Stephen Fidler at the Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece running today about the annual winter pipeline politics (though the sensible agreement yesterday in Yalta may diminish a lot of fears).  There are some interesting facts and numbers in the piece - for example the estimate that Gazprom's contract prices are sitting around $10 per million BTU, while LNG can be had on the spot market for $4 per million BTU.  In a refreshing change of pace, we see Fidler point more of the blame at the national champions E.ON and ENI if by chance Eastern European households go cold this winter.  From a business perspective, a supply cut-off would really hurt Gazprom and benefit the state-corporate avarice of Western Europe (who have the ability to import from alternative sources).Either way, things are looking bad for everybody ...

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - November 12, 2009 - GE (NYSE: GE) and E.ON Climate Renewables (ECR) North America have signed a seven-year operation and maintenance (OM) agreement

'Today's price of around $70 a barrel is increasingly viewed as a new floor for the [oil] industry.'  Perhaps the reason why Russia is wary of coordinating production limits with OPEC can be explained by the success achieve by Russian oil companies in upping production over a year of reduced output from OPEC producers and higher prices.  The Ministry of Natural Resources is looking for new measures that will bolster the country's crude output, which is already at record highs. The FT says the new Oando-Gazprom alliance is bad news for Brussels.  Lukoil has put in a bid for Iraq's West Qurna-1 oil field, which is preparing to award development rights within two weeks.  Ukraine's Naftogaz has had to restructure its $500 million eurobond and offer higher payout rates after failing to meet its September payout deadline. ...

With so many changes afoot in Germany following the elections, there is surprising little discussion about how all this is going to affect relations with Russia.  There's a pretty good reason for that, as everyone assumes the likely appointment of Guido Westerwelle will pose little to no change from the former SPD-led Russia policy.  Such was the conclusion of this piece on Russia Profile by Graham Stack, who argues that "Russia policy is likely to remain pragmatic and constructive, including disavowing Ukraine and Georgia's bid to join NATO."  Stack's article was interesting in the amount of attention he gives to the lobbying muscle of Germany's energy corporations, such as E.ON.  So while the CDU victory may ...

World stocks hit a 12-day low on Monday, depressed by recent weak U.S. economic data and failing to find support from the G20 summit, while the yen attracted fresh flows to hit an eight-month high against the dollar.

Weaker-than-expected U.S. housing sales and durable goods orders on Friday drove U.S. stocks lower, and world and European stocks followed that trend on Monday.

Leaders of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations pledged on Friday to bring the global economy back into balance but their statement contained few surprises and investors are already looking ahead to U.S. employment data at the end of this week.

Global equities and other higher risk assets have risen sharply in the last six months on growing optimism about the economic outlook, but markets are starting to run out of impetus, analysts say.

“Investors are a little bit reluctant to add to their risk positions,” said Koen De Leus,

...

Gazprom is apparently making plans to construct and run power plants in Turkey in partnership with the country's own Aksa.  Kazakhstan will postpone a feasibility study for a gas pipeline along the Caspian coast to Russia until 2010 while the line's capacity is figured out.  Ukraine has reassured investors that Naftogaz will not default on the payments of its $1.6 billion loan.  Gazprom has completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in SeverEnergia from Italy's Eni and Enel.  Debt-addled EDF is close to agreeing a major asset swap with E.ON, although it may also consider selling a 20% stake in nuclear operator British Energy.  Oil output in Russia may reach 530-535 million tons by 2030, a figure which is apparently not a projection, but a target.  Oil and Gas Eurasia reports that South Ossetia's new gas ...

Ria-Novosti reports that GDF Suez will, by the end of October, become a shareholder in the company building the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, Gazprom's deputy CEO has announced.  Norway's StatoilHydro is looking for new exploration possibilities in the Russian Arctic and said the investment climate in Russia is 'acceptable' for new projects.  A joint American-Canadian mission exploring the Arctic has mapped out considerable parts of the continental shelf for the first time.  E.On and Gazprom have put a project to build a power station in Lubmin, in eastern Germany, on ice.  The Financial Times reports that Gazprom has signed a deal with Bglobal, the smart meter and energy data provider, demonstrating its desire to enter into the British energy market.  India is apparently looking to expand its cooperation with Russia in ...

Oil has returned to the $61 mark, from a seven-week low.  President Medvedev has told leaders at the G8 summit that it is impossible to regulate oil prices and that $70 to $80 per barrel is a good range.  Russia has refused to pledge support for a G8 proposal to cut greenhouse gases by 80%, with Arkady Dvorkovich saying 'we will not sacrifice our economic growth to meet emissions cuts.'  Naftogaz is purchasing about 120 million cubic meters of gas per day this month, compared with 33 million cubic meters in June, as Ukraine seeks to increase the amount of gas it can pump into storage.  Two of Europe's biggest energy suppliers, E.ON and GDF, have been fined €553m each by the European Commission after it was revealed they had struck a non-competition deal.  Is competition ...

Brussels 30 June 2009 - Commissioner Piebalgs announced that microgeneration will be a key part of the EU's future energy mix at the launch of Micropower Europe in Brussels on Friday, together with Charles Bradshaw-Smith, President of Micropower Europe and Head of Innovation at E.ON.

Gazprom and Azeri company Socar have signed a deal to give Russia the first rights to Azeri gas that was previously seen as reserved for the Nabucco pipeline.  Medvedev referred to the deal as a 'milestone' for cooperation in the future.  Gazprom will buy 500 million cubic meters of natural gas from Azerbaijan annually from 2010, with plans to increase orders.  The International Energy Agency has warned that Europe's gas supplies are at almost constant risk of disruption.  Russian and Ukrainian officials have met with international lending institutions to try and establish ways of paying for Russian gas.  Poland has signed an agreement with Qatar to receive one million tons of LNG annually from 2014.  Russian companies may invest in oil exploration and natural gas distribution in China, following an agreement between Beijing and Moscow ...