Ukraine has indicated that a cut in Russian natural gas purchases will be deeper next year than expected thus far, to 24.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). This means that Ukrainian gas imports from Russia will be below contractual volumes for the third year in a... MORE

Speaking in Kazakhstan on September 7, Uzbek President Islam Karimov strongly voiced his opposition to Central Asian water projects like the Rogun Dam in Tajikistan and the Kambarata-1 hydroelectric project in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, he insisted, along with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, that any such water... MORE

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit last week in Vladivostok has been declared to have been a resounding success in Moscow. The Kremlin has been criticized by the Russian press for spending well over $20 billion on hosting the APEC forum to show off... MORE

The Azerbaijani-Turkish Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline project (TANAP) for Caspian gas to Europe seems set to grow in scope and strategic ambitions. The line is planned to run from the Georgia-Turkey border to the Turkey–European Union border. The project’s initiator, Azerbaijan, is driving its growth in... MORE

Turkey is revisiting the trans-Caspian gas pipeline project after a decade-long hiatus. Ankara is now aligning with the European Union, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, supporting the transportation of Turkmenistan’s gas to Turkey and onward to Europe. Ten years ago, Turkey failed to capitalize on the first... MORE

For several years, Russia has been telling the world about how it will build up its commercial, energy and military position in the Arctic. Recently, it appears to have begun the actual implementation of those linked projects. Thus, President Putin has nominated Federation Council member... MORE

South Stream, the Russian-led project company, considers moving its legal address and changing its registration from Switzerland to the Netherlands. The reasons behind this internal debate are not being disclosed as yet. Reportedly, Italian ENI favors this proposal. Earlier this year, ENI registered a company,... MORE

Moscow is “pressuring” Croatia to join Gazprom’s South Stream project urgently, before Croatia’s accession to the European Union takes legal effect in 2013. An internal analysis, prepared by Croatian government officials for senior decision-makers and leaked to the press, warns that yielding to Gazprom’s demands... MORE

The longest section of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China transit pipeline passes through Kazakhstan’s territory: it measures 1,115 kilometers in length, of the total 1,830-kilometer Turkmenistan-China distance. Kazakhstan is adding a dedicated export pipeline for its own gas exports to China. In combination, these developments (alongside planned oil... MORE

On August 7, Norway’s Statoil announced its exit from the super-giant Shtokman gas field development in the Russian Arctic. The Norwegian company, majority state-owned, is writing off its investment into the Shtokman project, booking $335 million (apparently most of that investment) as financial expenses for... MORE