Royal Dutch Shell will shut its Caspian office for the giant Kashagan oil field at the end of this month, effectively putting the crucial £30bn ($50bn) project on ice for at least two years.

• May 25, 2011

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said he wants to pursue European Union membership for the former Soviet republic that is also being wooed by a Russian-led customs union with the lure of lower natural-gas prices.

• May 25, 2011

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoon Abbasi said the Bushehr nuclear power plant would join the national grid soon, semi-official ISNA news agency reported

• May 24, 2011

The fourth trilateral summit held in Tokyo on Sunday expanded cooperation amongst China, Japan, and South Korea and proposed new targets, which injected new vitality into the exchange and cooperation in Northeast Asia.

• May 24, 2011

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Energy Sector Coordinating Committee (ESCC) is discussing cooperation in Baku.

• May 23, 2011

Russia, which could buy more than $7 billion worth of Belarussian assets as it helps Minsk tackle a currency crisis, expressed opposition Saturday to tougher European sanctions against Belarussian firms.

• May 23, 2011

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