Moscow and Beijing will sign an agreement on the pipeline shipping gas from Western Siberia to China by the end of the year, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, adding that his government will intensify trade ties with Russia in the coming months.

The Bulgarian Government reportedly launched a €33,000 tender for the offshore section of the South Stream project, in order to better understand some financial implications of the project.

Towns in the northern province of Groningen sit atop the continent’s biggest gas field, where the Dutch government says exploration by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. has triggered 196 earthquakes since 2013, damaging buildings and making home sales difficult. Lawmakers, seeking support in provincial elections March 18, have responded to residents’ complaints with a proposed cut in gas production, the second since December, in the hope that less output means fewer tremors.

Significantly lower crude oil prices have reduced foreign companies’ interest in developing oil and gas resources in sub-Saharan Africa nations, speakers at a Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies seminar agreed. Lower prices also could give governments some time to develop better frameworks so economic and social benefits reach their countries’ general populations, they added.

The US drilling rig count plunged 75 units—all on land—to settle at 1,192 rigs working during the week ended Mar. 6, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. That total is the lowest since Dec. 11, 2009, and 600 fewer units compared with this week a year ago. The count has now fallen in 14 consecutive weeks, losing 728 units during that time

The oil and gas industry may cancel about $1 trillion of planned projects globally in the next two years due to the fall of the oil price.

Russia’s bid for Turkish Stream pipeline may open the gates to the competition it most fears

GE announced on March 6 its new oil and natural gas facility in Broome, Western Australia, is finished and operational. The location includes a custom-build workshop, a warehouse, office space and an equipment hardstand area.

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.

The European Union should share the cost of filling Ukraine’s natural-gas storage if it wants to prepare for worst-case scenarios next winter, the country’s energy minister said in an interview, highlighting a potential clash in coming negotiations between the EU, Kiev and Moscow.