Ukraine, which is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas supplies, may receive gas from Europe via Slovakia, the European Commissioner for Energy was quoted as saying.

• March 5, 2013

While the western media remains largely fixated on the existential Iran nuclear threat and the gory slow-motion Syrian civil war, other momentous events are occurring in the world’s most volatile region, with potentially enormous consequences for the west’s addiction to Middle Eastern oil. One of the most brutal Middle East insurgencies, largely overlooked by the Western media, involved Turkey and the Marxist Kurdish separatist Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK).

• March 5, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych are meeting in Moscow on March 4, with energy cooperation issues high on the agenda.

• March 5, 2013

Russia and Georgia have met for reconciliation talks in Prague to bring the two countries in the wake of the 2008 August war.

• March 4, 2013

The US media has warned that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline might lead to sanctions against Islamabad, although the State Department says sanctions will only become effective if Pakistan finalises the deal.

• March 4, 2013

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
by Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas

Key points:

• Gazprom Gazprom expects gas prices for its European exports to fall by an average of 14 percent in 2013, as it prepares to grant $4.7bn in price discounts over the next year.
• Ukrainian wholesale gas importer Naftogaz refuses to pay a $7bn bill from Gazprom for unused gas in 2012, and challenges the take or pay terms of the Naftogaz-Gazprom contract.
• Nord Stream AG receives a construction permit for the pipeline’s final onshore German section, although plans for Nord Stream’s expansion are already facing delays.
• Gazprom increases its estimates of the cost of South Stream, with plans for extra investment in the pipeline’s onshore Russian section.
• Gazprom takes a final investment decision on its Vladivostok LNG terminal, with the Asia-Pacific region being the target market, while yet another meeting with China’s CNPC concludes without the announcement of concrete progress towards finalising Russian gas supplies to China.
• Gazprom’s export monopoly comes under further pressure, as Rosneft President, Igor Sechin, calls for the liberalisation of Russia’s gas exports.
• Celebrations of Gazprom’s 20th anniversary are overshadowed by the passing of its former-Chairman, Rem Vyakhirev.

• March 4, 2013

The February 26–27 round of the nuclear negotiations involving Iran and the P5+1 group (all five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany) in Almaty went as well as might have reasonably been expected.

• March 2, 2013

Russia may agree to make a concession to Ukraine regarding clearance of movements of the Black Sea Fleet units outside their bases, although no final agreement has yet been achieved on this matter, the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia Ukraine weekly has reported citing sources familiar with the process of negotiations.

• March 2, 2013