Geopolitical Risk

Korea resumed imports from Iran in January whilst Japan is set to take several cargoes in February. France took previously-unnoticed small volumes in November.

A step-up in IOC investment is a prerequisite for Libya getting anywhere near its 1.6mn b/d end-2019 output target. But Libya rates barely a footnote in their plans.

General Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based, self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) on 11 February took control of the shut-in 315,000 b/d...

Israel’s newfound momentum in thawing frosty relations with the Arab world continued this week in Warsaw. Prime Minister Benjamin...

Kuwait’s oil sector is falling further behind its peers with its 2020 upstream strategy in tatters. Political activism has long obstructed oil and gas development.

Mees runs the rule over claims by Sudan and South Sudan to have substantially hiked oil output. Khartoum is providing security to Southern fields.

The EU has finally got its payment mechanism for Iranian trade off the ground. But it is difficult to see it leading to a resumption of crude buying.

Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region held parliamentary elections in September 2018, but divisions between the two dominant political parties have...

Global LNG trade soared to new highs in 2018, with the world’s top five importers collectively taking 13% more. Qatar joined the party with sales up 11% and export revenue rising 25% to the highest level since 2014. Oman, meanwhile, shifted record volumes.

Qatar’s huge LNG expansion plans are creating lucrative opportunities for a host of firms.

After eight months of horse-trading, party bosses have finally formed a cabinet. MEES surveys the challenges as the new government looks to avoid crisis.

Saudi Arabia’s latest $450bn investment program is long on rhetoric and short on details. Gas output and solar capacity will be a key focus.