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Well, someone important finally said it. Craig Albert, head of construction firm Bechtel, credited by the Financial Times for “rescuing” the Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia (we think “finishing“ it would be a better description), told that august paper that if the government wanted to get Donald Trump’s nuclear construction expansion going, it should be willing to pick up part of the costs. That is, subsidize the seemingly inevitable cost overruns? All the stories that followed talked about encouraging the “early…
On 6 November, U.S. president Donald Trump hosted the C5 + 1, the diplomatic platform that brings together the U.S. and the five Central Asia republics, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Trump hosted the leaders at the White House, the first time he met any of them except for Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev who he met at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in September 2025, and at the White House in May 2018. (Then-president Joe Biden met the Central Asian leaders at the UNGA session in…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev are meeting in Moscow this week to discuss gas cooperation and the impact of U.S. sanctions on Russian oil majors with operations in Kazakhstan. The talks come as the Kremlin faces tighter restrictions on Lukoil and Rosneft, both sanctioned last month by the Trump administration. Lukoil holds stakes in Kazakhstan’s Tengiz and Karachaganak projects, which are operated by Western majors and remain dependent on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) for exports. The CPC—controlled…
The global precious metals market is projected to grow by over USD 95 billion in the next five years, driven primarily by sustained investor demand for safe-haven assets and increasing industrial use in rapidly expanding technologies, according to a new report from Mordor Intelligence. The market size, which was valued at $290.34 billion in 2025, is forecast to reach $386.16 billion by 2030. This expansion reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.87%, the research firm stated. Growth is being supported by a combination of investors seeking…
Contrary to popular belief, oil prices aren’t determined by any one country, company, or cartel. Instead, they’re the product of a global tug-of-war among producers, traders, and policymakers. It’s a market defined not just by physics, but by psychology, where the actions of a few key players can ripple across the world in a matter of hours. On November 2nd, OPEC+ announced a modest 137,000 barrel-per-day production increase for December, followed by a pause on further increases in the first quarter of 2026. The move surprised…
