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121 comments on Our first problem of the year is an energy one

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mcgowanjm on January 1, 2006 - 1:11pm Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
Russia's NTV television -- owned by Gazprom -- quoted Alexander Nemudrov, a Gazprom official at a pumping station in Slovakia, as saying gas flow out of Ukraine was already falling.

That suggested Ukraine was making up for its shortfall by drawing gas intended for other countries. Gazprom officials in Moscow said they would not know definitely if that was the case until later on Sunday.

Gazprom said gas deliveries to western Europe would not be disrupted, unless Ukraine covered its own shortfall by siphoning off transit supplies being piped westward across its territory.

Russia flexes it's power. The US must react.

Also, Problem #2-

Exxon no longer operates in Venezuela-

Venezuela takes control of oil fields

Business Briefcase

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's state oil company said yesterday it has successfully signed agreements to bring all 32 privately operated oil fields under government control after reaching a deal with Spanish-Argentine oil company Repsol YPF.

http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051231/TTMONEY09/%20512310510/-1/MONEY

How important is this? Notice you will find Nothing about this in the US MSM.

Or that 40% of oil/gas GOM production is still shutin and offline.

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Jack on January 1, 2006 - 11:40pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I believe the Associated Press (AP), which you cited, is the mainstream media. The story has been widely reported elsewhere. Here is another version:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8EQOKV8A.htm?campaign_id=apn_euro_up&chan=gb

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wkwillis on January 2, 2006 - 12:49am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The Ukraine is not taking Russian gas. They take fifteen percent of the gas for transportation across the Ukraine through their pipeline. You know, to operate the pumping stations to keep the gas flowing. You cut the flow by ten percent, they cut the offtake by fifteen percent. You cut the flow by fifty percent, they cut the offtake by fifteen percent.
Russia wants to increase the price to Europe and blame the Ukrainians, and is doing that now. Russia figures to boost the price of the oil to make up for the loss of natural gas going through the Ukraine. Russia previously renationalized the oil industry to make sure they got the increase in oil prices.
But what the Ukraine is doing is to cut off the supply of gas to the factories in the eastern, Russian speaking part of the Ukraine, which are owned by the Moscow types, instead of cutting off natural gas to the consumers in the Ukraine as a whole.
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BabyPeanut on January 2, 2006 - 6:59am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I just find it hard to believe that if you push gas into a pipeline it won't come out the other end simply from the insertion pressure.  Does it get stuck?
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wkwillis on January 2, 2006 - 9:23am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
More or less, yes. It's called viscosity.
Big whorls have little whorls
  That feed on their velocity,
And little whorls have lesser whorls
  And so on to viscosity.

     -- Lewis F. Richardson

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dissident on January 2, 2006 - 2:44pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
"The US must react"

It has by accusing Russia of assorted nefarious motives while at the same time not making a single squeak about blatant Ukrainian thievery.   The US then expects Russia to supply it with LNG and complains that there isn't enough investment in Russian oil and gas production.   Why should Russia do anything for the USA?  The US walks and talks like Russia's enemy and at the end of the day it is Russia's enemy.

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wkwillis on January 3, 2006 - 6:33am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The US doesn't want Russian LNG as far as I know. Please cite?
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121 comments on Our first problem of the year is an energy one

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