Russian Energy Week, an annual conference, began on Thursday in Moscow. For years the companies attending did business in the West: Gazprom, a state-owned Russian firm, was once the European Union’s biggest gas supplier. But since the war in Ukraine began, their focus has shifted to redirecting their exports to countries that are more sympathetic to the Kremlin. Their success has been mixed so far. Chinese and Indian refiners are guzzling shipments of crude that Western buyers spurn. But Gazprom is struggling to turn a profit
: the pipelines to China that it needs to replace its exports to Europe will take years to build. Novatek, Russia’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, is crippled by sanctions. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has said that energy ministers from the BRICS—a bloc consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—will gather on the sidelines of the conference. Energy companies will be hoping that the meetings yield more than just talk.
|