Energy Blast – Feb 23, 2012

The IAEA’s latest mission to Iran has failed to reap the desired results, after inspectors were denied access to the Parchin military base during two days of meetings.  According to Ria-Novosti, Russia has accused neighbor Ukraine of illegally siphoning off up to 40 million cubic meters of Russian natural gas for Europe.  Monopoly Gazprom has warned that after the implementation of all the company’s new pipeline projects, Ukraine’s role as a transit nation for Russian gas will be reduced to nil.  Russia is at the forefront of a group of nations mulling legislation to counter a European Union law that forces airlines to pay for carbon emissions.  US oil group Exxon Mobil has downplayed the possibility of European shale gas revolutionizing the energy market.  Russia’s second-biggest oil producer Lukoil has won an auction for a block in the northern Nenets region with a bid of $61.4 million.