[Destro]

A) The Iranians would not give up control of Russian pipelines to American firms and even of they did, so what? Russian exports the oil means money in Iran's pocket through the tranist fees. American control of any Iranian pipeline would not mean a thing for Russia. The American firms would be just as eager to make money on the tranist.

and

B) Who knows if the oil business will be using Eurodollars over USdollars in the near future?

[endthematrix]

Updated August DoE report on Iran and May 2004 report on Russia .

Re: "It's the US fault"

""Crude oil exports via pipeline fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Russia's state-owned pipeline monopoly, Transneft. But bottlenecks in the Transneft system make the company's export capacity incapable of meeting oil producer's export ambitions."

"The Russian government and Transneft have acknowledged the capacity problem and have taken careful steps towards developing new export infrastructure. At issue, however, is not only the direction and scope of enhancements to the country's export infrastructure, but also the potential role that private firms and investors may play in these projects, presumably at the expense of state-owned Transneft."

"Murmansk The idea for a new pipeline and deepwater tanker terminal, designed to carry crude oil from Russia's West Siberian Basin and Timan-Pechora basin westward to Murmansk on the Barents Sea was first suggested during a summit in May 2002 between Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin. As conceived by a consortium of Russia's leading oil companies, the Murmansk project would allow for between 1.6 and 2.4 million bbl/d of Russian oil exports to reach the United States via tankers within only nine days travel time, much faster than shipping from the Middle East or Africa. A feasibility study considering the availability of crude oil supplies and the interest of U.S. refiners is expected in the Fall of 2004. A liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility at the port has also been suggested, possibly allowing for deliveries to American markets."

"But despite vociferous support for the Murmansk proposal from Russian oil companies, American oil companies, and the U.S. government, Transneft (and thereby the Russian government) has approached the project with trepidation. It is unclear whether the Russian government will allow private Russian oil companies to proceed with their plans to construct the port and its associated facilities, or if the project will be handed, either partially or entirely, to Transneft. Some Transneft officials and others have stated that Russia's expanding BPS system as well as a few other key export projects (listed below) will be sufficient to keep pace with growing production. At stake is not only the Murmansk project, but also the Russian government's ability to control the growing oil industry via Transneft."