The state-run natural gas monopoly Gazprom has moved to control natural gas resources in Russia's vast eastern regions by taking over new gas deposits and building new gas pipelines. In late August, Gazprom argued that the Chayadinskoye deposit lacked sufficient reserves to fill the Yakutiya-Vladivostok... MORE

On July 31 the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin formally launched the construction of the new strategic 1,800 kilometer Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok natural gas pipe-line, which is designed to ensure exports to the Asian Pacific Region (APR) from a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant to be... MORE

Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met on September 13 in the city of Turkmenbashi to discuss a possible resumption of Turkmen gas deliveries to Russia. The Russian side stopped taking deliveries through the Central Asia-Center pipeline in early April this year, exploiting its monopsony... MORE

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu paid an official visit to Iran on September 12-13. He met the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani and the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.... MORE

Coal mining, and especially coking coal, has been a very problematic industry in Ukraine -it is highly inefficient due to outdated machinery and the depth of its mines. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), "The average mine depth is more than 700 meters; in... MORE

The once all-powerful Russian energy sector appears to be on unpredictable and shaky grounds today. The development of the giant Kovykta gas field, once considered as a major project, has been placed on hold; the jewel in the crown Shtokman field is in trouble; Sakhalin-2... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's August 6 visit to Ankara for talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan secured some twenty agreements covering energy, trade and other fields. Consequently, Ankara has made its most immediate priority to lift the regulation requiring the full inspection... MORE

While the European Union frets over Russian efforts to impose its energy diktat by building gas and oil pipelines on the bottom of the Black Sea, new conflicts are emerging - not over transit routes, but over rich hydrocarbon resources beneath its ancient waters.The ongoing... MORE

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, paid a two day visit to Turkey on August 17-18, as the guest of Turkish President Abdullah Gul. They both signed several agreements aimed at improving bilateral relations, including promoting closer cooperation on energy issues.On August... MORE

If implemented, the Burgas-Alexandroupolis and/or Samsun-Ceyhan projects would reinforce Russia's quasi-monopoly on oil transportation from Kazakhstan to international maritime ports. Approximately one half of Western companies' production from Kazakhstan is already being delivered through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) existing pipeline, via the North Caucasus,... MORE