Only a year ago, Russia's dominance as a global energy supplier was threatened by low gas prices and a reputation as an unreliable trade partner. But with the world now shaken by Japan's natural disasters and uprisings across the Middle East, the country is back at the heart of the market - and cashing in

• March 27, 2011

Following the nuclear power plant crisis in Japan, China has ordered safety inspections of its existing nuclear plants and suspension of new plant approvals.

• March 25, 2011

The Ukrainian-Russian intergovernmental working group on March 24, 2011 held the first stage of a meeting in Kyiv to draw up a plan of joint action to settle the conflict over public JSC Ukrtatnafta (Kremenchuk oil refinery, Poltava region), read a press release of the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry of Ukraine.

• March 25, 2011

Russia, responding to the Japanese nuclear crisis, will perform a “stress test” on all its reactors to judge their ability to withstand earthquakes more powerful than the original design anticipated, the Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom said

• March 25, 2011

Thermal coal producers in Asia Pacific are likely to feel some short-term financial impact from Japan's recent earthquake and tsunami, according to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

• March 24, 2011

Poland broke ground Wednesday on a gas terminal on the Baltic Sea aimed at diversifying energy sources and lessening the country's reliance on Russian gas, dpa reported.

• March 24, 2011

Future prospects for cooperation between China and Kazakhstan were high on the agenda during President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to Beijing on February 21. This overshadowed all other complicated and long-drawn out issues like the water sharing on Ili and Irtysh Rivers, on which a preliminary agreement was reached and the talks on Transborder Rivers, as it was disclosed to journalists, will be finalized during the trip by the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, to Kazakhstan scheduled for June.

• March 24, 2011

Estonia's shale hub is Narva, in the northeast near the Russian border. Two underground mines and two open-cast pits in the area feed a duo of power stations -- the world's biggest oil shale-fired electricity plants.

• March 23, 2011