Ukraine stands on the threshold of finalizing the Association Agreement with the European Union, possibly signing it at the Vilnius summit in November. If signed, the agreement would open the way for European comprehensive support to the modernization of Ukraine’s gas transit system, which carries... MORE

On July 1, in Astana, President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron signed a joint declaration on strategic partnership between Britain and Kazakhstan. A large business delegation accompanied Cameron. He became the first serving British prime minister to visit Kazakhstan, although... MORE

On July 2, Kazakhstan’s government announced that it has decided to sell an 8.4-percent stake in Kashagan, the supergiant oilfield development project, to China’s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The CNPC has prevailed against India’s Videsh, external operations branch of Indian state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas... MORE

Planning the Southern Gas Corridor to Europe, the European Commission in Brussels had defined the Nabucco pipeline project as the corridor’s mainstay. With Nabucco-West’s official demise (see accompanying article and EDM, June 27), the gas producer, transiting and consumer countries situated between Turkmenistan and Central... MORE

Nabucco-West, the pipeline project that was to have carried Azerbaijani gas from Turkey to the Central European Gas Hub near Vienna, is exiting from the stage. There will be no encore: “The Nabucco project is over for us. Our goal now is European gas for... MORE

The gas producers’ consortium at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan has selected the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP, Greece-Albania-Italy, led by Norwegian Statoil) to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe. This decision eliminates the Nabucco-West pipeline project (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria) from consideration. The decision was communicated to the two rival... MORE

On June 21, Greece’s State Assets Development Fund announced that Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) has won the tender to acquire control of Greek DESFA’s (Public Gas Transmission System Operator) pipelines. The Asset Fund’s board of directors expressed its unanimous satisfaction with the terms of... MORE

The Barack Obama Administration’s first-term “reset” of the United States’ relations with Russia set in motion a trend in Europe. A number of European governments have adapted the US-Russia “reset” model to their specific situations, initiating similar processes bilaterally with Russia. In Western Europe, such... MORE

Russian Gazprom was poised to take over Greece’s Public Gas Corporation (DEPA), but has withdrawn from the tender literally on the last possible day. The final, binding offer was due to be submitted on June 10, but it did not arrive. Instead, Gazprom claims that... MORE

Croatia is set to join the European Union as a full member on July 1. This makes Croatia a more attractive object of Russian energy interests. The head of Zarubezhneft (Nikolai Brunich, who has in the meantime taken over as chief of Transneft) visited Zagreb... MORE