Energy Blast – August 5, 2009

According to Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, during Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to Turkey it is expected that deals on energy projects will be secured.  Russia will sign an agreement with Turkey on building a pipeline to transport Black Sea Oil to the Mediterranean, bypassing the Bosphorus Straits.  ‘The West’s propaganda campaign regarding Nabucco creates a false impression that the EU will improve its energy security by diversifying Europe’s gas suppliers’, suggests Tatyana Mitrova in the Moscow Times, with the pipeline capable of transporting only 10 billion to 20 billion cubic meters of gas a year.  Both Shell and BP are postponing decisions on major projects on the basis that costs may drop.  Russian helicopter maker Vertolyoty Rossii and Israel’s IAI are creating a new unmanned helicopter system for Gazprom to survey the working of gas pipelines.  Russia will not reduce the amount of investment it has placed in Far East and Eastern Siberia oil development programs as a result of the financial crisis.  Lukoil has won European Union approval to buy a 45% stake in a Dutch refining venture from Total SA.