News round-up, May 24, 2023
Words of the editor…
In reference to the remarks made by Mexican President Manuel López Obrador and published in today's New York Times:
Mexican President Said He Told Ally Not to Worry About Being Spied On
The leader acknowledged that he had been told the government’s top human rights official was targeted by spyware, but sought to downplay the surveillance on Tuesday.
They reminded me of Pablo Neruda's vivid description of that beloved country, with its diverse anthropological and geographic features, and the many dear friends I have there.
"Mexico Florido y Espinoso (Flower-filled and Thorny Mexico).
Pablo Neruda, whose original name was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, was a Chilean poet born on July 12, 1904, in Parral. Neruda's literary works were often a subject of controversy during his lifetime. The individual in question was renowned for his affinity towards women, fine wines, and penchant for amassing diverse objects. Some individuals have characterized him as a pseudo-communist. However, according to legends, it is also suggested that the Chilean poet was the forbidden "Adonis" of two other prominent figures in the arts and humanities: the renowned Federico García Lorca, who was born on June 5, 1898, in Spain and was brutally murdered in Andalucía on August 18, 1936, by the Francoist authorities, just a month after the —coup d'état— that initiated the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939); and the eccentric yet brilliant creator Salvador Dalí, who was born on May 11, 1904, and passed away on January 23, 1989, in Spain. Both Lorca and Dalí were said to have fallen in love with the Chilean poet. Don Pablo Neruda's significant contribution to saving the lives of thousands of people during the Spanish Civil War is not widely recognized* . Despite the contentious aspects of his life, Neruda's literary heritage as a poet of love continues to inspire many individuals across the globe. In 1971, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his earnest love poems, featured in his anthology: "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" (1924). In September 1973, Neruda was admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment amidst the political turmoil of the Augusto Pinochet-led coup, which resulted in the overthrow of the Allende government. Upon returning home several days later, he harbored suspicions that a physician had administered an unidentified substance to him under Pinochet's directive with the intention of attempting an assassination. On September 23, 1973, Pablo Neruda, died at his residence in Isla Negra; this unfortunate event occurred shortly after his discharge from the hospital**.
Pablo Neruda's literary works about Mexico are imbued with a sense of sanguinity and a conviction in the nation's optimistic prospects. The fascinating features of Mexico's diverse landscape, including its vibrant flowers and prickly cacti, left a lasting impression on him. The individual traveled extensively throughout the country, engaging in immersive experiences within bustling markets and expressing admiration for the remarkable diversity of the people and cultures encountered. The author perceived Mexico as a fascinating and enchanting location, imbued with a rich historical legacy and vibrant with the cadences of traditional music. Neruda was profoundly affected by the cenotes of Yucatan, which bear the enigmatic marks of the ancient peoples of Mexico on the landscape. This experience left a lasting impression on him. Despite the various challenges encountered by this great nation, Neruda cherished it deeply, regarding it as a luminous emblem of our planet's remarkable diversity and vitality.
Nevertheless, to the feelings of the wonderful Chilean poet, as well as a womanizer, thirsty for good wines and hoarder of strange things, historical evidence presents a contrasting perspective: Mexico remains a land of explosive and vibrant flavors and colors, where unfortunately, disputes challenging the established power structure are resolved through violent means rather than peaceful discourse.
*https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/20/books/review/a-long-petal-of-the-sea-isabel-allende.html**https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/pablo-nerudas-love-nest-like-his-poetry-its-filled-with-passion/2015/11/19/ffb36d5e-889d-11e5-be8b-1ae2e4f50f76_story.htmlQuote of the day…
Putin also brought up the issue of mysterious blasts at Russia-designed Nord Stream undersea pipelines.
"They blew up Nord Stream 1, didn't start Nord Stream 2," he said, referring to the twin gas pipelines from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany that were severely damaged by explosions last September.
Russia, without providing evidence, has repeatedly said the West was behind the blasts. Investigators from Sweden and Denmark - in whose exclusive economic zones the explosions occurred - have said the ruptures were a result of sabotage, but have not said who they believe was responsible.
Welcome Your New Expert Interview Series:
Germán Toro Ghio, New Expert in The Energy Collective - [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Expert Interview]
Posted to Energy Central in The Energy Collective Group, today
MATT CHESTER /Energy Analyst, Chester Energy and Policy Member since 2018/11,408 items added with 1,677,261 viewsOfficial Energy Central Community Manager of Generation and Energy Management Networks. Matt is an energy analyst in Orlando FL (by way of Washington DC) working as an independent energy...Gone are the days where energy news was niche and only for those working and trading in the industry. Now, when there’s major news in the world of utilities or oil and gas companies, that news makes mainstream headlines. And that shift is with good reason, as the constant developments in energy are now more than ever critical to assessing the state of the economy, of international geopolitics, of our everyday way of life.
Because of that, keeping tabs on the latest conversations taking place to shape the energy industry are more important than ever, but they also might take more time than ever. But when we have experts in the community who can sift through the news and highlight for you what’s most timely, impactful, and worth your time, that benefits everyone. And that’s the task that Germán Toro Ghio has taken, even before being added to our Energy Central Network of Experts.
Germán is the CEO at Germán & Co, and you’ll likely recognize the work he’s already put in with sharing the most notable and critical international energy news stories with our community. He’ll continue these efforts now as one of our Experts in The Energy Collective, and he also recent sat down with us for the latest iteration of our New Expert Member Interview series:
Matt Chester: Thanks for agreeing to be one of our experts, Germán. Why don’t we start with you introducing yourself and your background to our community: what is your experience leading to this point in the energy industry and what is your role today?
Germán Toro Ghio: In a world that has changed and where bad news has turned into a nightmare, it is challenging and tiresome to talk about oneself. The world has changed so much; it is becoming increasingly difficult to envisage that we will ever be the same again. How we live, work, and relate to each other has been altered forever, and we try desperately to adapt to the new reality and here we must be very careful especially with trends.
That said, I was born in Santiago, the capital of southern Chile. I am a professional photographer, but I have been linked to the communications world since the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
By accident, I would say, I reached the electrical sector. I became public relations and communications manager for the Spanish company Unión Fenosa in its subsidiaries in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic in 2000. I assumed the Corporate Vice-Presidency of Communication of AES Dominicana in the second half of 2004 until January 2018, since this has been an advisory for AES Corporation and other sector institutions.
For two decades, I have travelled through the industry's genesis in all its areas, thus creating a life in which I feel passionate about the sector. My participation in the natural gas promotion strategy has been crucial, starting with learning the product, its transportation methods, regasification characteristics, and types of markets where gas is commercialized with particular emphasis on the differentiation of the NYMEX price concerning the European market. In terms of marketing, I've created more than 70 advertisements to promote natural gas and the electrical industry.
MC: You are very plugged into the way that news in the energy industry impacts the wider world, and we thank you for sharing those insights for our community. Why do you think tracking energy and oil news is so critical at this point in time? Do you find there is sufficient coverage about this area?
GTG: The point here is not whether the sector's coverage is sufficient. I will try to answer the question with a reflection I wrote a few days ago: Although the human being is the result of the fusion of male and female gametes, two people are inevitably needed for procreation. However, due to this dual nature and the fact that we build our lives within a tribe, humans are inclined to become selfish, possessive, and jealous of their territory, which takes them further away from their beginnings. We are so entrenched in our small territory that we forget about global analysis. That is the great danger.
MC: We are no doubt in unprecedented times geopolitically when it comes that the oil and gas sector, between the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to OPEC influence to U.S. and its allies trying to counter all of that amid economic uncertainty. What do you think members of the Energy Central community, people who are entrenched in the utility sector, should be doing to prepare for how the coming years may play out?
GTG: Wow, that's quite a thought-provoking question. It reminds me of those lengthy and arduous corporate strategic planning sessions, where we'd often explore the most improbable and absurd scenarios to fulfil our due diligence. Sadly, we now know that some of these scenarios have become a reality with disastrous consequences for the global economy and humanity. Reflecting on these events, we must remain transparent and critical in our analysis. One of these scenarios resulted from a grave political mistake regarding essential facilities and infrastructure for the energy sector; the other health echo is still shrouded in mystery and speculation. It serves as a sobering reminder of how easily our world can crumble and how crucial it is to make wise choices that put everyone's safety and well-being first.
MC: What are the current news stories in the energy sector that have you most concerned for the coming years? And on the other hand, where do you see the greatest reason for optimism in the energy industry ahead?
GTG: I reiterate I am concerned about the trends and the hasty decisions. And here I don't want to go into detail about new technologies. Since all are welcome, what cannot be forgotten and never is that the sector requires firm and reliable power and a constant fuel supply. If we can be optimistic, it is that politicians have learned their lesson, for example in the case of Europe that could not depend on a single pipe and a single supplier, that was a tragic error.
MC: Why did you feel compelled to get more involved in the Energy Central Community? And what value do you hope to bring to your peers on the platform?
GTG: For information that is provided on the sector every second, but above all the infinite intelligence accumulated from extraordinary professionals in one place. It is trying to make the importance of in-depth analysis and 360-degree vision prevail.
So, thank you for inviting me to participate in such an extraordinary platform.
________________________________________
Thanks to Germán Toro Ghio for joining me for this interview and for providing a wealth of insights and expertise to the Energy Central Community. You can trust that Germán will be available for you to reach out and connect, ask questions, and more as an Energy Central member, so be sure to make him feel welcome when you see her across the platform.
Most Read…
Mexican President Said He Told Ally Not to Worry About Being Spied On
The leader acknowledged that he had been told the government’s top human rights official was targeted by spyware, but sought to downplay the surveillance on Tuesday.
NYT By Natalie Kitroeff and Ronen Bergman, May 23, 2023Wagner Chief’s Feud With Russian Military Cracks Putin’s Image of Control
Prigozhin’s public criticism of Moscow’s generals and defense minister reveals strains in the mighty leadership structure the Russian president built
WSJ By Yaroslav Trofimov, May 24, 2023 China prioritising Turkmenistan over Russia in next big pipeline project
Moscow is currently working on securing its second Siberia pipeline connection with China, known as the Power of Siberia 2. This move is seen as an effort to compensate for the decrease in sales to Europe caused by the Ukraine crisis. Chinese oil officials and industry consultants believe this presents an opportunity for Beijing to advance its central Asian project further.
REUTERS By Chen Aizhu and Marat Gurt May 24, 20238/Edting by German & CoPutin says energy prices approaching 'economically justified' levels
"It's disappointing that Nord Stream 1 was blown up and Nord Stream 2 hasn't started yet due to the severe damage caused by explosions in September. Russia blames the West, but there's no evidence to support this. Swedish and Danish investigators suspect sabotage, but they haven't identified who's responsible. Hopefully, we'll get some answers soon."
Reuters, May 24, 2023/EDITING BY GERMÁN & Co
The AES Corporation President Andrés Gluski, Dominican Republic Minister of Industry and Commerce Victor Bisonó, and Rolando González-Bunster, CEO of InterEnergy Group, spoke at the Latin American Cities Conferences panel on "Facilitating Sustainable Investment in Strategic Sectors" on April 12 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.How can strategic investment achieve both economic growth and social progress?… What is the role of renewable energy and battery storage in achieving the goals of the low-carbon economy?…
Image by Germán & CoMexican President Said He Told Ally Not to Worry About Being Spied On
The leader acknowledged that he had been told the government’s top human rights official was targeted by spyware, but sought to downplay the surveillance on Tuesday.
NYT By Natalie Kitroeff and Ronen Bergman, May 23, 2023*Natalie Kitroeff reported from Mexico City and Ronen Bergman from Tel Aviv.The Mexican president admitted Tuesday that he had been informed that his top human rights official was being spied on, but said he told the official not to worry about it.
The admission comes a day after The New York Times revealed that Alejandro Encinas, the Mexican government’s under secretary for human rights, was hacked by the world’s most notorious spyware while he was investigating abuses by the country’s military.
“He told me about it and I told him not to give it any importance because there was no intention of spying on anybody,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said after being asked about The Times’s report in his regular morning news conference on Tuesday.
Mr. López Obrador, who took office in 2018, vowed to stop the “illegal” and “immoral” surveillance of the past and has said his government does not spy on anyone.
Mr. Encinas was targeted repeatedly by the spyware known as Pegasus as recently as last year, according to four people who spoke with him about the spying and by an independent forensic analysis that confirmed it.
Pegasus can infiltrate cellphones without leaving any trace of an intrusion and extract every piece of data from them: every text message, every email, every photo. The system can even watch people through the phone’s camera and listen to them through its microphone.
The people who spoke with Mr. Encinas said he learned the details of the hacks after they were confirmed by Citizen Lab, a watchdog group based out of the University of Toronto.
Citizen Lab declined to comment.
The Israeli-made spy tool has infected thousands of cellphones across the world and is licensed to be sold only to government agencies.
There is no definitive proof of who was behind the hacks of Mr. Encinas’s phone, but in Mexico, the only entity that has access to Pegasus is the military, according to five people familiar with the contracts for the spyware.
Mr. Encinas leads the government’s truth commission into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students, one of the worst human rights violations in the country’s recent history. He and his team have accused the military of playing a role in the mass abduction of the students.
This is the first time there has been a publicly confirmed case of Pegasus spying on such a senior member of an administration in Mexico, let alone someone so close to the president.
When asked whether the government would investigate the surveillance of Mr. Encinas, who has been Mr. López Obrador’s friend and ally for decades, the president said, “No, we do not spy.”
Several rights groups condemned Mr. López Obrador’s comments.
“We regret that the president minimizes the espionage his administration carries out,” tweeted the Centro Prodh, a human rights organization whose employees were spied on with Pegasus last year.
A group of independent experts conducting an inquiry into the 43 students’ disappearance called for the attorney general’s office to investigate the cyber attacks on Mr. Encinas, calling them “acts that violate the right to liberty, to privacy.”
Under former President Enrique Peña Nieto, there were several Pegasus machines in Mexico controlled by the attorney general’s office, the country’s spy agency and the military.
But by 2019, all Pegasus systems in the country had been disconnected except for the one operated by the military, according to four people familiar with the contracts signed in Mexico.
After the Biden administration blacklisted the spyware’s manufacturer, NSO Group, in 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense said it would take steps to prevent the system from being used for anything other than fighting serious crime and terrorism.
The defense ministry then ordered several countries to be disconnected from Pegasus, but did not cancel the Mexican army’s license and later extended it. A spokesman for the ministry declined to comment.
NSO Group has opened an investigation into the reported abuses of Pegasus in Mexico, according to a person familiar with the company’s compliance protocols.
It is unclear how such an inquiry would affect the fate of the spyware in Mexico, where Pegasus has been used against human rights defenders and journalists for years with almost no accountability.
Image: Germán & CoCooperate with objective and ethical thinking…
Image: Strategic Petroleum Reserve storage in Texas. The U.S.’s second effort to buy oil for the SPR is based on price differentials. PHOTO: BRANDON BELL/Editing by Germán & CoWagner Chief’s Feud With Russian Military Cracks Putin’s Image of Control
Prigozhin’s public criticism of Moscow’s generals and defense minister reveals strains in the mighty leadership structure the Russian president built
WSJ By Yaroslav Trofimov, May 24, 2023 The owner of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary organization, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stood amid the ruins of the conquered Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 20 and unleashed a tirade against his foes.
Their names: Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s minister of defense, and Valeriy Gerasimov, Russia’s top general.
“Shoigu and Gerasimov have turned the war into personal entertainment,” Prigozhin thundered as he announced Wagner’s costly victory in Bakhmut. “Because of their whims, five times more guys than had been supposed to die have died. They will be held responsible for their actions, which in Russian are called crimes.”
The escalating conflict between the owner of Wagner and Russia’s top military leadership, a tale of perceived betrayal with roots in the Syrian war, represents the first significant crack in the country’s establishment since the invasion of Ukraine began more than a year ago.
The extent to which it has become public in recent weeks, affecting military operations, shows that Moscow’s setbacks on the front line are putting under strain the formidable system of power that has been created by President Vladimir Putin over the past two decades.
Russia Claims Control of Bakhmut: The Bloodiest Battle of the Ukraine War
Russia has claimed control of Bakhmut after months of fighting over the eastern Ukrainian city. WSJ explains how the city turned into the bloodiest and one of the longest battles of the Ukraine war. Credit: Concord Group Press Office/Zuma Press
Fearful of potential challengers, Putin, 70, has long promoted rivalries among subordinates. These intrigues, however, used to be hidden from the public eye. The vitriol of the confrontation between Prigozhin’s private army, which numbers tens of thousands of veterans, many of them recruited in prisons, and the country’s military leadership has shattered that mold.
“Looking at this conflict, the main conclusion drawn by Russian elites is that Putin is not capable of regulating these relations. It means that Putin has become so weak that the power vertical is coming undone,” said Abbas Gallyamov, a former Putin speechwriter and a political analyst who has become a vocal critic of the regime. “In times of war, keeping a united front is the basic task of a state. And Putin is unable to achieve that.”
Just how much this quarrel can destabilize Russia is difficult to gauge, Western officials say. “The system is hard but brittle. You never know when it will break,” one senior U.S. official said.
Wagner’s seizure of Bakhmut, with a prewar population of just 70,000, was the first material Russian advance in 10 months. In the same period, the regular Russian military has lost much greater territory throughout southern and eastern Ukraine, a fact Prigozhin constantly repeats.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu left, and Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov at a meeting in Sochi in November 2020. PHOTO: ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Putin himself has kept switching between the two sides as Russia’s military fortunes ebbed and flowed, bringing in and out of favor generals who appeared to be aligned with Prigozhin, his confidant and former caterer.
Wagner’s recent successes have elevated Prigozhin’s stock once again, prompting some U.S. officials to wonder whether he could become Putin’s successor. In a snub to his nemesis, Prigozhin has already recruited to Wagner a deputy defense minister who had just been fired by Defense Minister Shoigu.
In recording after recording, some with the bodies of Wagner’s dead soldiers as a backdrop, Prigozhin has unleashed choice curses on Shoigu and Gerasimov, accusing them of throttling the supply of weapons and ammunition to settle political scores. The ministry of defense, in a bland statement, has responded that it is providing Wagner with everything it requires.
“They are killing our soldiers, and the happy grandpa thinks that he’s doing well,” Prigozhin, 61, said in one such recent attack on Gerasimov, 67. “What will our country do, what will happen to our children, our grandchildren, to the future of Russia, and how will we win the war if it turns out that grandpa is a complete moron?”
While Shoigu and Gerasimov, aware of Prigozhin’s personal relationship with Putin, have abstained from retorting in public, some retired generals in the Russian parliament have shot back.
Wagner is “an illegal military formation. It’s not clear where it is registered and what it does,” retired Lt. Gen. Viktor Sobolev said. Many of Wagner’s practices are indeed contrary to Russian laws, including its much-publicized custom of executing deserters, often with a skull-engraved sledgehammer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, questioned by reporters about the conflict between Wagner and the ministry of defense, said earlier this month that he had listened to Prigozhin’s statements but “cannot comment because it concerns the course of the special military operation.”
This public fight is especially remarkable because of the near-total suppression of political debate in wartime Russia. Russian security services have been extremely efficient in rooting out the liberal opposition, driving tens of thousands of opponents of the war to exile and silencing most others with draconian punishments. Under laws promulgated early last year, “discrediting” Russian armed forces, even with a Facebook like, routinely leads to lengthy prison sentences.
A view of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces, on April 26. PHOTO: LIBKOS/ASSOCIATED PRESS/Editing by Germán & CoPrigozhin hasn’t been constrained by these rules. In daily statements and videos, he delivers philippics about the weaknesses of the Russian military strategy, the real strength of the Ukrainian army and the mismanagement and alleged cowardice of the regular Russian troops.
These outbursts aren’t usually shown on state TV, but they are amplified by a fleet of hypernationalist commentators on Wagner’s payroll, many with social-media audiences in the hundreds of thousands. In recent weeks, Prigozhin expanded his target list from the military brass to what he has described as “clowns on Old Square”—the address of Putin’s presidential administration.
Such no-holds-barred campaigning, creating a narrative of Prigozhin standing up to the powerful traitors who steal Russia’s victory, would be impossible without Putin’s assent, Russia-watchers and Western officials say.
“Prigozhin is hated by the generals,” said Mikhail Kasyanov, who served as Russia’s prime minister during Putin’s first term and now lives in exile. “His fate, and his very physical existence, entirely depend on Putin. Once Putin goes, Prigozhin goes too.”
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov at a military parade in Grozny last May. PHOTO: CHINGIS KONDAROV/REUTERS
The consequences of the hostility between Prigozhin and the regular military shouldn’t be overestimated, cautioned Andrei Kozyrev, a former Russian foreign minister, who pointed out that similar splits existed in the Nazi regime during World War II. “Wehrmacht’s officers also hated the SS, but all of them took part in the war despite that hatred,” he said. “Their tension was real. Yet Hitler’s Germany kept resisting until the last day, all together.”
Ukrainian commanders, meanwhile, have praised opposite sides, fanning the enmity. Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhniy, Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief, has repeatedly lauded Gerasimov’s military talents.
Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, used a recent TV interview to shower Prigozhin with compliments. “What Prigozhin says is mostly truth,” he said, adding that Wagner “has shown its utmost effectiveness, unlike the Russian army, which has shown its utmost lack of effectiveness.” Shoigu and Gerasimov, Budanov said, are driven by jealousy in their attempt to deprive Wagner of resources.
A former convict who spent 10 years in Soviet prisons for robbery and theft, Prigozhin, like Putin, hails from St. Petersburg’s rough neighborhoods. He supported democratic reforms as the Soviet Union collapsed, and initially found his calling in opening some of the city’s most fashionable restaurants, personally pouring wine to celebrity guests such as then-President George W. Bush in 2006.
Created as a deniable instrument of Russian influence, Wagner saw some of its first action in the Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014, but grew into a significant military force only after the Russian intervention in Syria the following year.
Prigozhin was better known at the time as the owner of an online propaganda operation, the Internet Research Agency, that according to the FBI interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. A U.S. arrest warrant was issued for him in 2018.
Until last August, Prigozhin denied he had anything to do with Wagner, and in 2021 even sued a British journalist in London for naming him as the owner of the mercenary force. In reality, as he later admitted, he was intimately involved with Wagner’s operations in Syria, spending considerable time in the country.
A recent book of memoirs by Kirill Romanovsky, a war correspondent for Prigozhin’s RIA-FAN news agency, who followed Wagner around the world and died of cancer in January, described Prigozhin sitting next to an inebriated Gen. Aleksandr Dvornikov, then commander of Russian forces of Syria. They were on a hilltop as they observed Wagner’s battle to retake the city of Palmyra from Islamic State in 2016.
Wagner’s men sustained heavy losses and its artillery was running out of ammunition. “Bastard, give us at least 100 shells,” Prigozhin yelled at Dvornikov, according to the book. The general was on the phone with Moscow, busy taking credit, it added.
Even though it was Wagner that seized the city, the Russian ministry of defense later issued medals for taking Palmyra even to secretaries in its Moscow headquarters, but not to the actual fighters, Prigozhin complained this month.
The Russian military brass had plenty of reasons to dislike Wagner and its owner, with his direct line to Putin. Thanks to high salaries and a flexible if fiercely brutal culture, Prigozhin’s private army had begun to recruit away the regular military’s best officers and soldiers.
The real rupture occurred two years later. On the evening of Feb. 7, 2018, Wagner forces began an attack on an area known as Hasham, with its oil fields once operated by Conoco, in Syria’s Deir-ez-Zor province. The U.S. maintained a small special-operations outpost there. As soon as it came under Wagner’s shelling, the Pentagon tried to get Shoigu on the line, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified to Congress.
The reply from Moscow, according to Mattis, was that “it was not their people.” Mattis ordered the attacking force annihilated. Within hours, hundreds of Russian mercenaries were killed or maimed in American strikes that involved assault helicopters, drones, an AC-130 gunship and Himars missiles. Moscow remained silent.
According to Romanovsky’s book, which describes the carnage in gruesome detail, Wagner’s men had been assured they would be protected by Russian aircraft and air defenses. “We were simply betrayed,” he wrote. “When we began the assault, we didn’t know that the only aircraft above us was American, and that the air-defense guys were all hiding under girls’ skirts.”
Prigozhin said he wasn’t asked to help out in Ukraine until three weeks after the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion, when Russian forces failed to seize Kyiv and “the special military operation went off the plan.” Soon, his units flown in from Africa entered the battle in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province, achieving a series of breakthroughs.
Even as Wagner dramatically expanded recruitment, lowering standards, the grinding combat quickly exhausted the supply of volunteers. Prigozhin’s solution was to tap the vast resources of Russia’s penitentiary system, enlisting violent criminals with the promise of pardons—something only Putin could deliver—should they survive six months in Ukraine.
As Russia retreated in southern and eastern Ukraine last fall, Prigozhin’s area of operations near Bakhmut was the only one where Russian forces advanced, albeit very slowly.
Seaboard: pioneers in power generation in the country…
…“More than 32 years ago, back in January 1990, Seaboard began operations as the first independent power producer (IPP) in the Dominican Republic. They became pioneers in the electricity market by way of the commercial operations of Estrella del Norte, a 40MW floating power generation plant and the first of three built for Seaboard by Wärtsilä.
CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) logo and stock graph are seen through magnifier displayed in this illustration taken September 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoChina prioritising Turkmenistan over Russia in next big pipeline project
Moscow is currently working on securing its second Siberia pipeline connection with China, known as the Power of Siberia 2. This move is seen as an effort to compensate for the decrease in sales to Europe caused by the Ukraine crisis. Chinese oil officials and industry consultants believe this presents an opportunity for Beijing to advance its central Asian project further.
REUTERS By Chen Aizhu and Marat Gurt May 24, 20238/Edting by German & CoSINGAPORE/ASHGABAT, May 24 (Reuters) - China is accelerating the building of a long-delayed Central Asian pipeline to source gas from Turkmenistan even as Russia pushes its own new Siberian connection, as Beijing juggles its energy security needs with diplomatic priorities.
Beijing is keen to bolster Central Asia ties under its Belt & Road Initiative, but nearly a decade after construction began, the "Line D" project has been hobbled by complex price talks and the technical hurdles of laying a pipeline crossing another three central Asian nations, Chinese state oil officials said.
But Moscow's recent push to land its second Siberia pipeline connection with China, the Power of Siberia 2, to make up for shrunken sales in Europe due to the Ukraine crisis, provides Beijing a lever to advance the central Asian project, according to Chinese oil officials and industry consultants.
"Central Asian pipelines are considered a cornerstone investment in China's energy and geopolitical space. It's a supply channel with strategic value that supersedes commercial concerns," a state-oil official familiar with China National Petroleum Corp's (CNPC) global strategy told Reuters.
China may eventually seal both deals to feed its massive long-term gas needs, but is prioritising Turkmenistan, industry officials said, as Beijing has long seen Central Asia as a frontier to expand trade, secure energy and maintain stability in its once-restive western Xinjiang region.
Combined, multi-year contracts worth tens of billions of dollars to bring gas via both pipelines would meet 20% of China's current demand. The pipelines are key to Beijing's goal of using gas as a bridge fuel towards its carbon neutrality targets and also helping to shield it from the volatile tanker-carried liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.
Estimated in 2014 to cost $6.7 billion, Line D would carry 30 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
Speaking last week at the first in-person summit of central Asian leaders in the ancient Silk Road city of Xian, President Xi Jinping urged parties to accelerate laying Line D, which would be China's fourth gas pipeline to the region, almost a decade after the start of construction in Tajikistan.
In 2022, China imported 35 bcm gas or worth $10.3 billion via three pipelines from Turkmenistan, compared with 16 bcm via a single pipeline from Russia at about $4 billion.
'LINE D GETTING READY'
Reflecting renewed urgency, CNPC last week launched the feasibility study for a 200-kilometer connection from Xinjiang's border with Kyrgyzstan to the Chinese town of Wuqia as the first receiving point, said a senior source involved in appraising the project.
"This means D Line is getting ready," the person told Reuters, adding that construction on the domestic trunkline in Xinjiang could begin next year.
Separately, a CNPC official told Reuters last week that the company's commercial teams are "standing by" awaiting a mandate to advance the project, without elaborating.
Without a final gas supply contract, CNPC has only built part of the first tunnel in the mountainous Tajikistan capital Dushanbe where Line D begins, the official said.
China's state planner the National Development and Reform Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A CNPC spokesperson declined to comment.
Consultancy SIA Energy and Rystad Energy predicted new Turkmenistan gas via Line D could start flowing around 2028 while a new Russian line, designed at 50 bcm a year that sources gas from West Siberia, could start operating in the early 2030s.
IMPORT LOSSES
China is paying some 30% more for Turkmen gas, delivered via three existing pipelines since 2009, than from Russia, which began pumping the fuel from East Siberia in late 2019, Chinese customs data showed.
Facing years of import losses as it is unable to pass on the cost to a regulated domestic market, CNPC has failed to negotiate a lower price for Turkmen fuel in rounds of price reviews, a second industry source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Ashgabat wanted to be paid "in line with global pricing practices", a Turkmenistan official familiar with the talks said.
Sources and officials declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak with media.
RUSSIA OVERTURES
Still, the price negotiations are likely to be complex as China has multiple supply options that also include domestic production and new long-term LNG contracts with Qatar and the United States, said Jason Feer, Houston-based head of business intelligence at consultancy Poten & Partners.
"The prices need to be high enough to justify the expense of building an expensive pipeline but low enough to be competitive," said Feer.
Moscow's recent overtures to fast-track the shorter Power of Siberia 2 connection, via Mongolia, and a more recent proposal by Almaty to supply China via Khazakhstan offered CNPC leverage in finalising the Turkmen link, said the CNPC official and the second industry source.
"CNPC could use the Russian proposals to bargain for a better price for Line D while taking its time to discuss new Russian supplies," said the second source.
Editing by Germán & CoPutin says energy prices approaching 'economically justified' levels
"It's disappointing that Nord Stream 1 was blown up and Nord Stream 2 hasn't started yet due to the severe damage caused by explosions in September. Russia blames the West, but there's no evidence to support this. Swedish and Danish investigators suspect sabotage, but they haven't identified who's responsible. Hopefully, we'll get some answers soon."
Reuters, May 24, 2023/EDITING BY GERMÁN & CoRussian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik in Moscow, Russia, May 23, 2023. Sputnik/Alexey Filippov/Pool via REUTERS
MOSCOW, May 24 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday energy prices were approaching "economically justified" levels and that Russia was continuing to meet its commitments on energy supplies.
Speaking at a conference of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union in Moscow, Putin also raised the issue of energy shortages in Europe.
"Now, thank God, energy prices are approaching an economically justified level, but who is to blame for what had happened?" he said, speaking in front of the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Putin didn't elaborate on the prices.
On Wednesday, oil prices rose after U.S. crude and fuel supplies tightened and as a warning from the Saudi energy minister to speculators raised the prospect of further cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+.
Some investors took the Saudi comments as a signal that OPEC+ could consider further output cuts at a meeting on June 4, while Putin's remark on prices could be an indicator about no immediate changes to production policy of the group.
Putin said earlier this month oil production cuts, which were implemented by OPEC+, were required to maintain a certain price level, contradicting assurances from other leaders of the group that it was not seeking to manage the market in that way.
Putin also brought up the issue of mysterious blasts at Russia-designed Nord Stream undersea pipelines.
"They blew up Nord Stream 1, didn't start Nord Stream 2," he said, referring to the twin gas pipelines from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany that were severely damaged by explosions last September.