William C. RAMSAY

One can’t help but be struck by the irony earlier this week of Russian President (ad-interim) Medvedev celebrating the landing of gas in Lubmin Germany from the Nordstream gas pipeline from Russia while Former President and President-in-waiting Putin welcomes Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to seek...

It was a matter of time before the Commission competition authorities looked into the business arrangements between Gazprom and its European partners. Some would ask why it took so long. 

As an early task in its efforts to build a common external energy policy, the Commission has announced it will turn its attention to bringing the vast gas resources of Turkmenistan to European consumers. This will be an excellent place for the Commission to test its ability to speak with one...

Last week the IEA chose not to renew its June strategic stock release. It was the right decision. The volumes of strategic crude and product taken up by the market will be reaching refineries now and incremental volumes produced in the Arabian Gulf will be steaming towards markets.

Ever since Iowa landed the privilege of holding the first Presidential primary, no candidate has the political courage to confront the $11 billion subsidy price tag of US corn ethanol. Everyone agrees we need to dilute our supply and price vulnerability in transportation fuels and everyone...

OPEC has certainly gone out of its way to show how little relevance it has in today’s oil market. It has successfully imported all the political rhetoric and malaise of some of its most unstable members.

There is a gritty public debate going on in Europe about what threats should be considered in conducting stress tests on existing nuclear power plants or in establishing safety criteria for new build nuclear power. 

In polarized politics, the voter must take on faith the wisdom inherent in the principled political position. Who cannot be impressed by the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, especially after living through the fallout from Chernobyl? But is it reasonable to send the voter to the booth with...

Oil prices are becoming an increasingly worrisome factor in today’s economies. They have risen dramatically over the past 6 or 7 months and are now driving inflation in many economies and acting as a drag on nearly all. They are not at these levels because markets are fundamentally out of...

Like other countries in Europe, France has the potential to produce both oil and gas from shale. In the Paris Basin, where oil has been exploited for decades, oil shale quite similar to the Bakken play in North America has considerable promise due to new drilling and exploitation techniques....