The election victory this weekend of right-wing populist Andrej Babis risks turning the Czech Republic into another Central European problem child for Brussels after he campaigned on vows to slash support for Ukraine and confront the EU over immigration and environmental policies. Babis, a former prime minister and billionaire sometimes referred to in the media as the Czech Donald Trump, easily took the most votes with his ANO (YES) party garnering 35 percent. A triumphant Babis said after the results came in that he would seek a one-party minority…

Italy’s Eni has restarted drilling operations offshore Libya after a five-year break prompted by the Covid pandemic. The National Oil Corporation of Libya said that the Italian supermajor had started drilling at Block 16/4 in the northwestern part of the country’s territorial waters and will soon complete work on the exploration well that was started back in 2020. The return of Eni to Libya follows other Big Oil majors, including Shell and BP, which earlier this year signed new deals with the Libyan government for exploration works…

QatarEnergy struck a deal with Shell to buy a 27% interest in the North Cleopatra offshore oil and gas block in Egypt, with Shell retaining 36% in the block. The deal is pending the approval of the Egyptian government. The Qatari state energy major has been expanding in Egypt alongside Western oil majors, including Shell and Chevron, as the North African country seeks to boost its oil and gas production as fast as possible. Last year, QatarEnergy bought a 40% interest in two Exxon-led blocks offshore Egypt and a 23% stake in a Chevron-operated…

QatarEnergy struck a deal with Shell to buy a 27% interest in the North Cleopatra offshore oil and gas block in Egypt, with Shell retaining 36% in the block. The deal is pending the approval of the Egyptian government. The Qatari state energy major has been expanding in Egypt alongside Western oil majors, including Shell and Chevron, as the North African country seeks to boost its oil and gas production as fast as possible. Last year, QatarEnergy bought a 40% interest in two Exxon-led blocks offshore Egypt and a 23% stake in a Chevron-operated…

A couple of years ago, a cross-section of Wall Street was highly bullish on the community solar sector, with some predicting that it was poised to become the most prevalent model of residential solar power distribution in the United States. First unveiled about two decades ago, community solar entails a small-scale solar model wherein customers purchase shares in a new solar farm in their service area, developers build the project then subscribers receive credits that cut their utility bills by ~10%. Community solar offers a viable solution to…

Predictions of an oil glut have dominated oil market reporting for months. Bloomberg this week suggested the first signs of oversupply may be emerging already, with several million barrels of Middle Eastern oil left unsold in the latest spot market cycle. Yet some analysts disagree that there is a danger of a glut—winter is coming and so is stocking up for heating season. Somewhere between 6 million barrels and 12 million barrels of crude produced in the Middle East did not find buyers in the last spot market cycle, with deliveries for November,…