Stories tagged with "korea"

More thoughts about Gazprom

Posted by Heading Out on October 21, 2006 - 11:02am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: europe, gazprom, hungary, korea, natural gas, russia, shtokman [list all tags]

Well, I had to think about this for a little while, but I have decided to draw your attention to the BBC commentary on the current European vs Russian situation in regard to fuel pipelines, as described by Mark Mardell at the BBC yesterday.
"You know what happens when they get in the same room as Putin. They all drop their trousers and say 'I love you Vladimir'." This is the gloomy and cynical view from a senior EU insider, of the leaders of the European Union's 25 countries. Perhaps it's intended to chivvy rather than insult. But there is no doubt that the EU summit in Finland is a rather odd event.

There has been much debate over the reliability of the Russian oil and gas supplies to the rest of the world, with many commentators noting the historic reliability of the source. But as Gazprom takes over an increasing percentage of the world's delivery system, there are some concerns that perhaps need to be highlighted. This is particularly true for the United States with our "Just in time" philosophy, which (as I noted) James Woolsey worried about in St Louis.

The BBC article notes three concerns with the situation a) the threat of a supply disruption, b) the increasingly monopolistic position of Gazprom as a supplier, and c) the lack of a common resolve among nations as to how to deal with this.

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Are we worried yet? Or more on Gazprom etc.

Posted by Heading Out on April 17, 2006 - 9:52pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: china, gazprom, japan, korea, natural gas, saudi arabia, shaybah, united kingdom [list all tags]

Lest anyone think that I am alone in a concern on the increasing hold that Gazprom is taking over not only the supply, but also  the distribution networks for natural gas, there come a Moscow Times article, itself quoting a Financial Times article, on the subject.  More particularly
British Trade and Industry Minister Alan Johnson had eight meetings this year on how to block a potential takeover of British utility Centrica, the country's biggest gas supplier, by Gazprom, the Financial Times said on Monday.
. Doubts about the reliability of Russian supplies are now also arising in Korea who had been hoping to get some of the supply that would be coming to China from Russia through new pipelines.  But:
... after three years of a stalemate on plans to open up the huge Kovykta gas field, South Korea, which depends on imported LNG for almost 13 percent of its energy needs, is unwilling to hinge its energy security on a Russian vow.
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A Glimpse of our Geopolitical Future -- The East and South China Seas

Posted by Dave Cohen on March 15, 2006 - 6:12pm
Topic: Policy/Politics
Tags: china, continental shelves, exclusive economic zones, japan, korea, law of the sea, natural gas [list all tags]

Geopolitical conflicts have obvious effects on the world's supply of oil & natural gas. Mostly, such conflicts are discussed in the context of the Middle East, Russia as a supplier or West Africa. However, there is an underpublicized set of conflicts in the maritime areas of East Asia over who owns the development rights to disputed oil & natural gas rights in those offshore areas. The hottest of these conflicts is between China and Japan over drilling rights in the East China Sea (Asian Times) and among various nations adjacent to the South China Sea. And there are other disputes as well. Whether these rights of ownership are resolved amicably or through intimidation and military conflict will affect how various nations fare in obtaining their fossil fuels supplies in the future and hence their security. Let's take a closer look at geopolitical disputes in East Asia's ocean regions.
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A small supplement on LNG supplies

Posted by Heading Out on March 10, 2006 - 1:33pm
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: china, india, indonesia, japan, korea, lng, mexico, natural gas, tangguh, united states [list all tags]

Dave has been posting about our coverage of the natural gas problem, and some un-natural sources.  He has explained some of the problems of LNG and it is this I would like to re-visit to reinforce the concern about supply. It starts with a Chinese problem, that may end up biting both the US and Japan.
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Asia Times: The foundations for an Asian oil and gas grid (or, No Increased Consumption Here!)

Posted by Prof. Goose on December 8, 2005 - 11:31am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: asia, china, india, japan, korea, oil, peak oil [list all tags]

NEW DELHI - Stung by the rising international price of oil and domestic shortages coupled with high requirements of a growing economy, India has revived a plan for an oil and gas grid for the Asian continent.
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