Ukraine and Russia are at it again. This time, it’s turned especially nasty, as Russia cut off natural gas supplies to a host of European countries. Tired of relying on Russia, the EU will again look for alternatives. Its eyes will wander to Turkmenistan.

City fashion is a dangerous thing. Its followers rarely come out smiling. So although there is a chorus now calling for mergers and acquisitions in the small company sector, this seems more to do with fund managers’ concerns about illiquid stocks than any commercial rationale.

In March, this company announced that its oil and gas reserves were up 28% and rumor has it they are expecting to confirm a significant reserve discovery in the next few weeks. The stock price has already seen a 69% increase this year so you don’t want to wait to jump onboard.

Oil-consuming countries and international oil producers no longer influence oil prices, reports AFP, as a global gathering of energy elite gets underway in Rome and the price of New York oil struck a historic peak at $114.49 per barrel.

International oil majors now control a mere 6% of oil and 20% of gas reserves, according to the report. The rest is in the hands of national oil companies.

The unpalatable reality is that national producers such as Venezuela or Russia today have less need of international oil majors to help them develop their untapped reserves.