Russian oil production has dropped this year for the first time in a decade, adding to the already jittery oil market, with some industry insiders saying it has already “peaked”. Russia, the world’s biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, averaged 10 million barrels per day from January through March, the International Energy Agency said in … Read More
Russian oil
Sakhalin: “Britain ignored risk of whale extinction in rush for oil”
Britain agreed to bankroll controversial drilling for oil and gas off Russia’s Sakhalin island, despite a warning from its own officials of the “potentially devastating effects” on a critically endangered species of whale. The decision to flout their own experts’ advice is revealed in deeply embarrassing documents the British Government fought for three years to … Read More
Russia Plans to Double Spending on Exploration
The Russian government will double state spending on oil exploration to 2020 to $23 billion with the focus on oil in eastern Siberia to ensure a “good” replenishment of reserves, the country’s Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said yesterday. Trutnev told reporters that the Cabinet had approved his proposal to increase state spending on mineral … Read More
Rosneft Set to Increase Oil Output by Half
Russian state oil company Rosneft will increase output by a half by 2020 due to new assets and fields, according to its head as it aims to become the world’s top listed oil producer. Sergei Bogdanchikov said Rosneft will produce 130 million tonnes of crude (2.6 million barrels per day) by 2010 and 170 million … Read More
Shell Wins Russian Heavy Oil Deal
The Russian mid-sized oil firm Tatneft has given Shell’s operations in Russia a boost by choosing it as its partner in developing vast deposits of heavy bitumen oil in the Volga region in the republic of Tatarstan. Although no specific details of the agreement have been made public the firm has said it will choose … Read More
Sakhalin: Covert British Backing “Endangers Whales’
Two stories on the impact of oil on marine mammals with environmental and Indigenous groups fighting back against the oil industry. Two environmental groups have accused the British Government of covertly sponsoring Royal Dutch Shell’s Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project off east Russia, which they say is causing major environmental damage and threatening a rare … Read More
BP Seeks More JVs in Russia
BP has reported a 13 per cent fall in second-quarter profits, on the back of a decline in oil production and operational problems at the company’s US refineries. Like all the oil majors BP is struggling to find new reserves. So, despite its recent troubles in Russia, BP has signaled that it is seeking more … Read More
Shell Joins Alliance with Rosneft
Shell has struck a groundbreaking partnership in Russia seven months after it was forced to surrender control of the country’s vast $21 billion Sakhalin-2 field. Shell said it had entered into a broad alliance with Rosneft, the Kremlin-backed oil giant, to cooperate on oil and gas projects in the country. The agreement mirrors a separate … Read More
Shell Invests in Russia as the Russians Invest in the UK
Oil giant Shell plans to increase investments in Russia despite losing control of the giant Sakhalin-2 project earlier this year. “If we see other opportunities for setting up offshore joint ventures, then we will look at them without a doubt,” the company’s CEO, Jeroen van der Veer has said.
Putin Turns The Screw on BP
Well all the papers this morning are about the new cold war stand-off between American and Russia over its missile defence system, with Putin retaliating that he might position Russian nuclear weapons towards Europe. Well nuclear missiles are not the only standoff Putin is involved in at the moment. He also cranked up the tension … Read More