Russia, the world's top crude producer, rejected a Chinese request for more Siberian pipeline oil, saying the link is already pumping at full capacity and additional volumes are not available, two Russian state industry sources told Reuters.

• March 5, 2012

Kazakh officials hope that recent trade deals with Germany and France will lead to a trade pact with the European Union that will fuel the Central Asian nation’s economic development.

• March 2, 2012

Russia and China do not want armed intervention in Syria? Good deal! There was never any question, west side, repeat the Libyan episode in 2011. Causing blockage of Russia and China to the UN, it is not only the fear of a regime change in Damascus by international armed intervention that nobody wants. It is the fear of a regime change under external pressure whatsoever, whether diplomatic pressure, threats of financial penalties or energy.

• March 2, 2012

North Korea has agreed with the United States to suspend major elements of its atomic weapons programme in a surprise breakthrough that could pave the way for the resumption of long-stalled nuclear disarmament talks with the secretive state.

• March 1, 2012

China has welcomed North Korea's agreement to freeze nuclear activities in return for US food aid, a deal that raised cautious hopes of an easing of tensions under Pyongyang's new young leader.

• March 1, 2012

Russia expects Iran to answer all existing questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its controversial nuclear program, which will confirm its right to peaceful atomic energy generation, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

• February 27, 2012

Within the framework of the IMEMO’s Oil and Gas Dialog Forum BP's chief economist Christof Rühl presented BP Energy Outlook 2030 to the audience of the Russian academics It was stressed that the outlook’s ‘base case’ reflects a ‘to the best of our knowledge’ assessment of the world’s likely path from today’s vantage point, drawing on expertise both within and outside the company. The outlook highlights the growing role of developing economies in global energy consumption, and the increasing share of non-fossil fuels in global energy supply. It emphasizes the central role markets and well-designed policy can play to meet the dual challenge of solving the energy needs of billions of people who aspire to better lifestyles, and doing so in a way that is sustainable and secure. It also notes the uncertainties attached to any long term projection. The discipline of building a numerical projection sharpens our thinking, but the precise numbers are less important than the underlying story of the challenges we all face and the choices we make in producing and consuming energy. To read the report please click EGF or BP

• February 27, 2012

Vitali Lukyanchenko, Premier Azarov’s press secretary, said if Russia stops using Ukraine pipelines for pumping its gas, Ukraine will use them to pump gas from Azerbaijan and Central Asia to Europe.

• February 25, 2012