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01/26/2006:

"Russia Gas Line Explosions Scare Europe"

MOSCOW, Jan. 25 — Saboteurs who bombed two natural gas pipelines high in the Caucasus Mountains this week, by one estimate sending a gas fireball nearly 600 feet into the sky, paralyzed Georgia and sent a message straight to Western Europe, which depends on Russian natural gas.

The Russian authorities are calling the strike a terrorist attack, suggesting that groups in or near the rebellious Chechnya region are aiming attacks at the country's energy distribution system.

That would be bad news for Western Europe, which gets a quarter of its natural gas from Russia. European leaders were already jittery after supplies were disrupted twice this month, once during a Russian dispute with Ukraine — ostensibly over prices — and later when extremely low temperatures caused demand in Russia to surge.

Georgian officials, upset over what they contended were unexplained delays in fixing the sabotaged pipeline, cautioned that Europe should look at their unheated capital, Tbilisi, before becoming more reliant on Russia.
nytimes.com

Whose natural gas is flowing through those pipelines?



Georgia Suffers Another Setback to Providing Energy
MOSCOW, Jan. 26 - Energy shortages struck Georgia anew today as a wind storm toppled a major power transmission line and Russia's gas monopoly failed to restore natural gas flow to the country following the acts of sabotage last weekend, energy officials said.

The latest problem appeared at about 1 a.m., when high winds severed a high-voltage transmission line that carries electricity between east and west Georgia, plunging the snow-covered capital, Tbilisi, into blackness.

Volcano next.

Iran Welcomes Russia's Offer to Enrich Uranium Jointly; Details Remain
MOSCOW, Jan. 25 — Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said here on Wednesday that he welcomed a Russian proposal to defuse the confrontation between Iran and the West over its nuclear programs by establishing a joint venture to enrich uranium in Russia. But he indicated that no agreement had been reached and that significant details remained to be negotiated.

"Our attitude to the proposal is positive," Mr. Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Igor S. Ivanov, Russian news agencies reported. "We tried to bring the positions of the two sides closer."