Free Republic

Vladimir Putin has made clear that he will not budge an inch on Syria ahead of an EU-Russia summit. Speaking in separate press events in Berlin and Paris on Friday (1 June), the Russian leader ruled out lifting his UN Security Council veto on economic sanctions or military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad. He also blamed civilian deaths on opposition forces and denied that Russia is selling weapons to Damascus. "Russia does not provide weapons that could be used in a civil conflict," he said in the German capital. … He also criticized Western adventurism in general, noting that...

With the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline in southern Europe hitting snag after snag, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is considering the construction of a second Baltic Sea pipeline to go with the just-finished Nord Stream. With unconventional natural gas from the US flooding the market, however, the strategy is not without risk. … Indeed, it is beginning to look as though the erstwhile competition between the two pipelines has been overwhelmingly won by Nord Stream. (Gerhardt) Schröder's team has just decided to expand the Baltic Sea pipeline's capacity. The owners, Gazprom, E.on-Ruhrgas, Wintershall, Gaz de France and the Dutch...

Pity the poor Eastern Europeans. Fifty years under the domination of their massive Soviet eastern neighbor then the collapse of Communism there two decades ago offered undreamed of opportunities to join both the European Union and NATO. But they still remain dependent on the Russian Federation for the majority of their oil and gas needs, and the new capitalists in Moscow do not hesitate to charge the highest prices possible. According a number of East European nations, particularly Poland and Bulgaria, are actively investigating the possibility of establishing hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") operations on their territory to develop an indigenous natural...

While few people in the world have warm feelings for energy companies beyond perhaps their stockholders, Russia’s state-owned natural gas monopoly Gazprom has shown an unrivalled and unique capacity to alienate is customers over the past two decades since the collapse of the USSR. Nations unhappy with Gazprom’s bludgeoning tactics include virtually all of the new nations composing the post-Soviet space and beyond. Issues range from aggressive low-balling of purchase prices for natural gas exports (Central Asia post-Soviet states) through transit countries getting screwed on both prices and transit fees (Belarus, Ukraine and China) to end consumers from Eastern and...

Sometimes it's not easy being Russia's neighbor - just ask Ukraine. Ever since the 1991 implosion of the USSR, Ukraine's relations with Russia have appeared between coldly formal and outright hostility, with a major irritant being the increasingly high prices Gazprom charges for natural gas. Gazprom in turn needs access to Ukraine’s pipeline network in order to reach its profitable European customers. Faced with this symbiotic relationship, Kiev has been assiduously looking for ways to break out of its dependency on Russian energy imports, and now it looks as if this may in fact be coming true. The head of...

While environmentalists are sharply opposed to the construction of the new Baltic Sea pipeline, archaeologists are delighted. The massive Nord Stream project to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany has uncovered dozens of shipwrecks and other historic artifacts. In the early 1940s, engineers of the Third Reich conducted a series of tests that involving firing Henschel HS 293 glider bombs into the Baltic Sea. They were disheartened when the tests failed, because the steering systems of the massive projectile didn't work properly. Now, almost 70 years later, one of the bombs -- weighing in at about 1,000 kilograms (2,200...

German papers Handelsblatt and Die Welt write Tuesday that Russian energy giant is taking concrete steps to hinder the completion of EU gas pipeline Nabucco. The two papers come out with materials commenting the recent move on the part of Gazprom to invite German energy giant RWE to join rival project South Stream. Up to this point, RWE is serously committed to Nabucco and a switch to South Stream is seen as posing great danger for the completion of EU project. Handelsblatt has called Gazprom's move “Putin's immoral offer”, writing that “Behind the friendly offer are lying unfriendly calculations. Gazprom...

Then it all ended unexpectedly, as if on cue. Putin traveled last week to Katyn along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. What caused such a dramatic shift? The Wall Street Journal on April 8 reveals the answer. According to the article, “U.S. [energy] giants will start drilling for shale gas in Poland within the next few weeks.” There’s your answer. All of Russia’s neo-imperialism has been built upon the fact that it has “peaceful gas” (similar to the Soviet Union’s “peaceful atom”) and that it can shove its gas pipelines through Poland just like the Kremlin did with Ukraine....

Dash for Poland’s gas could end Russian stranglehold Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor American technology to produce shale gas is unleashing a scramble for drilling rights in Poland, where experts believe vast reserves of unconventional gas exist that could help to weaken Russia’s grip on Europe’s energy supplies. ConocoPhillips is poised to launch Poland’s first shale gas drilling programme next month near Gdansk on the Baltic coast. Two other American oil groups — Exxon-Mobil and Marathon — and Talisman Energy, of Canada, are set to follow. The technology has transformed America’s energy industry and driven gas prices to their lowest level...

Gazprom faces regular opprobrium for its bullying ways of using energy as a pressure and political tool. Seen by some, mostly Russians, as the symbol of a successful and strong Russia, others see it as a dominating juggernaut, economic right arm of the Kremlin implementing, or should we say, imposing its policies by using energy as a weapon. Just like Louis XIV used to say “L’Etat c’est moi” (I am the State), Gazprom could say the same in light of its commercial power and the unconditional governmental backing it enjoys. However, just like Monsanto generates passionate debates with its genetically...

With an ambitious new pipeline planned to run along the bed of the Baltic Sea, the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is driving a political wedge between Eastern and Western Europe. While the Russian-German pipeline offers clear energy benefits to Western Europe, Central and Eastern European leaders fear it could lead to a new era of gas-leveraged Russian domination of the former Soviet bloc. With its gas wealth and eyebrow-raising network of personal ties, Russia has divided members of the European Union that have vowed to act collectively to protect their security. Currently, Russian gas has to be piped through...

As Palin pointed out to Salazar, the USGS assessment "estimates that Arctic Alaska has mean technically recoverable resources of approximately 30 billion barrels of oil, 6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids and 221 trillion cubic feet of conventional natural gas."

Energy: Will oil hit $250 a barrel? The Russians think so, as crude prices climb to an eight-month high. Meantime, House Republicans advance a plan to help the administration keep a domestic energy promise.The cost of July deliveries of crude bounced over $73 Thursday as the American Petroleum Institute reported shrinking U.S. inventories as the dollar weakens against the euro. Alexei Miller, chairman of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, is repeating his prediction of a year ago that oil may eventually reach the $250 mark.

Here is a link to information put out by Russian researchers. A few months back I had talked about submarine tankers here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.I also talked about LNG being shipped to the Baltics by submarine tankers. In the link you will find the submarine LNG route to the Baltics in a hatched line. Just recently, a company from Pontiac Michgan visited one of the threads on submarine tankers. I won't say who the company is but, I will say they are involved in carbon trading, oil and gas and naval marine technology... In the link...

Russia's energy giant Gazprom has signed a $2.5bn (£1.53bn) deal with Nigeria's state operated NNPC, to invest in a new joint venture.The new firm, to be called Nigaz, is set to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.

A new deal between Russia and China in the sum of about $100 billion became the largest deal that has ever been signed between the two countries, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said as a result of the meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The two presidents signed a large package of documents, including those in the oil and gas industry, in Moscow. “It became possible owing to the use of the mechanism that we invented with the leader of the People’s Republic of China a year ago,” Medvedev said. Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao conducted negotiations about the shipments...

The world's largest natural gas company, Russia's Gazprom, has after years of attempts finally gotten a foothold in the U.S., the world's biggest gas market. A supply agreement, part of a multipart contract reached with Royal Dutch Shell, was announced late Wednesday. The contract, signed in Moscow by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and his Shell counterpart Jeroen Van der Veer, guarantees the two companies will deliver 1 million tons of Russian liquefied natural gas annually until 2028. Under the arrangement, Gazprom gets access to a Shell terminal in Baja California, Mexico, that will turn Russian liquefied gas into gas that...

MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Gazprom warned on Wednesday that any changes made to Ukraine's natural gas transport network without Russia's approval will affect European supply contracts. Russia's leadership has reacted furiously to plans discussed by Ukraine and the European Union earlier this week, without Russia's participation, on modernizing the Ukrainian gas grid. Gazprom official Oleg Aksyutin told reporters: "In view of the level of integration of our gas transport system and the fact that Ukraine's gas transit system is an inseparable part of Gazprom's gas export regime and our export contracts, Gazprom must approve any work relating...

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom has received an invitation to join the Nabucco pipeline project to pump gas from Central Asia to Europe, but will not take up the offer, a deputy head of Russia's energy giant said. In an interview with Vesti TV on Monday, Alexander Medvedev said Gazprom would stick with its South Stream project and stay out of Nabucco. "Unlike in the case of Nabucco, we have everything we need for this project [South Stream] to materialize," he said. "We have gas, the market, experience in implementing complex projects, and corporate management." The executive said...

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Uzbek President Islam Karimov pledged Friday to support a new trans-Russian gas pipeline, easing Moscow's fears that it would succumb to European pressure to bypass Russia with its energy supplies and reduce its influence in the region. Karimov told President Dmitry Medvedev that Uzbekistan had offered to sell 16 billion cubic meters of gas to Russia this year and could double that amount within the next decade. "We are ready to work with Russia on the construction of new pipelines that would enable us to boost exports and transit of gas," Karimov told reporters in the Uzbek...

Stefan Markovic slipped and stumbled on Belgrade’s icy streets and cursed both the Russians and the Ukrainians for the bad air he’s breathing. “Those damned Soviets!” he shouted. “First they destroyed us with their communism. Now they create more misery. They even poisoned the air we breathe.” A thick cloak of smog choked the capitals of Serbia, Bosnia and Hungary this week as residents and businesses resorted to burning oil, wood and coal — anything that might help them ward off the midwinter chill amid a natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine that has cut off supplies to Europe.

There are hopes that gas flows through Ukraine may soon be restored after the first EU monitors arrived to start checking pipelines from Russia.

Hungary says Russian gas supplies via Ukraine stopped Tue Jan 6, 2009 10:06pm IST BUDAPEST, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Russian gas shipments via Ukraine to Hungary halted on Tuesday and the Hungarian government said it would ask some power plants to switch to alternative fuel by 1000 GMT on Wednesday. "I would like to inform you that gas shipments from Ukraine continuously declined today and at 1430 GMT they completely stopped," Transport and Energy Minister Csaba Molnar told a news conference. The government would consider freeing up strategic gas reserves and make a decision on Wednesday morning if necessary, he...

Russian gas flow to Austria plunges 90 percent Tue Jan 6, 2009 9:14am GMT FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Russian gas flows to Austria dropped 90 percent on Tuesday amid a dispute between Moscow and Ukraine, oil and gas group OMV said, but added it was using its natural gas reserves to cover the shortfall. Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine on January 1 over debts, pledging supplies to western Europe would be safeguarded, but some southern and eastern European countries have seen flows fall or stop. OMV said it had been informed by its Russian partners that gas supplies would fall...

Europe has been plunged into an energy crisis after Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's state-run gas company to cut supplies by 20 per cent... As temperatures dropped below zero across much of Europe, the Russian prime minister instructed the head of Gazprom: "Cut it - starting today." The cut was ordered to punish neighbouring Ukraine, which Russia accuses of topping up its own gas supply by siphoning off energy meant for European consumers and sent through its pipelines. without paying Russia.

Gazprom would have to use extreme measures to make Ukraine return to the negotiations table, says Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller. Ukraine has declined every Russian proposal concerning a new gas agreement and is continuing to steal Russia’s gas destined for Europe. Speaking at a media conference on Sunday, Aleksey Miller said that Ukrainian disagreed to pay the average European market price of $US 418 per 1,000 cubic metres for Russian gas. They also didn’t like the proposal to receive gas from Central Asia for $US 370 as well as the offer to pay $US 250 per 1,000 cubic metres –...

MOSCOW — Negotiations over gas prices between Russia and Ukraine unraveled Wednesday and executives at Gazprom, the Russian natural gas monopoly, said they were preparing to halt supplies early Thursday morning. If they do, customers in Western Europe will see shortages as the same pipelines in Ukraine are used for export and internal distribution. It is a problem that has bedeviled Europe’s energy supplies from Russia for years. How quickly Western Europe would feel a shortage of natural gas was unclear, and would depend on the scale and duration of any Russian embargo of Ukraine. The fuel is used for...

MOSCOW -- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Wednesday it would stop supplying gas to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two parties failed to agree a new supply deal for 2009. Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller told reporters Ukraine had rejected a Russian proposal to increase 2009 prices to $250 per 1,000 cubic meters from $179.50 at present. He also said Gazprom hadn't yet received payment for gas delivered to Ukraine in November and December. Earlier in the day, Gazprom said Ukraine had threatened to seize gas intended for European customers if no deal was reached on gas shipments. Gazprom's...

Gazprom, Once Mighty, Is Reeling By ANDREW E. KRAMER MOSCOW — A year ago, Gazprom, the Russian natural gas monopoly, aspired to be the largest corporation in the world. Buoyed by high oil prices and political backing from the Kremlin, it had already achieved third place judging by market capitalization, behind Exxon Mobil and General Electric. Today, Gazprom is deep in debt and negotiating a government bailout. Its market cap, the total value of all the company’s shares, has fallen 76 percent since the beginning of the year. Instead of becoming the world’s largest company, it has tumbled to 35th...

Russia and Serbia have signed a controversial energy deal that will hand Russian gas giant Gazprom control of NIS, Serbia's oil monopoly. Under the deal, Gazprom is to build a gas pipeline through Serbia and an underground gas storage facility there. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic signed the agreement in Moscow. The plan is for Serbia to host part of a new pipeline called South Stream, to deliver Russian gas to southern Europe. Gazprom is taking a 51% stake in NIS for 400m euros (£380m; $560m), officials say. Diplomatic tensions Both countries signed an energy...

The largest petroleum joint venture of the planet will be set up by Venezuela and Russia, Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez told reporters on his arrival at Moscow airport on Thursday. Chavez, said that Venezuela and Russia will sign shortly an agreement for the conformation of an energy consortium, the consortium will by headed by PDVSA and Gazprom, and will operate in Venezuela and later in the rest of Latin America. Chavez added "this is going to be the largest petroleum consortium of the planet". During a recent visit to Venezuela by Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Sechin both governments evaluated various...

Gerhard Schroeder under fire after blaming Georgia for 'detonating' war with Russia Germany's former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has been told he should "keep his mouth shut" after appearing to support Russia's invasion of Georgia. By Tony Paterson in Berlin Last Updated: 11:54PM BST 23 Aug 2008 The 64-year-old Social Democrat already has a reputation as a Kremlin apologist and was widely criticised for taking a £200,000 a year job with the Russian energy company Gazprom after he left office in 2005. Not only is he friends with the Russian premier and former president Vladimir Putin - whom he has referred...

ran and Gazprom Sunday signed an agreement for the Russian energy giant to help Tehran develop its oil and gas fields, days after Total dropped out of a multi-billion-dollar gas deal. "The Iranian National Oil Company and Gazprom signed an agreement in which the two sides will cooperate in the development of Iran's oil and gas fields," the oil ministry's Shana news agency said.

----snip---- As news outlets pointed out, most of the G-8 countries have little control over production. One, however, does, and it has leveraged that control, and its enormous reserves, to regain status as a world power. ----snip---- He does have a stern warning for Western Europe, however. The region has become dangerously dependent on Russia for natural gas, he writes. With its spreading network of pipelines, Gazprom now has the power to let Europe freeze if it so chooses. ----snip---- While the Europeans and Americans have sought to break Gazprom's pipeline monopoly by promoting the construction of a bypass gas...

Russian police have raided the Moscow offices of the oil giant BP and its joint venture TNK-BP. The searches have renewed fears that the Russian government wants greater control of foreign-owned energy assets. There is market speculation that the Kremlin would like the state-owned gas firm Gazprom to buy the stakes of BP's Russian partners in TNK-BP. Last year, TNK-BP was forced to sell its stake in the Kovykta gas field at a discount price to Gazprom. In 2006, Shell was forced to cede control of its Sakhalin gas field to Gazprom. "We will co-operate with the authorities but we...

Gazprom Returns to Iran Gazprom has reached an agreement with Iran on the development of the country's largest natural gas deposits, Southern Pars and Kish. The Russian monopoly will form one or more joint ventures with the National Iranian Gas Company. This is in spite of competition from the Chinese, with whom Iran negotiated the development of the Kish deposit in 2006 and 2007, and the possibility of Iran's supplying as for the Nabucco pipeline. According to the Iranian Isna information agency, an agreement will be signed in April or May between Gazprom and the Iranian Oil Ministry. The deposit...

Gazprom, Russia's state gas company, and officials from Ukraine's energy sector, have began talks to try to avoid Russia cutting off gas to its neighbour because of a dispute over a $1.5bn debt. The conflict is being closely monitored in EU countries who receive Russian gas through pipelines crossing Ukraine. "If we don't succeed today in making documents about the delivery of Russian gas... there won't be Russian gas going to Ukraine tomorrow," Sergei Kupriyanov, a Gazprom spokesman, said on Monday. "It's hard to expect that all the problems will be removed today and that all disagreements will be solved."...

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Thursday it could cut some of Ukraine's supplies from next Monday if Kiev did not resolve its gas debts by then, but stressed that deliveries to western Europe would not be affected. "If by Monday the Ukrainian side does not resolve this situation, Gazprom will be forced to cut supplies of Russian gas to Ukraine," the company said in a statement, underlining the word "Russian." This means that only supplies of Russian-produced natural gas will be affected, while those from Central Asian countries, which supply most of Ukraine's gas, will not, Gazprom...

Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy group, is seeking to win access to vast energy reserves in Nigeria in a move that will heighten concerns among western governments over its increasingly powerful grip on gas supplies to Europe. A senior Nigerian oil industry official, who declined to be named, said the company was offering to invest in energy infrastructure in return for the chance to develop some of the biggest gas deposits in the world. The Russian move is part of a courtship that saw Vladimir Putin writing to Nigeria’s leader, Umaru Yar’Adua, last year to seek energy co-operation. Gazprom’s efforts are...

$40bn Putin 'is now Europe's richest man' By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow Last Updated: 6:24pm GMT 21/12/2007 President Vladimir Putin of Russia has been likened to an African plutocrat after a controversial political scientist claimed that he had acquired control of £20 billion in energy assets - enough to make him Europe’s richest man. Putin has denounced the claims as "trash" Stanislav Belkovsky, a colourful figure on the political scene, claimed that Mr Putin had made a multi-billion pound fortune by controlling stakes in three Russian energy companies. The allegations – if true – would suggest that Mr Putin is...

Putin may become Gazprom chairman Dec 21, 2007 MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin may become the next chairman of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom when he steps down following a presidential election in March, Vedomosti business daily reported on Friday. The newspaper cited two sources close to Gazprom and one source close to first deputy prime minister and current Gazprom chairman Dmitry Medvedev, whom Putin has designated as a preferred candidate to succeed him. Gazprom and the Kremlin declined immediate comments. Medvedev has said he would step down as the chairman of Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer and...

The arbitration tribunal of Moscow has sustained a case of Mikhail Renzhin, who claimed for compensation of 24 million rubles (about $968 thousand) after he had been stolen 95.2 thousand shares of Gazprom. The plaintiff wanted Gazporm and CJSC SR-Draga, a registrar, to cover the payout. In the course of the hearings the representatives from the both companies tried to assure the court that the plaintiff had sold his shares himself. Particularly they said that Mikhail Renzhin had neither visited any shareholders’ meetings nor asked for dividends in the period of 2000-2006.

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom says it will cut gas supplies to neighbouring Ukraine unless a $1.3bn (£650m) bill is paid this month. Previous disputes between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies have led to cuts in gas deliveries to Europe. Gazprom said Ukraine had taken no action despite repeated requests and warned it would be forced to decrease deliveries if the debt was not settled. State-controlled Gazprom said it had informed European clients. Gazprom's threat comes two days after parliamentary elections in Ukraine. No clear winner has emerged as rival parties claim victory. "Bearing in mind the approaching winter season...

ESTONIA WILL NOT ALLOW THE NORD STREAM PIPELINE ON ITS SEABED By Vladimir Socor Thursday, September 27, 2007 Estonia's government has turned down the Russo-German company Nord Stream's request to survey the seabed off the Estonian coast. The survey was to precede the construction of the Russian gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed to Germany for Gazprom. The Estonian coalition government took the decision unanimously on September 21. It has met with general understanding in the European Union and in German editorial pages since then, contrary to previous attempts by interested German circles to portray this Gazprom-led project as a...

EU tries to limit Gazprom dominance 21.09.2007 EU attempt the prevent the expansion of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. Krysia Kolosowska reports On the eve of his visit to Poland and a meeting with Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso unveiled plans which would effectively halt the march into European markets of the Russian oil giant Gazprom. Beata Plomecka, Polish Radio correspondent in Brussels explains. “The most interesting things is the clause which in practice means that one company cannot have control over supply of energy and at the same time of the transmission system....

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia decided Thursday it will not allow a German-Russian consortium to conduct a survey of its exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea for a planned underwater gas pipeline. The survey was necessary for a possible rerouting of the 750-mile pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. "Each coastal country has full sovereignty and a right to make decision involving its own waters," Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said in a news conference. "Furthermore, we think the Baltic Sea is not a proper place for such a pipeline." Estonia's refusal...

Poland Bent North the Gas Pipeline of Russia Swiss Nord Stream AG that is the project operator for North European Gas Pipeline has announced the political adjustments in its route. Nord Stream owner – Gazprom – decided to lead the gas pipeline out of the challenged territorial water of Poland and Denmark in the south of the Island of Bornholm and lay it to the north of the island, in Sweden’s economic area. As of today, the first official concession to the EU will cost Gazprom another 8 kilometers of the pipe. Days earlier, Nord Stream was forced to make...

Gazprom and Transneft given initial go-ahead to form armed units 5th July 2007 By Clare Watson Russia's lower parliament, the Duma, has given state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom and state-owned oil pipeline cartel Transneft permission to create their own armed security units in order to protect their domestic oil and gas infrastructure, media reports have revealed. According to Upstreamonline.com, although 341 of the 450-strong parliamentary body backed the bill, the approval has sparked fierce backlash and claims that Russia is attempting to create armies for its already powerful state cartels. AdvertisementIndeed, the Times Online cited Gennadi Gudkov, one of the Duma...

Gazprom is getting a bad rap. The state-controlled energy giant that supplies a huge amount of Europe’s natural gas has been spun into a storybook villain for its hardball negotiating tactics. But it’s not Gazprom’s fault that Europeans want to consume more gas than they have. Not a day goes by without a new article critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s increasingly authoritarian regime, or of his country’s supposedly aggressive use of the “energy weapon.” The target of all this ire is Gazprom, the quasi monopoly and energy behemoth that controls 25 percent of the world’s reserves of natural gas....

Critics say hardball tactics could come back to haunt Moscow. Alexander Medvedev went to Davos with the tall task of convincing European leaders and others that they have nothing to fear from the state-controlled Russian energy giant Gazprom. The company enraged European leaders earlier this month when it temporarily shut off the flow of oil through a key pipeline due to a dispute with Belarus. The move came a year after it had similarly clamped off natural gas supplies due to a dispute with Ukraine. "I'd like to assure all of the people in this room there is no reason...