If there was one thing guaranteed to follow low oil prices (other than the loss of thousands of jobs) it was mergers and acquisitions. This has certainly rung true as companies consolidate their portfolios or use their war chests to snap up competitors while prices are down. The recent deal between Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group has many expecting a renewed wave of major business decisions. The buzz has fueled rumors that BP Plc will be susceptible to a takeover by fellow oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

The European Commission gave Gazprom 12 weeks to answer its Statement of Objections (SO) for alleged abuse of dominant market position in Central and Eastern European gas markets. The widely-anticipated decision triggered the enthusiasm of Ukrainian officials, raised some doubts among Russian experts and encountered strong opposition from Gazprom.

In the latest report on Croatia, the European Commission has warned that Croatian Law on the gas market does not encourage competition, and that such a situation could jeopardize further integration into the European energy market, as well as projects such as the LNG terminal on the island of Krk.

Heavily dependent on Russia for its energy needs, European trade negotiators are looking for a visible anchor to US energy supplies, writes Douglas Hengel of The German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Brussels will on Wednesday accuse Russia’s Gazprom of illegal abuse of its dominant position in Europe’s gas market, unveiling antitrust charges that threaten to inflame already difficult relations with Moscow.

On December 1 2014, during his official visit to Turkey, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the suspension of South Stream, blaming the EU for its “unconstructive” position. In fact, the realization of pipeline had become untenable as a result of various legal, political and financial issues, such as the EU’s Third Energy Package, the Ukraine crisis and the ensuing sanctions over companies involved in South Stream (Stroytransgaz and Gazprombank).

Russia will continue to provide competitive natural gas deliveries to Europe until mid-2020 and there is a limited possibility that other sources including LNG supplies, will offset Russian imports significantly, participants at the Flame conference in Amsterdam said Tuesday.

Russia is pushing ahead with plans to build a pipeline to Turkey and further on to Greecevia the Black Sea, in line with its plans to stop exporting gas via Ukraine by 2019.

On March 16, the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia travelled to Kars in Turkey’s mountainous northeast, and then to a remote worksite near the border with Georgia, to launch construction of the 1,850km Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (Tanap).

The rebalancing of the global oil market may still be in its early stage with the outlook “only getting murkier”, according to the International Energy Agency, as uncertainties remain about demand and supply responses to the steep drop in prices.