Shell’s profits this quarter, year-on-year, have doubled to $7.2 billion. Despite higher taxes, Rosneft is reporting a 10% profit boost for this quarter, to $2.8 billion. Turkey and Azerbaijan have signed a gas supply deal under which Turkey will buy and transport gas from the Shah Deniz-2 field, boosting the EU’s Southern Corridor project which seeks to bypass Russia. Gazprom has already discussed the possibility of joining Japanese power projects, part of a drive to diversify away from Europe. Ukraine says that it will not contest its 2009 gas contract with Russia at international courts, but hopes to reach a suitable agreement through negotiations. Between BP and the Gulf of Mexico, no further barriers remain. BG Group has signed a long-term agreement to buy LNG from the Gulf Coast.