Energy Blast – Feb 3, 2011

Reuters reports that Rosneft Chief Financial Officer Peter O’Brien has flatly rejected the possibility of working with TNK-BP as a way of avoiding the legal battle which has ensued between the British major and its AAR partners over the BP-Rosneft deal, commenting bluntly: ‘They have neither the technology, nor the experience, nor the personnel’.  O’Brien also told reporters that Rosneft could add as much as 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent reserves if it had better access to Russia’s natural-gas system.  More trouble on the horizon for BP; the British giant is facing a US investigation into allegations of gas market manipulation.  Meanwhile Shell’s profits are sky-rocketing; according to the Guardian, the company made mind-boggling profits of nearly £1.6m an hour over the last three months.  The events in the Middle East are having a dizzying effect on analysts and markets, argues this Reuters analysis, which adumbrates some of the possible outcomes of the current situation.  Why might gas exporters face pressure in 2011?  Find out in the Moscow Times.