Diversification of gas supply has been a strategic priority for the European Union since its dependence on imports began to grow in the early 2000s.

Russia seeks an acceleration of its business ties with China. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev suggested on Monday that the two countries could soon reach an agreement on a second pipeline.

Rosneft and Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed an agreement for the extensions of strategic cooperation.

Rospan International (Rosneft subsidiary) carried out a record hydrofracturing at the Urengoiskoe field, which resulted in the 9 times increase of production rate.

OAO Gazprom said profit for the first half of the year fell by almost one-quarter as Ukraine's Naftogaz didn't pay for gas supplied by the Russian state-controlled gas group.

Statoil ASA (STL), Norway’s biggest energy company, will sell its 15.5 percent stake in the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan to Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd for $2.25 billion as it seeks to reduce investment and prioritize high-value projects.

Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA ( STO ) said Tuesday that with its partner ExxonMobil Corp. ( XOM ) it has discovered 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, or 216 million barrels of oil equivalent, in the Giligiliani-1 well offshore Tanzania, the joint venture's seventh discovery in the block 2 area.

Petrochemical firm Ineos has bought a second licence for shale gas exploration and development in central Scotland.

Gazprom has said it could shelve its Vladivostok liquefied natural gas project as the Russian state-controlled energy giant focuses on supplying more gas to China by pipeline.

The share-price boom at U.S. energy firms has gone bust, due to slumping global growth and tumbling crude prices.