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Russian secret agents have infiltrated Greenpeace and other campaign groups to co-ordinate the war against fracking, it has been alleged.
After Russia unceremoniously locked 30 Greenpeace activists in jail after a protest at a Gazprom oil rig, it may seem unlikely that Putin and the environmentalists would ever find common ground. But according to the secretary-general of Nato, they have - fracking.
The Kremlin's distaste for shale gas fracking is not down to a keenly-felt concern for its environmental impact. It is pure economics, born from a desire to keep Europe dependent on gas imports from Moscow.
Speaking at Chatham House, Nato's Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: "I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations — environmental organisations working against shale gas — to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas."
He did not elaborate on whether the infiltration was undercover, or whether the groups were actively collaborating with the Russian interests. “That is my interpretation," he said.
A spokesman for Greenpeace said: "The idea we're puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have to wonder what they're smoking over at NATO HQ. Mr Rasmussen should spend less time dreaming up conspiracy theories and more time on the facts."
As Gazprom Neft, one of Russia's top oil companies which employes fracturing as one of the leading techniques, revealed to OGE, the company has performed over 2,500 fracturing operations and the number is increasing by 500 a year with Halliburton, Schlumberger and BJ Services being the main providers of this service. Gazprom Neft's subsidiary Sibneft-Khantos performed the largest hydraulic fracture in Europe on Priobskoye oilfield with over 558 tons of proppant pumped into the ground.
Top oil producers: According to IEA top 10 oil producer countries produced over 64 % of the world oil production in 2012. The top oil producers in 2012 were: Russia 544 Mt (13 %), Saudi Arabia 520 Mt (13 %), United States 387 Mt (9 %), China 206 Mt (5%), Iran 186 Mt (4 %), Canada 182 Mt (4 %), United Arab Emirates 163 Mt (4 %), Venezuela 162 Mt (4 %), Kuwait 152 Mt (4 %) and Iraq 148 Mt (4 %). In 2012 total oil production was 4,142 Mt. [4] In 2011 the world oil production was 4,011 Mt demonstrating an annually rising trend in oil production.[5]
Expect Russia to airbrush from history any references Putin may have made to environmentally damaging fracking.
Asked if development of shale gas resources threatened Russia’s dominance of Europe’s energy market, Mr Putin grabbed a notepad to draw diagrams of how “fracking” – the method used to extract such gas – could damage the environment.
NHA learns, according to reliable sources present that Putin described big threats to the environment, huge quantities of water, fracking chemicals and how when you fly over the US you can see thousands of holes. He also said, allegedly, since I wasn't there and the Armagnac would have gotten to me by that point anyway:
"In the U.S. where the shale gas is extracted you will be sick because there is a real threat to the environment. That's why in France, shale gas extraction is prohibited. The French have understood what this will lead to".
Lobbying for the Greenlanders
The US is going to great lengths to cosy up to Greenland, amid concerns over Chinese influence. One cable said: “Our intensified outreach to the Greenlanders will encourage them to resist any false choice between the United States and Europe. It will also strengthen our relationship with Greenland vis-à-vis the Chinese, who have shown increasing interest in Greenland’s natural resource.”
Another cable says “with Greenlandic independence glinting on the horizon, the U.S. has a unique opportunity to shape the circumstances to which an independent nation may emerge. We have real security and growing economic interests in Greenland, for which existing mechanisms may no longer be sufficient. American commercial investments, our continuing strategic military presence, and new high-level scientific and political interest in Greenland argue for establishing a small and seasonal American Presence Post in Greenland’s capital as soon as practicable.”
Tensions in Nato
Canadian leaders are uneasy over Nato plans to project military force in the Arctic in the face of perceived Russian aggression. Steven Harper, Canadian PM is quoted as saying that a Nato presence in the region would give non-Arctic members too much influence in an area where “they don’t belong”.
EIA estimates that in 2011, about 7.85 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of dry natural gas was produced directly from shale deposits in the United States. This was about 34% of total U.S. dry natural gas production in 2011.
s of 2013, the US, Canada, and China are the only countries producing shale gas in commercial quantities. The US and Canada are the only countries where shale gas is a significant part of the gas supply.