The ability of the US with its newly found export capacity mostly based on shale gas development provides gas into the global market, he explained, for which the European market can benefit as long as the prices in Europe are attractive to a US producer.

“We're interested in seeing more interconnected markets in Europe. We obviously can deliver very flexibly to any terminal; we're not bound into delivering to just one location, as you would be with a pipeline, and what we're really interested in doing is securing new markets, developing integrated projects possibly involving power plants as well, or floating re-gas infrastructure with a power plant behind it, a business model we've operated in Chile; we're looking at doing something similar in Croatia,”

Low oil prices have hurt manufacturers that supply and service the sector

U.S. Rig Count is down 7 rigs from last week to 737, with oil rigs down 10 to 545, and gas rigs up 3 to 192.

OMV and Gazprom are two of the shareholders in the contentious Nord Stream-2 expansion project. BASF, E.ON, ENGIE, and Shell are the four other stakeholders.

Norway traditionally vies with Russia to be the EU’s top gas supplier, providing about 30 per cent of import demand. In terms of energy security, EU officials hail Norway as a model of stability compared with the political and commercial risks associated with Russia and Algeria.

“Relatively low gas prices, combined with low oil prices, have slowed drilling in the Marcellus (Shale) so production from new wells is only offsetting the decline in old wells,” said EIA lead upstream analyst Dana Van Wagener.

"I will defend the position for the construction of Nord Stream II and (a) gas hub in Bulgaria - it is advantageous for the country and nobody can reproach me for that," Borisov told reporters.

LUKOIL EBITDA REACHED $10.5 BILLION IN THE NINE MONTHS OF 2015, LIQUID HYDROCARBONS PRODUCTION INCREASED BY 3.9%. FREE CASH FLOW REACHED $2.0 BILLION

The development of economic relations starting with the so-called suitcase trading of the early 1990s when Russian and Turkish tourists began to visit each other’s country, engaging in cross-border commerce, and ending with complex investment project such as Russia’s planned Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey contributed to the softening of those rivalries.