Sergei Shatalov has announced that Russia plans to introduce a new profit-based tax on oilfield profits from 2010, in a bid to reduce the tax burden on development and discourage production decline.  RUSIA Petroleum, which owns the license for the Kovykta gas field, has been declared insolvent, prompting TNK-BP to seek to recover its $1 billion investment in the project.  Gazprom Neft is turning its attentions to automobile and industrial lubricants to boost its share of the domestic and Kazakh markets.  BP says that fourth-quarter bonuses for operational employees will be measured by their performance on safety issues. US President Barack Obama hopes that Venezuela will ‘act responsibly‘ in relation to the development of its nuclear energy program.  The winning bidders at Iraq’s gas field auctions ‘will have to brave the risks of operating in violent areas where provincial opposition against the auction is ramping up and convince the Oil Ministry to allow them to export the gas as a way to compensate them for low remuneration fees.‘ The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to give Ukraine a €175 million boost towards upgrading its energy network. Two Chinese mine managers have been arrested for allegedly shooting 11 of their employees at the Collum coal mine in the Zambian capital of Lusaka. A dispute between US company Constellation Energy and EDF is stalling France’s plans to develop its nuclear power industry.