Russian Oil and Gas Industry: News

sepheronx wrote:

KoTeMoRe wrote:

sepheronx wrote:http://sputniknews.com/business/20150824/1026144413/oil-prices-muhammad-as-sayyad-fall-further.html

This is the reason why they up production.

Errm that's the consequence, not the reason. The reason is that there's a cyclical surge on oil efficiency and the US is currently NOT buying back oil for its strategic reserve as it used to. Especially since it is also lowering the need for it, since it has stopped it military shenanigans.

The other issue is the general worsening of the global economy. In the face of the Growth Crowd, there's little real growth. So people just wait for it to be the lowest possible. Your normal chicken game. However, as said, the deeper it falls, the higher it bounces back. I really hope people enjoy the 35 USD ERA, because they'll love the 190 USD era rape.

BTW little clarification, Russia pegs its bbl price with the Brent, not WTI. Brent is little under 44 USD bbl..

Yes, you are right, partially.  The initial fall is what created this issue, but it was perpetuated by the issue itself.  If OPEC nations decided to just drop production, then prices would go back up, even if modestly.

Right now, big time sellers is petrol for Russia, and even they are facing an issue where production costs have gone up by 14% or more (I don't know where they get the figures from) but consumer prices have dropped (really small, maybe less than 1%).  But they are the ones still big time earners and I believe they are selling those more, as nations are already facing a petrol glut.

You are also right that the world economy is going into the shitter.  And yes, that would also greatly effect Russia.  But in these times, it should be in Russia's best interest to divert its economy not eastward, westward or souther or north or whatever, but inward.  Since Russian consumers account for 80% or more of Russia's GDP, there needs to be concentration on making Russian's more consistent consumers and should concentrate on sale of petrol for domestic, sale of components for domestic, etc etc etc.  With the rouble dropping, this should be prime opportunity for major companies to move production to at home.  Yota devices for instance should be making the cellphones at home now.  Same with other Russian brands.  But they are not doing it, because it is expensive to open up production no matter where, and the Russian central bank, and the absolutely brilliant (not) minds are making it relatively expensive to set up shop at home.

With gas being so cheap and with the a low-valued Rouble, I think the time is right for a massive development plan for the Far East.

magnumcromagnon wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

KoTeMoRe wrote:

sepheronx wrote:http://sputniknews.com/business/20150824/1026144413/oil-prices-muhammad-as-sayyad-fall-further.html

This is the reason why they up production.

Errm that's the consequence, not the reason. The reason is that there's a cyclical surge on oil efficiency and the US is currently NOT buying back oil for its strategic reserve as it used to. Especially since it is also lowering the need for it, since it has stopped it military shenanigans.

The other issue is the general worsening of the global economy. In the face of the Growth Crowd, there's little real growth. So people just wait for it to be the lowest possible. Your normal chicken game. However, as said, the deeper it falls, the higher it bounces back. I really hope people enjoy the 35 USD ERA, because they'll love the 190 USD era rape.

BTW little clarification, Russia pegs its bbl price with the Brent, not WTI. Brent is little under 44 USD bbl..

Yes, you are right, partially.  The initial fall is what created this issue, but it was perpetuated by the issue itself.  If OPEC nations decided to just drop production, then prices would go back up, even if modestly.

Right now, big time sellers is petrol for Russia, and even they are facing an issue where production costs have gone up by 14% or more (I don't know where they get the figures from) but consumer prices have dropped (really small, maybe less than 1%).  But they are the ones still big time earners and I believe they are selling those more, as nations are already facing a petrol glut.

You are also right that the world economy is going into the shitter.  And yes, that would also greatly effect Russia.  But in these times, it should be in Russia's best interest to divert its economy not eastward, westward or souther or north or whatever, but inward.  Since Russian consumers account for 80% or more of Russia's GDP, there needs to be concentration on making Russian's more consistent consumers and should concentrate on sale of petrol for domestic, sale of components for domestic, etc etc etc.  With the rouble dropping, this should be prime opportunity for major companies to move production to at home.  Yota devices for instance should be making the cellphones at home now.  Same with other Russian brands.  But they are not doing it, because it is expensive to open up production no matter where, and the Russian central bank, and the absolutely brilliant (not) minds are making it relatively expensive to set up shop at home.

With gas being so cheap and with the a low-valued Rouble, I think the time is right for a massive development plan for the Far East.

From what I have read over the past couple of months that is exactly the plan. Funded by both Russia and China. Bear in mind that China seems to have contracts based on spot not a fixed contract price.

Putin Gives South Stream a New Lease on Life - German Media

President Vladimir Putin’s stated desire to keep working with Bulgaria on several joint projects inspires hope that the South Stream gas pipeline project Russia scrapped last year may eventually take off, German media wrote on Monday.

“We… will continue to work with Bulgaria, independently of all the difficult questions in connection with different projects, including South Stream,"
Putin said on the sidelines of an official event in Crimea earlier this week, Deutsche Welle reported.
Putin assured those present that Russia would develop its relations with Bulgaria "on all tracks," adding that Russia and Bulgaria have historically enjoyed close ties.
In Bulgaria, his words have been taken as a "clear signal of reconciliation" and "a completely new tone in bilateral relations."

“Many in Bulgaria hope that the South Stream project can be revived,” Deutsche Welle commented.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150824/1026122064/putin-bulgaria-pipeline.html#ixzz3jmffQ0js

magnumcromagnon wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

KoTeMoRe wrote:

sepheronx wrote:http://sputniknews.com/business/20150824/1026144413/oil-prices-muhammad-as-sayyad-fall-further.html

This is the reason why they up production.

Errm that's the consequence, not the reason. The reason is that there's a cyclical surge on oil efficiency and the US is currently NOT buying back oil for its strategic reserve as it used to. Especially since it is also lowering the need for it, since it has stopped it military shenanigans.

The other issue is the general worsening of the global economy. In the face of the Growth Crowd, there's little real growth. So people just wait for it to be the lowest possible. Your normal chicken game. However, as said, the deeper it falls, the higher it bounces back. I really hope people enjoy the 35 USD ERA, because they'll love the 190 USD era rape.

BTW little clarification, Russia pegs its bbl price with the Brent, not WTI. Brent is little under 44 USD bbl..

Yes, you are right, partially.  The initial fall is what created this issue, but it was perpetuated by the issue itself.  If OPEC nations decided to just drop production, then prices would go back up, even if modestly.

Right now, big time sellers is petrol for Russia, and even they are facing an issue where production costs have gone up by 14% or more (I don't know where they get the figures from) but consumer prices have dropped (really small, maybe less than 1%).  But they are the ones still big time earners and I believe they are selling those more, as nations are already facing a petrol glut.

You are also right that the world economy is going into the shitter.  And yes, that would also greatly effect Russia.  But in these times, it should be in Russia's best interest to divert its economy not eastward, westward or souther or north or whatever, but inward.  Since Russian consumers account for 80% or more of Russia's GDP, there needs to be concentration on making Russian's more consistent consumers and should concentrate on sale of petrol for domestic, sale of components for domestic, etc etc etc.  With the rouble dropping, this should be prime opportunity for major companies to move production to at home.  Yota devices for instance should be making the cellphones at home now.  Same with other Russian brands.  But they are not doing it, because it is expensive to open up production no matter where, and the Russian central bank, and the absolutely brilliant (not) minds are making it relatively expensive to set up shop at home.

With gas being so cheap and with the a low-valued Rouble, I think the time is right for a massive development plan for the Far East.

That is happening already.  Seems central Russia gets some new refineries to convert the oil to petrol (my guess is that there is quite a bit of money in the sale of petrol to China).  And of course, as most of it is petrol, there is the idea of turning Vladivostok into a free trade area with a new visa regime.  Then there is of course expansion of railways and new railway carts for the Siberia and far east weather.  I believe mining is also still growing and more mines have opened in far east.  There are also some sporadic developments in terms of industry, like the automotive that China is opening up, wood processing, etc.

JohninMK wrote:Russia is not alone in having problems, it just gets more publicity!

Unlike those oil producers whose currencies follow the US$ Russia's does not, it is floating. The effect of this over the last 12 months has been that the price that Russia has received for its oil has not dropped in ruble terms anything like the headline figures.

This time last year Brent was around $100 and there were about 35 ruble to the US$, now it is around 45 and 70 respectively. So when that income is converted and used as rubles in Russia there is not much difference. Clearly there is a dramatic drop in the number of US$ that can be spent on imports, repaying loans etc. But all is not bad as long as the ruble tracks the US$ down.

Other currencies are reacting similarly, if not quite so dramatically, the Norwegian Kroner has dropped over 30% for instance which, when combined with the Russian food sanctions, is hitting them hard, but then you seldom read about that as it is not on the West's MSM whilst Russia's problems are front page.

Even the in the US there are problems where their income from oil sales has more than halved, resulting in the forthcoming decimation of the shale industry, along with serious drops in profits and hence tax revenues.

Absolutely correct. The only thing I fear out of this devaluation is that CBR will try to intervene when they shouldn't. Purpose of the free floating currency is so they wouldn't have to. Now they are increasing their reserves but talk of freezing or even partially increasing (again) interest rates is what scares me. As already has been mentioned, billions have been "lost" due to increase in interest rates. New production that should have opened to import substitute (ultimately dealing a blow against inflation) cannot start due to lack of funding. They would have been able to get funding though, if they were able to obtain a cheaper loan. Which they cannot thanks to the bank. So now businesses all have to line up to obtain a grant from the government in order to do such things. Which isn't such a bad idea really - aim to fight the CBR through alternatives like interest free loans through the government, or other such schemes.

I know in 2009, there were a ton of "pawn shops" opening up all over Russia to provide european style interest rates (5% when CBR had interest rates at 15%) to businesses and families. Pathetic it had to come to that, but it seems that CBR works against Russia, not for them.

http://www.rt.com/business/pawnshops-see-upside-tough/

Project Canada wrote:

Putin Gives South Stream a New Lease on Life - German Media

President Vladimir Putin’s stated desire to keep working with Bulgaria on several joint projects inspires hope that the South Stream gas pipeline project Russia scrapped last year may eventually take off, German media wrote on Monday.

“We… will continue to work with Bulgaria, independently of all the difficult questions in connection with different projects, including South Stream,"
Putin said on the sidelines of an official event in Crimea earlier this week, Deutsche Welle reported.
Putin assured those present that Russia would develop its relations with Bulgaria "on all tracks," adding that Russia and Bulgaria have historically enjoyed close ties.
In Bulgaria, his words have been taken as a "clear signal of reconciliation" and "a completely new tone in bilateral relations."

“Many in Bulgaria hope that the South Stream project can be revived,” Deutsche Welle commented.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150824/1026122064/putin-bulgaria-pipeline.html#ixzz3jmffQ0js

Another very interesting strand to Russian diplomacy. I suspect this is all about about Turkey and Syria rather than SouthStream.

First mucho publicity on NordStream 2 threatening the need for all the potential capacity of TurkStream, now this, both threatening on the one hand, with re-activating SouthStream, as well as in a way reassuring Turkey on the other. The importance is that the route to the EU via Turkey, then Greece then Bulgaria is a lot easier and quicker than going through Macedonia etc. As well as getting Bulgaria back on side now that they know what the EU/US offered in return for them effectively killing the SouthStream work and revenue stream, kinda sweet FA.

Kremlin diplomacy barely puts a foot wrong nowadays.

The agreement so far for Turk Stream, or what Turkey claims they sent to Russia, is for the single pipeline. So in other words, for gas only for Turkey. Second, third and fourth pipeline - no agreement yet.

New Russian Gas Export Projects – From Pipe Dreams to Pipelines

Well, Egypt is going to save money by not importing gas. So they will use it mainly for domestic consumption. With gas prices being as low as they are, there probably isnt much incebtive to sell abroad but save for domestic use since Egypt pays quite a bit for LNG.

Its going to be years before they actually get any out and piped/tankered to shore. Certainly not before Gazprom is pumping big volumes to China.

This is one of the many discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean off Gaza/Israel/Lebanon/Syria that could, if allowed, pump gas to the EU over the next 10 to 20 years.

Karl Haushofer wrote:Eni claims to have found a "game changing" gas discovery in the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/30/eni-makes-huge-natural-gas-deposit-find-off-egypts-coast.html

Any affect on Gazprom?

You think Egypt will become a target for Western destabilization attack to get this gas free from Egypt?

No this will not affect Gazprom.. a pipeline from Egypt to Europe is not possible..
there is deep waters and the distance too long.. it will be very expensive such project and
no investors.. if it was practical.. Israel could have replaced long ago Gazprom at least southern supplies,since they also discovered/stole Gas.. from Palestinians. Syria also discovered Gas on its
coast.. Lybia is no longer a country ,, So the discovery of this gas fields will be good for Egypt and perhaps Eni will receive a commission too for the discovery.. To counter Gazprom from middle east you need a pipeline from Turkey to Europe.. is the only practical route ,if you want to export Gas from middle east.

The only competition Russia Gazprom will face will come from a pipeline comming from
Azerbaijan to the black sea ,but it will be a small competition..and IRAN sending gas to Europe through Turkey could be a strong competition if they get Americans to support their pipeline.
Naturally Israel will not support this ,they will prefer their Gas. be sold to Europe.

In other news.. anyone know why Russia instead of Southstream or Turkstream to
bypass Ukraine.. why Russia do not use Belarus? Belarus have said they can build more
pipelines and be used its territory to bypass Ukraine... this according to people on the subject.

It looks like Russia have found a dead end on its negotiations with Turkey for the Turkish stream
pipeline to Europe over a disagreement on price ..

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/can-south-stream-make-comeback/ri9441

It seems that Turkey is trying to take advantage of Russia economic situation and get a killer
discount /deal for them that is not profitable for Russia. and according to the report above..
Russia earlier THIS WEEK.. Suggested almost confirmed ,that they will be working with Bulgaria
and with the revival of South Stream. the problem however will continue to be Brussels blocking it. But Belarus apparently have also shown interest to be used its territory to bypass Ukraine..

have anyone seen Russia having problems with Belarus over gas transit that cross its territory?
Or maybe is Russia afraid of a color revolution there too? Or maybe is the the South stream
pipeline through the black sea not only allows Russia to bypass Ukraine but also supply more European countries with Natural Gas.. in southern Europe.. and the possibility to extend the pipelines all the way to italy and or Spain.

Anyone knows why Belarus was not part of the alternative of Ukraine for Russian pipelines?

China ready to invest $18bln in oil refinery, 3 plants in Siberia, other projects — Putin
http://tass.ru/en/economy/817889

And something important to add from the article:

"Resident companies will enjoy the following benefits: zero profit tax, property tax and land tax for the first 5 years; zero import and export customs duty; subsidies on loans, special rates on rent and simplified state and municipal control procedures," Putin said. "For 10 years after obtaining a Priority Development Area (PDA) resident status, businesses will make lower insurance payments (7.6% instead of 30). Value added tax on imports for refining will also be zero."
"National and foreign companies will enjoy mineral extraction tax holiday: reduction factor (between 0 and 0.8%) will be applied for 10 years. Administrative barriers will be minimised. Most importantly, the state undertakes to create the necessary infrastructure," he added.

This states of governments help to businesses in Russia, especially far east. So it is evident that Russia is providing the needed tools to help small private companies to develop, compared to what various people claim.

Vann7 wrote:

In other news.. anyone know why Russia instead of Southstream or Turkstream to
bypass Ukraine.. why Russia do not use Belarus?  Belarus have said they can build more
pipelines and be used its territory to bypass Ukraine... this according to people  on the subject.

It looks like Russia have found a dead end on its negotiations with Turkey for the Turkish stream
pipeline to Europe over a disagreement on price ..

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/can-south-stream-make-comeback/ri9441

It seems that Turkey is trying to take advantage of Russia economic situation and get a killer
discount /deal for them that is not profitable for Russia. and according to the report above..
Russia earlier THIS WEEK.. Suggested almost confirmed ,that they will be working with Bulgaria
and with the revival of South Stream. the problem however will continue to be Brussels blocking it.  But Belarus apparently have also shown interest to be used its territory to bypass Ukraine..

have anyone seen Russia having problems with Belarus over gas transit that cross its territory?
Or maybe is Russia afraid of a color revolution there too? Or maybe is the the South stream
pipeline through the black sea not only allows Russia to bypass Ukraine but also supply more European countries with Natural Gas.. in southern Europe.. and the possibility to extend the pipelines all the way to italy and or Spain.

Anyone knows why Belarus was not part of the alternative of Ukraine for Russian pipelines?

Good question.  I may think you are right to help prevent possibility of a color revolution happening there.  But building one secretly at first (a pipeline to Belarus and then possible a connection from Belarus to Kaliningrad would be ideal.  Belarus would make some money from this and more jobs for Belarussians.  Doing it without major announcements would be in their best interest.

In news:
Rosneft is considering expanding operations in Venezuela

MOSCOW, 1 sen — RIA Novosti. "Rosneft" plans to expand its activities in Venezuela through the implementation of a number of offshore projects, according to the materials to the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China.

"We plan to further expand the scope of activity of JSC "NK "Rosneft" in Venezuela through the implementation of offshore projects in the Venezuelan Caribbean, the Gulf of Venezuela and the Atlantic coast of Venezuela," according to the certificate.

Not bad!  Competition to Gazprom for Venezuela.

But, I think Russia needs to invest in Venezuela more than just oil and gas.  They need to maybe help open an automotive plant in Venezuela?  Agriculture?  Russian enterprises are very slow at expanding, and not very aggressive.

Russia and Pakistan may sign agreement on gas pipeline in September

MOSCOW, 1 sen — RIA Novosti. Date of visit of the Minister of energy of Russia Alexander Novak in Pakistan, where it is planned to sign an intergovernmental agreement on construction of gas pipeline "North-South", currently in negotiation, presumably the visit can take place in September, told RIA Novosti the representative of the Ministry of energy of the Russian Federation.

Vann7 wrote:

In other news.. anyone know why Russia instead of Southstream or Turkstream to
bypass Ukraine.. why Russia do not use Belarus?  Belarus have said they can build more
pipelines and be used its territory to bypass Ukraine... this according to people  on the subject.

It looks like Russia have found a dead end on its negotiations with Turkey for the Turkish stream
pipeline to Europe over a disagreement on price ..

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/can-south-stream-make-comeback/ri9441

It seems that Turkey is trying to take advantage of Russia economic situation and get a killer
discount /deal for them that is not profitable for Russia. and according to the report above..
Russia earlier THIS WEEK.. Suggested almost confirmed ,that they will be working with Bulgaria
and with the revival of South Stream. the problem however will continue to be Brussels blocking it.  But Belarus apparently have also shown interest to be used its territory to bypass Ukraine..

have anyone seen Russia having problems with Belarus over gas transit that cross its territory?
Or maybe is Russia afraid of a color revolution there too? Or maybe is the the South stream
pipeline through the black sea not only allows Russia to bypass Ukraine but also supply more European countries with Natural Gas.. in southern Europe.. and the possibility to extend the pipelines all the way to italy and or Spain.

Anyone knows why Belarus was not part of the alternative of Ukraine for Russian pipelines?

If you divide the EU market into North/Central/South then the supply from Russia is basically North via NordStream, Central via Belarus/Ukraine and South via Ukraine. The plan was then, due to problems with reliability through Ukraine, to pump a bit more through NordStream and Belarus and supply the remaining Central and South via SouthStream. This hit the buffers when the EU/US persuaded Bulgaria to not join in so SouthStream died. Russia then, almost straight away talked up new pipes to Turkey as TurkStream. When that went 'soft' Gazprom did a deal with NordStream to double their capacity. (Now, were that pipe complex to run at full capacity when it is operational (it can only run at 50% due to EU regulations) it could supply virtually the whole of Gazprom's output to the EU.)

The problem remaining is that there is not enough north/south pipe capacity to route it all through the EU from Germany and difficult environmental and cost issues to increase it. This is the answer to your question re Belarus, it is not far enough South to help. Italy can get its gas from its north via Austria or under the Adriatic in the south. No possibility of a pipeline to Spain.

In the end this is a game of chicken. Who will blink first, the EU or Russia, and who pays? As Bulgaria does not seem to have seen much benefit from the EU/US it may well now allow it through so SouthStream could be back on. Also, Turkey could change its mind.

Russia needs to stop pandering to NATO states. The current open and brazen assault on Russia by NATO short of
full war needs to be met with cold resolution. Russia should issue a statement that as of the end of 2016 if the EU
has not built the necessary pipe capacity, it will simply send gas at levels which the EU can absorb. If whole
countries in the EU are left without gas, well then, that's just tough f*cking luck.

kvs wrote:Russia needs to stop pandering to NATO states.   The current open and brazen assault on Russia by NATO short of
full war needs to be met with cold resolution.   Russia should issue a statement that as of the end of 2016 if the EU
has not built the necessary pipe capacity, it will simply send gas at levels which the EU can absorb.   If whole
countries in the EU are left without gas, well then, that's just tough f*cking luck.

Russia is an honourable country that values the rule of law. I see it continuing to do deals and honour its contracts. In return it expects its partners to do the same. When that fails it responds. I cannot see how anyone could regard the Russian counter sanctions as pandering to NATO. There is devastation and chaos across many farming sectors in the EU, milk in particular.

Russia has already said that supply through Ukraine will end at the completion of the current contracts in 2018/9, giving their customers in the EU plenty of warning. The NordStream capacity increase matches that timescale. To a great extent it is now up to those EU customers that will be affected to decide how they are going to get their gas.

Gazprom and Russian ministry sign agreement on constructing Amur gas processing plant

The amount of investment is about $11.97 bln

VLADIVOSTOK, September 4. /TASS/. Gazprom and the Ministry of the Development of the Russian Far East signed an agreement on constructing Amur gas processing plant with a design capacity of up to 49 bln cubic meters per year at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

"This is a grand, large-scale project for our country. The amount of investment is about 800 bln rubles ($11.97 bln)," the Minister for Development of the Russian Far East Alexander Galushka said.

Gazprom’s affiliate Gazprom Pererabotka is constructing the Amur GPP in Amur Region. The GPP and the related helium plant will produce up to 48 bln cubic meters of marketed natural gas, 3.4 mln tonnes of ethane, 2 mln tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, and 60 mln cubic meters of helium. The first stage of GPP is scheduled for commissioning in 2019.

The Amur Gas Processing Plant is part of the project on Russian natural gas supplies to China and it may become the main supplier of ethane to the Amur gas chemical facility in the city of Belogorsk.

Russia’s gas processing and petrochemicals company Sibur is managing the Amur Gas Processing Plant project. When answering the question what the configuration of the plant will look like in case Sibur decides not to construct the Amur Gas Chemical Facility, Afanasyev said in this case ethane will be exported to China as part of natural gas. "In the first two years the ethane fraction will be delivered to the pipeline to be further supplied to China. The Gas Chemical Facility is planned to be operated starting from the 3rd year of the Gas Processing Plant operation. In case Sibur decides not to construct the Gas Chemical Facility this gas will be delivered to China as part of natural gas," he said.

Sibur plans to reach an agreement with Gazprom on the volumes of ethane supplies to the Amur Gas Chemical Facility by the end of 2015.

In late July, Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk (part of Gazprom Group) and Nipigaz (part of Sibur Group) agreed to form a partnership on design, procurement and construction management for the Amur Gas Processing Plant. "The Amur Gas Processing Plant will become Russia’s largest natural gas processing facility with a design capacity reaching 49 bln cubic meters per annum and will also include the world’s largest helium production," the report said. The plan is to start pre-developing the construction site this year. Phased commissioning of the plant’s production lines will be synchronized with the development of gas production capacities in Yakutia and the Irkutsk Region, the report said.

Earlier Russia's Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka said Gazprom and Sibur had confirmed their participation in establishment of an Advance Development Territory (ADT) in the Amur Region.

On May 21, 2014 Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation signed a 30-year contract on Russia's pipeline gas supplies to China in the amount of 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Gazprom will construct the Amur Gas Processing Plant in the Amur Region to extract valuable components (helium and ethane, for instance) from natural gas. The plan is to launch gas production from the Chayandinskoye field in late 2018. By this time, the construction will be completed at the top-priority section of the Power of Siberia GTS from the Chayandinskoye field to Blagoveshchensk (2,200 kilometers) as well as at the primary gas processing facilities. The Power of Siberia will cross 3 Russian constituent entities - the Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Amur Region - and in future will be connected to the Sakhalin - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok GTS.

Lots of update from Rosneft Sechen on Oil thinge

http://tass.ru/ekonomika/2240441

Rosneft is threatening to take Transneft and Lukoil to court. I am not sure on what though.

The moment they move to Asia (not just China) for main exports, the better.  Once Gazproms and Rosneft pipelines are built, then Asia will take over a huge portion of those % of sales. Till then, the pipelines are not even completed.

LNG may bring in some money, but it is costly and I cant imagine many would be interested in it anymore.

As well, I agree with Higura as well.  That was a good post.

LNG is a profitable business . Look at Australia they are going to surpass Qatar by 2020 as world's largest lng producer and aussies mainly export to South Korea , Japan , China , India and other S.E Asian nations . Russia pipeline will greatly reduce the cost of LNG per btu for Chinese , almost half. But RUSSIA relies on pipelines which can be a geographical constraint whereas aussies sell it via lng transporting ships

max steel wrote:LNG is a profitable business . Look at Australia they are going to surpass Qatar by 2020 as world's largest lng producer and aussies mainly export to South Korea , Japan , China , India and other S.E Asian nations . Russia pipeline will greatly reduce the cost of LNG per btu for Chinese , almost half. But RUSSIA relies on pipelines which can be a geographical constraint  whereas aussies sell it via lng transporting ships

Which if Russia builds more pipelines, will make purchasing lng even less interesting. Russia has the benefit due to location, so it would be cheaper in long run and more economical sense to build pipelines than LNG.

Karl Haushofer wrote:But aren't pipelines prone to terrorism or state sabotage if they go through hostile countries or under sea? It is surprising that terrorists or hostile states have not targeted pipelines yet.

They do, occasionally. Greenpeace terrorists at least apparently hit a Canadian pipeline years ago.

"Gazprom to Start Talks With Shell on Baltic LNG Project"

http://sputniknews.com/business/20150907/1026709596.html#ixzz3l5GxZ5wv