Russia is set to remain a central player of the European gas industry, as an eventual deal between Kiev and Moscow is not a precondition of strong ties between the European Union and the Kremlin. This is was a view emerging from the first day of the European Autumn Gas Conference.

British wholesale gas prices for the rest of this year fell on Friday after Ukraine and Russia signed a deal which will see Moscow resume supplies of gas over the winter.

Natural gas is creating a new reality for economies around the world.

Russian natural gas giant Gazprom believes that winter 2014/2015 may be “colder than usual”.

The Ukraine crisis caused relations between Russia and the EU to fall to their lowest point since the Cold War. But despite the bickering and outright conflicts, both still need each other: Europe relies on Russian gas to keep warm, and Russia in turn needs revenues. With winter on its way and capital flight from Russia reaching dangerous levels, the outlook should draw the EU and Russia back together.

As the European calls for diversification away from Russian sources of natural gas continue in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, a just released study from The Brookings Institution shows that the European Union is likely to be using a lot of Russian gas even by the year 2040.

Europe’s natural gas supply mix likely won’t change much without drastic policy interventions despite recent renewed concern over instability in Ukraine, a new Brookings Institution policy brief concluded. This effectively will ensure a continuing significant market share for Russia, it said.

A cat and mouse game is on between Europe and Russia over gas supplies as the continent switches into the winter heating season.

What does the energy future hold for Europe amid the Ukraine crisis? Can the US LNG and shale gas become alternative for the Russian Gazprom gas in Europe? Is Russia to play the Gazprom card on the continent during the approaching heating season?

Hungarian oil group MOL is reasonably confident that its crude supplies from Russia will not be disrupted by the Ukraine conflict because its Russian partners are reputable companies, the head of its downstream business said.