MONTREAL - Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, two relatively small countries in geo-political terms, are demonstrating the foresight and political skills that will help them - rather than the likes of the fuel-hungry United States, European Union and China - take the driver's seat in the next phase of evolution of Central Eurasian energy geo-economics. READ MORE

Iran's Energy Minister Majid Namjou said Saturday that Tehran and Ankara are working out a roadmap to illuminate the proper path for the two sides' future cooperation in the energy sector. READ MORE

The European Nabucco natural gas pipeline project and its Russian competitor South Stream could merge, a U.S. diplomat said, in what would be a surprising turn to the years-long pipeline war. READ MORE

BRUSSELS — Europe's efforts to diversify its sources of gas supply face a critical test early next year when Azerbaijan and some of the world's largest energy companies are expected to choose a buyer to take the biggest share of gas from a giant field they are developing in the Caspian Sea. READ MORE

As a man who has been watching NATO’s evolution for several decades now, I feel profoundly, although not completely, satisfied with the Alliance’s latest summit in Lisbon. READ MORE

After almost four years of construction, the Oguz-Gabala-Baku water pipeline was inaugurated on December 28, 2010. Costing almost $1 billion, the pipeline is already termed by many in Azerbaijan as the “second BTC,” referring to the strategically important Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline built a decade ago to transport Caspian oil to global markets. READ MORE

With the EU struggling to avert economic meltdown, China has a dream opportunity to hammer out some good business deals. READ MORE

Though Armenia is a CSTO member, it successfully cooperates also with NATO. Armenia, represented by the Foreign Minister and Defense Minister, participated in the Lisbon NATO summit in November 2010, as part of which opinions were exchanged with respect to the bilateral relations. Newly appointed NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai commented to PanARMENIAN.Net on the current level of NATO-Armenia relations, outlooks for boosting the relations within the framework of IPAP, as well as the organization’s position on the Karabakh conflict settlement and the Armenian-Turkish normalization. READ MORE

It looks like a relatively calm year for Eurasia, the area encompassing the former Soviet successor states at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. For the most part, the region is politically stable and countries will continue to see slow but steady economic growth. Russia and Kazakhstan face elections in 2012, but both are governed by well entrenched soft-authoritarian regimes. Ukraine is stabilizing, but risks remain in Georgia. READ MORE

Kazakhstan has increased the oil Export Customs Fee (ECF) to $40 per ton. The order was signed by the Prime Minister Karim Massimov on December 30, 2010, and published in the official press on Thursday, KazTAG reports. READ MORE