<DrumBeat: August 5, 2006The Oil DrumTradable Energy Quotas (TEQs)>

52 comments on A BBC view of natural gas supply

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dissident on August 5, 2006 - 12:44pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Stop the incessant whinging about Russian control.  You are free to shop elsewhere or conserve.
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RussianCowboy on August 5, 2006 - 1:18pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
He is talking not about the control of the oil already exported by Russia, but about the control of the oil assets and oil companies. If the oil production in Russia is not tightly controlled by the government, how come ALL the Russian oil barons live in Moscow to be close to the federal government. BTW, this is NOT the case with Russia's steel or nikel or aluminum magnates.
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dissident on August 5, 2006 - 2:46pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
So what they live in Moscow.  Russia has no obligation to the west to service it with cheap oil and gas.  The current "state control" of Russia's fossil fuels serves Russia's interests.  As it should.  Like I said you are free to shop elsewhere or conserve if you think $230 per tcm of gas is "extortion".
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RussianCowboy on August 5, 2006 - 3:23pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Alas, the current state of control of Russia's fossil fuels serves only the interests of Russia's government officials who get fabulous kickbacks in the process of distributing oil and gas production/export rights as well as the US&EU governments whose debt notes Russia buys at the tune of $80bn a year and inflates housing prices in those countries by making the borrowing cheap. As a result, "the state of control" that you are praising hurts ordinary Russians many of whom are a poor despite living in a country ranking first in the production of oil, gas, aluminum, nikel, titanium, etc. It also hurts ordinary folks in the States & Europe because they cannot afford decent housing anymore.
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Marco on August 5, 2006 - 3:31pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Hmmm...remind you of anyone?

Alright maybe they should use the oil revenues to fund illegal wars and plunge countries into civil war. Would that be more democratic?

Marco.

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RussianCowboy on August 5, 2006 - 3:42pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
This is exactly what is going on. Despite all this anti-American rhetoric and seeming opposition to the US, Russia essentially lent the US money to wage the war in Iraq. Not only Bush, but Putin as well is stained by the blood of Iraqi civilians killed by the US military.
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Marco on August 5, 2006 - 3:54pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Actually my position is not Anti-American although from what I said that could be construid that way. What I am against is hypocracy; I know sounds cliched! I see an America and U.K. (BTW I am Scottish), that is slowly but surely killing itself through energy mis-management, overexpenditure on wars, both propaganda and military in order to line the pockets of the elite and push the democracy 'front' for some hidden Orwellian agenda.

The world resents this military policeman poking all of it's fingers in other countries business so blatently. You can see it in the european stance.

Marco

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RussianCowboy on August 5, 2006 - 8:22pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The same thing is happening in Russia. Putin is building an energy empire assuming that Russia's fossil fuel resources are inexhaustable. Almost nobody in Russia thinks seriously what will happen when the cost of the oil and gas production in Russia becomes so expensive that the process would not be economically viable regardless of the gas and oil prices in the international markets (remember that EROEI thing). Russia's oil production should be peaking second time within 3 years (maybe even this year) and the cost of natural gas for the Russian consumers will have to be raised to match its price in the international markets in only 10 years. This will make a large chunk of Russia's economy non-viable. The bottom line is, the outcome of the peak oil will be as disastrous for Russia as it will be for the US and the UK, and probably, even more disastrous because almost nobody in Russia is planning for the future without fossil fuels.
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