30 December 2011
Last updated at 11:49 ET

Mr Putin told Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller the pipeline’s construction should start in 2012

Russia has brought forward to late 2012 from 2013 the start date for building a pipeline to transport gas to Europe under the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the move after Turkey gave permission for the South Stream gas pipeline to be built under its waters.

The first gas is expected to be pumped through the pipeline in 2015.

The move gives the project a clear run into the lucrative energy markets of Europe.

Kiev had had failed to reach an agreement with the pipeline’s owners. Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom has a 50% stake, Italy’s Eni 20% and France’s EDF and Germany’s Wintershall 15% each.

The main rival to the South Stream project is the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline, which is set to carry gas from the Caspian region to Austria, passing through southern Europe.

The Nord Stream, pumping gas from Russia’s northern fields to Germany, opened last month, bypassing Poland, which like Ukraine has also had disputes with Russia over gas.

‘Strategic partnership’

“I think it would be desirable to start (construction) at the end of next year,” Mr Putin told Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller during a meeting at his house outside Moscow.

Mr Miller said the pipeline’s total cost would be 16.5bn

Read the whole article at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-16367396

30 December 2011
Last updated at 11:49 ET

Mr Putin told Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller the pipeline’s construction should start in 2012

Russia has brought forward to late 2012 from 2013 the start date for building a pipeline to transport gas to Europe under the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the move after Turkey gave permission for the South Stream gas pipeline to be built under its waters.

The first gas is expected to be pumped through the pipeline in 2015.

The move gives the project a clear run into the lucrative energy markets of Europe.

Kiev had had failed to reach an agreement with the pipeline’s owners. Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom has a 50% stake, Italy’s Eni 20% and France’s EDF and Germany’s Wintershall 15% each.

The main rival to the South Stream project is the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline, which is set to carry gas from the Caspian region to Austria, passing through southern Europe.

The Nord Stream, pumping gas from Russia’s northern fields to Germany, opened last month, bypassing Poland, which like Ukraine has also had disputes with Russia over gas.

‘Strategic partnership’

“I think it would be desirable to start (construction) at the end of next year,” Mr Putin told Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller during a meeting at his house outside Moscow.

Mr Miller said the pipeline’s total cost would be 16.5bn euros (£13.8bn), of which Russia would pay around 7.5 billion euros.

In energy talks with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed the countries’ “serious and major” co-operation,

Read the whole article at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-16367396

CALGARY , Dec. 30, 2011 /CNW/ – Western Canada’s intermediate oil and gas
explorers and producers outperformed the overall stock market in 2011,
a survey released today shows. Although the average investor would have
lost money by buying and holding a basket of intermediate oil and gas
companies in 2011, dividends helped limit the median loss to 6.6
percent. This compares with a median loss of 26.5 percent in 2011 for
Western Canada’s junior oil and gas companies, a loss of 16.9 percent
for the SP/TSX Capped Energy index and a loss of 11.0 percent for the
broad SP/TSX Composite index.

Financial communications firm Bryan Mills Iradesso released its 2011
share price survey in conjunction with the distribution of its
quarterly iQ Report comparing the third quarter 2011 operating and
financial results for all the junior and intermediate oil and gas
companies that operate in Western Canada and trade on the TSX and TSX
Venture Exchange. The iQ Report defines junior oil and gas companies as
those with production between 500 and 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent
per day (boe/d) and intermediates as companies with production between
10,000 and 100,000 boe/d. A total of 29 intermediates and 56 juniors
fit into these categories in the third quarter of 2011.

Bryan Mills Iradesso’s share price survey measures each company’s total
return, which is defined as the change in the share price plus any
dividends paid during the year. Five juniors and 13 intermediates paid
dividends to shareholders in 2011.

The range in the total return is significant. For the intermediates,
Compton Petroleum delivered the poorest performance in 2011, losing 95
percent of

Read the whole article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/western-canadas-intermediate-oil-gas-023500493.html

CALGARY , Dec. 30, 2011 /CNW/ – Western Canada’s intermediate oil and gas
explorers and producers outperformed the overall stock market in 2011,
a survey released today shows. Although the average investor would have
lost money by buying and holding a basket of intermediate oil and gas
companies in 2011, dividends helped limit the median loss to 6.6
percent. This compares with a median loss of 26.5 percent in 2011 for
Western Canada’s junior oil and gas companies, a loss of 16.9 percent
for the SP/TSX Capped Energy index and a loss of 11.0 percent for the
broad SP/TSX Composite index.

Financial communications firm Bryan Mills Iradesso released its 2011
share price survey in conjunction with the distribution of its
quarterly iQ Report comparing the third quarter 2011 operating and
financial results for all the junior and intermediate oil and gas
companies that operate in Western Canada and trade on the TSX and TSX
Venture Exchange. The iQ Report defines junior oil and gas companies as
those with production between 500 and 10,000 barrels of oil equivalent
per day (boe/d) and intermediates as companies with production between
10,000 and 100,000 boe/d. A total of 29 intermediates and 56 juniors
fit into these categories in the third quarter of 2011.

Bryan Mills Iradesso’s share price survey measures each company’s total
return, which is defined as the change in the share price plus any
dividends paid during the year. Five juniors and 13 intermediates paid
dividends to shareholders in 2011.

The range in the total return is significant. For the intermediates,
Compton Petroleum delivered the poorest performance in 2011, losing 95
percent of

Read the whole article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/western-canadas-intermediate-oil-gas-023500493.html

Only eight percent of U.S. homes use oil heat today. Natural gas is both cheaper and has lower carbon emissions than oil, though it is still a fossil fuel and its green-friendliness is overstated. Most eco-advocates would rather see a shift to truly renewable heating sources like geothermal or solar.
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