Energy Blast – Dec 17, 2010

Croatian national oil and gas company INA has decided to replace Gazprom with Eni as its natural gas supplier after its current contract ends.  Reuters has an in-depth report on the $25 billion East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, designed to allow Russia to exploit the lucrative Asian market.  The FT looks at Russia’s hunt for uranium in Africa.  Gazprom’s Nord Stream has signed letters of commitment with 24 banks in an attempt to raise $3.3 billion to expand the Baltic pipeline.  Rosneft apparently has grand expansion plans, aiming to become a global producer ‘on all continents’, in the words of its CEO Eduard Khudainatov.  Friendly relations were heavily emphasized on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to New Delhi, but this article suggests that fierce competition for oil markets rumbles beneath the surface.  The Telegraph reports on how the news that the US government plans to sue BP for the Gulf of Mexico spill has affected the company’s shares.  It seems that the British major also had a narrow escape in Azerbaijan, according to the leaked US Embassy cables.