Energy Blast – May 21, 2010

The head of Rosatom has confirmed that Iran’s first nuclear plant will be ready to being operations in August.  The company is taking on Rio Tinto in terms of exploration in Namibia, with the Russian giant about to invest $1 billion in uranium exploration in the African country.  Reuters reports that Iran could cancel its agreement on a nuclear swap with Turkey and Brazil.    Russia and Qatar are apparently ‘closer’ after gas talks.   Central Europe’s biggest oil company, OMV, has said that it is in talks to sell exploration assets in Russia as it switches its focus to the Caspian region and the Middle East.  Siberian Coal Energy, Russia’s largest producer of coal for power stations, plans to sell a minimum of 10% of its stock to fund expansion.  Following the Raspadskaya blasts, Igor Sechin has asked coal producers to focus on local coal sales.   RusHydro is looking to acquire the government’s 40% stake in hydro-power generator Irkutskenergo.  The Trans Adriatic Pipeline is gaining momentum, as the gas consortium has signed Germany’s Ruhrgas as a partner.    Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuriy Trutnev has maintained that hot new energy source shale gas is no competitor to natural gas in Russia.