Tag: Gas

Russia insists on sticking to its current gas supply agreement with Ukraine despite repeated calls from Kyiv to renegotiate the deal, the head of Russia’s Gazprom says.

The Cyprus EU presidency in the second half of 2012 will provide political leadership to the Union but “not in the traditional way”, officials say. Rather, it will be a “Brussels-based presidency”, with most of the country's officials operating from the European capital and focusing on EU affairs. Meanwhile, the island's long-standing reunification talks with Turkey will be dealt with on a separate track.

Finland is considering increasing its military cooperation in the north, something it had been reluctant to do in the past because it did not want to damage its economic relationship with Moscow, writes Stratfor.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has unveiled a ‘golden’ rulebook for the extraction of unconventional gases such as shale, which it says is needed to give them a 'social license to operate'.

The biggest reforms to the UK energy sector in two decades were set out yesterday (22 May), prompting warnings from consumer groups and green campaigners that they would raise bills and penalise renewable energy while boosting nuclear power.

As the world turns against nuclear power and the prices of fossil fuels rise, Russia is proactively expanding its oil and gas projects through tax cuts and cooperation with Western companies, says Ivan Matiyeshyn.

Ministers have been advised to allow the controversial practice of fracking for shale gas to be extended in Britain, despite it causing two earthquakes and the emergence of serious doubts over the safety of the wells that have already been drilled.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has urged his country's gas industry to "rise to the challenge" of shale gas as the United States and some European countries forge ahead with developing the controversial energy source.

Russia’s gas export monopoly Gazprom has abandoned plans to increase sales to Europe in 2012, saying it faced stiffer than expected competition from LNG and lower spot market prices. However, the state-owned company said it would meet its planned earnings targets thanks to higher prices charged to consumers.

As cash-strapped Greece is selling many of its state assets, three Russian companies including Gazprom are bidding to acquire the Greek gas companies DEPA and DESFA, out of a total of 17 bidders from 12 countries.

Bulgaria and Russia have agreed that a final investment decision on the South Stream gas pipeline will be taken in November. Russia is speeding up construction of the pipeline, which will bring Russian gas through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and countries further west.

Ukraine plans to sign a contract with Germany's RWE energy company to import gas through Slovakia using reverse-flow technology. Although relatively small, the project is the first attempt by Ukraine to reduce its dependence on imports from Russia's Gazprom monopoly.

Without the participation of the Turkey-Greece-Italy Interconnector (ITGI), no other competitor can complete the offshore section to Italy, says the chief executive of Greece's publicly owned gas company DEPA. The project is intended to transport gas from Azerbaijan to Europe in 2018.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Gazprom chief Alexei Miller to start building the South Stream gas pipeline at "maximum capacity".  The move is a countermeasure against Ukraine "siphoning" gas from the pipelines transiting trough its territory.

Squeezed supply of Russian gas to some EU countries fell further today (3 February), the European Commission said, but added the situation had not reached emergency levels despite freezing temperatures gripping much of Europe.

EU rules designed to boost third-party participation in Russian pipelines shipping gas to Europe could trigger legal steps by Russia, the head of Gazprom said in an interview with a German newspaper published today (26 January).

Ukraine will not buy the amount of gas from Russia set out in a 2009 bilateral agreement which Kiev says is unfair, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said, setting the tone for a new round of gas price talks.

In a sign of mounting Russian pressure on Ukraine to share its pipeline network, Gazprom's chief executive has warned that procrastination in talks would result in a bad deal for Kyiv as construction of a competing pipeline would lead to a price slump.

EU and Ukrainian leaders meeting in Kyiv yesterday (19 December) failed to initial the country's Association Agreement with the Union, largely due to the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that Brussels sees as "politically motivated".

Days before a crunch EU-Ukraine summit on 19 December, Kyiv is under increased pressure as Brussels urges its leaders to release political prisoners and Russia moves to take control of its gas pipeline network, diplomats told EurActiv.

A smaller, cheaper alternative to the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline could be the best choice to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe, though Nabucco retains US political support, Washington's special envoy for Eurasian energy said in Baku. 

After several days of discrete communication between Brussels and Kyiv, following the sentencing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, EU leaders have decided that a visit of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich should be 'postponed' until conditions would be more "conducive to making progress" in bilateral relations.

Turkey joined a chorus of European companies demanding that Gazprom cut its natural gas prices, increasing pressure on the lucrative pricing model that underpins Russia's gas exports.

Ukraine's state prosecutor  asked for a seven-year jail sentence to be passed on former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko yesterday (27 September), in a trial which Brussels has warned could affect the country's hopes for closer trade ties and eventual membership of the European Union.