Officials from the more than 30 Western countries of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” that support Kyiv in its war with Russia will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they continue to fine-tune a peace proposal aimed at ending Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II. There will also be a US presence at the meeting on January 6, with President Donald Trump’s chief negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner present in the French capital, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio is unlikely to…

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA has been unable to ship oil cargoes to Asia for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, as the U.S. “oil quarantine” of Venezuela continues, according to shipping data cited by Reuters. U.S. supermajor Chevron resumed exports to the United States on Monday, according to the data, after a few days of suspended shipments during which U.S. forces extracted Nicolas Maduro and flew him to New York to stand trial in drug-trafficking charges.  Chevron is the only Western oil company currently authorized…

As 2026 begins, energy markets are reacting less to supply outages than to how governments are choosing to act. The removal of Venezuela’s president, instability along the Red Sea, and rising uncertainty around Iran have altered assumptions about restraint, escalation, and control. This piece examines four locations where those changes are already influencing energy risk. Venezuela: Decapitation Without Control The headlining news, of course, is that Nicolás Maduro has been captured during a U.S. military and intelligence operation,…

Crude oil began trade this year with a dip, despite the news about U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the taking of President Nicolas Maduro to the U.S. Normally, such events would have pushed oil higher, but not this year. This year, oil prices will need a much more major disruption to rebound – and so will gas prices. Brent crude was trading at a little over $60 per barrel at the start of the first full trading week of 2026, after President Trump announced the capture of the Venezuelan president, accompanied by statements regarding the country’s…

The shock-and-awe capture of Nicolas Maduro by the United States, which was the culmination of the U.S. pressure on Venezuela in recent months, ended a tumultuous chapter in the history of the South American nation sitting on 17% of the world’s proven oil reserves. Maduro’s arrest and the installation of a U.S.-compliant leadership in Caracas open another chapter in Venezuela’s history, which could be equally tumultuous and, in these early days, face uncertainties and operational challenges. U.S. President Donald Trump wants the…

With more than 40 companies having now registered their interest in Libya’s first oil field licensing round since the removal of Muammar Gaddafi as leader in 2011, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) is confident it can lift oil production to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2028, according to the latest statements from the organisation. The expressions of interest in the 22 offshore and onshore blocks to be licensed follow last year’s agreements between the NOC and Great Britain’s Shell and BP to assess Libya’s exploration…

If you’ve been watching global headlines lately, it would be easy to assume oil prices would be sky-high: a major oil-reserve country mired in crisis, sanctions on perennial producers, regional conflicts simmering, and social unrest in several exporters. And yet Brent and WTI have been languishing around $60 a barrel, a level that, a decade ago, most analysts would have dismissed as impossible in such conditions What’s happening? At first glance, the logic of oil pricing should be straightforward: supply risk should mean higher prices.…

Will the electric utility distribution monopolies (”discos”) remain financially viable over the longer term? That is the question, and not an idle one.  When the government broke up the Bell Systemm (some of you may remember that formerly ubiquitous entity) in the 1980s, it assumed (as did most investors) that the local exchange (the telephone equivalent of the disco) had an unassailable regulated monopoly. Technology (the internet and cell phones) changed that picture, and today only 30% of the population utilizes local exchange…

Top US officials have been eager to capitalize on the Trump-ordered military raid on Caracas, which saw the Venezuelan capital bombed and its longtime socialist leader, Nicolás Maduro, captured without major incident and transferred to US soil, where he's facing federal drug charges related to narco-trafficking and gun-running. Hawkish pundits are already clamoring for more muscular action targeting Tehran (and other supposed 'rogue' actors) at a moment of ongoing economic protests in Iran, pressuring Islamic Republic leaders. Trump is issuing…

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that U.S. President Donald Trump is serious about taking over Greenland, adding that a U.S. attack on a NATO ally would be the end of all, with concern in Copenhagen renewed after Washington’s recent actions against Venezuela hardened views on Trump’s use of power. "If the United States decides to militarily attack another NATO country, then everything would stop -- that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security," Mette Frederiksen told Danish television network…

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that U.S. President Donald Trump is serious about taking over Greenland, adding that a U.S. attack on a NATO ally would be the end of all, with concern in Copenhagen renewed after Washington’s recent actions against Venezuela hardened views on Trump’s use of power. "If the United States decides to militarily attack another NATO country, then everything would stop -- that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security," Mette Frederiksen told Danish television network…

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that U.S. President Donald Trump is serious about taking over Greenland, adding that a U.S. attack on a NATO ally would be the end of all, with concern in Copenhagen renewed after Washington’s recent actions against Venezuela hardened views on Trump’s use of power. "If the United States decides to militarily attack another NATO country, then everything would stop -- that includes NATO and therefore post-World War II security," Mette Frederiksen told Danish television network…

Iraq’s Oil Ministry has confirmed that it is expediting the development of the Gharraf and Nassiriyah gas projects, with full operations expected to begin by early 2027, and production capacity reaching 200 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d). This fast?tracking is being presented as a long?overdue step toward energy self?sufficiency, but the real stakes lie far beyond the technicalities of associated?gas capture. For the West, reducing Iraq’s dependence on Iranian gas is a strategic imperative aimed at weakening Tehran’s…

Aesop's Fables date back to the 7th century BCE and may be the first known written expression of an often repeated proverb, namely: Necessity is the mother of invention. In the story called "The Crow and the Pitcher," during a terrible drought a thirsty crow finds water in a partially full water pitcher. But the mouth of the pitcher is too small to allow the crow to reach the water. The crow discerns that if it drops enough pebbles in the pitcher, this will raise the water level. So the crow proceeds with this plan and finally gets a drink. Aesop's…

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has revealed that global oil supplies exceeded demand in 2025, leading to a sharp decline in oil prices. Monthly average Brent crude oil prices declined from $79 per barrel in January to $63 per barrel in December, the lowest monthly average price since early 2021. Meanwhile, oil prices averaged $69 per barrel in 2025, the lowest in five years even after adjusting for inflation. Oil markets responded to a raft of (mostly) negative catalysts throughout the year. Oil prices fell in the first half of the…

Billionaire Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources will buy assets from Argentina’s Pan American Energy, Bloomberg reported on Monday, in the latest development in the company’s push into the Vaca Muerta shale basin. Continental has agreed to buy Pan American’s non-operating interests in four oil blocks from.  The Oklahoma City-based company is regarded as one of the pioneers of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling led to the U.S. shale revolution. Harold Hamm took the company private in late 2022 by buying out…

Billionaire Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources will buy assets from Argentina’s Pan American Energy, Bloomberg reported on Monday, in the latest development in the company’s push into the Vaca Muerta shale basin. Continental has agreed to buy Pan American’s non-operating interests in four oil blocks from.  The Oklahoma City-based company is regarded as one of the pioneers of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling led to the U.S. shale revolution. Harold Hamm took the company private in late 2022 by buying out…

The FTSE 100 kicked off the new year on the front foot with a morning rally after the fallout from the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent a batch of City stocks on the march. London’s blue-chip index sprung up towards the 10,000 points mark as markets opening before giving up some gains to land 0.2 per cent higher at near 9,970. Leading the pack was defence and metal stocks after President Donald Trump’s strike on Venezuela – and openess to further escalation with other nations – sent…

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA has started reducing oil production and has asked its joint ventures, including those with Chevron, to also cut output, as storage space is running out amid the U.S. naval blockade and oil export embargo.   PDVSA has asked Petrolera Sinovensa, its joint venture with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), as well as its joint ventures with Chevron – Petropiar and Petroboscan, to reduce production via shutting off some wells and clusters, sources with knowledge of the operations have told…

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA has started reducing oil production and has asked its joint ventures, including those with Chevron, to also cut output, as storage space is running out amid the U.S. naval blockade and oil export embargo.   PDVSA has asked Petrolera Sinovensa, its joint venture with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), as well as its joint ventures with Chevron – Petropiar and Petroboscan, to reduce production via shutting off some wells and clusters, sources with knowledge of the operations have told…