Oil
OPEC+ Rips Off the Band-Aid
By ripping off the band-aid, the Saudis seem to have accepted that letting prices weaken for a period of time is a necessary part of regaining their lost market share....
Petro-Power: The Rise of Oil-Backed Trade in Africa’s Global Strategy
Oil-backed trade is helping African nations bypass financial constraints and sustain their economies by exchanging crude for refined fuels and services. The foundations of trade were built not on profit...
Will Trump’s New Sanctions Approach Finally Cut off Iran’s Oil Exports?
Trump’s new sanctions approach may be the strategy to finally turn the Iranian oil spigot off for good. The Trump administration announced a new round of sanctions measures on March...
What Trump’s Latest Houthi Strike Really Means
The administration has a broader geopolitical agenda—one that includes countering China’s economic leverage, particularly Beijing’s reliance on Iranian oil. President Donald Trump, in his first week in office, pledged to...
Southwest Nixes Fuel Hedging Program: Has It Been Too Complacent?
For now, Southwest’s nixing of its fuel hedging program tunes out the risk of a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In addition to annoying us all by ending their...
A New Iran Deal—Faster, Please!
Getting the United States involved in another Middle Eastern conflagration would fly in the face of everything Trump has said over the last decade. As expected, President Trump signed an...
Suriname, China, and the New Cold War
Although Suriname is one of the smallest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it is gaining importance as it heads in the same direction as neighboring Guyana in becoming one of...
Countering Russia’s “Shadow Fleet”
On December 25, the oil tanker Eagle S severed a power cable along with several telecommunications cables connecting Finland and Estonia. This incident follows a series of suspected sabotage operations...
Beware of Premature Talks with Iran
With Iran reeling from geopolitical setbacks, President Trump will soon face a decision: whether to increase the pressure on Tehran to weaken the regime further or to leverage that weakness...
China and Saudi Arabia: A Delicate Balancing Act
Even as China continues to foster closer relations with Iran and its regional proxies—notably the Houthis in Yemen—it isn’t doing so at the stake of its relationship with Saudi Arabia or...
China’s Ties to Iran Are Steadily Expanding
China has been strengthening its ties to Iran in recent years, and that has included support to Iran’s regional proxies—notably the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It is part of a...
China Is No Longer Driving Global Oil Demand
For many years, the outlook for the world oil market has rested heavily on China, as it has been by far the most significant driver of demand growth in this...