Russia to Help Balkans Become New Energy Hub, Putin Tells Energy Summit

(Bloomberg) -- Russia will take an increasingly
central role in turning southeast Europe into a new energy hub,
President Vladimir Putin said.

Russian companies are ready to increase supplies of energy
to the region and invest in new power plants, Putin said,
speaking at a Balkans energy summit in Zagreb, Croatia, today.


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Putin Visits Balkans to Bolster Russia's Energy Role in Southeast Europe

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin
meets with leaders of the 10 Balkan countries in Croatia today to
bolster Russia's presence in southeast Europe as the region
becomes a hub for energy transport.

Putin will use the summit to help Russian energy companies,
such as OAO Gazprom, set up new partnerships, buy assets and win
contracts in the region, the Russian presidency said in a
statement. Gazprom, Russia's gas-export monopoly, and Eni SpA,
announced yesterday a plan to build a new gas pipeline linking
Russia to the European Union across the Black Sea and through the
Balkans.


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Gazprom Gains BP Siberian Gas Field as Putin Ends Foreign Energy Control

(Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom took control of BP Plc's
stake in a Siberian deposit with enough natural gas to supply
Asia for five years, as President Vladimir Putin ends foreign
ownership of Russia's biggest energy assets.

Gazprom will buy the 63 percent stake in the Kovykta field
held by BP's Russian unit TNK-BP and half of the East Siberian
Gas Co. for between $700 million and $900 million, BP said in a
statement distributed via the Regulatory News Service today.
TNK-BP has the right to buy 25 percent of Kovykta later.


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BP May Agree to Sell Kovykta Field Stake to Gazprom, Russian Ministry Says

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc may lose control of a
Siberian gas field big enough to supply Asia for five years, a
government official said, as Russian President Vladimir Putin
ends foreign ownership of the nation's biggest energy assets.

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of OAO Gazprom and a first deputy
prime minister, will chair a meeting in the Kremlin later today
between the Russian gas-export monopoly and BP, a Kremlin
spokeswoman said by phone, declining to be identified. Both
companies declined to comment.


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