File Under Foregone Conclusion

Are energy corporations capable of Freudian slips? It certainly seems so, after Enel published an advertisement in the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta trumpeting their decision to join together with Eni to take part in the “Gazprom” auctions – in reference to Act III of the destruction of Yukos.

Imagine if you will, a flustered Italian PR rep explaining away this one: “Gazprom?! Oops!!! Of course we mean Yukos, which will have a range of assets auctioned off in late March and early April. We don’t mean to presume that this auction will be rigged to deliver Yukos assets directly to Gazprom – why that would be highly illegal and immoral!!! Certainly we would never endorse such theft and the human rights violations that have accompanied it! We would never dare expose our shareholders to this level of risk!!!“

From Reuters:

Enel Paper Ad Confuses Gazprom with Yukos

Italian energy firm Enel slipped up in an advertisement published on Tuesday that said it would bid for the assets of Gazprom, instead of bankrupt oil firm Yukos.

The glitch, which comes as President Vladimir Putin starts his trip to Italy on Tuesday, was made in a full-page advertisement in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, trumpeting Enel’s plans to invest up to 4 billion euros ($5.27 billion) in Russia.

“Together with Italian oil group Eni and our Moscow partner ESN, Enel will also take part in auctions for the right to buy some of the companies of Gazprom, such as Arcticgas and Urengoil, which control large methane deposits,” Enel said in the advertisement.