Category: Highlights

When news broke last week that President Biden was planning a Middle East visit that would include Saudi Arabia, many an industry observer saw in this signs of “thawing” relations between Washington and Riyadh. They also saw the prospect of lower oil prices. It was, after all, to lower prices that Biden was planning this visit. Unfortunately, things are never that simple. While it is a nice thought that a single visit to Saudi Arabia could convince them to open the oil taps and send prices falling, the reality is…

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After two years of regular oil discoveries in Guyana, it seems its deep waters may hold even more crude, adding to its reputation as the next big oil-producing state. But the government will have to get its agreements in order if it wants to ensure the future financial security of the country, as major international players swoop in to reap the rewards. Guyana is home to the largest oil discovery in the last two decades, after Exxon Corp made several more finds in the offshore Stabroek block last year, bringing…

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The biggest reshuffle of oil trade flows since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s is underway—and things may never return to normal. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian oil exports are changing global oil trade routes. Over the past nearly five decades, oil flowed more or less freely from any supplier to any customer in the world, except for sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in recent years.  This free energy trade is now over, after the Russian aggression and the Western sanctions that followed, plus Europe’s irreversible…

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The term battery metals typically refers to lithium, nickel, and cobalt. The name stems from the fact that the three metals are frequently used in the production of all types of modern batteries. Since 2021, these metals have enjoyed a rather lengthy bull run. This has proved profitable for investors and provided some much-needed predictability for traders. However, if you ask the experts at Goldman Sachs, the battery metals party is “officially over.” But is this really true? If so, what does it mean for the rest of 2022? Are Battery…

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Rising costs and sanctions on Russia have lowered the profitability of oil exports for Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas firm KazMunayGas, which has been forced to accept discounts on its crude being carried via the Russian pipeline network. The CPC pipeline carries oil from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oilfield to export infrastructure along the Black Sea coast. Most of the crude oil carried by the CPC pipeline belongs to Russia, Kazakhstan, and international oil majors such as Chevron. It remains a vital crude oil artery for Kazakhstan, accounting for two-thirds of the…

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