Latest Articles about Energy

China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus
March 19 marked the ten-year anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. Although the international community continues to focus on the violence plaguing post-war Iraq and the country’s oil production capacity, changes in Iraqi foreign policy in... MORE

China Claims a Share in Kashagan, Kazakhstan Confirms
On April 16, Kazakhstan’s Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev made a statement that drew much attention from both domestic and international media and should certainly have been widely commented on in several capitals, including Washington, Moscow, Beijing and New Delhi. After walking out of... MORE

Polish Government Sheds Light on Gazprom-EuroPolGaz MOU
Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has announced some strong measures in response to the April 5 memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between EuroPolGaz and Russian Gazprom, negotiated behind the Polish government’s back. The MOU envisages joint EuroPolGaz-Gazprom construction of a redundant transit pipeline in Poland that... MORE

Nabucco Countries’ Governments Appeal to EU for Support of the Project
The governments of transit countries in the Nabucco-West project—Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria—have appealed to the European Union’s top executive authorities to support the selection of this pipeline route by the Shah Deniz gas producers in Azerbaijan.The producers’ consortium intends to select either the Nabucco-West... MORE

China’s Strategic Recalibration in Burma
When Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Burmese counterpart U. Thein Sein in Sanya on April 5, the usual sunny platitudes about enhancing “all-round cooperation” were dampened by veiled references to the threat of Western encroachment in the Southeast Asian country and the rocky... MORE

Kazakhstan Continues to Upgrade its Military Presence on the Caspian in the Face of Growing Uncertainty
In early April, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov told the local press that the legal status of the Caspian Sea was still being debated by the littoral states (Azerbaijan itself as well as Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran), which had already discussed the organization... MORE

Bait and Switch: Russia Multiplies Gas Route Offers to Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom are announcing colossal plans to expand the capacities of existing gas export pipelines and build new ones, all in Europe beyond Russia’s territory (see EDM, April 5, 19).Gazprom already co-owns and controls export pipeline capacities amounting to some 110... MORE

High-Cost Redundancies: Gazprom’s Pipeline Projects in Europe
Gazprom’s chief spokesman, Sergei Kupryanov, has announced plans to vastly increase Russia’s pipeline capacities for gas export to Europe, far above Gazprom’s existing supply commitments or possibilities. Along with this, the spokesman informed the well-respected East European Gas Analysis consultancy based in the United States... MORE

Gazprom Extends Its Infrastructure Network in Germany Through Joint Ventures
As part of their agreement of intent to expand the Nord Stream pipeline system into northwestern Europe (see EDM, April 11), Russian Gazprom and Dutch Nederlandse Gasunie have further agreed to cooperate on “other infrastructure projects in northwestern European countries” (Gazprom press release, April 10).... MORE

Beijing Builds its Eurasian Transportation Network
China continues to make progress in building its Eurasian transportation networks with the aim of deepening its economic ties in Central and South Asia as well as providing a foundation for its regional security interests. Gwadar, a port town in western Pakistan close to Iran... MORE