Energy Blast – Dec 21, 2010

‘[O]ne of the promising areas of bilateral relations’, says First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov of nuclear cooperation between India and Russia, as the countries sign an agreement to increase capacity at the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam.  India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Co. has agreed to cooperate in hydrocarbon development with Russia’s AFK Sistema, a move which could provide India with access to Russia’s colossal Trebs and Titov energy fields.  As Latvia-Russia relations warm, Latvian gas company Latvijas Gaze can look forward to a 15% reduction on the gas prices it paid this year in a new contract with Gazprom.  Novatek has said that Gazprombank acquired a 9.4% stake in the fuel producer from Gazprom.  ‘[T]he project is looking increasingly like a lemon‘: the US embassy cables on the Belene nuclear power plant.  The New York Times reports on how in order to avoid a fee, two Pentagon officials told the Russian authorities that fuel purchases they were making were for civilian use when, in fact, they were destined for the Manas air base.