Energy Blast – Aug 25, 2011

North Korea may declare a moratorium on nuclear missile development; its leader, Kim Jong-Il, has given his backing to a trans-Korean gas pipeline, indicating ‘a radical change in the world’s dealings with Pyongyang.’  South Korea and Uzbekistan have signed gas development deals worth $4.1 billion.  Iran’s ambassador to Moscow has lambasted Gazprom Neft for delaying on efforts to develop Iranian oil reserves.  Elering, the grid operator for Estonia, has described increasing E.U. dependence on Russian power as ‘worrying’, citing E.On’s recent use of Russian imports to cover a Baltic shortfall. ‘In the future this could lead us into an electricity dependency similar to that we see today with gas.’  Gazprom may be granted permission to impose a 15% price increase next year – ‘more than any regulated company would receive’.  The CEO of Eni says that his company’s strong position in Libya isn’t about politics: ‘it is about the special relation between the countries, which has lasted for decades’.