Big Oil = Dinosaurs at the Tar Pit?
December 30th, 2007
As we’ve discussed before, Big Oil is quickly losing its historical global primacy to state-owned oil and natural gas companies in Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, i.e. the New Seven Sisters. Two recent articles provide recent examples of this transition. In the first, Steve LeVine examines Exxon’s view that resource nationalism will moderate as […]
Read more »Venezuela’s Regional Geopolitics of Oil & The Unsustainability of Petrocaribe
December 30th, 2007
Several articles have recently been tracking Venezuela’s increasing efforts to utilize its energy reserves & expertise to influence politics in Latin America. As Energy Daily points out, Venezuela is helping a Soviet-era oil refinery in Cuba get back online. As the report notes: “…Chavez is an ardent supporter of improving Cuba’s oil-producing capacity in light […]
Read more »Russia’s Energy Secret and The Chinese Threat
December 30th, 2007
A very interesting article in Newsweek, which details that – despite its aggressive energy-related dealings – Russia can barely meet its own demand. While reading this report, I can’t help but think of the Cold War years in which Russia (and other states for that matter) aggressively portrayed & projected its strength internationally, while the […]
Read more »Serbia: Russia’s Strategic European Petroleum Beachhead?
December 30th, 2007
Via a report by UPI, Russia has offered Serbia $1.5 billion for control of its oil industry and additional deals related to a gas pipeline and a gas underground storage. The deal would give Russia full control of Serbia’s gas and oil markets. I find this of interest in that it would give Russia a […]
Read more »Gazprom’s Interest in Bolivia
December 30th, 2007
The Financial Times recently reported that Gazprom is considering a $2bn gas investment in production capacity in Bolivia which has vast gas reserves, second only to Venezuela in Latin America. As the article notes: “…An official from the Bolivian hydrocarbons ministry confirmed the Gazprom deal with YPFB (Yacimientos PetrolÃferos Fiscales Bolivianos), the Bolivian state energy […]
Read more »Dubai’s Debt Cloud – Shifting Sands?
December 30th, 2007
With all the bullish news about Dubai these days, it was refreshing to see The Wall Street Journal’s analysis of the city-state’s recent spending spree and the debt that it is accumulating. While the article focuses on transparency versus magnitude of debt as the main issue, it brings up an important point that should be […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.