Energy Blast – June 25, 2008

The director for energy at UK Trade and Investment spoke about the potentially promising nature of energy cooperation with Russia, but avoided mentioning TNK-BP. Mikhail Fridman says TNK-BP’s Russian co-owners will not sell out for at least two years and will put more pressure on BP to boost performance. Yulia Latynina says that the venture’s AAR shareholders “are getting the last laugh”. Dmitry Medvedev has commented on the TNK-BP row, saying, “I can only call illegal attempts to use the state to resolve internal corporate disputes. Neither the Russian partners nor the British partners should resort to such policies.” Meanwhile AAR have again threatened legal action. Gazprom will consider inviting South Korean and Japanese partners to process gas in Russia’s Far East.