Former Areva CEO Lauvergeon Under Investigation
Former Areva chief executive Anne Lauvergeon was put under formal investigation on Friday for her role in the 2007 acquisition of uranium mining firm Uramin, a judicial source told Reuters. Investigative magistrates suspect Lauvergeon may have spread false information and presented inaccurate accounts to hide asset depreciation at Uramin, whose uranium deposits in Namibia, Central African Republic and South Africa, turned out not be profitable.
Chad Aims to Double Oil Output
Production at 130,000 bpd by end-2014, 260,000 bpd by 2016; firms assessing mineral deposits including gold, nickel. But, Chad sees ongoing security costs amid regional instability. Chad expects to double oil production by the end of 2015 as new fields come on stream and has appointed firms to inventory potential mineral deposits in an effort to diversify the economy, its finance minister said.
French Wind Turbines Avoid Radar Interference
Denmark's Vestas to build 1st stealth turbines in France; new blades use surface coatings inspired by warplanes. Vestas studying export potential of the new technology; growing tensions between French army and wind industry. France is building the world's first wind farm with turbine blades designed to minimise interference with radar systems, using technology partially inspired by stealth warplanes.
Kemp: U.S. Over-Reaches on Russia Sanctions
Targeting major Russian energy firms may come to be seen as the turning point at which U.S. sanctions policy over-reached and spurred a major effort to re-route financial transactions away from the United States. Prohibiting core Russian energy companies such as Rosneft, Gazprombank, Novatek and Vnesheconombank from arranging equity or long-term debt finance from or through "U.S.
