Energy Blast – Nov 19, 2010

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has hinted that the natural gas extraction tax could be increased.  ‘Russia’s list of sustainability challenges, from nuclear waste to governance, is long, so climate change gets lost in the shuffle.‘  The Slovenian president says that there is no conflict of interests between the South Stream and Nabucco gas pipelines.  Gazprom is celebrating its first North African discovery of hydrocarbon reserves, in Algeria’s Berkine Basin.  The Economist looks at the troubled history of Texas-based Dynergy, and suggests that this case study reflects a more generally unpredictable climate of energy politics.