Rosneft has been fined $180 million by the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service for deliberately driving up wholesale prices for gasoline and other oil products in the first half of 2009, and Lukoil was warned that it could face a similar penalty...in which case, it's going to need the $1.5 billion it is trying to raise by selling dollar-denominated debt to international investors.  The state-owned Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant was raided by riot police yesterday as part of a probe into an August flood that killed 75 employees.  Iran agrees with the 'general framework' of the UN-brokered proposal that it send most of its enriched uranium to Russia for processing into reactor fuel, but plans to make some changes.  'One common reaction is: 'If the foreigners are prepared to agree to this, there must be something wrong with this from Iran's point ...

The Financial Times enumerates Gazprom's problems: are its ambitions to increase production any more than pipe dreams?  Competition for energy reserves in the Arctic Circle could prompt friction between Russia and NATO, a new commander at the alliance has warned.  Bloomberg reports that the holder of the world's fourth-largest gas reserves, Turkmenistan, is ready to export natural gas to European collaborators if they build a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to transport the fuel.  According to Oil and Gas Eurasia, Russia needs a total of $310 billion to fully carry out its program for the analysis and exploration of its continental shelf, a deputy natural resources minister has announced.  Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko has said that Russia has been invited as an observer to the December meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.  Finnish environmental ...

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 ...

Yesterday I saw this note on FT Lex which essentially argued for the Italian energy company Eni to be split up into two separate companies in order to maximize value.  Today they are running another piece about the activist investor group Knight Vinke, who are eager to see the same thing happen - they even cite the energy security issue as one reason for Eni to be broken in half.  In the past, the lurching energy dinosaurs of Europe have fought off any attempts at unbundling from the European Commission by pointing to the conveniently threatening spectre of Gazprom, arguing that they've got to stay big in order to negotiate with such a monster.  The rub is that a split ...

RusHydro has sold investors 3.5 billion of 7.5 billion new shares in a public offering, with the rest bought by its own unit for a later resale.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved a Russian-Turkish draft protocol on cooperation in nuclear power engineering.  The Economist examines the historically fraught relationship between Turkey and Russia, recently soldered by energy agreements.  A marriage of convenience, but how long will the honeymoon last?  At today's meeting with President Medvedev, it is expected that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will focus on Nord Stream, in which Germany is Russia's principal partner.  Turkmenistan has announced it will open a new gas pipeline to Iran in December, a maneuver that will push Gazprom to settle a four-month gas trading dispute with the Central Asian state, says the FT.  Gazprom Neft has increased its stake in Sibir ...

A few days ago the Russian mainstream media were talking about all the agreements reached with Turkey during the most recent visit of the Prime Minister, hailing the accords as the latest Putinite achievement. Supposedly positive but vague results were achieved with respect to negotiations on the construction of the South Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines; on the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, as well as the construction of nuclear power stations. In covering the Turkey visit, they showed the joy of Turkish and Italian prime ministers in signing these deals, and the unintelligible babble of the Russian one, who was able to clearly express a thought about how the Turks - are "difficult negotiators."

But so many gas pipelines -

...

Why would Turkey sign on to a massively expensive and redundant underwater pipeline that would eliminate the transit business at the lucrative but over-trafficked Bosporus Straits?  Because when it comes to Gazprom and Eni's South Stream, it is very different to say you support it than it is to actually build it.  Nabucco is likely to work, and looks like it will find the gas to fill capacity - but not before Ankara does everything possible to milk both sides for the maximum concessions.These editors at Zaman don't quite get the issue right, but there is enough perspective here to get an idea of the Turkish mentality on Russian energy politics (resentful of the perceived mistreatment ...

Williams Co.s (WMB) reported better-than-expected second-quarter results primarily on higher production volumes and lowering of costs. Earnings per share, excluding mark-to-market adjustments, came in at 20 cents, 4 cents above the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

On a year-over-year basis, Williams’ adjusted earnings per share plunged more than 70% while revenue nosedived 48% to $1.9 billion, hurt by weak performances of the company’s Exploration and Production (E&P) and Midstream businesses on the back of a sharp decline in commodity prices from the year-ago level.

E&P

In the E&P business, total production was up approximately 6% year over year to 1,233 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d). Domestic volumes increased 6% year over year to 1,180 MMcfe/d, driven by strong contribution from the Piceance, Powder River and Fort Worth basins. For the first quarter of 2009, average daily net production from the Piceance basin was up approximately 7% from the

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Given all the news this week of Russia and Italy's South Stream deal with Turkey in exchange for a nuclear power plant, I thought I would repost an article written by Robert Amsterdam last fall in Energy Risk on Turkey's political pipelines.

FROM OCT. 2008, ENERGY RISK:

Turkey's political pipelines

Turkey's strategic position at the crossroads of East and West has put it at the centre of a geopolitical tug of war, with energy supply a key driver. Robert Amsterdam examines the energy policies being brought to bear in the region

Turkey's role in global affairs is defined by its geostrategic importance as the bridge between Europe and the Near East. Following Russia's invasion and occupation of Georgia in August, which caused considerable energy supply jitters, Turkey was once again thrust into the spotlight as the European

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