China is closely monitoring and…
The Guyana-Venezuela border dispute, complicated…
Bottom Line: An emerging joint venture between Russia’s Rosneft and Azerbaijan’s state-run SOCAR poises the Azeri company to enter an even bigger league.
The population in the eastern Mediterranean region is expected to increase by as much as 35 percent in the next 20 years. Natural gas deposits in the Levant Basin are…
Bottom Line: Belarus reinstates an investor-unfriendly rule in order to subdue Russian power in its business. Analysis: In 2008, the Belarusian government revoked its “golden share” rule that…
Pity poor democratic, energy bereft post-Soviet Central Asian state Kyrgyzstan.Alone amongst the debris field of post-Soviet states in the unexpected aftermath of the sudden December 1991 implosion of…
Bottom Line: Armenia’s plans to hand over the state’s remaining stake in its natural gas monopoly to Gazprom has opposition politicians furious over the prospect of ceding total control of…
Bottom Line: Romania announces that construction will begin soon on a natural gas pipeline to neighboring Moldova, in a project that will underbid Gazprom prices and challenge Russia’s control in…
The implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991 produced three petro-states – the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.Of these, Azerbaijan has the longest history, having begun producing petroleum…
We’ve been holding on to this nugget for some time, waiting for one of the last pieces of the puzzle to near position. Now it’s time: Bosnia and Herzegovina has…
Bottom Line: Now that Croatia has joined the European Union, Russia will work hard and fast to get its foothold in the Balkan country’s energy market, where location gives it…
The dire state of the Greek economy is well known to its European Union partners. Further hammering the economy are Greece’s massive oil imports. According to the U.S. government’s Energy…
The British government got an earful from Kazakhstan this week despite Prime Minister David Cameron's economic outreach. The prime minister arrived Sunday in Kazakhstan to help launch one of the…
Let’s watch Turkey’s ruling party elite hedge their bets over Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s longevity, as protests continue into their second week. The ruling Justice and Development Party…
Bottom Line: If Prime Minister Erdogan continues to mismanage a crisis in the form of 7 days running of mass anti-government protests, the highly influential Gulen Movement will surface to…
Bottom Line: As Greece sells off its state-owned natural gas company (DEPA/DEFSA) under insolvency pressure, a minor Russian holding steps in as a proxy for Russian giant Gazprom. Whoever gains…
Five days of protests in Turkey highlight the government’s horrific crisis mismanagement and serves as a wake-up call for the ruling party that was caught off guard, basking in its…
We’ve noted recently that Turkey is a hot venue for both the majors and the juniors, but that there still hasn’t been that one big find to put the country…
Bottom Line: Shale gas explorers in Poland get a bit of a boost (but not enough) as the government prepares to postpone shale gas production tax collection for five years…
Despite possessing better financing and greater energy benefits compared to its competitors (namely the Nabucco pipeline), the proposed South Stream pipeline has faced considerable opposition in Europe – by countries…
Bottom Line: The EU’s new offshore oil and gas exploration legislation is designed to prevent another Gulf of Mexico incident and will force explorers to submit special hazard reports and…
Bottom Line: Kurdistan is a good place to be right now for E&P companies, but navigating the playing field of power brokers and gatekeepers is a challenging necessity if you…