The smoke and mirrors surrounding developments in U.S.-Iran relations continued this week, with Israeli media insisting the Iranian leaders have agreed to direct nuclear talks with the U.S., and with the U.S. denying any secret talks are ongoing. In the meantime, the U.S. has slapped more sanctions on entities and individuals based in China, Turkey, the UAE, and Iran for their role in supporting Iran’s attack drone program being used by Russia against Ukraine.
The above-mentioned sanctions come amid Ukraine’s stepped-up deployment of drones against Russia (including in the Black Sea and in Russian cities), which has prompted Moscow to adapt its electronic warfare capabilities, according to the Jamestown Foundation. Russia has now increased production of its own combat drones and is also using Iranian-made drones while, at the same time, there has been chatter of Iran setting up a drone manufacturing outfit in Belarus on Russia’s behalf. This is primarily drone warfare now, though NATO said this week that Ukraine was gaining ground in its counteroffensive.
Discovery & Development
Iraq has plans to end its contract with KOGAS for developing the Akkas gas field, instead intending to enter into a new contract with a Ukranian company. The contract with KOGAS was signed over a decade ago, but the project has been stalled. Iraq hopes the gas field will produce 400 million cf/d, and is thought to hold…
Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict
The smoke and mirrors surrounding developments in U.S.-Iran relations continued this week, with Israeli media insisting the Iranian leaders have agreed to direct nuclear talks with the U.S., and with the U.S. denying any secret talks are ongoing. In the meantime, the U.S. has slapped more sanctions on entities and individuals based in China, Turkey, the UAE, and Iran for their role in supporting Iran’s attack drone program being used by Russia against Ukraine.
The above-mentioned sanctions come amid Ukraine’s stepped-up deployment of drones against Russia (including in the Black Sea and in Russian cities), which has prompted Moscow to adapt its electronic warfare capabilities, according to the Jamestown Foundation. Russia has now increased production of its own combat drones and is also using Iranian-made drones while, at the same time, there has been chatter of Iran setting up a drone manufacturing outfit in Belarus on Russia’s behalf. This is primarily drone warfare now, though NATO said this week that Ukraine was gaining ground in its counteroffensive.
Discovery & Development
Iraq has plans to end its contract with KOGAS for developing the Akkas gas field, instead intending to enter into a new contract with a Ukranian company. The contract with KOGAS was signed over a decade ago, but the project has been stalled. Iraq hopes the gas field will produce 400 million cf/d, and is thought to hold 5.6 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves. The project is a step towards Iraq becoming an oil exporting nation.
Chevron is looking to boost its Venezuela oil production by 65,000 bpd by the end of next year from its very first drilling project since Washington granted it a waiver in the face of sanctions against doing business there. Chevron’s PDVSA joint ventures currently produce 135,000 bpd in the country, the majority of which is exported.
Europe still hasn’t confirmed its plans to increase the amount of gas it will need from Azerbaijan through the TANAP from 10 bcm per year to 20 bcm, although Turkey’s energy minister instructed TANAP operator to prepare to increase the amount of Azeri gas flowing through Turkey to Greece to the full 31 bcm per year. The EU and Azerbaijan agreed to the extra gas in an MOU last year–although not a formal commitment. Increasing the amount of gas flowing would require significant investment for extra compressors–and with Europe’s inability to commit to increased flows comes increased risks.
Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions
ONGC reached a term deal to supply oil from its Mumbai offshore fields to HPCL. The deal is thought be encompass 4.5 million tonnes per annum to HPCL’s Mumbai refinery, but details of the deal were not divulged. This is the second deal in two months, following India’s striking down of the rule that prevented oil from blocks awarded before 1999 from being sold to anyone other than state-run refiners.
Saudi Aramco will pick up a stake in the petrochemical unit of China’s Jiangsu Eastern Shenghong Co, with both companies stating their intention to cooperate over crude oil supplies and refined fuel productions, in addition to chemicals marketing. In even bigger news, although not a large deal by dollar amount, Aramco is getting into the LNG business with an acquisition of MidOcean Energy. MidOcean is working on picking up interests in four separate LNG projects in Australia.
Clean Energy
The UK can’t seem to make up its mind about when to call it quits for ICE vehicles, pushing back this week its ban on new ICE vehicles to 2035–five years later than the most recent plan which called for an end in 2030, although a step closer to the original plan hatched in 2020, which called for an ICE vehicle ban by 2040. The changes present a challenge to automakers who must plan years in advance for their lineup.
The government-run British International Investment (BII) is planning to spend $1 billion on Indian climate-friendly projects by 2026. One possible sector that the UK is looking to invest in includes biofuels. BII invested $300 million last year in climate-friendly projects in India, including in renewable energy.
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