On January 15, British Petroleum (BP) agreed to form a joint venture with Russia’s state-owned Rosneft to develop three of Rosneft’s offshore exploration blocks in northern Russia. The two companies will jointly explore for oil and gas in the Russian Arctic, one of the world’s last remaining unexplored hydrocarbon basins. Rosneft will receive BP shares equivalent to a 5 percent stake, valued at $7.8 billion, while BP will receive a 9.5 percent stake in Rosneft, in addition to the 1.3 percent it already owns. Hailed by First Deputy Prime Minister …
As Bloomberg reports, during 2009 U.S. natural gas output grew 3.7 percent to an estimated 624 billion cubic meters (bcm), while the Russian production dropped by 12 percent to an estimated 582 bcm. So much for Russian plans to become an energy juggernaut. Russia is still a major player in global energy markets and aspires to leverage its resources to become a global energy superpower. It is the largest supplier of natural gas to the European Union and is using this dependence as a foreign policy tool to drive wedges …
In January, amidst a particularly cold winter, Russia’s quasi-governmental gas giant Gazprom turned off the gas taps to Ukraine after the two sides failed to reach agreement in a pay dispute. Downstream users including Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and the Czech Republic were also put in the deep freeze. Gazprom has become synonymous with energy intimidation and Moscow has leveraged energy to specifically target former Soviet states such as Ukraine as it seeks to carve out a sphere of influence in its near abroad. However, the conundrum for Moscow in playing …
Have Russia’s oil and gas replaced Cossack squadrons and tank divisions as the means to intimidate Europe? Will pipeline routes create new dependencies in the 21st century which may force the NATO alliance come apart at the seams? Nord Stream is a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, with spurs to Germany’s neighbors. It will bypass Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states and Poland – the traditional transit countries. Leaders from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) worry that this pipeline will allow Russia to cut off the gas to the …
The ongoing row between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas supplies to Europe appears to be deepening. This comes just days after the European Union announced what was supposed to be a breakthrough agreement to get gas flowing again to at least 15 European countries, leaving millions in the cold. EurActiv.com reports that the ongoing crisis between Moscow and Kiev appears to be a strategy of “delusion, reminiscent of the Cold War.” Along those lines, an official at the Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom went so far as to accuse …
18 countries ranging from large European Union members, including Germany to small ex-Soviet Moldova, have been affected by Russian quasi-governmental gas giant Gazprom’s cut in natural gas supplies to Ukraine. Gazprom has become synonymous with energy intimidation and has specifically targeted former Soviet states such as Ukraine as it seeks to carve out a Russian-dominated sphere of influence in its near abroad. Heritage Senior Policy Analyst Sally McNamara looks at steps Europe must take to prevent future incidents: Although Russia has, until now, tended to be a reliable energy supplier …
Just as Europe is in the midst of a particularly cold winter, Russia’s quasi-governmental gas giant Gazprom has turned off the gas taps to Ukraine, a major transit corridor for Russian gas into Europe. Gas shortages are being reported in several countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and the Czech Republic. Europe gets more than 40 per cent of its gas from Russia, although many European countries such as Poland are 100 percent reliant on Moscow for supplies. This isn’t the first time that Gazprom has engaged in energy-intimidation – it …
