RUSSIA INFLUENCES U.S.
OGJ - US House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) asked the chief executives of Facebook, Twitter Inc., and Alphabet Inc. for documents relating to Russian entities' purchases of advertising against hydraulic fracturing and fossil fuels.
"In light of Facebook's disclosure of over $100,000 in social media advertising associated with Russian accounts focused on the disruption and influence of US politics through social media, it is likely that Russia undertook a similar effort using social media to influence the US energy market," Smith said in a Sept. 26 letter to Facebook Founder and Chief Executive Mark E. Zuckerberg in Menlo Park, Calif.
"Social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, have the ability to serve as an effective propaganda arm conveying specific messages to geographically targeted audiences," Smith said. "The committee is concerned that divisive social and political messages conveyed through social media have negatively affected certain energy sectors, which can depress research and development in the fossil-fuel sector and the expanding potential for natural gas."
Russia's meddling in the US energy market has been well documented, Smith said. "US presidential candidates, European officials, and the US intelligence community have all publicly noted evidence of Russia and its government corporations funding a covert antifracing campaign to suppress the widespread adoption of fracing in Europe and the US—all in an effort to safeguard the influence of the Russian oil and gas sector," he said.
The letter asked Zuckerberg and Facebook to supply the committee by Oct. 10 all documents and information from January 2010 to the present referring or relating to:
• Any Russian-based or funded entity involvement in the US energy market detected on your social media platform.
• The source of advertisements on Facebook related to the energy industry, both renewable and nonrenewable, including but not limited to a list of Russian-based or funded companies or other entities purchasing advertising on Facebook.
• The source of advertisements on Facebook advocating for "so-called green initiatives."
Smith sent similar letters to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in San Francisco and Alphabet CEO Lawrence E. Page in Mountain View, Calif.
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September, 27, 13:45:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR CHINAAs noted by Alexey Miller, "since early 2017, China's gas demand has grown significantly; according to the latest data, in January-July alone gas consumption in China added 16 per cent compared to the same period of last year."
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September, 27, 13:35:00 U.S. WANT OIL MARKETIf the US were to reimpose nuclear sanctions on Iran, the Trump administration would do so in a way that would have minimal impact on the global oil market, a senior State Department official said Tuesday. |
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September, 22, 08:50:00 RUSSIA - KURDISTAN INVESTMENTInstead, with the planned referendum just days away, Russian state oil giant Rosneft announced its latest investment last week, to help Iraqi Kurdistan develop its natural gas industry, for domestic supplies and eventual export.
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September, 25, 13:00:00 U.S. RIGS DOWN 1 TO 935U.S. Rig Count is up 424 rigs from last year's count of 511, with oil rigs up 326, gas rigs up 98, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canada Rig Count is up 82 rigs from last year's count of 138, with oil rigs up 45 and gas rigs up 37. |
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September, 18, 12:30:00 RUSSIA - CHINA - VENEZUELA OIL“The principal risk regarding Russian and Chinese activities in Venezuela in the near term is that they will exploit the unfolding crisis, including the effect of US sanctions, to deepen their control over Venezuela’s resources, and their [financial] leverage over the country as an anti-US political and military partner,” observed R. Evan Ellis, a senior associate in the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Americas Program.
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September, 20, 08:50:00 U.S. OIL + 79 TBD, GAS + 788 MCFDCrude oil output from the seven major US onshore producing regions is forecast to increase 79,000 b/d month-over-month in October to 6.083 million b/d. Natural gas production from the seven regions is expected to climb 788 MMcfd month-over-month in October to 59.745 bcfd. |
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September, 18, 12:20:00 U.S. - IRAN SANCTIONSOn Thursday, the administration extended certain sanctions on Iran's oil and banking sectors that have been suspended since the nuclear deal took place in January 2016. |
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August, 16, 09:15:00 IRAN, RUSSIA,TURKEY COOPERATIONIran, Russia and Turkey signed agreement on maintaining trilateral cooperation in developing oil and gas fields. |
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July, 24, 13:50:00 RUSSIA SANCTIONS AGAIN"The legislation, if enacted, is a big political win for members of Congress who want to take a strong stance on Russia," Elizabeth Rosenberg, a senior fellow and director of the energy, economics and security program at the Center for a New American Security, said Sunday. "It will rearrange the way the global energy industry does business with Russia and significantly increase the risk around dealings with Russia."
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July, 12, 14:15:00 RUSSIA'S INVESTMENT POTENTIAL"Russia is among the leading energy countries today. We see colossal unrealized potential for cooperation, for investment -- we will continue working on implementing it with all the interested parties," Novak said. |
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