The Bulgarian authorities have excluded from the anti-Russian sanctions the work of Russia’s Atomstroyexport (ASE) at the Kozloduy and Belene NPPs and have extended the contract between ASE and the Belene NPP

Energy company EDF intends to build the reactors at three existing NPP sites: two in Penly, in the Seine-Maritime administrative department, two in Gravelines, in northern France, and two either in Bugey, in eastern France, or in Tricastin, in the south of France.

The technical objectives of STEP are: to deliver predictable net electricity greater than 100 MW; to innovate to exploit fusion energy beyond electricity production; to ensure tritium self-sufficiency; to qualify materials and components under appropriate fusion conditions; and to develop a viable path to affordable lifecycle costs.

Brent was up 79 cents, or 0.9%, to $89.65 per barrel, WTI rose 60 cents, or 0.7%, to $84.23 a barrel.

Russia currently forecasts a further drop in Urals oil price over the next three years – to $70.1/b in 2023, $67.5/b in 2024, and $65/b in 2025. Its 2022 forecast is $80/b.

"If a decision is made to start deliveries through Nord Stream 2's line B, natural gas will be pumped into the pipeline after the integrity of the system has been checked and verified by supervisory authorities," it said.

The current gas crisis also casts longer-term uncertainty on the prospects for natural gas, especially in developing markets where its use was expected to rise at least in the medium term as it replaced other higher-emission fossil fuels.

The halt in deliveries to Italy is the latest disruption to Russian gas flows to Europe after supplies were already halted via the Yamal-Europe and Nord Stream pipelines earlier this year and deliveries via Ukraine sharply curtailed.

According to preliminary data, Gazprom produced 313.3 billion cubic meters of gas from January through September 2022. This is a decrease of 17.1 per cent (or 64.8 billion cubic meters) versus the same period of last year.

Средняя цена на нефть марки Urals в январе-сентябре 2022 года сложилась в размере $80,58 за баррель, в январе-сентябре 2021 года – $65,96 за баррель.