Yuzno.com

Shell’s troubled Sakhalin II oil and gas project has received a further blow, after it was accused of ignoring the advice of a panel of scientists on protecting the rare Western Grey Whale.
Funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other international bodies is contingent on the project adhering to the recommendations […]

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has received the first shipment of Sakhalin-I crude oil from Russia at its subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL).
“Tanker Viktor Titov has arrived at the Mangalore port. A formal function marking the arrival of 1,00,000 tonne of crude from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk will be held on Saturday,” a company official said.
ONGC […]

Just two months ago in this column we quoted George Soros’s view of Russia as “a country that does not hesitate to use its monopoly power in devious and arbitrary ways”. Mr Soros was referring to letting the state-controlled Rosneft list in London, but his view was also a good description of events that had […]

“If we manage to resolve the problem of the 529 rivers whose ecology has been damaged by the Sakhalin 2 project and a number of other vital problems of Sakhalin, they may depict us in whatever way they like. ‘Do what you can and come what may.’ Ask questions to those people who looked at […]

Mitsui is close to selling part of its stake in the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project to Gazprom, the Japanese company’s president said Tuesday.
Talks may “soon” be concluded, Shoei Utsuda said in an interview with Bloomberg in Tokyo. He failed to provide a concrete timeline or the amount of shares under negotiation.

The poisoning in London of a former KGB officer, Alexander Litvinenko, will damage investor confidence in Russia, the primary trade association representing those doing business between Britain and Russia warned yesterday.
The warning comes at a time of unprecedented interest in Russian companies raising money on the London Stock Exchange, and coincides with increased criticism by […]