Robert Amsterdam

Gazprom’s bid to become the major shareholder in Repsol, Spain’s biggest oil company, has made the Spanish finance minister ‘uncomfortable’, and according to this earlier report, the offer has already been rejected. The EU is still trying to manage its dependence on Russia for energy security. The US has criticized Russia’s European energy projects, saying that the South Stream gas project is too expensive and difficult to build. VTB has financed a loan for Stockholm-listed West Siberian Resources to help it modernize. KazMunaiGaz is in talks with Transneft to increase its holding in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, having been surprised to find that Oman had sold the 7% stake it had initially wanted to buy. Gazprom is looking on the bright side of the financial crisis, suggesting that conditions could cut building costs. Read The Economist on global nuclear politics, and on the possibilities of using a special kind of rock to soak up carbon emissions.