Energy Blast – April 14, 2011

The suspense continues, as yesterday’s deadline on the embattled BP-Rosneft tie-up was extended to May 16.  Bob Dudley and BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg ‘deserve a rough ride from their shareholders,‘ says David Prosser.  It is thought that BP’s shareholder meeting today will see protests from fisherman in the Gulf and members of indigenous communities who oppose tar sands extraction in Canada, as well as institutional investors complaining about excess executive pay.  If PGNiG’s Skarv field project goes ahead later this year, it will require the help of the world’s largest floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, and will almost double the company’s oil production.  A dispute between Libyan refiner Tamoil and Shell has been resolved, allowing supply to nine petrol stations in the Netherlands to be resumed.  Booming thermal coal prices in China are raising traders’ hopes that import demand will increase.