The Oil Drum

When I wrote about some of the stories that are likely to be discussed over the next year, one of those that I mentioned is the delay before we see further increases in production from KSA. In the piece I quoted from the Arab News about the latest projections of Aramco production increases over the next two years. While there has not been much change in the total projected production over the last eighteen months, there have been some, as the Kingdom has moved toward a goal of 130 rigs operating there by May of this year. Over the time we have posted here, we have quite often revisited the planned production increases from the Kingdom, and so I thought it worth having a quick look to see how things are going.

Lest anyone think that I am alone in a concern on the increasing hold that Gazprom is taking over not only the supply, but also  the distribution networks for natural gas, there come a Moscow Times article, itself quoting a Financial Times article, on the subject.  More particularly

British Trade and Industry Minister Alan Johnson had eight meetings this year on how to block a potential takeover of British utility Centrica, the country's biggest gas supplier, by Gazprom, the Financial Times said on Monday.

. Doubts about the reliability of Russian supplies are now also arising in Korea who had been hoping to get some of the supply that would be coming to China from Russia through new pipelines.  But:

... after three years of a stalemate on plans to open up the huge Kovykta gas field, South Korea, which depends on imported LNG for almost 13 percent of its energy needs, is unwilling to hinge its energy security on a Russian vow.