Energy Blast – June 10, 2008

The head of TNK-BP, Robert Dudley, will be questioned today as a witness in a tax probe case, following questions yesterday over the hiring and remuneration of foreign employees, for which the company was ordered to hand over “masses of documents”. “Investors will be watching” for any plans to buy into TNK-BP at Gazprom’s strategy presentation today. The company says it is willing to supply an additional 2.5 billion cubic meters of the fuel to Poland after the country’s contract with RosUkrEnergo expires at the end of 2009. It is thought that Gazprom may try to buy a US company as a way into the North American market, and the company has confirmed its interest in buying assets in France. Speaking at the Economic Forum over the weekend, the CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp said “There is no confidence in the rule of law in Russia today”. Following its purchase of production units and refineries from former oil company Yukos, Rosneft’s first-quarter profit surged sevenfold.