...1. Introduction Russia holds the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest crude oil reserves. Russia recent years has become the world’s top gas exporter, mainly to Europe. At the time of fast growing electricity demand, when consumption significantly rise with development of new technologies, gas as a source of electricity become more and more important issue. Topic will discuss natural gas industry in Russia and Russian Company Gazprom. Gazprom is a peculiar corporate giant in gas industry. It is most internationally oriented company in Russia. 2. The role of geography Sitting astride the Eurasian landmass and occupying a territory of 17,098.2 thousand square kilometers, and spanning 11 time zones from Kaliningrad in the west to Kamchatka in the east, Russia is the largest state in the world in terms of territorial extent. Its northern shores wash against the Artic Ocean, while the southern resort region of Krasnodar enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Today Russia’s population is 142.2 million, and the average population density is 8.3 persons per square kilometers (1). However, this hides considerable regional variation: the average population density in the Central Federal District, which includes Moscow, is 57.7 persons per square kilometer, while in the Far Eastern Federal District it is only 1.1 persons. The Central Federal District occupies 3.8 per cent of Russia’s territory and was home to 26.2 per...
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...Russian Energy Strategy in Natural Gas Sector By Vlad Ivanenko1 December 2006 Abstract: Gazprom, one of the least reformed and most successful Russian companies, is largely responsible for defining national energy strategy. The consumers of Russian gas – the EU and post-Soviet countries – pay increasing attentions to the ways this company operates. This paper outlines the constraints faced by the Russian government and Gazprom management and lists options that these two players can employ transforming Russian energy might into economic benefits. PhD economics (University of Western Ontario) and senior trade analyst (Ottawa). E-mail: ivanenko60@yahoo.com 1 1 Introduction The natural gas sector is the least reformed and, apparently, the most successful industry in the Russian economy. Unlike the oil extraction sector –which was broken up and privatized in the early 1990s – natural gas production and distribution networks were preserved, with few exceptions, in the state-controlled monopoly Gazprom. Correspondingly, the Russian gas industry avoided ruinous warfare that the oil barons – former insiders and well-connected newcomers – waged fighting for control, ownership, and export quotas. Likewise, the natural gas sector was largely spared the troubles that befell on some oil majors (e.g. on YuKOS) which did not fall in line after the state changed its policy on energy resources in 2003. It is unsurprising that Gazprom is at the spearhead of the current Russian search...
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...government has become the major shareholder of Gazprom. (Kazin F 2006) Consequently Gazprom announced its strategic goal to become a leader in oil gas / energy sector (Miller A. 2005). Later Kremlin followed with the announcement saying that Russian Federation will become a leader in the world energy. A very coordinated move. Gazprom and government is a team. The Russian society reacted on the above with the development of two polar positions: the so called “imperialistic”, meaning finally a government and a business work together in order to protect and expand the country’s national interests and the “pessimistic”, meaning that Russian national resources will be sold out to the international businesses. In reality everything is not that black and white. A careful look at the same actions undertaken by Gazprom can be evaluated in the favor of both the above mentioned positions. Gazprom is playing a very complicated and delicate game, the strategic essence of which is to maximize its access to the liberalized European market and its end user, without trading off its monopolian advantages if possible. To reach this goal Gazprom has developed the following strategic concepts forming its general strategy: 1. Pricing. Price increase for the end users both internally and externally 2. Partial liberalization of the Russian gas market as a respond to the liberalization of the European market. 3. Diversification on the energy business and end products 4. Minimization...
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...Implications of the Turkmenistan-China Gas Pipeline Alex Goeman alextgoeman@gmail.com MC 492, Graham 4/26/2012 Abstract The struggle over energy export routes in Central Asia has taken the form of a new Great Game, one in which Western energy companies (encouraged and assisted by their governments) compete with state owned Russian and Chinese firms for the right to exploit Central Asian resources. The implementation of the Turkmenistan-China Gas Pipeline, which began to pump gas to China in 2010, has been the most significant development of the past five years and signals, more than any other event, the primacy of Chinese influence in the region. Turkmenistan now possesses the proven reserves and a partnership with China that could help it achieve sustainable development, although there are many domestic factors impeding this. As China increases its presence in the region, it seems that Russia and the West are being left behind in the race for Central Asian hydrocarbons. Executive Summary In the complex geopolitical environment of the Caspian region, all the players involved must carefully balance political and economic objectives. Each actor brings its own set of goals for the region, and in the case of the external actors these interests are generally in conflict. While Russia seeks to preserve its hegemony over export routes of Caspian hydrocarbons, Western governments overtly seek to undermine precisely this element of Russian influence. To the...
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...have intensified concern over the stability of supplies from the Persian Gulf. On the demand side, China’s and India’s skyrocketing energy consumption and their efforts to secure supplies have intensified global competition over scarce hydrocarbon resources. These changes in the landscape of the global energy market, in conjunction with diminishing refinery capacity, shrinking spare capacity and a low level of investment, have driven oil and natural gas prices higher. Currently, the European Union’s oil bill (for imported and domestically produced oil) stands at around €250 billion a year, or roughly 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).1 These soaring prices have exerted tremendous pressure on European economies and underscored the need for a common European energy policy. The dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas prices in January 2006 further highlighted the risks of dependence on a few energy suppliers. In early 2005 the Russian state monopoly, Gazprom, announced plans to start applying ‘market rules’ in its gas dealings with former Soviet republics. That meant that buyers would lose the heavily subsidized prices they had previously enjoyed and instead would have to pay similar prices to those charged to west European customers. It also meant that all bills would have to be settled in cash instead of through barter agreements. This new policy was largely seen as a punishment for the Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who...
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...Situation in Russia * Russian politics gained considerable stability after Vladimir Putin became president in 1999. * Country managed to maintain 5.2% growth in 2008, the Russian economy contracted by 7.9% in 2009. The Russian economy recovered in 2010, however, registering a growth rate of 3.9%. * Key Factors * But despite its established and seemingly stable political structure, Russia is considered to be one of the most corrupt nations in the world. * Russia scored 2.1 out of 10 in the 2010 Corruption * Country’s current account surplus reached $72.6bn in 2010, which is an increase of around 47% compared to the previous year. * The new liberal immigration laws brought in many foreign workers, especially from the EU region; indeed, it was reported that the total number of foreign-born individuals who had entered Russia had risen to 14.5 million as of the end of 2008. Immigration laws play a vital role in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and, in Russia's case, they are presently adding to its strengths. * GDP Contribution by sector: Agriculture | 4.2% | Industry | 33.8% | Services | 62.0% | Russia has maintained a surplus position since 2000. Improved competitiveness and higher oil prices facilitated a dramatic turnaround in terms of current account, from a deficit of around 0.5% of GDP in 1998 to a surplus of 12% of GDP in 1999. This surplus increased further during 2000 to 18% of GDP. This marked improvement in...
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...1. Case summary: Russia used export taxes on oil after the fall of Soviet Union which caused a huge GDP declined. After that the new Russian government freed most consumer and producer prices and this abolished the state foreign trade monopoly. The export and the value add were proven as the largest sources of tax revenue for the Russian. Government reduced income tax after implementing this strategy. This strategy accelerate the GDP increase and the budget revenue doubled from 12%-24%. Only for this reason Russian fiscal balance had shifted from a deficit of 6% to a surplus of 9% of GDP. These proved that in Russia export duties and other taxes on energy producers provide the largest sources of tax revenue which is centralized in the federal budget. Major Problems with the Oil Industry In 1991, after a long period of economic and political stagnation, the Soviet Union collapsed. The energy industry contracted along with the rest of the Soviet economy. Oil production in 1996 was less than 6 million barrels a day – about half of pre-1990 levels. This contraction was partly due to the overall slowdown in the Russian economy that caused a decrease in energy demand. The energy sector also suffered because of the inefficiencies inflicted upon the Russian economy during the administrative-command system of the Soviet Union and the reluctance of post-Soviet governors of Russia to implement policies that would remedy these inefficiencies in an era of otherwise open market conditions...
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...the natural gas markets in Asia, Europe and North America November 2012 Table of Contents Summary 3 Overview 4 Conclusions 8 References 9 Summary The major difference of the natural gas market, which sets it apart from the truly global oil market, is that the former has historically been developed with respect to the regional supply bases. This was primarily defined by existing technology for natural gas transportation and availability of other energy resource: primary oil and coal. Sharp increase of oil prices and global concern with availability of oil reserves; growing awareness of the fossil powered industry influence on the environment, introduction of LNG and GTL technologies had significant impact on the natural gas market share, demonstrating recently double digit grows in consumption for all regions except Western Europe. This script will address the key differences between the natural gas markets in Asia, Europe and North America. Overview 25% average share of natural gas in the global energy balance is distributed unevenly throughout the regions: 35% of energy consumed by Europe, 27% by North America and only 11% by Asia-Pacific come from natural gas (BP, 2012)....
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...Belarus Belarus, officially known as the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country located in the north-east of Europe and has international borders with 5 countries: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. The capital of Belarus is Minsk, a modern international city located in the centre of the country, it is considered modern because it has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, most recently after World War 2, when it was almost completely destroyed, also because Belarus an important trade and transport route between Europe and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). The country of Belarus is divided into six administrative districts, each centred around a major city: Brest Region, Homel Region, Hrodna Region, Magileu Region, Minsk Region and Vitebsk Region. After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than have any of the other former Soviet republics. Alexander Lukashenko has been the country's president since 1994, the country is run through authoritarian means and a centralized economic system, the government also has restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion. Cultural trends - Religion: Religion in Belarus is considered a unifying factor since 80% of the population are Eastern Orthodox while only 20% are of other religions. But the Government restricts religious freedom both actively...
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...Gas Worlwide Environmet Economic Environmet. Macroeconomics. Dña. Susana Garcia Andión Dña. Iria Regueiro Espiñeira D. Ernesto Rodríguez Cuervo D. Cesar González Soto D. Damián Rodriguez Estévez 2012 GAS WORLWIDE ENVIRONMET 10/02/2012 INDEX. 1. Introduction. 2 2. Major world producers, exporters, importers and reserve holders. 3 * Producing Countries. * Exporting Countries. * Proved Reserves. * Importing Countries. 3. Leading players at “gas game”. 6 * Russia. * Qatar. * Saudi Arabia. * USA. * Turkmenistan. * China. * Canada. * Spain. 4. Largest companies. 8 * National Iranian Oil. * Saudi Arabian Oil. * Qatar General Petroleum Corporation. * Iraq National Oil Company. * Petroleos de Venezuela SA. * Gazprom Group. 5. Main pipelines. 11 6. Conclusion. 12 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 14 1. INTRODUCTION. Petrol is currently the “star” resource when analyzing world energy resources according to their relative weigh and its price’s impact on world economy. On the other hand, renewable energies tend to focus attention when innovation or sustainability is the main analysis factor. Maybe because these are most common approaches, we have consider that focusing on gas might be a pretty original one, once it was...
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............................ 2 2 The Federative Republic of Brazil .................................................................... 3 2.1 General information on the Federative Republic of Brazil....................... 3 2.2 Brazil’s connection with the European Union.......................................... 4 2.3 Brazil’s financial situation........................................................................ 5 2.4 Brazil’s imports and exports.................................................................... 6 2.5 Brazil’s leading companies ..................................................................... 9 3 The Russian Federation................................................................................. 10 3.1 General information on the Russian Federation ................................... 10 3.2 Russia’s connection with the European Union...................................... 11 3.3 Russia’s financial situation.................................................................... 12 3.4 Russia’s imports and exports................................................................ 13 3.5 Russia’s leading companies ................................................................. 14 3.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 16 4 The Republic of India...
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...sem) Contents 1. Introduction to BRICs 2. Brazil 3. Russia 4. India 5. China BRICS • In economics, BRIC is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development. • The acronym was coined by Jim O'Neill in a 2001 paper entitled "Building Better Global Economic BRICs" • It is typically rendered as "the BRICs" or "the BRIC countries" or "the BRIC economies" or alternatively as the "Big Four". • It has been replaced by BRICS since the 2010 inclusion of South Africa in the bloc. • In 2010, however, while the four BRIC countries accounted for over a quarter of the world's land area and more than 40% of the world's population. • Projections on the future power of the BRIC economies vary widely. Some sources suggest that they might overtake the G7 economies by 2027. • According to a paper published in 2005, Mexico and South Korea were the only other countries comparable to the BRICs, but their economies were excluded initially because they were considered already more developed, as they were already members of the OECD. Current leader Brazil - Dilma Rousseff, President China - Xi Jinping, President India - Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister `Russia - Vladimir Putin, President BRAZIL Brazil has the sixth largest economy by...
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...BRIC: Currency Depreciation in Russia and Brazil ◎D0131160 Irina Chen ◎D0131187 Gloria Chang ◎D0173297 Sunny Chiu ◎D0173270 Doris Chen ◎D0173670 Athena Du Contents Abstract ..................................................................................... 2 Brazil ......................................................................................... 3 Why Brazil become the BRIC ................................................... 3 What was behind Brazil’s Depreciation? ................................. 8 Russia ...................................................................................... 13 Why Russia become the BRIC?.............................................. 13 What was behind the Ruble depreciation? ........................... 19 Comparison and Similarities between Russia and Brazil ....... 24 In the Future ........................................................................... 25 The Future of Brazil ............................................................... 25 The future of Russia .............................................................. 25 Conclusion ............................................................................... 26 Contributor ............................................................................. 27 Reference ................................................................................ 27 1 Abstract The BRIC is the acronym of four nations, including Brazil, Russia, India and China. The conception...
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...as well. The five Arctic countries considered in this paper (defined here as the countries that border the Arctic Sea – the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark/Greenland, and Russia – see Figure 1 on next page for map) will likely see increased interest in the development of their Arctic resources in the coming decades and will have to begin considering how to address these challenges in order to take advantage of this interest. Each Arctic country has different policies, laws, and regulations regarding oil and gas development and transportation, and these differences will affect how and by whom resources are developed, and how and where they are transported. This paper describes 1) the reasons that energy companies will likely focus more of their attention on the Arctic; 2) the current state of knowledge of Arctic oil and gas resources; and 3) issues that will affect the development of Arctic oil and gas resources including boundary issues, access to resources, environmental restrictions, tax and regulatory issues, transportation challenges, and regional issues. Attractions of the Arctic The Arctic has not been widely explored by oil and gas companies, due to the severity of weather conditions, the high cost of Arctic operations, inadequate technology, and the fact that oil and gas can be produced with greater ease and at less expense in many other parts of the world. Recent trends, however, have begun to mitigate these factors,...
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...“ Investigate the extent of competition in the natural gas industry in the European Union. Assess the impact of EU and national regulations on the prices of natural gas across the EU”. Abstract: European natural gas market currently has a decline of indigenous resources that is, at the same time, combined with the growing dependence of gas supplies coming from a few foreign exporters. As a result of this, new EU regulations and polices are proposed. This paper will analyze the past gas reforms and will try to assess the impact of those regulations on prices for natural gas and also investigate the competition of the EU natural gas market. The empirical analysis will focus on reform indicators such as vertical integration and market structure of the natural gas market, in order to show how these indicators are related to prices. By Kirill Osaulenko Content 1.0 Introduction ……………………………………………………..3 2.0 Literature Review ……………………………………………….3 2.1 The Structure Of the Gas Market in Europe ………………...3 2.2 How competitive is the natural gas market in Europe ……....4 2.3 Liberalization process across Europe………………………..5 2.4 Existing Empirical Evidence in the Academic Literature …..7 2.5 Summary of the review……………………………………...9 3.0 Competition in the EU gas Market …………………………….10 3.1 Wholesale Market ………………………………………….11 3.2 Production Market …………………………………………12 ...
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