Uppsala University in Sweden says the IEA's annual World Energy Outlook 'drastically underplayed the scale of future oil shortages'.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has won Slovenia's approval for the South Stream pipeline, 'undermining European Union efforts to reduce dependency on Russian gas supplies'.  A deal was signed late on Saturday, marking the fifth and final signatory of 'all the European partners needed for this project to be completed'.  Gazprom could receive 'exclusive rights' as a supplier of liquefied natural gas to Singapore after the expiry of a current contract with British Gas.  RusAl is planning to sell a 10% stake to help repay its $14 billion debt, and may offer special ventures and access deals in a reported bid to help China take the lion's share.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country's nuclear rights are 'not ...

In a meeting with Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement that the South Stream pipeline, a joint project between Gazprom and Italy's Eni, could be finished before its official start-up date of 2013.  Plans for South Stream's expanded volume were discussed by Russia's Energy Ministry in Bulgaria this week, as was the controversial plan to use the existing Bulgarian gas transit network to aid this expansion. Transneft says it will complete its China pipeline by the end of the year. Russia's Energy Minister is leaving the question of Rosneft's privatization open, with the possibility of selling a 75% stake not to be considered until 2011. Canada-listed mining group SouthGobi Energy Resources has secured a $300 million loan from CIC (China Investment Corp). More on Russia's surging oil industry.  ...

Gazprom has expressed an interest in acquiring a U.S. shale-gas producer, to access the know-how to develop similar resources domestically, says the Moscow Times.  GDF Suez has said it has discussed a 10-20% increase in its Russian gas supply with Gazprom, as part of broader negotiations to usher the French company into the Nord Stream gas project.  Electricite de France may acquire a stake in Gazprom's South Stream pipeline to supply its increasing number of power plants.  Turkey's government has apparently approved geological exploration work for South Stream in its Black Sea economic zone.  The partnership behind the Nabucco pipeline project is, says Bloomberg, 'confident' it will have enough fuel, including gas from the Azeri Shah Deniz field.  Russian oil and petrochemical exporters reported a 45% decrease in revenue in the first nine months of 2009 to ...

Gazprom will cut output in 2009 by 13.8%, the lowest in history, due to dwindling consumer demand domestically and in the former USSR.  The company has apparently said it is considering adding a third partner to the South Stream pipeline.  Bloomberg has an interview with the CEO of Statoil Hydro regarding hopes to join the Yamal project in northern Siberia.  Naftogaz Ukrainy apparently expects to see a recovery this year for the losses of 2008, maintaining that profit-making was prevented by currency exchange rates.  Vladimir Putin has said that although ultimately Russia plans to liberalize the gas market, a cautious approach is favorable.  According to Reuters, Russia will maintain Gazprom's export monopoly in the medium term.  A project to transport Russian gas from North Korea to South Korea has been halted due to inter-Korean tensions.  ...

Bloomberg reports that oil has been trading around $66 a barrel, as spare capacity has staved off fears of supply disruption due to political disputes between Iran and the US.  Apparently German firm RWE has not renounced its plans to participate in the building of the Belene nuclear power plant in Bulgaria.  If Belene announces a tender, Russia will attempt to purchase a stake in the plant, which is being built by a Russian company, says Ria-Novosti.  Prime Minster Putin has ordered First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov to draw up a plan for the government, for businesses and for government agencies to introduce cutting edge energy-saving technologies.  Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller has reportedly said that countries that are not as of yet involved in the South Stream project, such as Turkey and Romania, are starting to ...

The new CEO of TNK-BP will apparently be chosen by the end of the year, energy mogul Viktor Vekselberg has announced.  The Telegraph examines Total chief Christophe de Margerie's belief that oil prices may rocket back up to the $100 mark if further investment into oil exploration is not followed through.  According to Bloomberg, state-run monopoly Saudi Aramco says that it imagines little chance of pumping crude from idle fields in 2010 because demand for oil remains low.  Ukraine will offer 'absolute and unconditional guarantees' to restructure the debt of Naftogaz Ukrainy.  Greece is cooperating with Russia in the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and South Stream gas line, but with a predominant concern for its own interests, says Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, according to ITAR-TASS.   37 tenders for the Shtokman gas field ...

Reuters reports that next week Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with global oil giants on how to exploit gas reserves on the Arctic Yamal peninsula.  Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev has told Reuters that Russia will consider easing laws regulating foreign participation in offshore energy projects, which had been restricted during the 2002-July 2008 boom in oil prices.  Rosneft has apparently said that it will not be able to maintain the high level of oil exports that has seen Russia overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer, as the domestic market will become more alluring to oil producers.  The President of OPEC has reportedly argued that the cartel must improve cooperation with Russia in order to keep prices stable.  Bulgaria has agreed to continue preparations for the Russian-backed Belene nuclear plant, South Stream and ...

Natural Resources Deputy Minister Sergei Donskoi has said that Russia would welcome foreign companies looking to explore the country's oil and gas reserves as domestic firms lack the 'strength and money' to carry out these operations themselves.  State-run electricity companies will invest $19.5 billion next year, or 13.5% less than planned after the government approved their 2010 budget, according to the Moscow Times.  EDF may take a 10% stake in Gazprom's South Stream pipeline.  Bulgaria's Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov has said Sofia will demand economic incentives from Moscow to guarantee its commitment to its major Russian-backed energy projects.  ARMZ Uranium Holding is reportedly negotiating with Areva to jointly develop deposits in Namibia and other African countries, where one-fifth of the world's uranium is to be found.  The UK is currently on a non-Russian energy push with ...

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 ...

The International Energy Agency's chief economist Fatih Birol has said that if oil prices rise higher than $70, the global economic recovery will be rendered more difficult.  Birol has also predicted there may not be sufficient demand for natural gas in Europe to justify the existence of both the Nabucco and South Stream pipelines.  OPEC has revised its 2010 forecast for supply from countries outside the group, suggesting an increase of 210,000 barrels per day from non-OPEC members. Vladimir Putin has promised that Russia will use the most modern oil extraction and processing technology if it gains access to Venezuela's oil reserves.  Next month it is expected that a consortium of Russian firms and the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA will draw up a joint venture to explore the Junin 6 block in the Orinoco oil belt, ...