Posts under ‘Russia’

Gazprom, Shell ink strategic cooperation agreement

The agreement was signed in the videoconference mode in presence of chief executive officers of Gazprom and Shell

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Gazprom and Shell concluded the agreement on strategic cooperation for the term of five years on March 16, the Russian gas holding says on Tuesday.

“Particular attention will be paid, for instance, to such areas as studies of energy market, implementation of projects throughout the value creation chain, and cooperation in the sphere of digital development of technologies and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” Gazprom says. read more

Iraq Moves To Exploit Its Massive Natural Gas Reserves

EXTRACTS

…that said, it has made some progress in developing gas resources, most notably in 2019/2020 when the US$17 billion 25-year Basra Gas Company (BGC) project with Royal Dutch Shell…

The original design plans for Nebras – formulated between Shell and the Iraq Oil Ministry and Ministry of Industry and Minerals – were for a project that could produce at least 1.8 million metric tonnes per year (mtpy) of various petrochemicals. read more

Russia’s Gazprom, Shell ink 5-year ‘strategic’ deal

By New Europe Online/KG: PUBLISHED 21:57 MARCH 17, 2021

Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell signed on March 16 an Agreement of Strategic Cooperation for a five-year period, the Russian gas giant said.

The signing ceremony was held via a video link in the presence of Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden.

The newly signed document, which expands the interaction between the two companies, focuses on research of energy markets, implementation of projects along the entire value chain, cooperation in digitalization of technologies, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Gazprom said. read more

Russia’s Gazprom signs strategic cooperation agreement with Shell

By Reuters Staff: MARCH 16, 20212:48 PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian gas producer Gazprom has signed a five-year strategic cooperation agreement with Shell, it said on Tuesday.

The cooperation will include exploring energy markets, “projects along the entire value chain”, digitalisation of technologies and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Gazprom said.

Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by David Goodman

SOURCE read more

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Nord Stream Pipeline

Gazprom owns the project operator, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.6 billion) cost. By Dina Khrennikova and Anna Shiryaevskaya | Bloomberg: Feb. 25, 2021 A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. Pipe construction, halted in 2019, resumed in December 2020, yet U.S. sanctions still threaten to pull the brakes on the project backed by the Russia’s Gazprom PJSC.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Gazprom owns the project operator, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.6 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels when all but 160 kilometers of the link was in place. When Nord Stream 2 started construction again, Russian vessels were deployed to lay 2.6 kilometers in Germany’s exclusive economic zone. In January 2021 work resumed on the Danish section. read more

THE SUNDAY TIMES

Church fund ditches stake in oil giant BP

Jamie Nimmo: 24 Jan 2021. Page 2, Business Section.

The Church of England has sold its stake in BP, even as the oil giant moves to end its reliance on fossil fuels under new boss Bernard Looney.

The Church Commissioners, which manages the Church’s £8.7bn fund, is understood to have offloaded its stake in the FTSE 100 stalwart last year.

It is a significant move because the Church is the country’s most high-profile ethical investor and has been pushing BP to commit to cutting its carbon footprint to ret zero by 2050. read more

Outlook darkens for North Sea oil and gas industry

TWO oil and gas majors provided votes of confidence in the North Sea last week but these may only provide cold comfort as the outlook for the sector gets ever bleaker.

On Tuesday BP underlined its belief in the exploration potential of the North Sea as it announced that it had returned to profit in the third quarter.

The giant included its successful bid for new North Sea exploration licences in a list of highlights for the three months to 30 September. read more

Shell and BP investors look to results after tough year for oil majors

By Press Association:  23/10/2020, 3:45 pm

Britain’s two biggest oil companies are set to update shareholders next week amid a low oil price and a race to reduce emissions.

Investors will be leafing through BP’s results on Tuesday, while Shell will present how its third quarter went two days later.

Shares in both have cratered during 2020, as oil prices fell to record lows at one point at the beginning of the pandemic. read more

Why Gazprom’s $7.6 Billion Nord Stream 2 Fine Is Just the Start

Stephanie Bodoni and Maciej Martewicz

Oct 9. 2020

(Bloomberg) — Poland’s antitrust watchdog slapped a $7.6 billion fine on Gazprom PJSC over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, opening a new front in the bitter political battle over the natural gas project. Wednesday’s surprise move raises a whole set of legal questions about the plan, which is teetering on the brink. What was the fine for? The antitrust authority said Gazprom and its partners, which which is teetering on the brink. read more

U.S. sanctions… forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Natural Gas Pipeline

By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Dina Khrennikova | Bloomberg: Oct. 8, 2020 A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. As the project neared completion, U.S. sanctions and calls for European restrictions, as well as a Polish move to fine Russia’s Gazprom PJSC on antitrust grounds, have left the construction in limbo and ratcheted up political tensions.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Gazprom owns the joint Russian-European venture, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.2 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels. The pipeline operator is looking for solutions to lay the remaining 6% of the pipe, which includes construction work in Denmark’s waters. read more

Allseas Litigation: Top lawyer Mike Stubbs accused of relaying offer of £1m ‘bribe’ to police, say court transcripts

By John Donovan

Shell contractor, Allseas, is a key player in a continuing story of mystery and intrigue surrounding criminal court proceedings.

Top lawyer Mike Stubbs acted for Allseas at the time when, according to court transcripts, he allegedly relayed a £1m bribe offer to UK police detectives.

Victims of £73 m fraud

In 2011, Allseas invested £73 million with investors led by a conman claiming to have links to the Vatican and Spanish nobility. More information can be found in articles such as the June 2018 FT story: “The ship tycoon, the con men and a €100m scam”. read more

(Shell may have to write off Nord Stream 2 investment if project collapses)

Merkel Scrapping Nord Stream Would Unravel German Gas Strategy

Brian Parkin, Andrew Noël and Richard Weiss: Bloomberg: September 12, 2020

(Bloomberg) — As Angela Merkel weighs up the arguments for scrapping a Russian pipeline project, a cornerstone of the German chancellor’s carefully crafted energy strategy is at stake.

Merkel is coming under increasing pressure to ditch the Nord Stream 2 pipeline after the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny. Members of her own party have questioned the project and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the decision should be a “no brainer.” read more

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Natural Gas Pipeline By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Dina Khrennikova | Bloomberg September 4, 2020 at 3:26 p.m. GMT+1

A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. As the project neared completion, U.S. sanctions and calls for European restrictions have left the construction in limbo as political tensions with Moscow mounted.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the joint Russian-European venture, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.2 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels. The pipeline operator is looking for solutions to lay the remaining 6% of the pipe, which includes construction work in Denmark’s waters. read more

Navalny Poisoning Raises Pressure on Merkel to Cancel Russian Pipeline

Evidence that the Russian opposition leader was attacked with a military-grade nerve agent has placed new pressures on the German chancellor.

By Steven Erlanger and Melissa Eddy: Published Sept. 3, 2020 Updated Sept. 4, 2020, 1:34 a.m. ET 

BRUSSELS — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has long defended her decision to go ahead with an $11 billion Russian gas pipeline, sticking to her position that politics and business should remain separate.

But that approach came under intense pressure Thursday, with a Russian dissident in a German hospital, poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent that is held closely by the Russian military. Even some members of her own party insisted that the chancellor should respond by canceling the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

The 764-mile pair of pipelines under the Baltic Sea is being built by a consortium led by the Russian energy giant Gazprom, which owns it, and would double the capacity for natural gas to flow directly from Russia to Germany. It has been criticized by many in Europe and the United States for increasing Russian leverage on Germany and helping to line the pockets of the Russian state.

But the pipeline is 94 percent completed, and Ms. Merkel defended the need to finish it as recently as last Friday. At that point, Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was already in Berlin for treatment of a poisoning in Russia, although the use of the nerve agent, Novichok, had not yet been publicly confirmed.

But with the identification of Novichok as the poison, the debate on the pipeline has now been reopened.

For a long time, Ms. Merkel has advocated trade and diplomatic engagement with both Russia and China despite their internal repressions and external aggressiveness. Her argument has been that Russia is too close to Europe, and China too economically powerful, to isolate either of them, and that trade provides leverage on them that sanctions do not.

It is getting harder for her to have it both ways. German foreign policy has been notably more assertive to Russia after the country seized Crimea and shot down a Malaysian airliner, and to China after its increasing boldness and repression at home and abroad under its leader, Xi Jinping.

And so Nord Stream 2, originally promoted by her coalition partners, the Social Democrats, is becoming harder to defend, given that its owner, Gazprom, is controlled by the Kremlin of President Vladimir V. Putin. More Germans are asking how she — and many other European leaders — can portray Russia as a rogue nation in one breath and a legitimate commercial partner in the next?

On Thursday, Norbert Röttgen, a senior member of the chancellor’s conservative party and the head of the foreign affairs committee in Parliament, who has long been critical of Nord Stream 2, called for Germany to respond to the poisoning with tough measures that could include the pipeline and Russia’s sales of natural gas. read more

The Guardian: Merkel pressured to end Nord Stream 2 support after Navalny poisoning

Philip Oltermann in Berlin and Luke Harding

Thu 3 Sep 2020 17.30 BST

Angela Merkel is under growing domestic pressure to end her support for the joint German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline project over the confirmed poisoning of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The German Green party called on the chancellor to use the nearly completed infrastructure project to press the Kremlin into answering allegations over what Merkel called the “silencing” of Navalny with a novichok nerve agent. read more

Shell may have to write off Nord Stream 2 investment if project collapses

Calls mount for Germany to rethink Nord Stream 2 pipeline after Navalny poisoning

Madeline Chambers: SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced growing pressure on Thursday to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will take gas from Russia to Germany, after she said Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-style nerve agent.

Merkel said on Wednesday that Navalny, who is being treated in a Berlin hospital, was the victim of a murder attempt using the nerve agent Novichok, and demanded an explanation by Russia.

Moscow has denied involvement in the incident and the Russian foreign ministry said Germany’s assertion was not backed by evidence.

Western countries have condemned the attack on Navalny and many German politicians want a tough response. read more