Actually it isn’t a “fuck you” the US. Nationalizing Yukos and selling a 20% percent stake to the Chinese serves many purposes.
Nationalizing Yukos limits international litigation against the Russian state (the original plan was to have Gazprom “buy” Yukos’ major production unit. Gazprom dropped its plan after the Houston court ruling.
Selling to the Chinese is a great idea. The Kremlin aims to be China’s sole energy source. But to keep things interesting, a pipeline won’t be built from Russia to China. Instead, a pipeline to the Pacific coast has just been announced. The Kremlin wisely has decided to diversify its export portfolio. (At the same time, the Russian rail ministry announced vastly expanded exports to China via rail).
Where does the US fit in? The US fits in well, and oil firms know it. Kremlin control of the oil (energy) sector is a windfall for US oils. The Kremlin is the boss and creates certainty. It is not widely reported but ExxonMobil is again quietly knocking on Putin’s door. Conoco has consolidated 10% ownership of Lukoil (with “permission” to grow that share).
American downstream companies continue to enter the Russian market and are making hand over fist.
Lastly, stay tuned. I am currently writing a piece titled “The Kremlin’s ‘energized’ 2005.” It’s a preview how the rest of energy sector will fall under Kremlin control or the rise of KremPEC (Kremlin Petroleum and Energy Corporation).
Doug wrote:
Renationalizing Yukos and selling 20% to the Chinese is a nice "fuck you!" to the U.S. Anyone who wants to see more constraints on U.S. imperial power should be applauding wildly.
___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
--------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20050106/fb3f46f2/attachment.htm>