Energy

No need for Europe to buy US gas at triple the price, will continue imports from Russia – Austria
The US is force-feeding Europe its liquefied natural gas, which is three times more expensive that buying it from Russia, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said after signing a gas-supply contract with Moscow until 2040. While US politicians are accusing Europe of being dependent on Russian gas, they forget that “American liquefied gas is two or three times more expensive than Russian [...]
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Russia just won big in the European gas war
US will have hard time convincing key EU members to offset overreliance on Russian piped gas with US LNG. Russia's largest gas producer Gazprom and the European Commission have recently resolved a seven-year anti-trust dispute. Much of this comes amid President Donald Trump’s so-called American energy independence push as well as both US and several EU members thrust to wean Europe off of geopol [...]
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How US is Twisting EU’s Arm, Trying to Throw Wrench Into Nord Stream 2
By trying to bring an end to the Russo-European Nord Stream 2 project, the US is pursuing its own economic interests rather than taking care of Europe's energy security. Washington is seeking to boost sales of its own expensive liquefied natural gas to Europe, thus undermining the Old Continent's competitiveness. [...]
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“Not a Problem”: Austrian Energy Giant Defends “Dependence on Russia”
US President Donald Trump has reportedly asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to withdraw its support for the Nord Stream 2 project and allegedly promised to negotiate a new US-EU trade deal. CEO of the Austrian energy giant OMV Rainer Seele doesn't see a problem with dependence on the Russian gas, as, according to him, such dependence is mutual, DPA reported. At the same time, he slammed US effo [...]
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Remaining Permits for Nord Stream 2 May Be Issued in Summer – Gas Concern’s Head
The project is beneficial both for Russia and European countries and doesn't pose any threat in terms of the EU's dependence on Moscow's energy supplies, the director general of the Austrian oil and gas concern OMV, Rainer Seele, told DPA. Decisions on the issue of the remaining permits for the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline are likely to be made in late summer 2018, Rainer Seele s [...]
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Max and Stacy compare the real data and future for fracking
In this special double header episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy compare the real data and future for fracking using actual balance sheet results and investor complaints on the absence of any profits as of yet. From Bloomberg and CNBC, headlines warn that fossil fuels face squeeze as the cost of renewables plunge and just as the surge in natural gas supply from fracking absolutely obliter [...]
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Bank of America Predicts Oil to Hit $100 per Barrel in 2019
Get ready for a spike in oil prices up to $100 a barrel – a level not seen since 2014 – in 2019, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts forecast. Bank of America Corp said Brent futures, trading as high as $78 on Thursday, are expected to reach $90 in the second quarter of 2019, depending on geopolitical developments and other factors, with a risk it could hit as much as $100 per barre [...]
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Germany Starts Preparatory Construction Works for Nord Stream 2
The preparations have been launched just over a month after Berlin gave its go-ahead to the project. Engineers have started to prepare the construction site for the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline by the shore of Germany's coastal resort of Lubmin, a representative of Nord Stream 2 AG told Sputnik. [...]
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Back to $100? Crude oil prices to soar as Iran crisis adds to global supply headache
Prices for crude may skyrocket to $100 per barrel as soon as next year as major supply risks in Iran and Venezuela are likely to strain global energy markets, say analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. According to the bank, Brent futures, currently hovering around $77, will reach $90 in the second quarter of 2019 due to the larger cut in world inventories. [...]
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Nord Stream 2 Would Increase EU Energy Security – Scholar
The EU won't support the Nord Stream 2 project as it attaches great significance to the gas pipelines going through Ukraine in context of diversification of supply routes, that's the message from the head of the European Energy Commission Dominik Ristori. Sputnik discussed this with Justin Dargin, global energy scholar at the University of Oxford. [...]
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Russian gas pipeline gets green light from Germany as US tries to kill project
Germany has issued a permit for the construction and operation of an offshore section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Germany in the Baltic Sea. “The BSH [Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany] issued the permit for this approximately 30-kilometres-long route section in accordance with the Federal Mining Act,” the company in charge of the pr [...]
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Petro-yuan helps Russia & China dump US dollar in oil trade
China is the world's biggest crude consumer and buys most of its oil from Russia. However, most settlements are still in US dollars. The launch of the petro-yuan now allows Moscow and Beijing to use national currencies instead. China and Russia are actively reducing dependence on the dollar in bilateral trade. In October 2017, Beijing launched a payment system for transactions in yuan and Russian [...]
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How long can Europe survive without Russian gas?
If Russian natural gas exports to Italy stop, the country will have only 15 days before the emergency situation, according to La Stampa. What is the scale of European dependence on the Russian gas? Can the US replace it? In Italy, the share of Russian gas imports is about 37 percent. [...]
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Only Russia Ensured Additional Gas Supplies to Germany in March – Wintershall
KASSEL (Germany) (Sputnik) - Moscow was Berlin's only foreign partner that provided Germany with additional natural gas during the cold period in early March, Mario Mehren, the CEO of the Wintershall energy company, said. [...]
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Schwarzenegger wants to sue Big Oil for ‘First Degree Murder’
Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he is taking oil companies to court “for knowingly killing people all over the world.” “This is no different from the smoking issue. The tobacco industry knew for years and years and years and decades, that smoking would kill people, would harm people and create cancer, and were hiding that fact from the people and denied it. [...]
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#BeastFromTheEast: Gazprom Comes to Aid of Freezing EU Members Again – Analyst
As the "Beast from the East" brings snow and severe cold to Europe, EU member states turn to their longstanding partner Gazprom to tackle the challenge, Andrzej Szczesniak, an energy security analyst, told Sputnik, explaining why Poland would rather freeze than embrace the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 project. [...]
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Nord Stream 2 to Squeeze Poland Out of European Gas Market
Germany has allowed Russia’s Gazprom to build and operate the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the country’s territorial waters. The decision comes as bad news for Poland, which fears Nord Stream 2 would will increase Europe’s dependence on imported Russian gas. [...]
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Solar Import Tariff: Pain Without Benefit
The new 30% import tariff just imposed on imported solar panels and solar cells is a protective tariff without benefit. It will not revive the declining U.S. silicon solar cell industry. It will harm U.S. workers in factories manufacturing solar panels using imported solar cells. It will hurt the rapidly expanding U.S.solar industry, slowing down the rapidly growing adoption of solar across the U [...]
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PetroChina’s biggest refinery doubles Russian pipeline oil intake
Since the new Russia-China oil supply agreement took effect at the start of the year, PetroChina’s largest refinery has almost doubled the amount of Russian pipeline crude oil that it is processing. A senior industry source with direct knowledge of the volumes told Reuters, the 410,000-bpd PetroChina refinery in the northeast port city Dalian will process 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude oi [...]
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