Energy Blast – May 24, 2011

It’s been suggested that BP’s failure to complete a tie-up with Rosneft could have a negative impact on its credit, and could ‘raise questions about the sustainability of TNK-BP‘.  Igor Sechin says that Rosneft ‘fought like a lion‘ for its interests during the negotiations, and rejected Dmitry Medvedev’s public criticism of him over the deal: ‘The government, including myself, still controls Rosneft.‘  Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko suggests that the deal will not be resurrected, and that Rosneft will be ‘picky‘ about choosing a new prospective partner.  Shmatko is apparently hoping to persuade the EU to consider the South Stream pipeline as an extension of Russia’s international pipelines, thereby allowing it to prevent third party access.  According to a new report, solar power in India could cost the same as conventional electricity by the end of the decade.