Energy Blast, March 13, 2008

Gazprom and Ukraine have agreed to remove all intermediaries in gas trade. “There is no need for them now after we agreed to supply Ukraine’s industrial consumers directly with some volumes and given the upcoming rise in the Central Asian gas price,” said a Gazprom spokesman. Russian explorer Timan Oil & Gas was “very pleased” that a Moscow court had dismissed an appeal from Rosnedra, a government agency, to deny it a license. Speaking at a timber industry conference, Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov announced that the government will back the construction of 30 new plants to produce biofuels.

WORLD ENERGYRevenue in biofuels, wind power, solar photovoltaics and fuel cells grew 40% in 2007 to $77.3 billion worldwide, and markets for clean energy are expanding rapidly.The International Energy Agency will convene a meeting of oil industry experts in Paris on Monday on the current surge in crude prices, which have “leapt from record to record” in the last 10 days.A European Court of Justice judge advising on the “Erika” oil spill case involving French oil group Total said that companies which do not intentionally cause damage could be excluded from liability.