Ukraine doesn’t need Russia to take it down—Kiev is doing fine destroying itself, most recently with a new tax code that doubles taxes for private gas producers and promises to irreparably cripple new investment in the energy sector at a time when reform and outside investment were the country’s only hope. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko […]
Having ridden roughshod over Ukraine, Russia’s annexation of the Crimea is now over and a new chapter in Ukrainian politics is about to begin—but it won’t be much different than the last chapter, with the same old faces surfacing for May presidential elections. In the aftermath of the Maidan protests that overthrew president Viktor Yanukovych […]
Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula is now Russia’s. It was done with an impressively organized non-violent military operation, and supported by the foregone conclusion of a referendum on independence from Ukraine. One Ukrainian soldier was reportedly killed on 18 March, after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the treaty to annex the Crimea and troops moved to take […]
As Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula is lost to Russia, with a referendum on the peninsula’s independence planned for Sunday and the specter of a Russian military advance on eastern Ukraine looming large, we are witnessing a crisis of international proportions. The key to this crisis is energy. Russia’s aggressive move on the Crimea may in fact […]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has predicted that natural gas production in the US will continue to grow at an impressive pace. Right now output is close to 70 billion cubic feet a day and is expected to reach over 100 billion cubic feet per day by 2040. The trend is likely to continue without […]
This week in energy we feel compelled to head to the Middle East, where we have seen movement on Israeli gas—another boon for US-based Noble Energy Inc.—and the hydrocarbons showdown between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), two issues we have covered extensively during the past two years. The big news […]
Syria has signed an agreement with Russian oil and gas company SoyuzNefteGaz for joint oil exploration off the Mediterranean coast, in Syria’s part of the prolific Levant Basin, according to Syrian, Russian and Iranian state news agencies. The contract will enter into effect immediately despite US and European sanctions against Syria, where opposition forces and Islamist groups […]
By the Editors of OilPrice.com Premium: Bottom Line: What is important to understand about negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program is that is has less to do with nuclear issues than it does with the back-room diplomatic dance that has Israel, Saudi Arabia and France doing everything in their power to derail Washington’s plans. Analysis: The […]
By Samir Tata/ISN Security Watch The United States has established beyond any doubt that Iran is facing a looming energy crisis that threatens to transform the country into a net importer rather than a net exporter of oil. The consequences of this would be catastrophic: Iran would suffer severe economic stagnation and become strategically irrelevant. […]
While the shale boom in the US has lowered electricity bills for consumers, Europeans are struggling to keep up with rising energy costs, in large part due to ambitious emissions targets set by the EU. In Germany, known for both its aggressive push towards renewables and the storied competitiveness of its exporters, companies may soon […]