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 »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 »Dubai: Iran’s Hong Kong
December 30th, 2007
An interesting article in Terra Daily recently, comparing Dubai’s current & cultural associations with Iran to that which Hong Kong historically played for China (before the mainland opened up).  As the article notes, Dubai “…is to Iran’s theocracy what British-ruled Hong Kong was to China’s Communist overlords — a gigantic entrepot.” Given the similarity, […]
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.