Obama gets Rolled Over by Russia and the European Leaders (Update: To the Folks at Gazprom, Thanks for Stopping by)

G-20 leaders gush over President Obama after he backs off stimulus push

First to the horse trading between Obama and Medvedev. Obama gets to send some supplies through Russia to Afghanistan while we leave Russia to do their thing in Georgia.

President Obama great move, just make sure our damn stuff gets there on time and all the items are there.

Here is another Obama gets whacked.

Other heads of state found in President Obama a guy who could take "No" for an answer Thursday at the world economic summit, and that's what they liked best.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev raved about "my new comrade," and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reinforced Obama's rock star status by asking for Obama's autograph - he said it was for his daughter!

This came after Obama backed off in the face of French and German resistance on his push for developed nations to embrace big spending plans similar to the $800 billion program adopted by the U.S.

Let's see what is going on in the world of Gazprom....

Russian Energy Geostrategy Redefines Relations with the US and EU

And most significant, Gazprom also said it would send most of the gas from the giant Arctic Shtokman field to Europe, rather than to the United States.

Shtokman was initially expected to yield 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually, of which 22-24bcm would be converted into 15 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be exported by ship to the US. With design capacity achieved, the field will be able to produce 70-90bcm, which is more than, say, Norway's entire annual output.

It is estimated that the first stage of the project alone requires an investment of US$12 billion to $14 billion. The shortlist of companies competing for the project included Norway's Statoil and Norsk Hydro, France's Total, and US giants Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

Gazprom was considering giving 49% of the Shtokman project to foreign companies, but its chairman, Alexei Miller, stated in Moscow on Monday, "Foreign companies failed to offer assets commensurate with the volume and quality of the Shtokman deposit's reserves." Gazprom will now instead consider appointing foreign companies as "contractors".

The Gazprom announcement came as a bombshell on the eve of President Vladimir Putin's visit to Germany on Tuesday - the fifth Russian-German summit this year - and confirmed Putin's sensational statement in Compiegne, France, on September 23 at the trilateral French-German-Russian summit that Gazprom may decide to redirect a part of Shtokman gas to the European markets.

The Gazprom decision signifies a complete reversal of policy insofar as North America was intended to be the project's main destination. (The Shtokman gas deposit has enough gas for 50 years of deliveries to the US.)

In fact, at a meeting with US President George W Bush in Washington last October, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko was on record that "I think two or three companies should be chosen in the end [for Shtokman] and the selection will largely depend on how effective their programs are for long-term presence on the American market", because "the first phase of the Shtokman project will target the US market only". The project figured in the Russian-US political consultations at the highest level in the recent years, including through influential back channels.

Monday's Gazprom announcement said that Shtokman gas would now be sent mostly through the North European Gas Pipeline that is being constructed under the Baltic Sea with German collaboration, rather than shipped as liquefied gas to the US as originally planned. This decision, the statement said, was "proof that the European market is the most important for the company".

Moscow daily Pravda said that by this decision, Putin is creating a "new axis in Europe to oppose US hegemony". The newspaper commented, "It is an open secret that Russia, France and Germany stand against the establishment of the unipolar world structure."

Like I said in a previous post on the Baltics and Palin, pay close attention to Russia and Obama will show how weak of a leader he is.

Well the proof is in the above story on Gazprom. It was published in 2006. Obama carries no leadership qualities what-so-ever.

He is a water-boy trying to play a world leader.

Update: Gazprom visits. Putin you can come out and show the U.S. who runs Russia.

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Fri Apr 3
02:11:38 AM IP# 79.139.185.13
IP name : ppp79-139-185-13.pppoe.spdop.ru
IP owner : Moscow Local Telephone Network (OAO MGTS) Russian Federation
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Fri Apr 3
02:22:21 AM IP# 195.226.46.140
IP name : MAIL.GAZPROM-MT.COM
IP owner : Hampton Wick United Kingdom
Kingston Upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames