Latest Articles about Energy

Azerbaijan Becomes Monopoly Supplier of Natural Gas to Georgia
In January, the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development approved its annual energy assessment (balance), which shows that Georgia will not purchase any natural gas from Russia this year. Instead, 99.65 percent of the 2.689 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas Georgia will consume... MORE

Moscow Continues to Pay Close Attention to Latin America
Russia’s actions in Latin America—including a recent series of economic agreements signed with Argentina (Izvestia, January 18)—are often overlooked given that Europe, Asia, the Middle East and, of course, the United States are widely understood to be much higher foreign policy priorities for Moscow. But... MORE

Difficult Geopolitics of the Caspian Complicate Potential Energy Projects
The foreign ministers of the five littoral Caspian states—Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran—met in Moscow, on December 5, 2017, to try to finalize an agreement on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. After the talks, the Azerbaijani and Russian representatives, Elmar Mammadyarov and... MORE

Ukraine Cuts Dependence on Russian Nuclear Fuel, Moves Away From Coal
Westinghouse will extend nuclear fuel deliveries to seven of Ukraine’s fifteen nuclear power units to 2021–2025, in line with a contract signed between this firm and Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company Energoatom. Deliveries to Ukraine under the new deal are to begin immediately after the... MORE

A Year in Review: Azerbaijan in 2017
The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev recently described 2017 as a year of recovery from the economic crisis for his country (President.az, January 10). Yet, at the same time, Azerbaijan, along with the other states of the South Caucasus, Georgia and Armenia, spent the past... MORE

China-Russia Relations Reality Check
In 2017, China and Russia trumpeted the closeness of their relationship, calling it a historic highpoint. Xi Jinping has made good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin a priority, visiting Russia six times and meeting with Putin on 21 occasions since taking office. Authoritative statements... MORE

CPEC: “Iron Brothers,” Unequal Partners
Serious differences have come to the fore between China and Pakistan over the $60-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). At a Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting at Islamabad in November 2017, China announced its decision to suspend funding for at least three road projects in Pakistan, pending... MORE

China Faces Wintertime Energy Crisis of its Own Making
Northern China is facing an energy crisis this winter due to shortfalls in heating gas. Since mid-December, reports from Hebei, the province that surrounds Beijing and Tianjin, indicate that schools and residential areas are going without natural gas for heating. In Quyang county (曲阳县), southwest... MORE

Kazakhstan’s Fuel Crisis Sparks Anxiety About National Energy Security
Despite being the second-largest oil producer and exporter in the former Soviet Union, only behind Russia, Kazakhstan has been historically plagued by chronic deficits of fuel for domestic consumption. National energy security is at the top of the country’s priority list, yet little progress has... MORE

Russia, Japan, China to Help Turkey Fulfill Its Nuclear Power Ambitions
Turkey’s interest in nuclear energy dates back to the 1960s, when the government first conducted a feasibility study to build a 300–400 megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant (NPP) (Iaea.org, accessed November 10). And in recent years, actual progress on Turkey’s nuclear energy program has finally... MORE