Lawmakers fear Russian influence on energy markets

as declared in Lawmakers are expressing concerns following a new House committee report detailing how Russians attempted to use social media platforms to manipulate U.S. energy markets. Blumenthal is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has examined Russian meddling efforts on social media. "We are in effect inviting them to a social media buffet of options to interfere with our Democracy and undermine our way of life without adequate response," he said. Russia's energy success is intrinsically linked to the U.S., a likely cause for the social media behavior. The report is the latest effort from members of Congress to probe Russian meddling in the U.S. via social media.

TSX boosted by energy and materials, U.S. markets see sharp rise

Canada's main stock index saw mild gains Monday while U.S. markets surged higher as worries of a trade war with China eased. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 74.82 points at 15,298.56, boosted by metals and energy stocks. The S&P 500 index ended up 70.29 points to 2,658.55 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 227.87 points to 7,220.54. The Canadian dollar closed at 77.60, down 0.18 of a U.S. cent. The May crude contract closed down 33 cents to $65.55 (U.S.) per barrel and the May natural gas contract was up two cents to $2.66 per mmBTU.

House panel: Russia aimed to disrupt US energy markets using social media

As it stated in Russia used several American social media accounts in an attempt to disrupt U.S. energy markets, according to a House committee report released Thursday. The committee surmised that the disinformation campaign on social media is connected to Russian fears that a strong U.S. energy economy could negatively impact Russia's oil and natural gas economy. Eastern and central European countries currently get about 75 percent of their natural gas from Russia, with southeastern European countries receiving nearly all of their natural gas from Moscow. For example, Poland recently signed a five-year deal with the U.S. to import liquefied natural gas to decrease dependency on Russian energy supplies, according to the report. U.S. energy exports to European countries are increasing, which means they will have less reason to rely upon Russia for their energy needs.

German minister: 'Strong neighbours' in Europe can create better energy markets

At this week's Energy Storage Europe event, Energy-Storage.News heard from German politician Thorsten Herdan that strong cooperation with other countries in Europe is vital for creating smarter, reliable and cost-effective energy networks. With energy storage still an early stage market, Herdan said he feels many questions still remain unanswered, despite the rapidly maturing technologies available. Market design changes across the continent could follow German modelIn the US, regulator FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) has begun a process of allowing energy storage to participate in wholesale markets. "We are going for the next big step in the Energy Union where we are going to open up markets all around Europe. "We have this problem in Germany that our interconnectors from the North to South are not strong enough to transport for instance wind energy to the South.

collected by :Victor Alphen