Russia

Extended-reach drilling is becoming more of a mainstream technology as the industry seeks to squeeze difficult reserves and reduce the footprint of projects in fragile environments.

The US remained Europe’s biggest supplier of LNG in Q1 2021, a position it has held since mid-2019 when competition with Russia began to heat up.

Russian oil major Lukoil expanded its Gulf of Mexico presence, acquiring a 50% operator interest in Mexico’s Area 4 offshore license area.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new law regulating carbon dioxide emissions as the country strives to fulfill promises to significantly reduce its carbon footprint by 2030.

The second of Nord Stream 2’s twin pipelines is scheduled for completion in August, with the first line having been finished and prepped for filling earlier this month. Politically, Nord Stream 2 has been nothing less than a high-stakes poker game among nations to achieve geopolitical goals.

The new facility is being built in partnership with RusGazDobycha and will become one the largest gas plants in the world.

Russia’s second-largest gas producer plans to raise $11 billion with the help of China, Japan, and Europe.

Massive Russian Baltic Sea gas export line faces scrutiny, sanctions from the West.

The gas industry on both sides of the Atlantic is moving to create markets and infrastructure in Europe in anticipation of promoting blue hydrogen, derived from natural gas, as a transition fuel to support EU goals of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Nord Stream 2 consortium is laying pipe in Danish waters despite US sanctions. A deal is anticipated that will allow the pipeline to be built if Germany defends Ukraine’s interests as a transit state for Russian gas.