Globe and Mail: How fracking weakens Gazprom, the bedrock beneath Putin’s feet

When the head of Bulgaria’s state gas company sat down with officials from Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom a couple of months ago to negotiate a new supply contract, it should have been an unremarkable event. Not this time.

For years, there had been no real negotiations: Bulgaria imports all its gas from Gazprom and the Russians simply dictated the terms of any deal and charged the small country up to four times the going price for natural gas. But this time Bulgaria pushed back and demanded a 20-per-cent discount. To the shock of many analysts, Gazprom agreed.  

“For a country that is entirely dependent on Russian gas supplies, and pretty much 100 per cent of its imports, to be able to negotiate a discount with a monopoly supplier, that would be somewhat worrisome if you are on the Russian side,” said Andrew Neff, a Moscow-based energy analyst at HIS Global Insight. “You can see the pressure that Gazprom is now finding itself under.” MORE