Iraq has signed a tentative deal with Iran to import natural gas to ease its electricity woes, an official said Monday, in a step that deepens economic ties with Tehran as U.S. troops prepare to leave at the end of the year.

• May 23, 2011

Kazakhstan is ready to invest in the Central Asian countries together with the EBRD, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said

• May 21, 2011

Ukrtransnafta has launched pumping Azeri Light oil through the Odessa-Brody pipeline in the designed averse direction for the refineries in the West Ukraine, UNIAN reported with reference to the Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Ministry.

• May 21, 2011

The fourth China-Japan-ROK (Republic of Korea) Leaders Meeting is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Tokyo. The event is expected to lay a foundation for deepening trilateral cooperation after the March 11 Japanese quake and improving China-Japan relations.

• May 21, 2011

Prime Minister Karim Masimov said Thursday he intends to nominate Kazakhstan National Bank Chairman Grigory Marchenko to lead the International Monetary Fund

• May 20, 2011

The United States insisted Wednesday that plans to stage missile defences in Europe does not pose a threat to Russia, after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to quit a key nuclear arms reduction agreement.

• May 19, 2011

Kazakhstan will freeze further development of its most promising gas field, Karachaganak, if it fails to resolve its dispute with foreign shareholders in the project, the Kazakh oil and gas minister said on Wednesday.

• May 19, 2011

Once again as it has before in its troubled history, the Nabucco pipeline consortium has announced a postponement of construction until 2013, citing a lack of supply contracts, Robert M. Cutler of the Asia Times reports. Gas would not start pumping until 2017

• May 18, 2011