Energy Blast – Dec 9, 2010

A new industry move for Gazprom Neft – it is planning to team up with the Kyrgyz government to supply fuel to its US military air base, a move welcomed on grounds that it will increase transparency.  Did Shell know ahead of time that Gazprom was planning an entry into the Nigerian market? A newly WikiLeaked cable suggests so.  Gazprom could spend as much as $9.7 billion on its Bovanenkovo gas field in the Yamal Peninsula, production at which is anticipated to amount to 8% of the company’s total output by 2013.  Two further fields in the region are likely to go to Gazprom and Novatek – the only two companies involved in the region at present – following the signing of a decree by Vladimir Putin.  Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko has announced that the government may begin offering oil and gas deposits under production-sharing agreements, which would allow producers to recoup costs before the government takes any profits and would be a sharp turn from previous policy on this matter.  Two Bolivian natural gas fields are to receive $1.3 billion of investment from a EU-Argentine consortium, which will go towards boosting output.  The failure to extend investment grants for US alternative energy projects could cause tens of thousands of job losses, says this report.