Energy Blast – Oct 5, 2011

The heads of Poland’s state gas company PGNiG are in Moscow to negotiate what they hope will be up to a ten% reduction in gas prices from Russian energy giant Gazprom.  Echoing a threat by Ukraine, should talks fail to reap the desired conclusion, Poland is apparently willing to take the matter to international arbitration.   The state, which has the biggest expected shale gas deposits in Europe, is hoping that the European parliament will not take measures to stymy the exploitation of this resource (through controversial fracking).  In the meantime the French government has abrogated three permits for shale gas exploration, due to ecological concerns over extraction methods.  British company Heritage Oil PLC has apparently acquired a controlling interest in a Libyan company licensed to provide oil field services including offshore and land-based drilling.  The FT examines whether we can speak of a ‘new era of oil’ post-Gadaffi.