During his visit to Ankara in December 2014, Vladimir Putin announced that South Stream—a large pipeline that would have carried Europe-bound Russian gas under the Black Sea and across Southeastern Europe—had been terminated. A major reason for South Stream’s cancellation was attributed to the exit... MORE

Turkey has been steadily diversifying its energy transit policy and pursuing its goal of becoming a hub country for the rest of the region. In particular, Turkey reached an agreement with Russia on developing the Turkish Stream project (also known as “Turk Stream”—see EDM, December... MORE

During a press conference in Yerevan on January 27, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif said that various opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation could potentially be beneficial, and Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) could represent one such opportunity. He noted... MORE

During the November 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Beijing was not only an impressive host, but also a generous financial supporter of a number of China-centered initiatives. The largest economic package during the APEC summit went to the second China-Russia mega deal of the... MORE

On January 14, 2015, Aleksei Miller, the CEO of Russia’s state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom, sent a letter of warning to European Commission Vice President for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic. In his letter, Miller wrote that Russia intends to stop all shipments of gas... MORE

The unrest and ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine seriously impacts coal supplies and thermal power electricity generation in the rest of the country. On December 28, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry to halt rolling power blackouts, adding that... MORE

Late in 2014, Russian state oil company Rosneft acquired 49 percent of the Georgian company Petrocas Energy Group, which owns a strategically important oil terminal at the port of Poti and Georgia’s most extensive network of gas stations, branded as Gulf (Rosneft.com, December 29, 2014).... MORE

In the current volatile energy market, Italy has again bet big on hydrocarbon-rich Kazakhstan, trying to re-cement its cooperation with the Central Asian republic. The bilateral partnership had been strained over the past two years by delays with the large-scale Kashagan oil field development venture,... MORE

Weakened by a war with Russia-backed militants, Ukraine has been living through an energy crisis of proportions unseen since the 1990s. Blackouts began across the country this past fall due to natural gas cutoffs from Russia and the suspension of coal supplies from eastern Ukrainian... MORE

U.S. airstrikes launched on August 23 signaled the start of Operation Inherent Resolve. This is intended to eliminate the Islamic State terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. An important aim of the air attacks... MORE