Latest Articles about Energy
Nord Stream: a Project Behind the Times (Commentary)
The Nord Stream project is based on assumptions dating back to 2005 and earlier, but failing to reflect more recent developments, including those that are now revolutionizing the gas trade.When Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schroeder (Russian President and German Chancellor respectively at the time) concluded... MORE
Nord Stream Project Faces Hard Slog Against the Tide
Nord Stream, the gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed from Russia to Germany, has cleared the final legal requirement, obtaining the construction permit from the state administration agency of the Southern Finland region (Financial Times Deutschland, February 15).The governments of Finland, Denmark, and Sweden... MORE
Turkmenistan’s Naval Plans: Promoting its Maritime and Energy Interests
Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has approved a program to create naval forces under the jurisdiction of the defense ministry, and will be deployed at the Turkmenbashi Caspian Sea port by 2015. The approval was announced at a meeting of the National Security Committee on January... MORE
Ukrainian President-Elect Yanukovych Resurrects Gas Consortium Scheme
Throughout the electoral campaign, Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yanukovych promised to seek a special deal with Russia on natural gas: Russia to supply Ukraine with gas at discounted prices and, in return, be allowed to take over an ownership share in Ukraine’s gas transit system, which... MORE
Shtokman Project’s Postponement Marks Turning Point in Russia-West Energy Trade
(Part Two)Shtokman is the most ambitious energy project in Russia since the end of the Soviet era. A joint venture of Gazprom with Total of France and Norway’s Statoil, the Shtokman project is entirely export-oriented toward Europe and the United States. The February 5 decision... MORE
Shtokman Gas Project Postponed: Implications for Russia, Europe and the US
On February 5, the Gazprom-led Shtokman Development Company and operator of the supergiant gas project in the Russian Arctic, announced that investment decisions and field development are being postponed. The investment decision for field work is being rescheduled, from the end of 2010 to late... MORE
Can Nabucco be Married Off to Gazprom?
Unexpectedly, the US State Department’s Special Envoy for Eurasian energy affairs, Richard Morningstar, seems to embrace the idea of allowing Gazprom to become a user of the Nabucco pipeline. Speaking in Washington at the Center for American Progress (a think-tank associated with left-leaning constituencies in... MORE
Nabucco Gas Project Retains Political and Business Momentum
On February 3, the Bulgarian parliament ratified the inter-governmental agreement on the Nabucco gas transport project, as signed in July 2009 by the five stakeholder countries (the German company RWE being the sixth stakeholder) (BTA, February 3). The Bulgarian ratification vote was unanimous, implicitly confirming... MORE
The Strategic Implications of the Turkmenistan-China Pipeline Project
On December 14, 2009, China and Turkmenistan formally opened the longest natural gas pipeline, which runs from Turkmenistan through Central Asia to China. This pipeline, financed by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)—China's largest oil and gas producer and supplier—is the first gas pipeline connecting China... MORE
Au Pays des Lumieres: Gazprom’s Partner Eutelsat Disconnects Georgian TV Channel
On February 1, the Paris-based Eutelsat, Europe’s number one satellite television operator, disconnected Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Caucasus TV Channel from its satellite, after a one-week successful transmission test. Eutelsat also declared that it was backing out of its own contract offer to the Georgian... MORE