Russia has reached a new record high in monthly oil production, at more than ten million barrels a day in October, maintaining its position as the world's biggest oil producer.  Rosneft is at the forefront of the increase with production from its new Vankor field in the Arctic.  Vladimir Putin has nodded approval for a Danish initiative on CO2 emissions that could replace the Kyoto Protocol, but with two caveats - that Russian interests be taken note of, ie the country's immense CO2-absorbing forests, and that the resolution be ratified by all the world's biggest economies.  Russia may increase threefold its supplies of gas to Denmark, which could see supplies reach a total of 3 billion cubic meters a year via the Nord Stream pipeline.  The Prime Minister has urged the 'stingy' EU to assist Ukraine in its difficulties ...

The rating agencies are looking into various GCC institutions and may adjust some ratings. Moody’s believes that governments will intervene before a default occurs, but over the long term particular institutions may not be viable and may be merged or taken in “a sort of orderly bailout”.br /br /Talk of a GCC liquidity crisis is probably more to do with investor confidence than traditional fundamentals. The other issue is transparency and the level of disclosure. Rating government-related entities in the region hinges on the assessment of the level of government backing they might receive, which can be tricky.br /br /Currently there are conflicting rumours about the likelihood of mergers between real estate companies, the role of Abu Dhabi and the scale of Dubai’s government debt.