Latest Articles about Energy
Slovakia: Potential Gateway for Reverse Gas Flows from Europe to Ukraine (Part One)
To reduce its dependence on Gazprom’s supply monopoly, Ukraine has recently initiated the procurement of natural gas from European gas-trading companies. RWE (Rheinisch-Westfaelisches Elektrizitaetswerk, Germany’s second-largest energy conglomerate) has become the first major European company to deliver gas to Ukraine (see EDM, April 1).The European... MORE
Quarter of Polled in Tajikistan See Uzbekistan as a Threat
It used to be said in the region that Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are one nation that speaks different languages. However, over the past several years, animosity between the two has been growing.To an outsider, the grievances of either government directed against the other sound reasonable.... MORE
Gas Supply Diversification Prospects Uncertain in Central and Southeastern Europe
The demise of the Nabucco-West gas pipeline project leaves Romania and Hungary dependent on Russian gas imports, and scrambling for diversification solutions that variously look sub-optimal or doubtful. Conversely, the go-ahead to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project inspires some hopes for trickle-down supplies of natural... MORE
TAP Project Consortium Restructured in Line with Market Priorities
The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project consortium is being thoroughly reconfigured, reflecting the producers’ and shippers’ options for marketing Azerbaijani natural gas in Europe.On July 30, Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR), BP (formerly British Petroleum), and Total of France—gas producers at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan—entered the... MORE
Gazprom Resists Application of EU Law on Opal Pipeline in Germany
Russia’s Ministry of Energy and Gazprom want the European Commission to exempt the biggest pipelines in Germany, OPAL and NEL, from the European Union’s energy market legislation. OPAL and NEL are Gazprom’s joint ventures with Wintershall in Germany. The EU’s Third Legislative Package requires vertically... MORE
Romanian Gas Pipeline Might Free Moldova from Gazprom’s Monopoly
Visiting the Republic of Moldova on July 17, Romanian President Traian Basescu announced the imminent start of the construction of a natural gas pipeline to connect Romania with Moldova. The work is planned to start on August 27 (Moldpres, July 17, 18). Its modest size notwithstanding, this... MORE
TAP Gas Consortium Looks at Markets from Bulgaria to Britain
Gas marketing options of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project consortium may look either flexible or vague at this point. Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) seems the only reassuring exception in this regard among the Shah Deniz gas producers. SOCAR had indicated all along that gas... MORE
SOCAR and Other Shah Deniz Producers Reconfiguring Pipeline Consortiums
The gas producers’ consortium at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan has selected the Greece-Italy route, known as the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, for transportation of that field’s production to European markets. The selection of TAP has eliminated the Nabucco-West project, ending a four-year contest between the... MORE
Ukraine’s Gas Storage System: A Unique Asset in Europe
Addressing Gazprom’s annual general meeting of shareholders, CEO Alexei Miller warned that Gazprom would “never again, under any circumstances” use Ukraine’s gas storage system in the process of delivering Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine (Kommersant-Ukraina, July 4; Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 10; see EDM, July... MORE
Ukraine Diversifies Gas Suppliers, Slashes Imports from Gazprom
Ukraine has recently initiated procurement of natural gas from European suppliers. These volumes are small but growing, correspondingly eroding Gazprom’s market share in Ukraine.The German Rheinisch-Westfaelisches Elektrizitaetswerk (RWE) is providing the volumes through its subsidiary, RWE Supply & Trading. Some of these gas volumes are... MORE