Energy Blast – September 13, 2010

The chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Federation Council of Russia has attempted to quell controversy surrounding Russian investment in the Bushehr nuclear power plant, arguing, ‘if we cooperate with Iran in the field of nuclear energy when we do Bushehr, this is how we try to keep these guys playing by the rules of the IAEA’.  Russian venture TNK-BP is eyeing up BP assets in Russia-favorable markets Vietnam and Venezuela, as the British major shaves off assets post-Deepwater.  The FTSE’s ethical 4GOOD index has apparently ousted BP subsequent to the ecological catastrophe.  Russian oil companies which use dangerous radioactive devices in their operations could lose their foreign workers, depending on the outcome of a case against geophysical company Pomorneftegazgeofizika, Oil and Gas Eurasia reports.  Bloomberg offers a timeline of OPEC on the eve of the organization’s 50th birthday.  Russia may be turning its energy export policy away from a deflated European market towards the oil-hungry East, but could question marks over the tax regime in East Siberia slow its progress in the Orient, is the question the FT asks.