Free Republic

Are Berlin’s close energy ties with Moscow paying off? Data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service shows they might be after Germany paid less for natural gas from the world’s largest exporter than most other buyers. Only the U.K., which produces most of its own gas, had lower import costs among the biggest offtakers, according to the figures obtained by Bloomberg and detailed in the chart below. Chancellor Angela Merkel has worked to strengthen the energy relationship with Russia, bucking U.S. pressure to punish Vladimir Putin’s interference in Syria and elections across the west. Germany has backed projects such as Gazprom...

FERNHURST, England — Europe’s newest weapon in the battle of wills with Russian President Vladimir Putin lies buried deep beneath the ancient oaks and rolling green pastures of this quintessentially English village. There, wedged in the bedrock, lie vast quantities of oil and natural gas — enough, when combined with the spoils of hundreds of other sites like it, to help kick Europe’s addiction to Russian energy. Or so says David Cameron. Ever since Russian forces took hold of Crimea last month, the British prime minister has been leading a chorus of conservative politicians and energy executives in a refrain...

A woman was left with 272 needles stuck in her scalp after a porcupine fell on her head. Sandra Nabucco, 52, from Gavea, Rio de Janeiro, was walking her dog when the painful accident took place. The housewife walked under a lamp post when the animal dropped from above.

German papers Handelsblatt and Die Welt write Tuesday that Russian energy giant is taking concrete steps to hinder the completion of EU gas pipeline Nabucco. The two papers come out with materials commenting the recent move on the part of Gazprom to invite German energy giant RWE to join rival project South Stream. Up to this point, RWE is serously committed to Nabucco and a switch to South Stream is seen as posing great danger for the completion of EU project. Handelsblatt has called Gazprom's move “Putin's immoral offer”, writing that “Behind the friendly offer are lying unfriendly calculations. Gazprom...

I remember the Clintons with the fondness with which one recalls a bout of malaria. It was terrible to experience, but the literature stated clearly the progression and eventual cure of the disease. There is comfort in knowing the next move of a protozoan parasite. Obama has been in office sufficiently long that the progression of this particular disease is starting to become clear. The broad parameters include a proclivity to take credit for everything good, to deflect criticism by claiming shared anger or “wasn’t me” protestations, and to overstate any situation as a crisis so as to set up...

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom has received an invitation to join the Nabucco pipeline project to pump gas from Central Asia to Europe, but will not take up the offer, a deputy head of Russia's energy giant said. In an interview with Vesti TV on Monday, Alexander Medvedev said Gazprom would stick with its South Stream project and stay out of Nabucco. "Unlike in the case of Nabucco, we have everything we need for this project [South Stream] to materialize," he said. "We have gas, the market, experience in implementing complex projects, and corporate management." The executive said...

BUDAPEST, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine has given fresh impetus to plans to build a pipeline through Turkey and the Balkans, bringing Central Asian gas to Western Europe. At the instigation of Hungary, European Union and Central Asian officials meet in Budapest on Tuesday to try to breathe new life into the 10-billion-euro ($12.96 billion) Nabucco scheme and reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas. "There isn't a PR campaign in the world that could have given the Nabucco as much attention as the Russian-Ukrainian dispute did," Hungarian government spokeswoman Bernadett Budai, said. "This is...

Turkey says Poland mulls buying from Turk pipelines ANKARA, July 6 (Reuters) - Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said on Thursday that Poland was interested in energy cooperation and was considering buying from energy pipelines that will cut through Turkey. Poland considers meeting some of its energy needs through the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project, which will pump central Asian gas via Turkey to Austria, and Turkey's Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, said Hilmi Guler after meeting the president of Poland's parliament. The Nabucco, supported by the European Union, is designed to increase Europe's access to alternative sources of natural gas...

Russia's response to the Nabucco pipeline project Russia strives to stop gas from the Caspian and Middle Eastern regions reaching European markets In late February 2006, Russia came up with a proposal to build a new gas export route called the Southern Gas Pipeline. The new route would deliver Russian gas via Turkey to Southern and Central Europe. The Russian initiative will compete with the EU-promoted Nabucco gas pipeline project which is meant to diversify gas supplies to Europe. The Southern Gas Pipeline is also part of the broader strategy of Russia's energy policy, which aims to maintain the Russian...