Simon Watkins is a former senior FX trader and salesman, financial journalist, and best-selling author. He was Head of Forex Institutional Sales and Trading for Credit Lyonnais, and later Director of Forex at Bank of Montreal. He was then Head of Weekly Publications and Chief Writer for Business Monitor International, Head of Fuel Oil Products for Platts, and Global Managing Editor of Research for Renaissance Capital in Moscow. He has written extensively on oil and gas, Forex, equities, bonds, economics and geopolitics for many leading publications, and has worked as a geopolitical risk consultant for a number of major hedge funds in London, Moscow, and Dubai. In addition, he has authored five books on finance, oil, and financial markets trading published by ADVFN and available on Amazon, Apple, and Kobo.
The ramping up of crude oil production from Iran’s extremely oil-rich West Karoun fields – including, most notably, North and South Azadegan, North and South Yaran, and…
For several years now, Iraq has been able to access all the technology required to turn part of its abundant crude oil and/or gas…
Whilst the U.S. and its allies appear to be taking a subtle approach to advancing their remaining interests in Iraq, as hinted at by the…
Things are different now in the global energy markets to the way they were just after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Back then,…
Russia’s failure to achieve a quick military victory in Ukraine as most people thought likely at the outset of its invasion has weakened its…
To many dedicated oil market watchers, last week’s decision by ‘OPEC+’ (the Saudi Arabia-led OPEC group of countries ‘plus’ Russia) to stick to its previously…
Given that Libya has exhibited all the stability of a puff adder on benzedrine since the West removed its longstanding leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011,…
Prior to the unwitting boost that Russia’s ongoing failure in Ukraine has given the U.S., NATO, and Europe, Washington’s intentions regarding Iraq were mixed. On…
After an extended period of reduced engagement in the Middle East and a refocusing inwards on itself, which allowed China and Russia to exploit the…
Things were not meant to go like this as far as Russia and Iran, and indeed China, were concerned, following the invasion of Ukraine on…
Qatar has been a principal beneficiary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early last year, securing its top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter position and vigorously…
China has undergone three distinct phases in its reaction to COVID-19 since the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the first small cluster of cases of…
Although the U.S. marked an historic shift in 2020 by becoming a net exporter of petroleum, it has remained a net importer of crude oil…
On 27 December 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on countermeasures against the introduction of a price cap on Russian oil and oil…
Qatar’s geographical position tells one all one needs to know about its energy export policy. Situated between Saudi Arabia on one side and Iran on…
So significant was the launch of Russia’s Kovyktinskoye (Kovykta) gas field last week that reportedly ailing Russian President, Vladimir Putin, personally gave the order to…
When a senior government minister of either Iran or Russia says that the two countries are now experiencing a ‘golden age’ in developing relations between…
Iran has long held enormous political, economic, and military sway over neighbouring Iraq through its various military and political proxies, and since the discovery of…
It has long been a point of extreme contention with the U.S. that Iraq continues to rely on neighbouring – sanctioned – Iran for around…
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week hosted a series of meetings in Riyadh between China’s President Xi Jinping and the leaders of…