Energy Blast – April 10, 2012

The head of Iran’s atomic energy agency has told the press that Tehran will not resuscitate a failed nuclear fuel swap deal with Western powers, but it may consider reducing production of higher-grade enriched uranium once it has secured the material it needs. Due to a failure by Russian oil companies to submit new requests for deliveries to Czech customers, it has been reported that state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft only has sufficient volume in the Druzhba pipeline to supply the Czech Republic for three more days.   Mistrust of Russia, a desire for political and energy autonomy – the Washington Post examines why the advent of shale gas in Poland has cheered its population and politicians.  Having recently expressed an interest in constructing nuclear power plants in Britain, Rosatom has defended its safety record.  According to the BBC, India and Qatar have signed a pact to increase cooperation in the field of oil and gas exploration as India seeks more sources of power to quench its increasing thirst for energy.  TNK-BP is apparently considering selling its only refinery in Ukraine.