...thanks to SLB (formerly Schlumberger).

http://www.reuters.com/markets/commoditi...023-01-19/

Quote:Following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, world's largest oilfield firm SLB (SLB.N) has boosted its business in Russia by cherry-picking service and equipment contracts from rivals who left, according to company documents and people familiar with its operations.

While SLB's continued embrace of Russia has drawn sharp criticism, interviews with two people close to the company and industry sources, as well company documents reviewed by Reuters show SLB's decision to help Russia increase oil and gas production with its services and drilling equipment has paid off.

Quote:By contrast, SLB added around 70 employees in Russia in late 2022, including personnel to its key accounts such as Gazprom and Rosneft, according to two sources familiar with the matter who cited this as a sign that its business there is not slowing down.

The Curacao-registered company is a major foreign employer in Russia with some 10,000 employees, or around 10% of its global workforce, spread across Russia and neighboring Kazakhstan, where it has also posted sales increases.

Russia accounted for 6%, or $1.21 billion, of SLB's total revenue in the first nine months of last year, according to a regulatory filing, up from 5% before the invasion of Ukraine. Business there is further slated to ramp up this summer, according to a source and company documents.

Not hard to do when the price of oil is $80-$100 per barrel or more.

Get the price down to $50 range and it all collapses.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-ene...os1&page=1

Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s use of energy as a weapon of financial war is increasingly backfiring, threatening the core of Russia’s beleaguered economy and curtailing its geopolitical influence.

Western sanctions, falling prices for Russian fossil fuels and strategic miscalculations are hurting the country’s oil-and-gas industry while the war in Ukraine is poised to stretch into a second year. Ultimately, the strain will erode Moscow’s status as an energy superpower, according to analysts and former energy officials and executives.

Russia hoped cutting off natural gas would cause Europe to freeze and weaken its support for Kyiv, officials on the continent say. Warm weather and ample supplies from other producers have derailed that effort so far. European gas prices tumbled 15% Monday to levels last experienced in September 2021.

The Russian oil industry, meanwhile, is having trouble adapting to a European Union embargo and a U.S.-led price cap on its crude. A Kremlin threat to cut supplies in response failed to boost prices and hasn’t materialized, showing Russia’s weakened hand.

Russia has diverted much of the oil that went to Europe, but in doing so it has replaced an array of buyers with two big importers: China and India. Refiners there command low prices, in part because delivering farther afield raises shipping rates.

With gas, Russia needs to build huge pipelines eastward to sell all the fuel that used to head to Europe. That would take years. And in the long run, lost access to technology and Western know-how will likely undermine production potential as Soviet-era oil-and-gas fields dwindle...

“Russia hoped cutting off natural gas would cause Europe…”

How can a reputable newspaper even print so something so ludicrous?

Russia cut the supplies to Europe? Do these people actually believe their own propaganda or do they just lie on purpose?

(01-19-2023 01:22 PM)Todor Wrote:  “Russia hoped cutting off natural gas would cause Europe…”

How can a reputable newspaper even print so something so ludicrous?

Russia cut the supplies to Europe? Do these people actually believe their own propaganda or do they just lie on purpose?

They have selectively cut gas to certain countries.