Energy Blast – July 11, 2008

More on Gazprom’s interest in Libyan gas. One analyst says the company is “cornering all the resources”, and another report says the move will “thwart US efforts to limit Moscow’s use of oil and gas as political weapons.” Gazprom has registered a 28% stake in power producer TGK-1, which it acquired last year. Serbia’s government supports the sale of 51% of state-controlled Naftna Industrija Srbije to Gazprom, but thinks the price is too low. Rosatom has halted construction of Russia’s first dry storage facility for nuclear waste. French energy group Total has withdrawn from the giant Iranian South Pars gas field – part of the US campaign to pressurize Iran into abandoning its uranium enrichment program. Iran has downplayed the loss. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will chair a meeting today on lowering the oil industry’s tax burden.