THE BEST RUSSIAN GAS

BLOOMBERG - Russia, embroiled in a deepening rift with the U.K. over the poisoning of a former spy, moved to remind Europe that it's the most flexible and reliable source of energy needed by the continent. 

Energy Minister Alexander Novak urged policy makers not to allow the diplomatic dispute to seep into the commercial relationship between his country and Europe, which last month consumed a record amount of Russian natural gas.

Russia supplies by pipeline about a third of the gas consumed in Europe and sent cargoes of liquefied natural gas to Britain at critical moments this year. It was able to step up supplies during cold snaps in the past few weeks. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has said she wants to find alternatives for Russian gas.

"Should the statements become a reality regarding alternative sources for gas instead of Russia, that will damage first and foremost the consumers," Novak said in a Bloomberg television interview in Moscow. "Should any company or country opt for another supplier, I don't think that condition will be that preferential and beneficial for them."

Russia has been boosting fuel supplies to unprecedented levels since 2016. Europe's demand is increasing, and domestic production from big suppliers like the U.K. and the Netherlands is dropping. That's left politicians concerned about the leverage Russia is gaining by stepping up its supplies to the region.

Tensions between Moscow and London mounted after British authorities said a former Russian spy was poisoned in the English city of Salisbury by what was most likely a nerve agent manufactured in Russia. That led to the biggest expulsion of diplomats since the Cold War, and the U.K. is asking its allies in the West to stand up to Russia. The government in Moscow denies all the accusations.

In the U.S., a group of 39 senators asked President Donald Trump to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Russia plans to start next year to bring Siberian gas into northern Europe. That line would run parallel to an existing pipeline underneath the Baltic Sea.

The U.S. president signed a law last year giving him the right to impose sanctions against investors or contractors participating in construction of Russia's export pipelines. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government outlined plans to expand LNG infrastructure to reduce the nation's dependence on supplies arriving by pipeline from Russia and Norway.

All those moves followed the emergence of another friction point along the main transit route that brings Russian gas into Europe. Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC is working on ways to circumvent Ukraine as a conduit for its gas after a long dispute with the nation over payments for supplies and transit rates.

Novak brushed aside suggestions that Gazprom's moves in Ukraine hurt Russia's reputation as a reliable partner.

"We can guarantee the compliance with our commitments," Novak said. "We have been doing this for 50 years already and we have necessary resources, capabilities and opportunities to ensure the long-term and reliable supply of our gas to Europe." Ukraine still has an opportunity to remain Russia's partner in gas deliveries if it offers "competitive" conditions, he said.

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Earlier:

2018, March, 18, 11:45:00 СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВО ГАЗПРОМА И SHELL ГАЗПРОМ - Стороны обсудили ход и перспективы развития стратегического сотрудничества в газовой сфере.

2018, March, 18, 11:40:00 U.S. - RUSSIA SANCTIONS AGAIN PENNENERGY - The Trump administration accused Russia on Thursday of a concerted, ongoing operation to hack and spy on the U.S. energy grid and other critical infrastructure, and separately imposed sanctions on Russian officials for alleged high-tech interference in the 2016 American presidential election.

2018, March, 16, 10:10:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR BRITAIN ANEW BLOOMBERG - While Europe as a whole gets more than a third of its gas from Russia, that share is lower in the U.K., which receives the bulk of its fuel from North Sea fields and Norway. Still, Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC was the second-biggest supplier to major industrial consumers in the U.K. last year, according to Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem.

2018, March, 16, 10:05:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR BRITAIN AGAIN FT - of the six LNG tankers that have made deliveries into the UK so far in 2018 three have carried cargoes originally from Russia, leading to questions about whether Moscow was gaining a foothold in the UK gas market after starting up the Yamal LNG facility in Siberia late last year.

2018, March, 16, 10:00:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR BRITAIN OVER REUTERS - So far this year, two Yamal cargoes unloaded at British terminals for domestic consumption, accounting for about a third of Britain’s 2018 LNG imports after typical supplier Qatar pre-sold the bulk of its winter output to Asia last year.

2018, March, 14, 11:40:00 RUSSIAN GAS FOR EUROPE PLATTS - But the dispute erupted again last week after the court ruled in Naftogaz’s favor on the transit element of the case, awarding Naftogaz $4.6 billion in compensation for Gazprom’s underuse of its transit network. The net award to Naftogaz was $2.6 billion across the entire case after the court previously awarded Gazprom a little over $2 billion in the supply ruling.

2018, March, 14, 11:35:00 NORD STREAM NIGHTMARES U.S. OGJ - Sandra Oudkirk, deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources, said Nord Stream 2 matters to the US because it would cement a transportation system in place that could perpetuate dependence on Russian gas for some key US allies. “It would not increase the amount of gas coming into Europe, only replace volumes that now are being transported through Ukraine,” she said.