China and Russia will seal an agreement later this year on piped gas from Western Siberia, China’s foreign minister said on Sunday, a deal that will continue Russia’s economic shift towards Asia and away from Western Europe.

Things are not any easier for the natural gas business in Europe at the beginning of 2015, but in a session dedicated to new customers and new markets, industry representatives gathered in Vienna, Austria at the European Gas Conference offered their views on how gas might regain its position amid the numerous challenges.

Amid the military escalation in Eastern Ukraine, the geopolitical arm-wrestling between Brussels and Moscow, and its impact on natural gas matters, can only get more complicated.

Plunging sales to Europe and falling energy prices are not only sapping the revenue of Russia's top natural gas producer Gazprom but also depriving the country's budget of much-needed funds.

Europe is luring twice as many liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers as last year and more are expected in what is now the premium-priced market after a year-long demand slump in Asia.

There was no clear answer to the question of where LNG for Europe might come from in a session devoted to the topic at the European Gas Conference in Vienna, Austria, but that didn't mean that panel participants were unable to provide a wealth of information and insights to the discussion.

BP DOESN’T SEE SIGNIFICANT SHALE GAS PRODUCTION IN EUROPE BY 2035

An independent Dutch safety panel has found that the operators of Europe’s largest natural gas field, Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, as well as the Dutch government, for years ignored the dangers posed by earthquakes in the field.

Gazprom would be in a strong position to secure an outcome

RUSSIAN-TURKISH GAS PIPELINE FOR TURKEY