Russia’s Rosneft and Norway’s Statoil have come to an agreement to jointly develop deposits in Russia’s energy rich Barents and Okhotsky Sea zones. The agreement may see Rosneft participate in a license round for rights to develop Norway’s offshore fields. The company, Russia’s biggest oil producer, which plans to increase capital spending by 23% this year, has said its plan to boost gas production will remain on target despite the government’s decision to introduce major increase taxes. Gazprom’s plans for its Arctic field, in particular the Yamal ‘megaproject’ could however be jeopardized by the tax hikes. One of Vladimir Putin’s final acts as Prime Minister has been to order a final set of measures to increase competition in electricity supply. This article considers how closely ‘the fate of the Russian economy — and the popularity of its leader is […] tied to the price of petroleum’. A new deal securing natural gas exports from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India this month may spur on plans to build the TAPI pipeline. The Telegraph reports on the uncertain future of Libya’s oil industry in the post-Gadaffi era.