Gazprom: Aiming To Be A Natural Gas Cartel On Its Own?
July 12th, 2008
From Robert Amsterdam’s highly insightful blog, a post asking if – after the news that Russia has offered to purchase every cubic inch available of Libya’s natural gas (this follows upon a similar, less publicized offer to Azerbaijan) – it is even possible to identify any difference between Gazprom and the future natural gas OPEC […]
Read more »Gazprom Neft Seeks to Expand Overseas
July 12th, 2008
As reported by The Silk Road Intelligencer, Gazprom Neft – a subsidiary of Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom – had initiated talks to acquire a 49 percent stake in Mangistaumunaigas (MMG), a Kazakh oil company, according to Russian media. As the article notes: “…The deal is a part of Gazprom Neft’s strategy to expand overseas […]
Read more »Total Exit from Iran
July 12th, 2008
Via The New York Times, news that Total, the French oil giant, has decided to back away from planned investments in Iran because of political uncertainty. As the article notes: “…Total’s withdrawal from the country, including a planned huge gas project in the South Pars gas field, makes it the last major Western oil company […]
Read more »Libya and Egypt: More Investment/More Positioning
July 12th, 2008
Courtesy of Stratfor (subscription required), news that Libya recently announced a deal involving the development of an oil refinery and gasoline stations in Egypt, as well as a natural gas pipeline running from the Egyptian city of Alexandria to the coastal Libyan city of Tobruk. As the article notes: “…This energy agreement could boost Libyan […]
Read more »Caspian Pipeline Politics: Gazprom’s Monopolistic Actions Backfiring
July 7th, 2008
 As we have discussed many times previously, the existing pipeline architecture of Central Asia represents the regional imperialism of Cold War Russia, despite Turkmen and Kazakh flirtations with new Trans-Caspian pipeline projects to Azerbaijan to circumvent the Russian control over exports to Western Europe. A recent article by Robert M. Cutler of Carleton University in […]
Read more »Russia Oil Companies Eye Gulf Of Mexico Exploration via Cuba
July 2nd, 2008
Via DowJones, a report that Russian energy companies OAO Gazprom (OGZPY) and OAO Lukoil Holdings (LUKOY) may revive Soviet-era ties to enter the oil-rich Gulf of the Mexico – through its Cuban backdoor. As the article notes: “…Gazprom and Lukoil “are interested by” Cuban hydrocarbons acreage, the country’s Basic Industry Minister Yadira Garcia told Dow […]
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.