On April 16 in Ashgabat, the German energy giant Rheinisch-Westfaelische Elektrizitaetswerk (RWE) entered into an agreement with Turkmenistan on offshore gas field development and gas deliveries. RWE board chairman Juergen Grossmann and Yagshgeldi Kakayev, head of the Turkmen State Agency for the Management and Use... MORE

On April 17 Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler, attended a meeting on the future of the Turkish energy sector where he highlight the need to invest in renewable energy resources and diversify its hydrocarbon supplies. In that context, Guler sent important messages to Turkey's Nabucco... MORE

Russia's economy has achieved a modicum of stability after the meltdown that had spread with devastating force from the stock exchange to the financial sector and to industry. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his report (rather resembling an instruction session) to the State Duma praised... MORE

On April 1 Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari took another step in promoting his country's goal of becoming a major natural gas supplier to the EU when he announced in Damascus that, "In accordance with a project being developed, Iranian gas will be supplied to... MORE

Ukraine's gas pipeline deal with the EU on March 23 led to an avalanche of Russian outrage that had less to do with the agreement, but exposed the Kremlin's use of Russian national identity. Russia apparently felt 'betrayed' by Europe and Ukraine. Russian state-controlled media... MORE

Deliveries of Russian natural gas to Balkan countries via Ukraine and Moldova are down by approximately one half, following the April 1 explosion on the transit pipeline in Moldova. The blast is attributed to a landslide that followed days of heavy rain. It crushed the... MORE

Russia's electricity suppliers have moved to resume exports from the country's Far East to China amid declining domestic demand. Russia's energy executives have announced that the region's major electricity exporter, the Bureiskaya hydropower plant, will reach its maximum designed capacity later than expected. On March... MORE

Russian expansion into European energy industries stands poised to cross a new threshold with the stealthy acquisition of a large stake in Hungary's privately owned MOL by Russia's Kremlin-controlled Surgut Neftegaz (EDM, April 2,). This move entails a number of bold novelties. First, Surgut's lack... MORE

As early as the middle of 19th century, oil was extracted to the surface through wells on the territory of Dagestan. With the participation of Swedish oil industrialist Ludvig Nobel, several relatively shallow oil wells were operating in Dagestan by the end of that century... MORE

Surgut Neftegaz appears to have vastly overpaid for OMV's stake in MOL. The Russian company bought the 21.2 percent stake for 1.4 billion Euros on March 30 on the Budapest stock exchange. The average purchase price per share was 19,200 Hungarian Forint, almost double the... MORE