Rhetoric and geopolitical ambitions can be self-defeating in that respect, as the natural gas sector tends to be dominated by grandiose infrastructure projects and ambitious themes that may not come to fruition.

In theory, the European Union is pursuing a single energy market, based on the needs of all 28 EU nations. It is also meant to be united against Russia as it seeks to defend the interests of Ukraine following Moscow's seizure of Crimea in March last year.

Nord Stream-2 is still supposed to meet a hypothetical rise of EU gas demand, and also to deal with the abandonment of other projects, like the Nabucco project, which was largely abandoned in 2012, the South Stream project abandoned in December 2014, as well as the ill-fated Turkish Stream project, held hostage in the Russian-Turkish war of words that has followed the shooting down of a Russian warplane by the Turkish Airforce.

The Nord Stream II pipeline would stretch 1,200 kilometers across the Baltic Sea, from Vyborg on the Russian coast to Griefswald, Germany. Once completed, it would have the capacity to transport 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas directly to Germany, circumventing Ukraine and the Central and Eastern European states. Russia’s Gazprom would own 50% of the project, and France’s Engie, Austria’s OMV, Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany’s BASF and E.ON each would own a 10% share.

The additional volumes are roughly what Gazprom has been piping to the EU through Ukraine, raising concerns that the new route would allow Russia to strip Kiev of much of its remaining economic leverage and an important source of income.

The product of Turkey’s far-sighted, strategic energy partnership with Azerbaijan, TANAP will initially transport 16 bcm annually from the Shah Deniz field’s second phase of development via the expanded South Caucasus Pipeline (SCPX) extending across Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Turkish border.

Any change in U.S. oil policy will have “zero” impact on the market because the country remains an importer, OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said Tuesday.

Qatar's LNG is expensive compared to Russian gas (although Russian gas is also not cheap). New LNG terminals will not be easy to build in the short term; it is a very expensive process. It also possible to increase the efficiency of processing and transmission of gas through the introduction of modern technology, however, it will not completely solve the problem.

The development of economic relations starting with the so-called suitcase trading of the early 1990s when Russian and Turkish tourists began to visit each other’s country, engaging in cross-border commerce, and ending with complex investment project such as Russia’s planned Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey contributed to the softening of those rivalries.

In 2014, U.S. crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves increased to 39.9 billion barrels—an increase of 3.4 billion barrels (9.3%) from 2013. U.S. proved reserves of crude oil and lease condensate have risen for six consecutive years, and exceeded 39 billion barrels for the first time since 1972. Proved reserves of U.S. total natural gas increased 34.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) to 388.8 Tcf in 2014. This increase (9.8%) boosts the national total of proved natural gas reserves to a record-high level for the second consecutive year.

Устойчивой тенденции растущего или убывающего ценового тренда сейчас не наблюдается. Россия не рассматривает возможность снижения добычи для стабилизации нефтяного рынка и ожидает его балансировки под воздействием фундаментальных факторов. Важная тенденция газового рынка – уменьшение ценового арбитража между рынками Европы, АТР и Северной Америки.

Torres-Barron noted that gas demand in Mexico “has increased significantly in the last decade and it keeps growing at almost a 4% yearly rate,” which will result in transportation infrastructure being expanded in length by 84%.

Saudi Arabia’s policy has resulted in about $220 billion worth of investment cuts worldwide, much of which is a result of project deferrals, including deepwater projects off West Africa and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fund’s half-yearly fiscal monitor report shows that in the past three years a hefty budget surplus in Saudi Arabia has been turned into a deficit of more than 20% of GDP – double the shortfalls seen in the UK and the US during the worst of the global slump of 2008-09.

Shell is planning for a longer period of low oil prices. But in the longer term, argues Ben van Beurden, there will be no change to fundamental drivers such as rising demand and the need for new supplies. Moreover, the industry should not be blinded by low oil prices. Even more than prices, the transition to a low-carbon energy future will shape its destiny over the coming decades. Carbon pricing systems are crucial in that transition. They encourage the quickest and most efficient ways of reducing emissions widely.