Energy Blast – Aug 26, 2010

Rosatom is eagerly anticipating a ‘nuclear renaissance‘.  Ukraine’s Prime Minister points out that ‘extremely unfavorable agreements with Russia‘ for gas supplies are putting serious strain on the economy, and is seeking to review current conditions under which prices rise every quarter.  Shell is seeking the expertise of Sakhalin-2 construction leader Hilary Mercer for a proposed $20 billion venture in Australia.  Hunger strikers at the Gemma Oil company in Astrakhan say they have not been paid in over a year.  Novatek, the Russian gas producer, says it will wait on developing the Yamal peninsula until it has received a go-ahead signal from the state.  The second quarter of 2010 saw India’s oil demand overtake that of Japan, with China’s demand, at three times the size of India’s, remaining the highest in Asia.  A new draft nuclear liability law approved by the Indian parliament could cause trouble for nuclear deals with the US, according to Nuclear Power Corp and ‘leading industry bodies‘.  BP says that it will not follow through with plans to try and win a drilling bid in the Arctic as it would be ‘political madness‘.