Posts in Middle East
Shifting Geo-Politics not Good for the Climate
Change may only happen in small steps, but slowly and surely the geo-politics of oil are changing. The dynamics of Middle Eastern oil are in transition. Anyone who argued that the war in the Gulf was a war about oil should sit up and take notice. And anyone concerned about the climate should also be…
Continue reading ‘Shifting Geo-Politics not Good for the Climate’.De-dollarisation of Oil Market by 2018
Sometimes a story grows legs, other times it hits the dust. But yesterday’s front page story in the Independent about negotiations to end oil trading in dollars seems to have hit a raw nerve and sent shock-waves through the currency markets. In response to the story, gold is now trading at record levels and the…
Continue reading ‘De-dollarisation of Oil Market by 2018′.Oil Traders to Ditch the Dollar…
The dollar is sliding on the currency markets this morning after reports by the Independent newspaper that Arab states are in secret talks with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading. The move – if it happens – would be the most profound financial change in recent Middle East…
Continue reading ‘Oil Traders to Ditch the Dollar…’.A Nuclear-Tainted and Oil-Soaked Renewable Energy Agency?
So the United Arab Emirates has won the race to host the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) beating off competition from Bonn and Vienna. Never mind that the UAE has the highest per capita carbon footprint in the world, a fact that had attracted strong opposition from other countries. Never mind that the UAE…
Continue reading ‘A Nuclear-Tainted and Oil-Soaked Renewable Energy Agency?’.The Great Gazan Gas Robbery
As Iran continues to grab the headlines coming out of the Middle East, the Obama Administration is said to be quietly pushing Israel to soften its stance on Gaza to relax its vice-like grip on the border crossings, in order to ease the growing humanitrian crisis. Any diplomatic initiative by Obama that lessens the suffering…
Continue reading ‘The Great Gazan Gas Robbery’.Now the Gas Dries up…
Two different stories from separate parts of the world, but one underlying trend that signals just how bad the energy crunch has become. It may be the price of oil that is grabbing the headlines but you should also keep an eye on what is happening to gas. The Emirates may have been built on…
Continue reading ‘Now the Gas Dries up…’.Guns for Oil?
A group of US senators is pressing President Bush to halt billions of dollars in sophisticated arms sales to Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf oil producers unless they agree to pump more oil. The senators said if Saudi Arabia does not increase production, they would seek a resolution that would block the arms deals….
Continue reading ‘Guns for Oil?’.Al Qaeda Attacks Oil Interests in Yemen
Things are certainly hotting up for foreign oil companies in Yemen. A blast shook an area near the headquarters of Canadian oil company Nexen in the capital Sanaa yesterday. The blast followed Sunday’s mortar attack by an Al Qaeda terrorist organization on a residential complex in Yemen that houses executives and the headquarters of Safer…
Continue reading ‘Al Qaeda Attacks Oil Interests in Yemen’.World Oil Output Struggling, Say Arab Experts
Leading figures from the Middle East oil industry have added their voices to those warning that the world is struggling to sustain rising oil production. “There is a real problem — that supply may not be possible to increase beyond a certain level, say around 100 million barrels,” Libya’s National Oil Corporation chairman Shokri Ghanem…
Continue reading ‘World Oil Output Struggling, Say Arab Experts’.Kuwait: We have 100 Billion Barrel Oil Reserve
OPEC-member Kuwait has reconfirmed that its oil reserves are 100 billion barrels, disputing a report that the figure was around half that amount. “We confirm that Kuwait’s oil reserves are 100 billion barrels,” acting oil minister Mohammad al-Olaim told reporters after briefing parliament in a closed-door session about the levels of reserves in the Gulf…
Continue reading ‘Kuwait: We have 100 Billion Barrel Oil Reserve’.
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