Energy Blast – Jan 22nd, 2009

Gas flow through Europe has now been fully restored, with German utilities now receiving complete volumes of gas, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has announced that neither Ukraine nor Russia will seek compensation for losses.  German oil and gas group Wintershall says it will push forward with the Nord Stream gas pipeline plan under the Baltic Sea, drawing a lesson from the recent cuts.  RosUkrEnergo, the intermediary company involved in supplying Russia’s gas to Ukraine says it is still owed about $650 million by Ukraine’s state energy company, and its chairman has implied that the company would no longer work with Ukraine.  Now that the Ukraine-Russia dispute has been solved, attentions are turning to energy issues in Moldova, says this article.  In other news, China’s Sinopec says its 2008 net profits show a drop of more than 50%, and Deutsche Bank is not the first to say that OPEC oil cuts won’t affect prices.