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In May 2023, Iraq announced the Development Road, $17 billion, 1,200-kilometer rail line and roadway from a new port at Al Faw in southern Iraq to Türkiye, linking Asia and Europe. The Road is more than an upgrade to Iraq’s old infrastructure and aims to leverage Iraq’s location as a future trade corridor to solve several complex problems: unemployment, corruption, outdated infrastructure, and over-reliance on hydrocarbons at a time of declining demand for oil. The project is supported by Türkiye, and Qatar and the United…
The world is re-embracing nuclear energy after decades of decline, driven by technological advances and the need to keep pace with growing energy demand fueled by the tech sector without compromising climate goals. The world is now on track to produce more nuclear energy than ever before in 2025, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts an all-out nuclear renaissance. But will the future of nuclear power be dominated by emerging technologies like modular reactors, new mega-projects like Plant Vogtle, or the revitalization of old and decommissioned…
Latin America has long been a dominant force in the global energy market, built on vast oil and gas reserves. While the world increasingly eyes renewable sources of energy for the future, hydrocarbons remain the bedrock of economic stability for the region. As energy demand evolves, national oil companies (NOCs) must not forsake oil, but rather ensure its competitiveness while prudently exploring emerging energy markets. The challenge is not whether hydrocarbons have a future, but how regional NOCs can harness their expertise to safeguard Latin…
My view has long been that if the world economy does not have enough energy resources, it will have to contract. The situation is analogous to a baker without enough ingredients to bake the size cake he wants to make, or a chemist not being able to set up a full-scale model of a reaction. Perhaps, if a plan is made to make a smaller, differently arranged economy, it could still work. The types of energy with inadequate supplies are both oil (particularly diesel and jet fuel) and coal. Diesel and jet fuel are especially used in long-distance…
After a week of runaway diplomacy around how to end the war in Ukraine that has widened rifts between the United States and other Western powers and raised new questions about the future of US assistance for Ukraine, China is looking at how it can capitalize. For Beijing, the diplomatic fissures between the United States and its European allies -- the latest of which was opened up by an Oval Office clash between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy -- presents new opportunities to repair its own battered…
Three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Union is still dealing with the economic fallout. The resulting energy crisis has continued to reverberate through European markets, and blisteringly high energy bills are drastically impacting consumers throughout the block. It is estimated that approximately 47 million people in EU countries are currently living in energy poverty, a 57% increase since 2019. While ‘energy poverty’ has no universal definition, the term is commonly used to refer to households that cannot afford to…
Oil and gas producers in the United States will no longer be obliged to pay a fee for the methane they emit in the course of their operations after Congress voted to axe one of the most celebrated moves of the Biden administration in the energy space. With a 52-47 vote, senators repealed the fee, and now all that’s left is for President Trump to sign it, likely adding more fuel to environmentalist organizations’ frustrations with the new federal government. The offensive against methane began early in President Biden’s term. Widely…
The new German government that will be formed following this weekend’s elections will face an uphill battle to lift Europe’s largest economy out of two consecutive years of recession. Bringing energy costs down will be key to Germany’s economic recovery after three years of spiking and highly volatile power and natural gas prices after the shock energy crisis in 2022. Domestic power prices have been very volatile in recent months amid low wind speeds. Germany has been experiencing lower-than-normal winds for four months, which…
The UK could be set to dodge US tariffs with work to begin on a new US-UK trade deal, it was revealed during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to US President Donald Trump. The Prime Minister flew to the States yesterday for a highly anticipated first meeting with President Trump since he reentered the White House in January. And the visit, which came amid uncertainty over peace in Ukraine and the impact on European security, saw Trump outline his hopes for a “great trade agreement” with the UK. Following discussions with Sir Keir, the…
When it comes to Eurasia, the Trump administration has acted quickly to reverse the foreign policy of its predecessor, underscored by moves to foster a rapid thaw in relations with Russia. But there is one Biden-era legacy that the Trump State Department seems intent on preserving, an initiative to increase US influence in Central Asia known as the C5+1 format. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the US interest in building up the C5+1 framework during a February 21 talk with Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov of Uzbekistan. According to a…
China is looking to capitalize on a transatlantic rift between the United States and Europe that is widening as U.S. President Donald Trump looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine. But how much of an opening is there actually for Beijing? Finding Perspective: The threat of tariffs, a war of words at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, U.S.-Russia talks that excluded Europe and Kyiv, and a standoff at the United Nations over how to commemorate the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine have all been recent fissures between Washington…
In the past 18 months there have been numerous incidents in the Baltic Sea in which telecom and electricity cables, as well as gas pipelines, have been damaged. While attribution has often proved tricky and some of the incidents could have been accidents, some European officials have pointed fingers at Russia's so-called shadow fleet. This refers to approximately 350 vessels of opaque ownership that are believed to evade Western sanctions on Russian oil by transporting around 80 percent of the supply, with nearly 50 percent departing from Russian…
Electricity prices are on the rise, with this winter’s energy expenditures in the United States projected to be a full 10% higher than this time last year. While initial projections had expected residential energy spending to fall this year, a combination of frigid weather and rising prices is hurting many Americans at the meter. U.S. energy prices are rising so rapidly that they are outpacing inflation, and have reached a 5% annual increase. Each year, the United States Energy Information Administration publishes a Winter Fuels Outlook that…
The world’s biggest mining companies are grappling with heightened geopolitical, trade, and economic uncertainty while they continue to bet on the energy transition to grow their portfolios of key transition metals such as copper and lithium. Both BHP and Rio Tinto said this week that the long-term demand case for transition metals remains strong. But they both flagged global growth concerns as a major unknown in commodity demand in the short to medium term. The return of tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump, including…
Despite Europe being home to some of the world’s biggest automakers, many of whom have developed several electric vehicle (EV) models, China is quickly becoming the global leader in EV manufacturing. Favourable government policies, easy access to critical minerals and battery technology, and low-cost manufacturing capabilities have spurred the development of a large EV production industry in China, and other parts of the world are struggling to compete. However, some European automakers are working to develop cheaper EVs to appeal to a market…
The quick pace of U.S. diplomacy around ending the war in Ukraine and steps by Washington to normalize relations with Moscow have sparked fears in Kyiv and European capitals about being sidelined and saddled with a peace deal that favors Russia. But the prospect of a rapprochement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t only bringing anxiety to European governments. The quick pivot away from decades of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia is also fueling unease in China. “The Chinese have seen this…
A whirlwind week that has seen two emergency summits in Europe and worried comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy underlines the gnawing fear in capitals from Kyiv to London. Namely, that Washington and Moscow could try to make their own deal on the future of Ukraine without Kyiv and U.S. allies in Europe. U.S. President Donald Trump has added to the angst with his post on Truth Social, accusing Zelenskyy of being a dictator and saying "we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia." U.S. officials have denied they…
In 2025 we will see a record number of hours that electricity prices dip below zero, with utilities effectively paying consumers to take energy off their hands. The once rare phenomenon of price inversion is becoming more and more common as more renewable energies are added to electricity grids around the world, presenting new challenges for energy markets, regulators, and grid operators in the decarbonization era. Renewable energies like solar and wind have emerged as clean energy heroes at a time when rapid decarbonization is more urgently needed…
Saudi Arabia is hosting one of the most important diplomatic meetings between Russia and the United States in years. On February 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh. The meeting will aim to restore the fraught ties between the two countries. It will focus on ending the war in Ukraine, where Washington has led its European allies in helping Kyiv against a Russian invasion that began three years ago. Experts see the talks as a sign that Saudi Arabia is seeking to assume a central…
Gold prices have already increased 10 percent in 2025 to $2,900 (£2,300), but UBS has upgraded its target price for the precious metal again. UBS analyst Joni Teves said gold has had “unprecedented market dislocations” and reached a record high in 2024, but it’s only expected to move higher in 2025. Teves explained that the gold market is currently experiencing “deep-rooted bullish sentiment,” with the metal seen as a safe-haven asset amid a highly uncertain and volatile macro environment. “After missing…
The January oil price rally gave way to a sell-off in February as the market started pricing in the trade war risks that could dampen economic and oil demand growth in the world’s biggest economies. Oil prices jumped in January after the Biden Administration slapped its farewell sanctions on Russia’s oil trade networks – the most aggressive yet. As Russia’s top oil customers, China and India, found themselves scrambling for non-sanctioned vessels, traders, and insurers to ship their Russian crude, market participants started…
While the world watches the unhinged actions of the new Trump administration—playing Geopolitics 101 for Dummies—leaving Europe’s security in shambles and pushing risks and fear back into the market, oil and gas analysts are more concerned about oil prices. Current sentiment suggests lower oil prices as part of an expected peace dividend from a potential U.S.-Russia Ukraine deal. However, this expectation is not based on fundamentals or geopolitical-military assessments from experts. Meanwhile, those inside the global crude oil…
The day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to slap 25-percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, the European Union’s chief executive hit back.“The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests. We will protect our workers, businesses, and consumers,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered -- they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures.” Transatlantic relations are lurching into new territory…
All eyes will be on southern Germany this weekend as world leaders assemble at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof for the three-day Munich Security Conference. And while there will be plenty of official statements and high-level discussions, perhaps the most important talks -- about Ukraine's future -- will take place on the sidelines. Much of the discussion leading up to the conference, has been about whether U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, would present a much-anticipated peace plan in the Bavarian capital. Kellogg…
