In the last week, Russia made international news in the deals it is brokering over oil – both with foreign companies (i.e. BP) and foreign countries (i.e. China).
The agreement with China presents a complete turnaround of policy from the recent times, which saw China and Russia as implacable adversaries. The countries seem to have set such feelings aside, however, in favor of a new pipeline from Russia to China which, Russia boasts, could fulfill much of China’s oil need over the next 20 years. The agreement was recently signed during President Medvedev’s two-day visit to Beijing.
In a matching turnaround, the Russian oil giant TNK-BP and BP have recently begun a joint venture where just a couple of years ago, the head of BP had to go into hiding because of an escalating oil rights dispute between his company and the Russian government. This new deal is a gesture of great good-will: previously, only very limited access to Russian oil has been allowed to Western companies. The idea is to expand the reach of Russian oil companies, in particular by selling them some of BP's assets (most recently, an oil field in Algeria) while giving BP rights to a major Siberian oilfield. There is also some eyeing of the Arctic shelf going on, as companies enter into agreements for exploration and exploitation of what might be found under the Arctic sea.
In the meantime, Russia, the United States, Canada and Norway have recently entered into political negotiations concerning territorial rights to the North Pole. As more ice melts, more real estate is revealed – leading to new passageways, and new oil fields.
From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/business/energy-environment/29bp.html?_r=1&ref=russia
The agreement with China presents a complete turnaround of policy from the recent times, which saw China and Russia as implacable adversaries. The countries seem to have set such feelings aside, however, in favor of a new pipeline from Russia to China which, Russia boasts, could fulfill much of China’s oil need over the next 20 years. The agreement was recently signed during President Medvedev’s two-day visit to Beijing.
In a matching turnaround, the Russian oil giant TNK-BP and BP have recently begun a joint venture where just a couple of years ago, the head of BP had to go into hiding because of an escalating oil rights dispute between his company and the Russian government. This new deal is a gesture of great good-will: previously, only very limited access to Russian oil has been allowed to Western companies. The idea is to expand the reach of Russian oil companies, in particular by selling them some of BP's assets (most recently, an oil field in Algeria) while giving BP rights to a major Siberian oilfield. There is also some eyeing of the Arctic shelf going on, as companies enter into agreements for exploration and exploitation of what might be found under the Arctic sea.
In the meantime, Russia, the United States, Canada and Norway have recently entered into political negotiations concerning territorial rights to the North Pole. As more ice melts, more real estate is revealed – leading to new passageways, and new oil fields.
From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/business/energy-environment/29bp.html?_r=1&ref=russia
From ITAR-TASS:
No comments:
Post a Comment