Energy Blast – Feb 10, 2011

Following a 50% price hike over a three-month period, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has launched probes into jet fuel and diesel prices set by Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Lukoil.  The companies are suspected of price fixing on the domestic market.  The investigation was apparently sparked by Vladimir Putin, who also lashed out at Gazprom for ‘inefficiency‘ and failing to share its natural gas pipelines with independent producers.  TNK-BP has just lowered its diesel retail price.  An agreement between Russia and Norway, which defines their Arctic border, will ‘lift the moratorium‘ on investigations into oil and gas deposits in the region.  China-based hackers, currently under investigation by the FBI, have carried out a string of attacks on major oil and gas companies, capturing financial information ‘highly valuable to competitors in the industry, suggesting an economic motive‘.  PetroChina will pay $5.4 billion for a stake in a gas field owned by Calgary-based company EnCana.