In an announcement made today, Russian Gas producer has revised its output forecast to 515 billion cubic meters (bcm) from an earlier projection of 520 billion cubic meters (bcm). This is the second time the company has lowered its projection for this fiscal year.

Alexei Miller, CEO of Russia's gas giant Gazprom has told government officials that new tax proposals will cost the Russian gas company over $18bn in the next three years. The revelation came at a meeting focused on Russia's gas strategy until 2030 and was attended by senior government ministers and representatives from major stakeholders in the nations gas supply network.

Ukrainian President, Victor Yanukovich has told Le Figaro newspaper in Paris that his country was in discussions with their Russian counterparts about the posibility of creating a joint gas company.

During a Ukrainian state visit to France, the Ukrainian president told Le Figaro newspaper today (7th October):

"We are discussing with Russia the creation of a joint company, but that does not mean a merger of the two structures." The two structures being Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Neftogaz.

The discussions on a joint gas company stem from Russia's desire to manage Ukrainina pipelines and Ukraines wish to extract gas in russia and export it to Ukraine.

During the interview Yanukovich was asked if a consortium between Russia, Ukraine and the EU was still on the cards, and if so what role France would play. The Ukrainian premier confirmed talks were under-way on a consortium agreement, and that Russian and European partners were being consult.

Source: Reuters, Paris.

Russias relentless pursuit of dominance of the global energy markets continued with the state visit of Dmitry Medvedev to Algeria.

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met with Nordine Cherouati, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Algerian State Oil and Gas Corporation (ASOGC) Sonatrach on Wednesday to discuss joint projects, particularly on the El Assel natural gas field.

Gazprom president Alexei Miller has said Gazprom is completing construction of the mainline gas pipeline from Sobolevo to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the capital of Kamchata region in Northy Eastern Russia. "This is a key component in the work to get the whole region connected", he told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the president's residence in Gorky last week. "The pipeline will come on line in September, in just a few weeks’ time. The first site to be connected will be Steam Power Plant-2," the Gazprom chief said.

Gazprom Awards FMC Technologies $190 Million Subsea Equipment Contract

FMC Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with Gazprom Dobycha Shelf LLC for the manufacture and supply of subsea production equipment to support the Kirinskoye field. The award has a value of approximately $190 million in revenue to FMC Technologies.

Kirinskoye is a subsea-to-beach gas and condensate field off Russia's Pacific coast. It is located in water depths of approximately 300 feet (90 meters) within the Kirinsky Block of the Sakhalin III project, 17 miles (28 km) offshore Sakhalin Island.

Russia starts cutting off gas to Belarus

Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday ordered Gazprom to cut deliveries of natural gas deliveries to Belarus over unpaid debts, a step which could jeopardize supplies to Poland and other European countries.

China Boosts Confidence

China’s decision to move to a more flexible Yuan policy, effectively a revaluation of the currency, has boosted confidence in the global recovery and helped Asia’s markets to start the new week with across the board gains. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is up 2.0%. Hong Kong is 2.3% better in mid session and Chinese equities are 0.6% better.