Markets

The creation of a free trade zone between the states of the Eurasian Customs Union and Vietnam is on schedule with a contract expected in January 2015, in addition to national currency settlements to bypass the U.S. dollar.

Germany’s economy ministry approved the sale of utility RWE’s oil and gas unit DEA to a Russian investor despite tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis.

The European Parliament has adopted a symbolic resolution opposing the South Stream gas pipeline and recommending a search for alternative sources of gas supplies for the EU.

A $30 billion oil pipeline would be built from the Altai Region through northwest China into northern India.

Firtash gas company is suing Ukraine for USD$ 130 million for blocking the sales of gas produced by Karpatygaz.

by Dan Dicker March 16, 2014 (TSR) -  It is with incredible equanimity that the media has digested the announcement of a 5 million barrel ‘test’ release from the Strategic...

Europe will have trouble weaning itself off Russian natural gas, analysts say, as it faces declining production at home and Asian competition for supplies. Even before the current flare up of tensions with Russia over its possible annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, Europe has been trying to reduce its dependence on Russian supplies.

In a pilot program to test the country’s preparedness for private capital in its banking sector, China will set up five private banks, the chief of the country’s banking regulator said.

The Kingdom of Norway, the owner of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, shows its muscle by blacklisting and divesting funds from two Israeli companies profiting from illegal Israeli occupation and apartheid policies against Palestine.

Iraq is poised to flood the oil market by tripling its capacity to pump crude by 2020 and is collaborating with Iran on strategy in a move that will challenge Saudi Arabia's grip on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a report says.

A rare blue diamond that might fetch over £10 million when it is sold, and could break world records for its clarity, has been discovered in the same South African mine famous for 'Great Star of Africa' stone in Queen Elizabeth's sceptre. Blue diamonds are the most coveted in the world thanks to their rarity, and the Cullian mine is the most important source for them in the world.

A new body has been appointed to administer Libor - the London Interbank Offered Rate. A subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange Group (ICE), a global network of exchanges and clearing houses, has been appointed to ensure Libor cannot be rigged by banks again.