After a series of headline-grabbing statements about the possibility of “switching” European consumers over to American gas, the US media hastened to announce the launch of Obama’s oil and gas offensive against Russia. In reality the EU is not currently prepared, neither technically nor in terms of price, to buy its energy resources from the US. It would take at least ten years to adapt even the technically advanced German energy system to work with American gas supply. In a crisis, when it is particularly urgent to see a quick return on an investment, such projects are unrealistic.
Russian Sanctions and the Negative Effect on Global Energy Security
100 Billion Cubic Meters of Gas via Blue Stream to Turkey
Yesterday at 11:00 am Moscow time the Blue Stream gas pipeline supplied its 100th billion cubic meter of Russian natural gas to Turkey. In 2013 gas supplies via Blue Stream had stood at 13.7 billion cubic meters of gas accounting for over a half of the total gas volume (26.7 billion cubic meters) exported by Gazprom to Turkey in 2013.
Russian Natural Gas export Opens Eastern Horizons
Real alternative to EU exports is born during recent talks in Moscow. Representatives of Chinese National Petroleum Company and Russia’s oil & gas giants Gazprom and Novatek have inked the agreement to sell abundant Siberian resources to the fast-growing Eastern market. The Chinese are investing billions to Russia’s fuel energy complex diversification program. Positive Fitch report on the historic deal indicates that both parties are planning to reach synergies and profit from cooperation.
Arctic’s Geopolitical Importance
The following interview, exclusively published by Route Magazine, covers some very important and interesting aspects of Arctic affairs. Alexandre Latsa, French expert in geopolitics, author of “Putin’s New Russia” and RIA Novosti News Agency contributor, analyzes the business prospects of the Northern Sea Route and assesses the possibility of Russia’s 2013 Arctic claim approval by the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Russia Draws up Business Plan to Revive the Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) gradually becomes an important transport corridor: latest navigation season set a new record in the number of vessels. The Russian energy giant Gazprom successfully completed world’s first LNG supply via the route. What are the economic reasons behind this ambitious project?
Russian Oil Production to Peak Soon
According to Fitch’s Ratings Russian oil production will probably peak in the next few years as the gains from new oil fields are offset by falling output from brownfield sites. The ratings agency said Russia posted another post-Soviet oil production record in 2012, but added that significant new exploration, in particular on the Russian continental shelf, would be required over many years to increase output further.