Energy Blast – July 4, 2008

Gazprom sees the price of Russian gas units reaching $500 in Europe by the end of the year. Dmitry Medvedev’s bid to win gas contracts in the Caspian could “tighten the Kremlin’s stranglehold over Europe’s energy supplies”. Gazprom has announced that Azerbaijan had agreed to discuss selling gas to Russia. Could ExxonMobil’s Sakhalin project run into the same difficulties that Shell and BP’s Russia projects have? The head of Repsol, Spain’s biggest energy company, has urged Europe to consider energy as an integral part of its foreign policy. Germany’s RWE faces new demands from Russian partner Sintez Group as the two companies seek to complete the purchase of Russian utility OAO TGK-2. Gas supplied to the Chinese border via Russia’s Altai pipeline will cost $10 to $15 more than the gas supplied to Europe. Energy machinery producer Power Machines will build a hydrostation in northern Iraq in a deal estimated to be worth $16-18 million. “In a bizarre event that exemplifies the chaotic nature of the dispute between TNK-BP’s British and Russian shareholders, the Federal Migration Service invited a small group of reporters to witness the work-permit issuance.”