World of Oil

In late July, the Bulgarian Parliament ratified an agreement between Bulgaria and Russia on the building of the South Stream pipeline. Bulgaria’s interests are fully defended because the company that will develop and operate the pipeline on its territory will be with 50% participating interest of Bulgaria and 50% participating interest of Russia. South Stream will transport Russian natural gas to Italy. The pipeline is to extend under the Black Sea, from Russia’s southern port of Novorossiysk to Bulgaria, and then onward to Austria and Italy. Russia’s Energy Ministry recently announced a preliminary cost assessment of the project at $20 billion, up from the initial assessment of about $10 billion. Repairs to Shell’s damaged oil pipeline in Nigeria have been slow, a Shell spokesman said. Shell’s Nembe Creek line, located in the Niger Delta, was sabotaged in late July, and repairs have been struggling to make significant progress.