Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has begun a visit to Brazil for talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on energy cooperation and regional issues.

Qatar and China signed a memorandum on promoting bilateral energy cooperation on Sunday.

The United States and Azerbaijan have signed an energy agreement in Washington. The accord is aimed at building new natural gas export pipelines from the Caspian Sea to European markets, amid competition with Russia for transit routes and clients.

Azerbaijan says it is seeking political support from the United States to help it build new natural-gas export pipelines to Europe. Officials in Baku say Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are set to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation on March 22 in Washington.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbaev met today in Moscow for talks focusing on economic, nuclear, and energy cooperation.