Energy Blast – Nov 4, 2011

Russian gas behemoth Gazprom has opened a regional office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as it looks to capitalize on the country’s rapidly growing energy industry.  The company is also looking beyond the Indian subcontinent, with hopes to develop the first gas field in Sri Lanka.  EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard has told Reuters that Russia recognizes the necessity to establish concrete steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at climate talks in South Africa next month.  Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov informed an energy forum that exports to Europe were a fundamental aspect of his country’s foreign policy and reiterated his support for the Western-backed trans-Caspian pipeline which will bypass Russia.  The Economist offers three reasons why Japan should nationalize Tokyo Electric Power if the Fukushima clean-up operation is be effective and lasting.  BP has reportedly written to its main partner in TNK-BP asking for guarantees that the ‘breakdown in corporate governance’ at the main operating unit of its Russian joint venture, witnessed earlier this year, will not be repeated.