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☆ Ukraine's Naftogaz says Russia told to pay $5 billion for seizing Crimea assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The logo of Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz is seen outside the company's headquarters in central Kyiv, Ukraine October 18, 2021. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File PhotoKYIV, April 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz said on Thursday that Moscow had been ordered by an arbitration court in The Hague to pay $5 billion in compensation for unlawfully expropriating its assets in Russian-annexed Crimea in 2014. "Despite Russia's attempts to obstruct justice, the Arbitration Tribunal ordered Russia to compensate Naftogaz for losses of $5 billion," Naftogaz said. The company, whose assets in Crimea included Chornomornaftogaz which produced significant amounts of gas from the Black Sea, gave no further detail of which overseas Russian assets it could target. Naftogaz has been in talks with investors on a debt restructuring to bring the company out of a months-long default.

But at the same time, EU countries have increased their overall purchases of Russian LNG, undermining the bloc's pledge to end its use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Russian LNG exports by region Russian LNG exports by regionEU analysis found Russian LNG imports increased to 22 billion cubic metres (bcm) last year, up from 16 bcm in 2021. Belgium and Spain nearly doubled their imports of Russian LNG in the 12 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, analysis by Kpler showed. The Netherlands has eliminated its Russian pipeline gas imports since the war and reduced, but not eliminated, Russian LNG imports. TO BAN OR NOT TO BANHalting Russian LNG imports would be double-edged, analysts say.

☆ Russia's March energy income drops 43% y/y, quarterly tax supports monthly revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Budget income from oil and gas sales reached 688.2 billion roubles ($8.67 billion) last month, compared to 521.2 billion in February and 1.21 trillion roubles in March 2022, according to finance ministry estimates. March revenues increased thanks to a 220.6 billion roubles in quarterly payments for a profit-based tax on hydrocarbon extraction. The mineral extraction tax (MET) on oil was 63.6 billion roubles lower than in February, while the MET on natural gas, was 12.9 billion roubles lower. The finance ministry has budgeted for a 23% reduction in oil and gas revenues this year to 8.95 trillion roubles. Total 2022 energy revenues of 11.6 trillion roubles jumped by 27.9% compared to 9.1 trillion roubles in 2021, by interim dividends and a one-off tax payment by gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM).

[1/2] The landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. Russia has a 51% stake in Nord Stream 1 through a subsidiary of state-owned energy group Gazprom (GAZP.MM). While the import of Russian crude oil and oil products is banned under European Union (EU) sanctions, Russian gas imports are allowed. In September 2022, several unexplained underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and newly-built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, each more than 1,200-km-long, that link Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea. Gazprom and Swiss-based Nord Stream AG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Factbox: EU keeps on doing business with Russia despite sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is a list of areas where the EU keeps on doing business with Russia. TRADE FLOWSIn 2021, Russia was the EU's fifth-largest trading partner with goods exchange worth 258 billion euros, according to the EU executive European Commission. Since the invasion in 2022, the value of EU imports from Russia fell by a half to around 10 billion euros last December. Gas is not covered by EU sanctions, but Moscow slashed pipeline deliveries to Europe since the invasion. The EU imported 2.1 billion euros worth of nickel in 2021, up to 3.2 billion euros last year, according to Eurostat.

The West imposed wide-ranging sanctions, including an embargo on seaborne Russian oil imports, after Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February 2022. "I can say today that we have managed to completely redirect the entire volume of exports affected by the embargo. INDIAShulginov said Russia had been working to reroute its oil and oil product exports to Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East from its traditional markets in Europe. Deliveries to India are set to account for more than 50% of all seaborne Urals exports this month, with China in second place. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russian oil sales to India jumped 22-fold last year, but he did not specify the volume sold.

☆ US has replaced Russia as Europe's biggest crude oil supplier
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The United States is now the biggest supplier of crude oil to the European Union. In December, 18% of the bloc’s crude imports came from America, EU data office Eurostat said Tuesday. Oil independenceImports of Russian crude into the bloc were volatile between February and April last year, Eurostat said. By the end of the year, “the EU’s biggest suppliers of crude oil were the United States, Norway, and Kazakhstan, showing that the EU managed to adapt to the changing oil market landscape and virtually remove its dependence on Russian oil,” Eurostat said. India and China, in particular, have ramped up oil imports from Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Vietnam sends ship to track Chinese vessel patrolling Russian gas field in EEZ -data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Francesco Guarascio | Thomson Reuters | Francesco Leads A Team Of Reporters In Vietnam That Covers Top Financial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

HANOI, March 27 (Reuters) - A Vietnamese ship monitored a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Saturday in a Russian-operated gas field in Vietnam's South China Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ), data show - the latest Chinese patrol in a pattern stretching more than a year. The patrols mirror Chinese Coast Guard activity elsewhere in the South China Sea, where such vessels have been used to assert territorial claims. A spokeswoman for Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Friday that Vietnam acts in the South China Sea “to protect its legal rights”. Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei are among other countries that have competing claims in the South China Sea. Chinese Coast Guard vessels have also patrolled the Tuna block; in January, Indonesia deployed a warship to monitor a Chinese ship there.

☆ Russia may demand compensation over Nord Stream explosions -diplomat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Gazprom PAO FollowMOSCOW, March 27 (Reuters) - Moscow may seek compensation over damage from last year's explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing a Russian diplomat. The pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, were hit by unexplained blasts last September in what Moscow called an act of "international terrorism". "We do not rule out later the raising of the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines," Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of Russia's Foreign Ministry department for economic cooperation, said in an interview with the news agency. He added that Western countries were opposing a Russia-prepared draft U.N. Security Council resolution urging an independent international investigation of the Nord Stream blasts. "Despite this, we intend to continue to insist on a comprehensive and open international investigation with the mandatory participation of Russian representatives," Birichevsky said.

☆ A mystery object found by the Nord Stream pipeline could help provide clues about who was behind sabotage attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A mysterious cylindrical object was found on the seabed by the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. A photo of the cylindrical object was released on Thursday, which authorities discovered on the seabed during an inspection of the last remaining intact Nord Stream pipeline, Reuters reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was a positive sign that Denmark had invited Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, to help identify the object. Russian energy giant Gazprom has a majority stake and German, Dutch, and French companies own the rest. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which transported natural gas from Russia to Germany, were not operational at the time of the attack due to disputes between Russia and the European Union.

☆ Russia host Iraq in first home match since invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 26 (Reuters) - Russia's men's team will host their first match on home soil since November 2021 on Sunday, a friendly against Iraq in St Petersburg, having been kicked out of international competition because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Russia's men have played four friendlies since the invasion, all away from home. Russia won 2-1 away in Kyrgyzstan last September, before draws against Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran. The RFU and four Russian clubs had appeals against the bans dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last July. Most international sports federations have excluded athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus since the invasion, but some are now starting to allow them back into competition.

COPENHAGEN, March 23 (Reuters) - Denmark on Thursday invited the Russian-controlled operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to help salvage an unidentified object found close to the only remaining intact gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. "With a view to further clarifying the nature of the object, Danish authorities have decided to salvage the object with assistance from the Danish Defence," the country's Energy Agency said in a statement on Thursday. "The Danish Energy Agency has in that context invited the owner of the pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, to participate in the operation," it said, adding it was awaiting a response from the operator. The pipeline operator is controlled by Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom (GAZP.MM). It was not clear if he referred to the same object that Danish authorities will attempt to salvage.

March 22 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a two-day summit in Moscow this week. UKRAINEPutin said Chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement in Ukraine, but nothing emerged from the meeting to tie his hands militarily. Bottom line: The agreed summit language suits Putin's purposes, enabling him to continue fighting while saying he is open to talk peace. Bottom line: Russia is still waiting on a deal and China has powerful leverage to secure advantageous price terms. Putin said Chinese companies would be first in line to replace Western companies that have quit Russia.

REUTERS/Florence LoBEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) - Chinese state energy giants have made a number of multi-billion dollar investments in Russia, one of China's top oil and gas suppliers, across various stages of the energy supply chain. Below are the main investments by the Chinese government, key state-owned energy companies and their listed vehicles, based on company releases and Reuters reports. 2005: Sakhalin-3 Veninsky oil projectRussian oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and Sinopec (600028.SS), agreed to jointly explore the Sakhalin-3 Veninsky block during a visit by China's then-president Hu Jintao to Moscow in 2005. It became China's first energy project in Russia. 2019: Arctic LNG 2In 2019 China's CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) and PetroChina agreed to buy a combined 20% stake in the $25.5 billion Arctic-2 liquefied natural gas project led by Novatek.

☆ Factbox: Russia's tighter energy ties with China since Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In February 2022, China also agreed to buy up to 10 bcm of gas annually by around 2026 via a pipeline from Russia's far east island of Sakhalin. Russia's gas exports to China are still a small fraction of the record 177 bcm it delivered to Europe in 2018-19. Since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, volumes to Europe have shrunk, reaching about 62 bcm in 2022. - China's seaborne imports of Russian oil are set to hit a record in March as Chinese refiners take advantage of cheap prices as domestic fuel demand rebounds. - China has largely ignored the sanctions imposed by Western nations on seaborne Russian crude since Dec. 5.

☆ Economic asphyxiation puts Russia in China’s orbit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Cut off from foreign markets by sanctions, Vladimir Putin’s government is at pains to finance budget deficits that would have been manageable in peacetime. The financial difficulties are pushing Russia further into the sphere of influence of China’s President Xi Jinping, who visits Moscow this week. Dipping into the fund, though, will push Moscow further into China’s financial orbit, Russian economist Alexandra Prokopenko has noted. In the short term, financial hope for Russia can only come from a significant increase in oil and gas prices. Trade between China and Russia increased by 34% last year as Chinese imports of oil and gas jumped 50%.

☆ Moldova no longer needs Russian gas, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Alexander Tanas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Gazprom PAO FollowCHISINAU, March 15 (Reuters) - Ex-Soviet Moldova is no longer receiving Russian gas or enduring the "blackmail" imposed by gas giant Gazprom over its difficulties in paying for supplies, the country's energy minister said. But when the (rest of Moldova) was getting gas, the Russian company resorted to supply cuts, to blackmail." A contingent of 1,500 Russian "peacekeepers" remain in the separatist region 30 years after a brief war pitting it against newly independent Moldova. Transdniestria channels funds from gas bills paid by domestic and industrial users to a "gas account" used to cover some of its substantial budget deficits. The sum of Transdniestria's unpaid bills for Russian gas is estimated by Moldovan officials at several billion dollars.

☆ Putin says Nord Stream blasts carried out on 'state level'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Caleb Davis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that last year's blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines had been carried out on a "state level", dismissing the idea an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was responsible as "complete nonsense". The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea were hit by a series of unexplained explosions last September, in what Moscow has called an act of "international terrorism". 'ANTENNA'Commenting on a report suggesting that a pro-Ukraine had attacked the pipelines, Putin said this was "complete nonsense". Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested," Putin said. The United States strongly denies any involvement in the Nord Stream blasts.

☆ Nord Stream Mystery Looms in Multibillion-Dollar Arbitration Cases Against Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Georgi Kantchev | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Officials say they increasingly believe that neither Russian-government nor pro-Russian operatives were behind the Nord Stream blasts. BERLIN—Untangling the mystery of who carried out the Nord Stream pipelines blasts could become a major factor in multibillion-dollar arbitration proceedings that European energy companies have filed against Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom PJSC. Investigators in Europe are scrambling to figure out who ordered the apparent act of sabotage. U.S. officials said this week they were probing the possibility that a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible for the blasts. Officials on both sides of the Atlantic have said they increasingly believe that neither Russian-government nor pro-Russian operatives were behind the sabotage, while cautioning it was too early to designate a culprit.

☆ Gazprom says Burmistrova steps down as Gazprom Export chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, March 10 (Reuters) - Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said on Friday that Elena Burmistrova was stepping down as the head of Gazprom Export and was moving to Gazprombank as its first vice-president. It also said that Dmitry Khandoga, in charge of Gazprom's international business, would be acting director general of Gazprom Export. Gazprom's natural gas exports outside the former Soviet Union almost halved last year to around 101 billion cubic metres (bcm). Burmistrova had worked as Gazprom Export's director general since 2014. Gazprom also said on Friday that Vitaly Markelov, Gazprom's Deputy CEO, will take charge of the company's operations on the natural gas market.

India's oil trade, in response to the turmoil of sanctions and the Ukraine war, provides the strongest evidence so far of a shift into other currencies that could prove lasting. MTS had facilitated some Indian oil non-dollar payments, the trade sources said. An Indian refining source said most Russian banks have faced sanctions since the war but Indian customers and Russian suppliers are determined to keep trading Russian oil. "As it is, the government is not asking us to stop buying Russian oil, so we are hopeful that an alternative payment mechanism will be found in case the current system is blocked." Similarly, many banks from Russia have opened accounts with Indian banks to facilitate trade.

☆ Western sanctions have weakened the dollar's dominance as India buys Russian oil with other currencies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

India has been buying Russian oil trade with non-dollar currencies like the ruble, Reuters reported. India's shift came after the West imposed new sanctions on Russian oil in December. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyWestern sanctions have weakened the dollar's dominance in oil trades, as India increasingly buys Russian oil using other currencies, Reuters reported. Still, India is now the third-biggest importer of Russian oil, and traders will likely keep looking for ways to maintain flows. "As it is, the government is not asking us to stop buying Russian oil."

☆ Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines may have been sabotaged by pro-Ukraine group, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Nord Stream pipeline explosions last year may have been the work of a pro-Ukraine group. A report in the New York Times on Tuesday cited new intelligence seen by US officials. US officials have reviewed data that indicates that the perpetrators were Ukrainian or Russian nationals and supportive of Kyiv, the report said. Gazprom, which owns the Nord Stream pipeline, saw its revenue halved as a result. Meanwhile, Russia recently decided to leave the pipelines in disrepair, effectively giving up on the European market for its gas exports.

☆ U.S. says intel suggests pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines -NYT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group of likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, but the intelligence reached no firm conclusions, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Built by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the Nord Stream gas pipelines connect Russia and Germany. "Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two. Moscow this week called for all Nord Stream stakeholders to decide its fate after three of the four pipelines were destroyed in the attacks. German energy company E.ON (EONGn.DE), one of the shareholders of the Nord Stream pipeline, declined to comment.

☆ Germany says no results yet of Nord Stream pipelines sabotage investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Gazprom PAO FollowBERLIN, March 7 (Reuters) - The German government on Tuesday said it had taken note of a New York Times report that said new intelligence suggested a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the Nord Stream pipelines attack last year but its own investigation has not yet reached results. Sweden, Denmark and Germany informed the United Nations Security Council a few days ago that the investigations are ongoing and that there are still no results, a spokesperson for the Chancellery said. "The Federal Public Prosecutor has been investigating the matter since the beginning of October 2022. Germany's public prosecutor was not immediately available for comment on the report, which Reuters could not immediately independently verify. Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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