Energy Blast – Feb 22, 2011

Unrest in Libya has sent oil prices shooting up to a two-year high, Oil and Gas Eurasia reports.  European countries have apparently begun evacuating staff from oil company headquarters in the restive North African state.  ‘The situation in Libya is grave but it’s what happens in Bahrain that could be more important in terms of the future of the region’s oil giant, Saudi Arabia’, says the Telegraph.  First came the colossal Rosneft deal, now BP has set up another major agreement, a $7.2 billion tie-up with the India’s Reliance Industries to explore for deepwater oil and gas, one of the biggest foreign direct investments in India to date.  Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has described the agreement between BP and Rosneft as a ‘strategic priority’ and warned both companies ‘avoid letting differences get in the way’, says a report from the Wall Street Journal.  Sechin apparently also stated that he would like Rosneft to gain a seat on BP’s board in exchange for giving BP a slot on Rosneft’s.  Russia’s Gazprom has asserted that the European Union must clarify how Europe’s new common energy policy, the Third Energy Package, can be implemented without having a deleterious effect upon Russian interests.