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BP's decision to abandon its stake in oil giant Rosneft is the first high-profile example of the self-sanctioning by companies of their business links to Russia, a process likely to have major short- and long-term implications for energy markets. BP's dramatic exit of its 19.75% share of Rosneft could cost the London-listed oil major as much as $25 billion, a hefty price to pay in order to be seen to be doing the right thing in response to Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine. "I have been deeply shocked and saddened by the situation unfolding in Ukraine and my heart goes...

Russian and Chinese interests don’t align on this particular issue and the dynamics associated with it...Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that “Russia Is Wooing Arctic Gas Buyers With Life After US Sanctions”. They cited unnamed sources to report that Novatek, the company behind the Arctic LNG 2 megaproject, is courting American, European, and even Indian buyers ahead of Trump possibly curtailing or lifting sanctions on their initiative as part of the nascent Russian-US “New Détente”. According to them, a senior executive pitched this as “a way to counter a rising China”, which has a certain logic to it.From those three potential...

Russia's second largest natural gas producer Novatek said that its trading subsidiary Novatek Gas&Power Asia and Spanish energy company Repsol have agreed to a 15-year contract to supply 1 mtpa of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project and other projects. The LNG will be delivered ex-ship primarily to markets on the Iberian Peninsula, said a release from Novatek. “The agreement for the sale of LNG would allow us to increase our market presence on the Iberian Peninsula where Russian pipeline gas is not supplied,” noted Novatek’s First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board Lev Feodosyev. “Expanding our supply geography...

Energy Department Cites Remarkable Advance In ‘Smart' Oil, Gas Drilling San Antonio, TX - Government and industry officials today announced a major innovation that turns an oil and gas drill pipe into a high-speed data transmission tool capable of sending data from the bottom of a well 100,000 times faster than technology in common use today. The new system, aptly named IntelliPipeTM, could revolutionize the way companies probe for oil and gas. It was developed by an engineering team of Grant Prideco, Houston, Texas; and Novatek Engineering, Provo, Utah, under a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. "The...