By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

On May 29, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev officially inaugurated the first phase of the long-awaited flagship project Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), through which Caspian natural gas from the Shah-Deniz II field will be transported to Europe. The new project consists of several pipeline networks that pass through Georgia and Turkey (via the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline, TANAP) and further through Greece, Albania and Italy (via the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, TAP). As Shah Deniz Stage 2 is implemented, gas production will increase from 9 to 25 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year. READ MORE

• July 3, 2018

The Canadian government would like to see construction accelerate on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but has no control over decisions to resume or start new work until it takes ownership of the major crude oil pipeline project, Canada’s natural resources minister said.

• June 28, 2018

Oil prices jumped on Wednesday as plunging U.S. crude stockpiles compounded supply worries in a market already uncertain about Libyan exports, a production disruption in Canada and Washington’s demands that importers stop buying Iranian crude from November.

• June 28, 2018

A modest global rally in stocks on Wednesday spurred by a newly unveiled U.S. plan that takes a less confrontational approach to curbing Chinese acquisitions of American technology faded as investors shed optimism, but strong gains in oil limited losses.

• June 28, 2018

By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia

On June 12, the official launch ceremony of the TANAP pipeline was held in Turkey. TANAP is the key component of the Southern Gas Corridor, which should bring Azerbaijani gas to Europe, circumventing Russia. At the initial stage, annually 6 billion cubic meters of gas will be supplied to Turkey and another 10 billion through South Eastern Europe mainly to Italy. In later stages, the volume may be increased due to additional gas from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field, or potentially involving other gas sources such as Iraq and Turkmenistan. READ MORE

• June 27, 2018

By George Vlad Niculescu, Head of Research, the European Geopolitical Forum

When at the NATO summit in Brussels, on 25 May 2017, president Donald Trump didn’t say that one sentence committing America to continue standing by article 5 of the NATO Charter, he raised eyebrows across Europe. At that time, everyone remembered that candidate Donald Trump raised serious suspicions that his presidency might lead to the end of the West, as we knew it. Nevertheless, everyone who has ever believed in the strength of the Trans-Atlantic link and in the soft power of the Euro-Atlantic values secretly hoped that the end of Pax Americana in Europe wasn’t that close. READ MORE

• June 26, 2018

Oil fell on Monday as investors prepared for an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil to hit the markets after OPEC agreed to raise production and as U.S. equity markets slipped on trade war fears.

• June 25, 2018

The world’s biggest oil and gas players are gathering for a summit in Washington D.C. this week that will be overshadowed by the specter of shifting trade patterns due to a trade dispute between the United States and China

• June 25, 2018