Norway to Spend More Looking for O&G Near Russian Border
three blocks bordering Norway, information on the company's website shows.Norway's state-owned oil company Equinor, previously called Statoil, had plans to drill with Rosneft in one of the blocks, known as Perseyevsky.But Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, have ended such plans.Oslo and Moscow did a deal in 2010 to end a dispute over their maritime border, which included oil and gas exploration. But since Russia's annexation of Crimea Norwegian officials have expressed concern about Russian military exercises in the region.Norway also
Environmentalists File Second Complaint to Block Nord Stream 2
say, especially if the court ordered a stay order.The Swedish Government Offices and the Supreme Administrative Court did not immediately comment on the matter.Russia is keen to press ahead with the project since it has the potential to double its gas exports under the Baltic Sea to Germany by bypassing Ukraine, but the United States has threatened sanctions against the project.Last week, Swedish politicians said they would like the project to be halted as it would have negative environmental and security ramifications.However, the 9.5 billion euro pipeline has been officially cleared by Sweden as well
Nord Stream 2 Seeks Alternative Route to Avoid Danish Waters
legislation allowing it to veto the Nord Stream 2 pipeline going through Danish territorial waters on security grounds.Russia is keen to press ahead with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline since it has the potential to double its gas exports under the Baltic Sea to Germany, bypassing traditional routes through Ukraine with which it has poor relations.The Danish government has come under fierce lobbying by Russia, EU allies and the United States over the 9.5 billion euro ($10.9 billion) Nord Stream 2 project led by Gazprom and financed by five Western firms. The United States opposes the project while some eastern
Final Cruise Sets Sail for Black Sea MAP
of Archaeology with Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; and Dr. Kalin Dimitrov, director of the Center of Underwater Archaeology in Sozopol, Bulgaria. Working in partnership, the team from the U.K., Bulgaria, the University of Connecticut in the U.S., Sweden, Norway, Greece and Ukraine has collected unprecedented amounts of data using cutting edge technology, allowing it to significantly further the understanding of this crucial part of the world in the development of humankind. This third cruise will allow the team to further their conclusions from previous findings
China’s New Polar Research Vessel under Construction
;s performance. The basic design is now in the final stages and the construction has begun at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, China. The new polar research vessel will be the first such ship built in China. The PRIC already has a icebreaking research vessel, Xue Long, which was built in Ukraine in 1993 but has since been refitted and upgraded. The new vessel will be about 122 m long and 22 m wide, and includes extensive scientific outfit including both wet and dry laboratories, a large aft working deck served by several cranes and winches, and a moon pool with scientific hangar
Gazprom: Work on Underwater Section of Turkstream to Begin in H2 2017
we will work. It's about gas supplies via Turkey towards the Turkish-Greek border and construction of new pipelines on EU territory toward the South of Italy". Gazprom had for years pushed its South Stream gas link project, to allow it to ship gas direct to southern Europe while circumventing Ukraine. But it had to scrap the South Stream project because of opposition from Brussels. (Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Christian Lowe
Obama Administration Bars New Oil, Gas Exploration off Alaska
Petroleum Institute industry group, said the decision "puts the U.S. at a serious competitive disadvantage." Russia and Norway have also explored the Arctic, though Exxon Mobil wound down drilling in the Russian north in 2014 due to U.S. sanctions over Moscow's aggression in eastern Ukraine. Fierce winds and frigid waters make the Arctic treacherous for drilling equipment. After spending billions of dollars to explore the Alaskan Arctic, Royal Dutch Shell retreated in 2015 after suffering a gash in one of its ships and environmentalists had uncovered details of an old law
Rosneft Set to Lower Oil Output
Rosneft, Russia's top oil producer, is set to lower oil output, Russian Natural Resourses Minister Sergei Donskoi said on Tuesday, giving no time frame for the decrease. He also said he hoped that state-controlled Rosneft will resume drilling for oil in the Arctic. The company suspended drilling in 2014 after its partner ExxonMobil withdrew from the project because of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; Writing By Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)
China backs Putin's idea of developing Russia's Far East
fruits." But for Putin's campaign to attract Asian funds to Russia, timing may be his worst enemy: the slowdown in the Chinese economy poses risks. Putin's turn to Asia comes at a time when relations with the West have hit their lowest since the Cold War, following Moscow's involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Russia needs money badly - sanctions and falling oil prices have hit the economy hard, with gross domestic product expected to fall 3.3 percent this year after growing 0.6 percent in 2014. China's growth, meanwhile, is slowing and its stock market falling, forcing Beijing into rate
Putin's Submarine Ride in Black Sea
down to a depth of 83 metres seated alongside the pilot in the glass-bubble cabin of the Dutch-made vessel. His head could be seen poking from the submersible vessel's glass dome structure before he took it 83m below the water off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine last year. Speaking over the radio while still underwater, Putin said he hoped the discovery would shed light on Russia's 'historical development'. '83m is a pretty substantial depth... It was interesting,' Putin said. The mission was part of a Russian Geographic
