Special Report on South Stream as Gazprom Abandons the Project and Announces a New Gas Pipeline to Turkey
By Dr Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas and Lecturer in Energy Politics at the European University of St Petersburg

Special In-Depth Report on South Stream
Gazprom abandons project, proposes new pipeline to Turkey
On the 1st of December, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, made a significant announcement: the South Stream gas pipeline project has been abandoned, and Gazprom is proposing a pipeline to Turkey as a replacement.
The in-depth report that follows provides background information on the South Stream project, and highlights the difficulties faced by the project long before the decision was taken to abandon it. The report then considers the merits of the proposed alternative – a pipeline to Turkey – before concluding with an analysis of the winners and losers from the decision to abandon South Stream. READ MORE

• December 11, 2014

Euro zone ministers are considering extending Greece's bailout by six months to mid-2015, according to a document obtained by Reuters, but Athens said it was only willing to consider an extension of a few weeks to the unpopular program.

• December 10, 2014

Uzbekistan urged Russia on Wednesday to help protect Central Asia against what it said would be a rising threat from militant Islam as U.S. forces draw down their numbers in Afghanistan.

• December 10, 2014

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Rome on Sunday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on developments in Israel and the West Bank, the State Department said on Wednesday.

• December 10, 2014

Russia resumed gas flows to Ukraine on Tuesday after halting them six months ago in a dispute over prices and unpaid debts, Ukraine's gas transport monopoly said.

• December 9, 2014

British oil major BP (BP.L) plans to invest more than $12 billion in Egypt over the next five years, and to double its gas supplies to the local market in the next decade, the country manager of BP Egypt said on Tuesday.

• December 9, 2014

China's foreign ministry condemned on Tuesday a report by the U.S. State Department about China's claims in the South China Sea, saying they went against Washington's promises not to take sides in the dispute.

• December 9, 2014

George Vlad Niculescu
Following closely after the ground-breaking Turkey-Russia gas export/pipeline MoU announced last week, another agreement was publicized between the Iraqi government and the KRG that could send additional KRG gas to Turkey. Some argue that, if the KRG ramps up and exports significant volumes, it could pose problems for Putin’s new plan. EGF Affiliated Expert Ahmed Mousa Jiyad explains why this is unlikely. READ MORE

• December 9, 2014