Robert Amsterdam

Blogger Tim Newman has a great comprehensive post about the staggering investment figures, often fudged and bandied about by state officials, that are required for Russia's energy sector to get production online at current and new offshore fields:

So what does all this mean? Have the Russians taken all these factors into account when coming up with their investment figures, confident that they can pull off without a hitch for 20 years what Shell have struggled with for the past 4? They did put a man into space, after all. Nobody knows, certainly not me. But this what I think. Consider for a moment that these figures of X-billion in developments and investments have been thrown about like confetti for the past few years, but as of yet nothing has really moved forwards, and if anything large steps have been taken backwards from actually preparing the ground for the years ahead. Who can honestly say that massive investment will be easier for the Russians to get in 2008 than it was in 2005?