Russia's huge oil offer to China is truly remarkable

[Dotworld]

Russia's freezing north has never been the most welcoming place for foreign travelers, and its onshore oil riches have always been state secrets. But when the order comes from the Kremlin to open up, people obey.

Last September, President Vladimir Putin, who has been seeking new markets in Asia for Russian energy exports to replace traditional customers in Europe, announced that he would welcome Chinese investment in Vankor, a vast new oil field in remote eastern Siberia owned by the state firm Rosneft.

Since then, delegations from both China and India have been flown out to visit the field in the remote tundra.

Some of the workers, who spend four weeks at a time at the isolated station - where temperatures can fall as low as minus 60 Celsius (minus 76 Fahrenheit) - have duly taken up Mandarin.

"No problem. We will work with the Chinese workers if need be," said Alexei Zyryanov, deputy head of an oil and gas production unit.

All of Vankor's output of 440,000 barrels per day of crude is already shipped east, via the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, which includes a spur feeding China's northeast.

But a proposed Chinese investment in a stake in the project would go far further than Moscow has ever gone before to luring Beijing into its hydrocarbon industry.

Rarely has Moscow considered offering an ownership stake in such a big strategic onshore deposit to outsiders, despite decades of interest from Western majors. The offer is the more remarkable for being made to China, a rival for decades with which Russia nearly went to war in the 1960s over a border dispute.

Rosneft confirmed it had reached a draft agreement to sell a 10% stake in Vankor to China.

The Kremlin has made much of its "pivot to Asia," seeking new energy markets since Western governments imposed sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis last year.

Last year, China overtook Germany as Russia's biggest buyer of crude oil, thanks to Rosneft's securing deals to boost supplies via the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline and another crossing Kazakhstan.

Still, with prices for oil having halved over the past year and natural gas prices also plunging, the Kremlin may find that Beijing is now seeking tough terms for any investment.

Other energy projects that depend on Chinese demand have hit stumbling blocks. Reuters reported on Tuesday that a liquefied natural gas plant on the Pacific Ocean island of Sakhalin, intended to produce fuel for export to Asia, may be delayed by several years.

Last month Reuters reported that a flagship project to build a new pipeline for natural gas from giant new Siberian fields to eastern China may also be delayed.

Vankor is the largest oil discovery in Russia in nearly three decades, key to Russia's policy to find and tap new regions, such as east Siberia, as reserves in west Siberia, the heartland of Russian oil production, are depleting.

"It is a new Kuwait," said Alexander Cherepanov, chief engineer at Rosneft's subsidiary Vankorneft.

Workers pride themselves in being able to operate under extreme conditions.

"Wrenches sometimes break because of the frost," said an oil production operator, Gennady. "In summer, it's fine. You just use a mosquito repellent."

Few inhabited places on earth are as remote. It is an hour by helicopter to the nearest airport, Igarka, and Moscow is nearly 2,800 kilometers (1,750 miles) away.

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said last month that Russia had overcome a "psychological barrier" and was ready to offer China control over hydrocarbon reserves.

The Energy Ministry predicts the share of oil and oil products sent to Asia will double to 23% by 2035, and the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline will be expanded to 80 million tonnes (1.6 million barrels per day) by 2020.

Still, in the insular world of Siberian oil work, outsiders are not yet quite embraced. When a native Russian reporter asked for a "sandwich" in the employees' canteen, the woman working there was immediately suspicious.

"'Sandwich' is a foreign word," she said. "Are you a spy?"
Source: businessinsider

Europe wamepotea kweli, walijifanya kuwasikiliza Wamarekani katika Geopolitics game zao na kuweka vikwazo dhidi ya Russia sasa Resources zote zinaenda China na Europe wanakosa ambapo itawabidi wanunue kwengine kwa gharama kubwa zaidi.

Yaani mpaka sanctions zije kuwa lifted makampuni ya Europe yatajikuta katika unfavorable positions viz China, BRICS countries & other Asian coutries.

 

[DeletedMember281674]

Hongera wachina

 

[Dotworld]

Sanctions against Russia are ‘economic weapon' that targets French business


A French delegation visiting Russia to forge dialogue between Moscow and Paris has urged that sanctions be lifted in July. Meanwhile, France's National Front's foreign affairs advisor told RT that sanctions are an ‘unproductive game played by the US.'

READ MORE: EU rules out automatic extension of anti-Russia sanctions

National Assembly Member, Thierry Mariani, led a delegation of 20 French politicians to the Russian capital. The MPs arrived in Moscow on Thursday following an invitation from State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin. During the visit, policymakers slammed EU sanctions against Russia, with Mariani saying, "Sanctions are silly. Sanction politics are not yielding any positive results."

The Vice-President of the left leaning Citizen and Republican Movement, Marie-Francoise Bechtel criticized the US for being selfish in its policies. "America doesn't care, it likes slapping on sanctions. We are the ones who suffer. We must be independent from US politics."

French lawmakers labelled their trip as a friendship gesture, with similar signals coming from other European governments, who are seeking to mend ties with Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, and Belgian Foreign Minister, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Didier Reynders meet in Moscow.(RIA Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich)

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, who visited Moscow earlier this week and met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov said, "We are ready to build new relations in short-term and long-term periods to tackle crises."

Meanwhile, RT spoke with Aymeric Chauprade, who is the Foreign Affairs Advisor of Marine Le Pen's National Front, which has long spoken in favor of France's alliance with Russia.

RT: Why does the French National Front believe Paris should have closer ties with Moscow?

Aymeric Chauprade: We believe we need a balance in Europe. We need a very good relationship with Russia, not only between France and Russia, but between all the European countries and Russia. It is a question of peace. It is a question of stability and that is a reason why we completely refuse the US game in Europe that consists of putting the pressure on Russia regarding Ukraine. It was a counterproductive [game]. The result is a loss of $21 billion worth of trade because of the sanctions against Russia. It is an economic disaster and we have severed the relationship with Russia, so we [need] to rebuild and find a new, smart policy with Russia.

Reuters / Vincent Kessler



RT: A group of French lawmakers visited Moscow today, talking of the need for dialogue and criticizing sanctions. How likely is it that they can sway Paris?

AC: I appreciate what they did. Even though they are political opponents, they are doing something very right, trying to improve the relationship, to repair it. But, the problem is they are not representing the majority of their parties. There is only one party in France – National Front – which tries to really set a good and stable relationship with Russia.

At the European Parliament all these members are voting against Russia to increase the sanctions. Fortunately things are changing. People are starting to think.

RT: A member of the National Assembly, Thierry Mariani, said he hopes sanctions against Russia will be lifted by July. Is that a realistic target?

AC: He is doing a good job. He is saying for example that we have 1,200 French and Russian companies in Russia. We have a lot of interest. We have jobs, we have technological investment. There is a good point in the evolution because we have more and more countries in Europe like Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and also like France, which think that we do not have to extend the sanctions in July. We should decide to stop these stupid sanctions that are completely counterproductive for European interests.

 

[TRUVADA]

Respect to v . Puttin

 

[CHASHA FARMING]

Sijui kama atatokea kiongozi kama Putini na hata Urusi kwenyewe wanatambua hilo na wanaamini hakuna atakaye tokea kama putini