 (Interfax) – Russia is looking to study oil and gas prospects as it prepares to extend its Arctic shelf borders. Subsurface resources agency Rosnedra has already announced – on the state procurement portal – a tender for the selection of an outfit to evaluate the prospects of oil and gas fields on Russia’s continental shelf beyond the […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) – The only good Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) production news this year was on the export front, which is the profit margin generator. Against a backdrop of weakening competitors, Russian gas deliveries increased. The record holder Gazprom Export, instead of reaping rewards, got tax claims and equivalent to its annual revenue and exile to St. Petersburg. BETTER […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) – Growing production of shale oil and gas poses a significant risk to Russia’s economic security, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council has claimed. “Having increased its production of shale gas, the United States has reduced its imports of liquefied natural gas. So its exporters have switched over to Europe. In addition, in 2012 the United […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 25 (Interfax) – Russia’s subsurface resource base allows the country to maintain oil production of 500 million tonnes a year for the next ten, given the current conditions, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi said during a meeting devoted to the ‘effectiveness of studying and developing raw hydrocarbons on Russia’s continental shelf.’ However, the minister said, if efforts are […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – December 26, 2013) As the last Greenpeace activist detained in the Arctic 30 protest received notification Thursday that he was cleared of all charges under a recently passed amnesty, several other international activists who’d already been granted amnesty received permission to leave Russia. The news marks the end of a saga that […]
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KYIV. Dec 18 (Interfax) – A Ukrainian opposition leader is concerned that President Viktor Yanukovych might have agreed with Russia on a $15-billion loan secured by Ukrainian strategic facilities. “According to some well-informed sources, a loan agreement for $15 billion secured by Ukrainian property has been signed,” opposition UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko said at a demonstration on Tuesday. He […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – December 18, 2013) Construction of a major pipeline kicked off Tuesday in an effort that will likely bring more oil from Siberia to China. Governor Lev Kuznetsov made a show at the starting ceremony in his Krasnoyarsk region, braving the rubber-bullet injury he suffered during a robbery of his southern French villa […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – Russia’s Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) and Naftogaz Ukraine, in the presence of the two countries’ presidents on Tuesday, signed addenda to January 19, 2009 contracts on the purchase-sale, delivery and transshipment of natural gas for 2009-2019. Discount President Vladimir Putin said after the signing that the documents would enable Gazprom to supply gas to Ukraine at […]
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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) Russia’s deal to provide Ukraine with cheaper gas may mean billions of dollars in lost profits, an investment analyst told a business newspaper in remarks published Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would slash the price of its gas to Ukraine by one-third on Tuesday, down to $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters from […]
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(Moscow News – moscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – December 11, 2013) With thousands still protesting in Kiev’s streets after Ukraine suspended plans to sign a trade association agreement with the European Union, beleaguered Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is still mulling whom to side with for closer economic cooperation – Russia or Europe. Here are six things Russian President Vladimir Putin […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – December 12, 2013) Russia intends to deploy a military force on its northern coast to engage in the fight for control over promising oil and gas reserves in the Arctic Ocean. Russia will send a military force to be set up in the Artic next year in order to […]
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(Oilprice.com – Daniel J. Graeber – December 7, 2013) President of Russian energy company Rosneft, Igor Sechin, said he was eager to unlock the shale oil potential in the Samara region of western Russia. With forecasts warning the U.S. shale phenomenon won’t last, Russia could be moving its pawns into play. Sechin met Friday with Helge Lund, chief executive officer […]
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MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti) Russian law enforcement officials are considering bringing new charges against jailed former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other figures over alleged money laundering, Vedomosti daily reported on Monday. Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev told Russian media last week that “several cases against former Yukos CEO Khodorkovsky and other people are being probed,” fuelling speculation […]
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[Rushing for the Arctic’s Riches – New York Times – Michael T. Klare – December 8, 2013 – http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/rushing-for-the-arctics-riches.html] Michael Klare and the New York Times address Russia’s temptation to exploit Arctic energy resources: While many existing oil and gas reserves in other parts of the world are facing steep decline, the Arctic is thought to possess vast untapped reservoirs. […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik & Henry Meyer – December 2, 2013) Russia will offer cheaper natural gas to Ukraine if the government in Kiev opts to join a Moscow-led economic bloc after halting free-trade talks with the European Union, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Ukraine’s economic difficulties will be best resolved if it chooses integration […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) – Russia’s modest economic growth despite high oil prices means that the economy is barely growing at all, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said. “Given such high prices for energy resources, it must be acknowledged that we are not in fact growing,” Shuvalov said at a business conference on Wednesday. That circumstance makes the development […]
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MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) Russian naval forces are set to make the Arctic a priority region, boosting combat training and scouting lesser-known areas of the icy territory in 2014, a navy spokesman said Monday. The Northern Fleet will conduct sailing and diving expeditions in the Arctic and develop a series of ice-class patrol ships to protect the country’s […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) – The amount of energy Russia consumes per unit of GDP has declined since 2000, but not due to the introduction of new technologies or the efforts of local authorities and companies, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “In the past 13 years the trend in energy use per unit of GDP has been favorable, but not […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 25, 2013) Russian homes are using up to two times more energy than those in climatically similar regions of Europe and the United States, and the national housing authority wants to tackle the problem by working with the Energy Ministry to build energy-efficient housing. Many residential buildings in Russia have been constructed according to […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) – The actions of the Greenpeace environmentalists who tried to climb an oil platform in the Arctic posed a threat to the lives of the people who are working there, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “When they climb the platform and create an emergency situation, there could be not just one mistake of an operator but […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – November 22, 2013) Ukraine shocked European officials on November 21 when Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych announced he was freezing negotiations with the EU and called for a three-way summit that includes Russia. Tensions have been rising ahead of an EU summit due to be held in Vilnius on November 28-19 at which Kyiv is […]
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MOSCOW, November 21 (RIA Novosti) The Greenpeace activists detained in Russia over a protest at an Arctic oil rig should be granted clemency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday as 10 of them were released and many others granted bail. When asked to comment on their case at a meeting with Russian writers, publishers, critics and booksellers, Putin said […]
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(Oilprice.com – Charles Kennedy – November 19, 2013) More than 400 shale oil and gas wells will be drilled outside of the US in 2014, most of them in China and Russia, while Europe largely sits on the sidelines of the so-called revolution, according to energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie Ltd. The geological conditionsnot to mention the public supportfor a […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – November 19, 2013) Russia is showing “political will” to end a two-month-long dispute over the prosecution of Greenpeace activists after they began to be set free on bail, President Vladimir Putin’s human rights adviser said. “It’s a good sign,” Mikhail Fedotov said in a phone interview today from Moscow. “I hope the same […]
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MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti) Russia and Ukraine have reached a compromise deal allowing Kiev to alter its payment schedule for Russian natural gas imports, Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said Monday. The new agreement will allow Kiev to pay on time for energy deliveries, honoring its commitments to both Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom and European consumers, Stavytsky […]
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MOSCOW, November 15 (RIA Novosti) Ukrainian national fuel company Naftogaz has resumed natural gas supplies from Russia, the chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom said Friday. “Naftogaz has stopped pumping gas out of its underground storage facilities and resumed purchases of Russian gas in accordance with the current contract,” Alexei Miller told reporters. Ukraine had halted Russian gas […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – November 13, 2013) Ukraine is finally trying to break its addiction to Russian gas and Cadogan Petroleum is one of those companies well placed to make that happen. A medium-sized independent oil and gas producer, Cadogan was responsible in 2011 for bringing Italian energy giant Eni into Ukraine to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andrew McChesney – November 13, 2013) The government is considering delaying the privatization of oil giant Rosneft until 2016 or later as it seeks to maximize the price it can secure. Rosneft is scheduled to be privatized in 2015, and a postponement could put a dent in projected government spending. “We will have to discuss […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) – The Russian president’s Human Rights Council has asked Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin to consider the possible release of the Arctic Sunrise crewmembers who were detained for staging a protest off Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya oil rig in the Pechora Sea from custody. “The Russian president’s Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights is […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – November 5, 2013) The visit by Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to China once again highlighted the strategic importance that Moscow attaches to Asia. Donald N. Jensen, Resident Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, notes that the prospects for […]
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MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) Ukraine is far from paying off hundreds of millions of dollars in debt to Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom despite several payments, a company spokesman said Tuesday. “We have received several small installments for gas supplies in August, but it’s too early to speak about complete payment of the debt,” spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told […]
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KYIV. Nov 2 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian government and the national oil and gas provider Naftogaz have basically fulfilled President Viktor Yanukovych’s instruction to significantly reduce the amount of natural gas purchases under a contract that Ukraine concluded with Russia during Yulia Tymoshenko’s premiership in 2009, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Boiko said. “Naftogaz and the government have basically fulfilled the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Karnaukh, special to RBTH – November 1, 2013) Many countries would like to tap into the Arctic’s vast hydrocarbon resources, but Russia is the only nation so far to have risked hefty investments in the region. Experts wonder whether Moscow will be successful in selling Arctic oil at $200 or more per […]
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(Interfax – Gorki, October 29, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said that the authorities should ensure 100-per-cent collection of payments for gas, stressing that the time of “gas communism” was over. “We must ensure conditions for 100-per-cent collection of gas payments. I think everyone should realize that there will be no such all-encompassing forgiveness of debt, no ‘gas […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – October 29, 2013) State pollster VTsIOM released survey results Monday regarding last month’s Greenpeace protest in the Arctic that indicate more than a third of Russians believe the protest was a foreign plot and more than two-thirds disagree with the group’s message of needing to protect the environment from oil drilling. Armed […]
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MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) Russia has nothing to fear from the fast-growing China, but could benefit from this cooperation, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in a televised interview Saturday. In an interview with Vesti on Saturday on Russia 1 TV channel, Medvedev said Russia should cooperate with Beijing in high-technology areas, adding that China, the world’s second largest […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 28, 2013) Russian nationalists and others have regularly criticized Vladimir Putin for building an economy and hence a state that relies on the export of raw materials rather than the development of industry and investment in human capital. But now two of them have stepped up this attack and argued that […]
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