Energy Blast – September 28, 2009

Gazprom is set to bid for gas and oil fields in Iraq with Turkey’s state-run oil company Turkish Petroleum Corporation.  Rosneft, Lukoil and Gazprom Neft will also participate in bids.  Venezuela’s Science and Technology Minister Jesse Chacon has asserted that it is Russia that is helping the country search for uranium, not Iran.  Iran’s Oil Ministry has apparently said that the country needs $19 billion to finish uncompleted natural gas projects.  Gazprom Neft has filed a request to the anti-trust watchdog to buy 100% of oil company Sibir Energy.  Kazakhstan, which hopes to increase two-fold its oil production over the next ten years, is in talks with Azerbaijan to establish new routes for delivering extra crude volumes to the Black Sea and is even considering a new pipeline.  The Moscow Times reports that Chinese investors are negotiating with Russian coal miners to explore reserves and develop infrastructure in Siberia and the Far East.  Coal-hungry China also wants to participate in developing unexplored reserves on Sakhalin.  The country may have to slow down its building of nuclear power plants to ensure that the plants are safe, an energy planning official has warned.