Ukraine expects to store enough natural gas for next winter despite cutting off imports from Russia and Russian flows crossing the country destined for Europe will not be disrupted, Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said on Thursday.

The quest for European energy security this week suffered a pair of setbacks in Britain and Germany, two countries with large reserves of shale oil and gas.

The Norwegian government confirmed Wednesday oil and gas reserves were discovered in a North Sea area not known previously to contain hydrocarbons.

The exchange in Shanghai has registered capital of 1 billion yuan and 10 shareholders. State-run Xinhua News Agency has the largest stake – at 33 percent – followed by the country's Big Three oil and gas producers. China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corp. Group and China National Offshore Oil Corp. each own 10 percent.

Construction has begun on the Chinese section of the Russia-China Gas Pipeline, according to China National Petroleum Corp.

Egypt’s average natural gas production declined this year to 4.395bn cubic feet per day, compared to about 4.6bn cubic feet in 2014.

Brazil’s Petrobras will cut its spending by 37 percent through the next four years in an effort to tame its enormous $110 billion debt.

“The steel jacket will also be one of the most complex ever built by the industry. Not only will we route the land-based power through the jacket, we’ll also be controlling the subsea water injection and exporting the field’s oil and gas from it,”

The efforts of China to ensure its economic development and preeminence include the creation of the “New Silk Road” - the enormous system of infrastructure mega-projects to stretch from the Pacific to the Atlantic. If completed, it will be the largest infrastructure undertaking ever built. Natural gas features prominently in the plan.

The European Union would find it difficult to reduce its reliance on natural gas imports from Russia, according to industry experts.