Russian Oil and Gas Industry: News #3

Hydropower and wind may replace oil and gas in Russia

Newswise — Russia has great potential for using renewable resources because they are almost evenly distributed throughout the country, scientists say. The size of the territory, combined with different climatic conditions and terrain, gives Russia the opportunity to develop many renewable energy sources (RES), but their implementation is not accelerating. These and other conclusions researchers published in Energy Reports.

"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing renewable energy is one of the top priorities of modern countries. My co-authors were representatives of different countries and fields of activity in order to make the article as objective and complete as possible. It took us about a year to study the available theoretical materials and conduct interviews with experts in the field of RES. This allowed us to draw the most complete picture of the state of renewable energy in Russia and give some recommendations for the development of this industry," says Ephraim Bonah Agyekum, a research engineer at the Department of Nuclear Plants and Renewable Energy Sources at the Ural Federal University, the co-author of the article.

The most promising RES in Russia are wind and hydropower, scientists believe. The amount of electricity produced from these sources will be enough not only to cover local needs but also to export to European countries. Suitable areas for the installation of wind farms are territories of the Northwestern, Southern, Siberian, Ural, and Far Eastern Federal Districts. A large amount of unoccupied land is a positive factor for the installation of new power plants.

Despite the high potential and growing interest in the renewable energy sector, their introduction in Russia has been slow. The main reason, according to researchers, is the sufficiency of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Russia is not forcing the transition to renewable energy, and therefore the regulatory framework for the implementation of implementation programs is lagging behind.

"The renewable energy sector is very capital-intensive and largely depends on legislation. The existing documents in the field of renewable energy in Russia are not enough for its progressive development, - emphasizes the researcher. - There is an objective need to revise the mechanism of RES development in the domestic and global markets, to make it more attractive for investors and countries exporting green energy.

Legislative changes are just one of the factors of alternative energy sector development. Research and development of Russian universities can play an important role in the development. Experts believe that the use of foreign designs for power generation in harsh Russian climatic conditions may be ineffective. The development of more efficient technologies requires scientists not only to have knowledge but also to take into account local weather conditions.

"The country's existing projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are now very relevant. Despite the comprehensive nature of the study, further research into the sector and the opportunities and challenges of its development is needed. The article provides valuable insights that can influence the direction of policy in Russia, but we plan to work on this topic further," says Ephraim Bonah Agyekum.

Note

Representatives from universities in Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Ireland, Cyprus, and Oman worked on the study. Based on a review of existing literature and 30 interviews with experts from academia and industry, the researchers compiled a comprehensive analysis of the renewable energy sector. They described political, legal, economic, social, and technological aspects, defined the key directions of development, the main problems, and gave a number of recommendations for the development of alternative energy sources in Russia.

Renewable sources of energy are energy flows constantly existing or appearing periodically in the environment. The main types of renewable energy include solar radiation, hydropower, wind, biomass, sea and ocean currents, tidal energy, and the thermal energy of the Earth's interior (geothermal energy). The potential reserves of alternative sources far exceed the potential of non-renewable sources (oil, gas, coal, etc.) and can cover all the future needs of mankind in electricity.

kvs wrote:

A more detailed analysis of the 2020 "revolution" by U-rope consumers of Gazprom's gas.    Poland initiated the
turnover by suing Gazprom in the Stockholm Kangaroo Arbitration "Court".    Naturally the kangaroos ruled in
favour of Poland (PGNiG) and even forced Gazprom to retroactively compensate Poland for a contract it had
willingly signed.   This is absurd, since it means that all contracts can be retroactively changed which defeats
the concept of a contract altogether.  

After Poland pulled its political stunt all the other smarmy anti-Russian states also forced Gazprom to change
the pricing formula to be based not on the oil price but on the spot market.  By 2021 only 13% of Gazprom's sales
were under the oil-linked old contract formula.   Now these f*ckers are screeching that Putin is screwing them over
when they are the ones who forced Gazprom to price based on the spot markets.

Kiko wrote:
Turkish Stream is an export gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea with a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters per year. In addition to Hungary and Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are already receiving fuel.

JohninMK wrote:

Kiko wrote:
Turkish Stream is an export gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea with a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters per year. In addition to Hungary and Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are already receiving fuel.

So who is left still getting gas via Ukraine?

Hole wrote:The Poles want american freedom gas (= Biden farts). Gazprom is only delivering what is ordered.

Kiko wrote:Gazprom signed a 15-year gas supply contract with Hungary, 28/09/2021.

Gazprom and Hungary have agreed on gas supplies by the end of 2036.

The signing ceremony took place in Budapest.

Gazprom explained in its message that two long-term contracts for the supply of Russian gas to Hungary were signed between Gazprom Export and MVM CEEnergy Ltd. The total volume of contracts is up to 4.5 billion cubic meters, the duration of each of them is 15 years.

https://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/?id=105

owais.usmani wrote:https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/novatek-cfo-gyetvay-released-from-florida-jai-1359267.html

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2021) US District Court for the middle District of Florida released Novatek Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mark Gyetvay on bond with conditions, a court filing revealed on Friday.

"Court released Defendant on bond with conditions.

Court will reconvene on September 30th at 11:00 AM for a status on further bond conditions," the filing said.

US prosecutors earlier asked for $80 million bond as a condition for releasing Gyetvay. It is not clear whether that sum was met.

U.S. prosecutors who said last week they have an “exceedingly strong” tax-fraud case against a top American executive at Russian gas producer Novatek PJSC now want to delay his trial to gather more evidence from overseas.

The request to push back Mark Gyetvay’s Nov. 1 trial date by at least six months was filed Wednesday with a federal judge in Florida. Gyetvay, Novatek’s deputy chief executive officer, was accused in a Sept. 22 indictment of failing to pay taxes on $40 million in income and hiding $93 million in Swiss bank accounts from the Internal Revenue Service.

Under the Speedy Trial Act, U.S. defendants are entitled to a trial within 70 days of their indictment. Judges often are willing to push back trials in complex white-collar cases, if both sides agree. Prosecutors in the Gyetvay case asked for more time even though the gas executive, who pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing, opposes the request.

“We are going to do everything we can do to ensure Mr. Gyetvay’s constitutional rights to have a trial occur within 70 days of the indictment,” his attorney, Kevin Downing, said in an interview.

In their filing, prosecutors said courts routinely push back trials when other countries haven’t acted on requests for evidence. They said Russia and Cyprus provided evidence, while the U.K. and Switzerland have not. A “court challenge has been leveled in Switzerland” that could take “several months if not longer” to resolve, according to the filing.

Last week, prosecutors initially asked a judge to detain Gyetvay without bail, saying he could flee his southwest Florida home, that he holds passports from the U.S., Russia and Italy, and “the evidence against him is exceedingly strong.” Gyetvay was released on an $80 million bond, with GPS monitoring and house arrest. He also surrendered his passports.

At a hearing Thursday, a judge relaxed his bail terms, saying the defendant no longer had to be held under house arrest. He must remain under GPS monitoring and a curfew at night.

Last week, Gyetvay took to Twitter to say he’ll fight the charges.

Gyetvay was one of more than 30,000 Americans who sought to avoid stiff tax penalties by declaring they had innocent reasons for failing to disclose offshore holdings. Under the so-called streamlined program, U.S. residents paid penalties of 5% of their undisclosed offshore assets. But they got no guarantees they wouldn’t be prosecuted.

Another 54,000 Americans took a more arduous route in voluntarily disclosing their offshore accounts to the IRS, including their dealings with bankers and advisers. They faced penalties of as much as 27.5% of their assets, as well more than $8 billion in back taxes and other penalties. But the government agreed to never prosecute them over the disclosures.

Prosecutors said in court documents last week that Gyetvay filed a false voluntary disclosure “under a program for which he did not qualify, in which he lied about the reason for his failure to comply with his U.S. tax obligations.”

In an interview, Downing said: “All of the financial information included on the tax returns filed in the voluntary disclosure is true and correct.”

The case is U.S. v. Gyetvay, 21-cr-83, Middle District of Florida (Fort Myers).

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is growing more concerned over Russia’s restrictions on natural gas exports amid fears that some European countries may not have enough supply to heat homes this winter if temperatures are colder than normal, the U.S. envoy for energy security said.

Russian supplies are “inexplicably low,” and news Monday that the country didn’t book capacity through October “increases the concern I have,” Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s senior adviser for energy security, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. “When storage is low at these levels, if we have a colder than average winter, my concern is that we will not be able to have enough gas to use for heating, not for power, in parts of Europe.”

Hochstein spoke after European gas prices surged Monday on news that Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC opted not to flow more gas to Europe via Ukraine in October. Storage sites are less than 72% filled with just a few weeks to go before the start of heating season, the lowest level for this time of year in a decade.

Russia hasn’t said why it isn’t booking capacity, though Hochstein raised the possibility that it was a political move linked to Russia’s push to proceed with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which circumvents Ukraine on its way to Germany. The U.S. opposes the pipeline, which is almost complete, but has held off sanctioning the company overseeing construction or its chief executive despite demands that it do so from members of Congress in both parties.

“The reality is there are pipelines with enough capacity through Ukraine to supply Europe,” Hochstein said. “Russia has consistently said it has enough gas supply to be able to do so, so if that is true, then they should, and they should do it quickly through Ukraine.”

Europe Turns To Russia For More Coal As Energy Prices Skyrocket

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Oct 1 (Reuters) - German utility Uniper's (UN01.DE) CEO does not expect the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to help ease the tight global gas market this winter as an operating licence is unlikely to come quickly.

The new pipeline, which could allow Russia to double gas flows to Europe via the Baltic Sea, has faced political opposition from Washington as well as Ukraine and Poland, which have both served as transit routes to western Europe.

While the 1,200 km, twin-track pipeline is technically complete, it has to obtain a transmission operator status from the German energy regulator, a process which started on Sept. 8 and could take up to four months.

"The certification of the pipeline, as far as I know, will be so late it will probably not be able to help us out this winter," Uniper Chief Executive Klaus-Dieter Mauchbach said.

After the German regulator completes its inspection, the authority will send a draft decision to the European Commission.

Uniper, majority-owned by Finnish Fortum (FORTUM.HE), is one of five western companies that have joined up as finance partners in the Gazprom-led infrastructure project (GAZP.MM).

The others are BASF's (BASFn.DE) Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL), Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell (RDSa.L), Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI) and French energy company Engie (ENGIE.PA).

Responding market concerns that deliveries had been falling behind and were too low to help keep the market in balance, Maubach said Russia had been a reliable supplier for decades.

"All contracts we have signed with the Russian Gazprom group are being fulfilled," he told reporters in Duesseldorf, adding that Gazprom was not delivering much more than in the contracts.

He declined to comment when asked whether the Russian company was unable to, or was choosing not to, deliver more.

Gazprom has repeatedly said it is supplying customers with gas in full compliance with existing contracts and has pointed to Nord Stream 2's potential role in helping provide additional supplies.

Uniper's Russian unit, which operates coal and gas-fired power plants, needed to contribute to the company's decarbonisation efforts, Maubach said, adding that there were many possibilities to achieve this including a sale.