Between the Broadsheets

With Russia’s support, a dozen large natural gas-producing countries founded an organization Tuesday that will study ways to set global prices for the fuel, much as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries does for crude oil.
The development seems likely to further unnerve European Union nations, already wary of their dependence on Russian energy and what critics say are efforts by Moscow to use oil and natural gas exports as leverage to reassert sway over former Soviet nations.
Russia’s foray into energy diplomacy affecting natural gas producers from the Middle East to South America also underlined its ambitions to assert itself on the world stage despite the slump in energy prices. - The New York Times

Britain's dependence on natural gas as a source of energy is growing, even as supplies from the North Sea are running out, figures suggest.
They indicate that the UK is relying increasingly on gas as its primary source of fuel for electricity generation, even though the country is being forced to import more and more as domestic reserves grow scarce.
The use of gas to generate power in the UK soared by 21 per cent in the third quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year, to 44 terrawatt hours, according to Energy Trends, a quarterly report on UK energy use published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. - The Times