Energy Blast, Feb. 11, 2008
President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Gazprom on its 15th anniversary, saying that “the history of the company is a history of great, hard and coordinated work of a team of the like-minded”. “There is a depressing sense of déjà vu about the latest energy dispute between Russia and Ukraine.” Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said the previous Ukrainian government was responsible for incurring debts for the supply of Russian gas, and has called for them to be restructured. Gazprom is “ready to stop deliveries from 10 a.m. Moscow time on Feb. 12” following Sergei Ivanov’s statement, “We are no longer doing charity worth billions of dollars.” Ivanov says that Russia’s plan to curb gas deliveries to Ukraine because of a dispute over payment won’t hurt European consumers. Dmitry Medvedev has asked the CEO of Transneft and Russia’s Minister for Industry and Energy to ensure the completion of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, putting it into the operation at the end of 2008. Transneft had initially said it would be unable to complete the pipeline until 2009.
Gazprom‘s scrapping of a $3.5-billion liquefied natural gas plant in the Baltic Sea will likely delay – but won’t outright kill – a regasification plant in Quebec planned by two of Canada’s biggest energy companies, Petro-Canada and TransCanada Corp.Russia’s second biggest gas firm, Novatek, said its board has approved the purchase of up to, but not more than, 3% of its ordinary outstanding shares as part of a share buyback programme.World EnergyE.ON is considering making a counterbid for Iberdrola, the Spanish owner of ScottishPower. The German group, which owns UK energy supplier Powergen, is taking a “keen interest in a mooted joint €50.5 billion bid for Iberdrola by its French rival EDF”.President Hugo Chavez has threatened to stop sending oil to the United States unless it halted an “economic war” that he said included an Exxon Mobil lawsuit freezing $12-36 billion in Venezuelan assets.Polish gas monopoly PGNiG signed a preliminary deal with an Iranian state-owned oil company to cooperate on managing already-discovered gas reserves. The Polish company also may extend its contract with RosUkrEnergo, supplier of one-fifth of Poland’s natural gas.
