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 »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 »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 »Gas’ing Up: China Pays For a Central Asian Pipeline
December 30th, 2007
I noticed via The International Herald Tribune, that China’s biggest oil company – China National Petroleum Corp. – has agreed to spend US$2.2 billion to help build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan that will eventually supply energy for booming cities such as Shanghai. Just yet another matching of mutual interests – China’s desire to […]
Read more »A Shifting Balance between Gazprom and Rosneft in Russia?
December 29th, 2007
Came across Strator’s (subscription only) interesting analysis of Gazprom’s desire to purchase at least 50 percent of Rosneft’s prized subsidiary, Tomskneft, a move indicating that Gazprom may soon attempt to equal or surpass rival Rosneft’s influence in Russian petro-circles. As discussed on this blog earlier, Gazprom’s board chairman and overall political backer, Dmitri Medvedev, has […]
Read more »Iran and Malaysia Cooperate To Develop Gas Fields
December 29th, 2007
Stratfor (subscription required) recently noted that Iran and Malaysia agreed to develop the Golshan and Ferdows natural gas fields in southern Iran. As the article indicates, the $16 billion contract is a follow up to a preliminary agreement reached in January of 2007 and also includes plans to build liquefied gas production plants. While Malaysia […]
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.