The next decade will be critical for the Russian natural gas industry with the outcome largely depending on the nation’s pricing and institutional policies

Representatives of five countries - Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and Turkey - met in Budapest on Tuesday, announcing the formation of a working group to facilitate natural gas deliveries - specifically infrastructure development - to their markets from gas emanating from Turkey including possible participation in the Turkish Stream pipeline.

The Turkish Stream pipeline project is Russia's replacement for the South Stream project, which the EU effectively put on hold due to legal issues involving the same company supplying gas and constructing and owning the pipeline transporting the gas.

Gazprom approved the deal to contribute additional capital in the amount of 75 million euro into the company South Stream Transport B.V.

Russia’s JSC Gazprom Neft has entered an agreement with Vietnam National Oil & Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to purchase a 49% interest in the 6.5 million-tonne/year Dung Quat refinery.

China will build a pipeline to bring natural gas from Iran to Pakistan to help address Pakistan’s acute energy shortage, under a deal to be signed during the Chinese president’s visit to Islamabad this month, Pakistani officials said.

Shares in BG Group rose as much as 42 percent in early trade after Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay that amount (47 billion pounds) for its smaller rival, making it the biggest deal in the sector in more than a decade.

The United States remained the world's top producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2014, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. U.S. hydrocarbon production continues to exceed that of both Russia and Saudi Arabia, the second- and third-largest producers, respectively. For the United States and Russia, total petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbon production, in energy content terms, is almost evenly split between petroleum and natural gas. Saudi Arabia's production, on the other hand, heavily favors petroleum.

Will there be a “new deal” between natural gas marketers and producers? That was the question posed to a panel of experts, who grappled with topics such as the future of long-term contracts as well as what the price of gas will be, at the European Gas Conference in Vienna, Austria.

Preparing the ground for a much-discussed visit in Moscow (8-9 April), Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reiterated his opposition to EU sanctions against Moscow, adding that debt-ridden country’s ambition is to upgrade its relations with Russia.