Gas Outlook • 11th March 2024

Middle East tensions rise after Iran gas pipelines burst

Iran’s natural gas pipelines were attacked last month, disrupting flows to the provinces of Chaharmaha-Bakhtiari and Fars, according to reports in Iranian news media. Although Iran is not a significant international gas player, owing to its embargoed status in Europe and further afield, it does export gas to neighbouring countries including Turkey. The pipelines are connected to the domestic Iranian market, primarily supplying homes with gas for cooking and heating purposes. The attack points

Gas Outlook • 11th March 2024

Shipping markets shrug at Houthi attacks in Red Sea

Despite numerous reports of serious disruptions to commercial shipping, commodities markets have not responded significantly to increased violence in the Red Sea, shipping analysts told Gas Outlook. “The shipping market has responded with indifference,” Andres Rojas, Associate Director of LNG at S&P Global Commodities Insights, told Gas Outlook. Shipping prices have been on a downwards trajectory since December, which has continued even despite the attacks in the Red Sea, according to the analy

Gas Outlook • 11th March 2024

Israel Gaza war: Middle East diplomacy a mixed bag

The first three quarters of 2023 were characterised by easing tensions and more constructive diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa, but as 2024 opens, the diplomacy picture is a mixed bag that some analysts view as fraught with risk. Israel’s retaliation on Gaza after the October 7 attack by Hamas has killed over 24,000 people in Gaza and displaced 2.3 million people, destroying more than half of the infrastructure and housing. There are scant signs that the destruction is coming to an

Petroleum Economist • 30th January 2020

Iraq’s bounty risks bitter taste

After US-led mission helped to largely banish Islamic State from Iraq in 2018, the country has fast become a battleground for power in the region

Petroleum Economist • 9th January 2020

Iran-US conflict: more to come?

With the US’s killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the risk of attacks on Mena oil infrastructure is likely to increase The Gulf region is wondering if General Soleimani’s assassination and the subsequent Iranian missile attacks on US bases in Iraq is the end of a chapter—or just the start. Despite US president Donald Trump’s more conciliatory remarks on Wednesday, analysts still favour the pessimistic view.

Platts • 5th August 2019

Iraq's oil expansion may be set back on Turkish dam project

Iraq's oil expansion may be in jeopardy after Turkey reportedly started a dam that could reduce water flows to energy companies operating in OPEC's second-largest crude producer. Turkey started filling a hydroelectric dam off the Tigris near the ancient city of Hasankeyf last week, according to local activists.

Platts • 29th June 2019

Iraq's brighter oil future at odds with meeting OPEC quota

Iraq has made a comeback to the global oil stage after the defeat of Islamic State militants and the restoration of stability, with its crude production surging to all-time highs in recent months. But the success to which it has rebuilt its vital oil industry has placed it at odds with its fellow members of OPEC, which is in the third year of collective production cuts aimed at boosting prices.

Platts • 7th May 2019

Analysis: Iraq becomes Middle East energy investment hotspot

Iraq is again becoming a viable destination for energy investment in the Middle East after the final defeat of Islamic State and the election of a new government revived interest in the region's second-largest oil producer. The US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and even Iran are now vying for a share in the spoils.

Platts • 5th March 2019

Yemen's energy revival plan leaves analysts skeptical

Yemen is caught in a war that has left its 28 million people struggling to survive in what the United Nations calls the worst man-made humanitarian disaster. But that hasn't stopped the government from projecting new investment in energy this year, helping ports and airports to run more smoothly and swelling state coffers. But analysts are skeptical about the country's goal of enticing more foreign investors to help boost exports and generate vital cash needed for the Middle East's poorest and war-torn country.

Platts • 28th January 2019

Bahrain aims for formal discussions with investors by end-2019

Bahrain aims to start formal discussions with foreign investors to develop its shale oil play in the Khaleej al-Bahrain basin by the end of this year, Bahrain's minister of oil Shaikh Mohammed Khalifa al-Khalifa told S&P Global Platts in an interview.

Platts • 14th January 2019

Interview - 'No reason' Iran sanctions will lead to higher oil prices: US' Brian Hook

Thanks to booming US output, as well as increased supplies from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers, oil prices have eased despite the Trump administration's reimposition of sanctions on Iran in November. But as OPEC and its allies implement production cuts to bolster prices, US officials say they will be closely monitoring the market in considering whether to extend waivers that allow eight countries to continue buying Iranian oil.

Platts • 13th January 2019

Saudi Aramco to issue about $10 billion in bonds for Sabic purchase: Falih

Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco will seek to sell around $10 billion in bonds to help fund the purchase of petrochemicals firm Sabic, Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said Sunday.

Petroleum Economist • 18th September 2018

Iran seeks energy allies as sanctions bite

Trump’s Iran sanctions target oil. But will all be lost or will Iran find investors in Russia and China? With the imposition of full US sanctions on Iran imminent, high-profile investors, such as France's Total have already confirmed they won't be seeking waivers to continue their operations. Instead, the major will opt out of developing the supergiant South Pars gasfield.

Petroleum Economist • 19th April 2018

REPORT: Nigeria's election hangs over energy sector

Nigeria's economy has made a sluggish recovery over the past 12 months. After a plunge into negative growth last year, higher global oil prices are beginning to heal the wounds to state finances. The next 18 months will be fraught with political risk, but if investors are smart, they can hover over lucrative market positions and prepare to take a spending plunge when th

Petroleum Economist • 4th April 2018

Militant threat looms ahead of Nigerian elections

President Muhammadu Buhari faces a difficult year, as he seeks to implement far-reaching reforms to the oil and gas sector against a background of intensifying campaigning ahead of presidential elections. To make matters more complex, militants are threatening another campaign of attacks in the Niger Delta, risking oil production levels that have only recently recovered after the last bout of unrest.

Interfax • 24th February 2017

Nigerian power discos hope for debt write-off

Nigerian power distibutors are caught in a debt cycle as legacy debts and non-payment by customers have left them struggling to pay generators.

Interfax • 18th January 2017

Ghana-based IPPs face shake-up with new president

Ghana’s new president is set to shake up the country’s gas and power industry through a number of legal and fiscal changes, and independent power producers (IPPs) are likely to feel the burn, industry sources have told Interfax Natural Gas Daily. Nana Akufo-Addo took office on 7 January, and one of his major tasks while in power will be to find ways to boost the monetisation of the power sector to slash its debts, which are weighing on state finances.

Interfax • 13th December 2016

Angola insurance liberalisation at least three years off

Angola’s plan to restructure its energy insurance market has stalled, leaving the sector in limbo and projects struggling to find policies. No progress is expected for at least three years, according to a senior figure from the country’s regulatory body.

Interfax • 9th November 2016

African deal activity slows, but more on offer

Merger and acquisition activity has slowed significantly in Africa in 2016, but for buyers seeking opportunity, the African upstream market is becoming more competitive and the quality of projects on offer is higher than previous years, delegates at the Africa Oil Week conference have said.

Interfax • 31st August 2016

Sonangol hit by Angola’s ‘new economic reality’

Sonangol, Angola’s state-owned oil and gas company, is struggling to cope in the country’s bearish economic climate. Projects are being delayed or suspended entirely as a result of a currency crisis and poor revenues from oil.