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

Beijing proposes to increase the volume of Turkmenistani natural gas supplies to China to 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, more than doubling the present level of deliveries. This implies China is scooping up production increments in Turkmenistan in the years immediately ahead. While... MORE

Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas holding, Kazmunaigaz, has started its first-ever oil exploration drilling outside that country. Rompetrol Upstream, a division of Rompetrol Group, is drilling the Kaz-1 exploration well near Focsani in eastern Romania. The Rompetrol Group is a fully-owned subsidiary of Kazmunaigaz Processing... MORE

If the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project did not exist, it may have had to be invented (in this or some other form) by the Shah Deniz gas producers’ consortium in Azerbaijan, so as to foster commercial competition between TAP and the Nabucco-West pipeline project. The... MORE

The Trans-Anatolia Pipeline (TANAP) project, initiated by Azerbaijan with Turkey, is the first real boost to the EU-backed Southern Corridor for Caspian gas to Europe. Planned to carry Azerbaijani (and, in due course, also Turkmenistani) gas, TANAP has resurrected the Corridor’s centerpiece, the Nabucco pipeline... MORE

Major deals in uranium and rare earths are not normally thought of as having important political content, but in the case of Kazakhstan’s recent deals with Japan that is true for both sides. In fact these deals, apart from their mutually beneficial economic interests, highlight... MORE