Latest Articles about Energy
The China-Pakistan Reactor Deal and Asia’s Nuclear Energy Race
In late April, China announced the sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan. This deal is clearly against the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the spirit if not the letter of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) [1]. Nevertheless, the United States has not... MORE
BP’s Russian Joint Venture Files for Bankruptcy at Kovykta
BP is headed for the exit from the giant Kovykta gas development project in Siberia. The decision seems intended to cut the losses inflicted on BP by Russian authorities and their business allies over the years in this project. Located in eastern Siberia’s Irkutsk oblast,... MORE
Turkmen Gas Export Diversification: An Overview
The start of construction on the East-West Turkmen pipeline (Turkmenistan Starts Construction of East-West Pipeline, EDM June 8) marks the third phase of Turkmenistan’s gas export diversification strategy. In just three years, Turkmenistan has ended Moscow’s 50-year old monopsony, working instead with China and Iran... MORE
Turkmenistan Starts Construction of East-West Pipeline
Construction work began on May 31 on Turkmenistan’s East-West pipeline. The line is projected to run from the main gas fields in the country’s east, to the Turkmen Caspian shore in the west. When completed, the East-West pipeline would deliver gas volumes for export to... MORE
Brazil and Argentina: China’s Growing Foothold in Latin America
On May 21, Norwegian oil company Statoil announced that it agreed to sell 40 percent stake ($3 billion) of the Peregrino field located in the Campos basin offshore of Brazil to Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group. The Peregrino announcement closely follows the disclosure in March that... MORE
Yanukovych Rejects Putin’s Gazprom-Naftohaz Ukrainy Merger Proposal
Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych, for the seventh time this year, in Kyiv on May 17-18, but contrary to general expectations no new gas agreements were reached. Ukraine rejected Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin’s, April 30 offer to merge... MORE
Russia Will Construct Turkey’s First Nuclear Power Plant
During Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev’s, visit to Ankara last week, Turkey and Russia enhanced their multi-dimensional partnership by signing 17 agreements. Major deals concerned energy cooperation, which has been the driving force in bilateral relations. In what might be considered as the most substantial achievement... MORE
Shifting Sands in the Gulf: The Iran Calculus in China-Saudi Arabia Relations
The fourth joint meeting on economy and trade convened by China and Saudi Arabia in January 2010 in the Saudi capital of Riyadh came and went without much fanfare. Yet the meeting between China, the world’s second largest and fastest growing oil consumer, and Saudi... MORE
Ukraine Wary of Putin’s Proposal to Merge National Gas Companies
The Ukrainian government and opposition alike have reacted coolly to Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin’s, April 30 proposal to merge the two countries’ national gas companies, Naftohaz Ukrainy and Gazprom. The government apparently does not see many benefits from such a move and hesitates, afraid... MORE
Putin Makes Energy and Arms Deals with Potential Latin American Allies: Part One
There can be no doubting Moscow’s intention to play a larger role in Latin America. President, Dmitry Medvedev, has confirmed this and Russian diplomacy in the past three months has featured trips by Latin American leaders to Moscow as well as by Medvedev and Prime... MORE