Energy Blast – March 30, 2010

State-run nuclear holding Rosatom believes that its agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency to create a 120-ton uranium fuel bank will help widen demand for nuclear power.  Uranium prices may start to rise at the end of the year as demand from utilities improve, explorer Uranium Energy Corp. has said.  Gazprom may pay record dividends of $3.4 billion.  The company has just opened a Singapore office which will orient its attention towards LNG and carbon markets.  PetroChina Co. intends to spend at least $60 billion in the next ten years on overseas acquisitions in a bid to control oil and gas fields.  Norway has apparently played down the chances of an imminent agreement with Russia on the dispute over the Barents sea.  A Canada-led Arctic Council meeting was overshadowed by criticism from Hillary Clinton that Sweden, Finland and Iceland, were not invited.  The US and Vietnam have signed an agreement which may see the US build plants in the South-East Asian country.