US oil firms get little play at Bush-Putin meeting

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) –
President George W. Bush did not press the case during almost two hours of private talks on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir that a U.S. company should be selected to help develop a giant Russian natural gas field, Bush’s national security adviser said.

Putin has made energy security a major theme at this weekend’s meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations in St Petersburg, and U.S. companies are hoping Bush will push Putin to open more of Russia’s oil and gas sector to investment.

In particular, U.S.-based ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP – news) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX – news) are competing with three other foreign energy firms to be picked to partner Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) to develop the prized Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea.

Bush and Putin held a private meeting for almost two hours on Saturday morning before the official start of the G8.

Reuters