Energy Blast – Dec 14, 2010

The Moscow Times reports that Lukoil will join innovation hub Skolkovo, as will state nuclear firm Rosatom, which plans to work on nuclear technology and nuclear medicine in Russia’s answer to Silicon Valley.  Could TNK-BP be tempted as well, wonders ITAR-TASS?  At a meeting with North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Pak Ui-chun, Sergei Lavrov chided his counterpart on Pyongyang’s uranium enrichment efforts.  Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo has apparently reported that North Korea may have three or four more uranium enrichment plants than those already recognized.  According to Bloomberg, Qatar can today celebrate its official status as the world’s largest LNG exporter.  Basketball-investing billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has announced a new project, Russia’s first gas-electric hybrid car, in an apparent attempt to dispel Russia’s reputation for poor automobile manufacturing.  The Economist reports on how an oil deal has re-soldered, at least temporarily, uneasy relations between Russia and Belarus.  Chernobyl: tourist destination.