The dispute over TNK-BP erupted last week after the Russian billionaire co-owners of the Anglo-Russian oil joint venture said they planned to sue BP in Moscow and international courts.

Byron King in Energy and Oil looks at the reasons behind the TNK-BP dispute:

The Kremlin has invested heavily in Russia’s image as an energy superpower. During the recent Russian Victory Day celebrations on May 9, many commentators referred to Russia’s energy sector as one of the key elements of Russian power.

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Petroleo Brasileiro SA and the UK’s BG Group have made a second major oil find in Brazil’s Santos Basin.

The Guara exploration well struck oil in the BM-S-9 concession area – the same block as September’s Carioca discovery, which could contain as many as 33 billion barrels of oil.

“There are those who will tell you that oil is a cyclical business and a global fungible commodity,” says Christian DeHaemer in Taipan Daily.

Five energy companies made year-highs on your Money Morning sidebar today. We realised with a start that they’re all coal companies. Yep. They all have a little coal property to call their own. The new Australian dream, perhaps.

OK, this is very much a “work-in-progress”, but here’s a selection of some of the stocks we’ve been looking at lately. All three are UK based and UK listed. But each of them has an ‘international flavour’ — just what you need in your portfolio right now!

I was having a few beers with an old Agora colleague last week, someone outside of Taipan, and the subject of the Taipan Daily e-letter came up. Is that Cash McDash guy for real?” he asked me. I was taken aback by the question. “Of course he’s real”, I told him.