As China has become the world’s second largest economy, its demand for energy has caused it to become the world’s biggest comprehensive energy consumer. Accompanying this process has been a sharp upward trend in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) focused on energy and other resources.... MORE

Russia’s energy interests in Bulgaria have been under scrutiny since the center-right government of Boyko Borissov took office in July 2009. At the beginning of his mandate, Borisov pledged to review all pending Russian energy contracts signed by the previous Socialist government. Two years later,... MORE

The French company, Total, and Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) have announced a major gas discovery at the offshore Absheron field. According to Total, the first results from the exploration well, Absheron X-2, confirm a potential of “several trillion” cubic feet of gas (35.3 cubic... MORE

Kazakhstan and Italy are developing a major strategic partnership that is rapidly altering ties between the two countries. For Italy, one of the main and constant aims of Italian foreign policy – regardless of the political orientation of its government – is to guarantee the... MORE

As winter approaches, the Ukraine-Russia gas price talks have been deadlocked, increasing the likelihood of a repetition of the “gas wars” of 2006 and 2009. Ukrainian officials pledged to avoid this but the situation is serious, with both sides firmly standing their ground. Ukraine repeatedly... MORE

On August 24, the head of Kazakhstan’s national nuclear monopoly Kazatomprom announced plans to increase its uranium fuel pellet shipments to China by one hundredfold,  from 2 metric tons this year to 200 metric tons in 2013 or 2014 (Bloomberg, August 22). This is welcome... MORE

Nabucco, the strategic project for transportation of Caspian gas to Europe, seems threatened by the non-strategic pipeline projects, ITGI (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy) and TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline). These are less advanced, compared with Nabucco, but are also less ambitious in scope, and consequently easier to source with... MORE

The ITGI (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy) and TAP (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline), with planned capacities at 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually for each, require no further sourcing beyond Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field, Phase Two. Both ITGI and TAP are headed for southeastern Italy. The Nabucco project, however, is... MORE

Three pipeline project consortiums (Nabucco, ITGI, and TAP) compete against each other over priority access to gas production in Azerbaijan. The transporters’ contest is now intensifying as the deadline draws near for submitting proposals to the gas producers’ consortium in Azerbaijan.Although their respective merits are... MORE

Observers of politics in the Arab world and the broader Middle East continue to scrutinize China’s place in the region.  Dissecting the nuances of Chinese diplomacy and foreign policy towards such a large swath of energy-rich territory that is so deeply ensconced in a U.S.-led... MORE