Energy Blast – October 4, 2010

Russia reportedly pumped a post-Soviet record amount of crude last month as Rosneft boosted output at its new Vankor field.  Pundits at the Second Arctic International Economic Forum have disputed claims that the development of the Shtokman project will have a negative environmental impact on the Barents Sea.  The presidents of Ukraine and Poland, Viktor Yanukovych and Bronislaw Komorowski, have told audiences at an energy security summit that they believe the era of gas supply crises is over.  Reuters reports on the extent to which major oil companies are succumbing to US pressure to cease business activities in Iran.  Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apparently expressed frustration with the stalling of the Nabucco pipeline project: ‘we have only heard a lot of talk and [seen] no action. And every day that goes by plays against the project’.  Vladimir Putin may have spoken of peaceful cooperation in the Arctic; Russia is nonetheless apparently increasing its combat potential in the zone.