Russia’s Winter of Discontent: An Opportunity for International Companies to Invest?
January 21st, 2009
Via The Times, an interesting look at Gazprom’s cash woes and the opportunity that such a crunch may afford Western companies. Specifically, an obvious solution to the Ukrainian crisis is for a cash-rich EU utility, such as Gasunie of the Netherlands, to buy the Ukrainian transit pipelines, offering long-term money that could be used to […]
Read more »Italy, Russia: Together In Tripoli
January 9th, 2009
Via Robert Amsterdam’s fine blog, an interesting analysis of Italy’s ENI’s efforts to penetrate the Libyan market in partnership with Gazprom. As the article notes: A few days ago, the CEO of the Italian energy group Eni told everybody he felt calm and “serene” with regard to Gazprom’s decision to cut off all gas flowing […]
Read more »Russian – Ukraine Gas Standoff: Efforts To Yield A More Russian-Friendly Ukranian Government
January 5th, 2009
Via Stratfor (subscription required), insightful analysis on how the latest round of the Russia – Ukraine gas pipeline “war” may turn out. As the article notes: “…Russian natural gas behemoth Gazprom has made Ukraine a new offer for the purchase of natural gas Jan. 4, this time raising its price from $179 per thousand cubic […]
Read more »Caspian Sea Energy Reserves and Geopolitical Intrigue
January 5th, 2009
Via Seeking Alpha, an interesting post which is centered on a review of a book entitled The New Great Game. However, I am noting it here as it provides a nice summary of issues related to the Caspian (with handy maps, no less). As the article notes “…The investigative journalist delves deeply into the geopolitical […]
Read more »Pipeline Politics Or Oiligarch’s At War? Russia & Ukraine’s Latest Gas Pains
January 3rd, 2009
Via The Oil Drum, some interesting background and context on the latest gas-related conflict between Russia and Ukraine. As the article notes: “…it’s worth remembering a few simple facts: The conflict started in 1992, not in 2006; Russia cannot win a gas war against Ukraine and knows it; The real underlying stakes are not about […]
Read more »Caspian Energy in 2008: “The Best of Times, The Worst of Times”
December 30th, 2008
Via Energy Daily, a summary of 2008 for the five petro-states ringing the Caspian. As the article notes “…Three of these are the former Soviet republics of Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Iran, subject to nearly three decades of U.S.-led sanctions, has longstanding problems as a result that have stymied foreign investment there, while Turkmenistan’s fiscal […]
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.