Energy Blast – October 12, 2009

Russia and China have asserted a desire to increase cooperation in the energy industry, at the fifth round of Russian-Chinese energy talks in Beijing, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and China’s deputy premier Wang Qishan.  When Vladimir Putin visits Beijing this week, he is apparently likely to seal a deal for transit of Russian gas to China which would make the energy-hungry power Gazprom’s biggest customer.  According to the Moscow Times, the deal is ‘fairly general‘ and does not mention loans.  Gazprom has not as of yet agreed on the price of natural gas, says Ria-Novosti.  Factbox on Russia-China energy relations here.  Gazprom is apparently on the verge of opening a Brazilian office that will manage its expanding Latin American operations.  ITAR-TASS reports that Iraq is ready to commence talks with Lukoil regarding possible cooperation.  Radioactive waste from power stations owned by French company EDF is apparently being dumped in the open air in a town in Siberia, to which access is forbidden.  Prospects look gloomy for reducing Russia’s carbon emissions: Vladimir Chuprov, head of the Russian energy unit at Greenpeace, has told Reuters: ‘there is a carbon, or methane bomb embedded in our earth’.