RUS | ENG | All
Enter the email or login, that you used for registration.
If you do not remember your password, simply leave this field blank and you will receive a new, along with a link to activate.

Not registered yet?
Welcome!

2018-11-19 11:40:00

RUSSIAN GAS FOR EVERYONE

RUSSIAN GAS FOR EVERYONE

BLOOMBERG - In the shadows of a long-silent East German nuclear reactor on the edge of the Baltic Sea, engineers are drilling, dredging, and digging in a forest clearing. As one set of workers shifts contaminated concrete and other radioactive materials from the Soviet-designed Greifswald plant, half a kilometer away contractors for Gazprom PJSC are building the latest monument to Europe's growing dependence on Russia for energy: the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Germany could receive more gas pumped directly from Siberian fields as soon as late next year.

The $11 billion pipeline is one of three giant projects helping the world's biggest gas producer strengthen its grip on Europe and Asia. Thousands of miles to the east, the Power of Siberia pipeline will connect with China, and a project under the Black Sea will deliver fuel to Turkey and southeast Europe.

Russia has sold gas to Europe since World War II, meeting more than a third of the Continent's demand last year. That share could rise to 40 percent by 2025 if increased demand from China and its Asian neighbors, and higher prices, continue to tempt liquefied natural gas tankers eastward, says Jonathan Stern, a distinguished research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "Expensive energy is back, mainly driven by China," says Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. "We're seeing record gas imports from Russia." The decline of Groningen, the giant Dutch gas field, has also increased Europe's import demand.

President Donald Trump, keen to sell natural gas to Europe and capitalize on the U.S. shale boom, has described Germany as "captive" to Moscow. Last year he signed legislation giving him the right to sanction companies involved in Nord Stream 2, including five European partners that are helping fund it. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 3 that the pipeline, whose older sibling runs roughly along the same route and began delivering fuel in 2011, would be built even if the other companies pulled out.

Nord Stream 2 also has detractors closer to home. Poland, which has a fractured relationship with its former Soviet ally, nixed the formation of a joint venture of European energy companies that would work with Gazprom on the pipeline. The country still buys Russian gas but plans to replace it with fuel from Norway and other countries when its contract expires by the end of 2022.

The German government and its biggest utilities point to a commercial relationship with Russia that's survived the Cold War as well as increasing tensions over Ukraine. "They've been a reliable supplier for the last 50 to 60 years," says Thomas Bareiss, Germany's state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. "And Russia needs to talk to the European Union. It keeps us talking."

Russian natural gas exports to Europe are having another banner year, after the country shipped a record 6.8 trillion cubic feet in 2017. But Andree Stracke, chief commercial officer at the trading unit of German utility RWE AG, isn't worried by Gazprom's increasing hold on the market. "At some point, politicians need to say if they are concerned, but for us it is business," he says. "It is a free accessible market. Whoever wants to sell is welcome to sell their volumes."

Gazprom has also had to adjust to how the European market has evolved. Since gas is now its own traded commodity, its price is less closely linked to the cost of crude oil and more informed by local natural gas prices.

Demand for gas could soar after Germany shuts down its last nuclear reactor by 2022 and retires more coal plants, according to Ralf Bickel, a senior energy adviser at Nord Stream 2. "Having additional supply from Russia puts Europe in a much more comfortable situation," he says.

 

-----

Earlier:

 Russia
2018, November, 16, 09:35:00

RUSSIAN ENERGY FOR ASIA

PLATTS - Asia is a growing market for Russian energy, including LNG, and a potential source of investment for the world's largest producer of resources and minerals. The Kremlin has increasingly looked to build its presence in the Asian region following the imposition of tough sanctions by the US on Russia.

 

 Russia
2018, November, 16, 09:15:00

U.S. WANTS EUROPE

OGJ - “Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream are not commercial projects as their proponents proclaim,” Perry said. “They are naked political gambits aimed at driving a wedge between Europeans. They would increase Russia’s leverage over Europe’s foreign policy, and Europe’s vulnerability to a supply disruption.”

 

 Russia
2018, November, 9, 15:40:00

ЭНЕРГИЯ РОССИИ И КИТАЯ

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - «Показатели поставок энергоресурсов традиционно демонстрируют положительную динамику. Только за 10 месяцев 2018 года поставки нефти в КНР, по сравнению с аналогичным периодом прошлого года, выросли на 33,7%, составив 33,36 млн тонн. При этом, угольный экспорт в Китай за 8 месяцев вырос на 15,4% до 18,12 млн тонн угля, продемонстрировали положительную динамику и поставки электроэнергии, за 9 месяцев увеличившись до 2,45 млрд кВт ч, что на 4,33% больше аналогичного показателя прошлого года. В этом году, по нашим ожиданиям, общий объем поставок электроэнергии в Китай достигнет 3,3 млрд. кВт ч.», - сообщил Министр.

 

 Russia
2018, November, 9, 15:15:00

БОЛЬШЕ РУССКОГО ГАЗА В ГЕРМАНИЮ

ГАЗПРОМ - Германия, крупнейший импортер российского газа в мире, четвертый год подряд (с 2015 года) стабильно увеличивает объемы его закупки. Так, с 1 января по 6 ноября 2018 года «Газпром», по предварительным данным, поставил на немецкий рынок 48,6 млрд куб. м газа. Это на 4,9 млрд куб. м больше, чем за аналогичный период прошлого года, который стал для Германии рекордным по объему импорта российского газа (53,4 млрд куб. м).

 

 Russia
2018, November, 7, 11:05:00

RUSSIA'S GAS FOR AUSTRIA UP

GAZPROM - In the course of the meeting, the parties signed an Amendment to the contract on gas supplies to Austria. According to the document, gas deliveries to Austria will be increased by 1 billion cubic meters per year beyond the contractual amount for the entire contract period.

 Russia
2018, October, 29, 12:50:00

ЭНЕРГИЯ РОССИИ ДЛЯ ТУРЦИИ

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - «Строительство газопровода «Турецкий поток» является одним из флагманских совместных российско-турецких проектов в сфере энергетики. Суммарно по двум ниткам уложено 1775 км морского газопровода, что составляет 95 % от его общей протяженности», - сказал Александр Новак.

 

 Russia
2018, October, 26, 12:50:00

БОЛЬШЕ РУССКОГО СПГ

МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - «Мировой спрос на СПГ к 2035 году удвоится и составит 600 млн тонн, основным локомотивом станут страны АТР, Китай и Индия в частности. При этом, строящийся и одобренные СПГ-заводы обеспечат потребность в газе только до середины следующего десятилетия. После 2025 года для России появляется окно возможностей, суммарно для удовлетворения спроса нужно будет построить еще 250 млн т», - отметил Министр. Россия может обеспечить до 40% от уровня дополнительного спроса, заявил Александр Новак.

Tags: RUSSIA, EUROPE, GAS, GAZPROM, CHINA, TURKEY