Policy and politics


Year: 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 1999

Analysis

  • Syria at war with itself

    The country’s civil war has exacted a heavy toll on its energy sector as government and opposition forces fight for control over the country’s most lucrative resource, as Conal Urquhart discovers

  • Investors flock to Brazil

    A successful licensing round has given Brazil’s oil industry a much-needed boost of confidence and sets the stage for a new oil rush, writes Justin Jacobs

  • If the price is right...

    Despite its potential, major companies have largely shied away from India’s upstream sector. But they could be tempted if the government implements pricing reform. Damon Evans reports

  • Mena faces up to carbon challenge

    Promoting economic development and meeting climate-change commitments is a tricky balancing act, particularly for the Middle East and North Africa's hydrocarbon-fuelled states. Justin Dargin looks at the challenges - and the possible solutions

  • ONGC's Indian summer

    The Indian state-run player is looking overseas to diversify its production base, while acting to tackle problems at home. NJ Watson weighs up whether the company is doing enough

  • The new world order

    Half a century in the making, the LNG business is at last about to go global

  • Asia will dominate the global LNG market

    Post-Fukushima Japan, China and a number of other fast-growing Asian countries will need much more frozen gas in the coming decades

  • Shale-gas LNG offers price evolution, not revolution

    Supplies from the US and East Africa will have less of an impact on Asian import costs than thought

  • Asia-Pacific’s LNG output falls, despite rising demand

    The region’s production and consumption are going in opposite directions

  • Australia’s cost problem

    To meet ambitious export goals, the country must tackle cost inflation. Floating LNG may help

  • Singapore aims to make LNG more liquid

    The city state thinks its new trading hub will change the way gas is traded in Asia

  • China pushes natural gas as transport fuel

    The country is developing LNG as a transport fuel, particularly for trucking and shipping, writes Damon Evans

  • Attraction and uneasiness in Equatorial Guinea

    Production is rising again, promising oil and gas discoveries are being made and new licences have been awarded - but many are uneasy about the way the government spends its revenue, Martin Quinlan writes

  • Total plots a rich LNG future

    The French major is aggressively expanding its LNG portfolio. Philippe Sauquet, chief executive of the company's gas and power division, talks to Petroleum Economist

  • North America joins the LNG party

    Abundant unconventional gas resources will drive a boom in the continent's exports

  • Cheniere takes export lead

    A company founded to import LNG is ready to begin exporting cheap US gas

  • Europe’s LNG demand in the doldrums

    The continent no longer offers a ready market for gas shippers

  • Russian LNG plans on ice

    Despite having the world’s largest gas reserves the country is held back in its ambitions

  • Africa’s eastern promise grows

    The region will become a global player on the LNG market

  • Can Mozambique eke out a cost advantage?

    New discoveries offshore could put East African LNG on the map

  • Mena exporters face harsh new realities

    As global competition is set to ramp up the region considers its options

  • Latin America’s emerging LNG market

    Brazil and Argentina are leading a surge in South American LNG imports

  • How to deal with political risk in the US

    The country’s gas boom has lured foreign investors into the sector, but risks remain, writes David Evans, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance

  • Toeing the party line

    When a stagnant economy and a moribund energy sector, Venezuela needs pragmatism rather than politics. But Maduro's elevation to the presidency leaves little room for hope

  • Argentina pays price for asset grab

    The past 12 months show that nationalisation of YPF has been disastrous for both the company and the country, writes Justin Jacobs

  • World’s biggest LNG conference bounces back

    Rising costs, Asia’s burgeoning demand and the prospects for US exports dominated the LNG17 conference in Houston. And there wasn’t a volcanic ash cloud in sight. Helen Robertson took it all in

  • Self insurance in the spotlight

    Oil and gas companies are responding to rising premiums by setting up in-house insurance operations, but the strategy carries risks, writes Stephen Breen from Rein4ce

  • Frontier play

    Israel has granted US company Genie exploration rights in the contested Golan Heights. The award raised little protest in Syria, which is enmeshed in a bitter and protracted civil war. But, as Conal Urquhart discovers, Tel Aviv's decision may have far-reaching consequences

  • Pipeline politics

    The formal launch of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project has been billed as part of the solution to Pakistan’s deepening energy crisis. Its success, however, is not just a question of diplomacy, as Damon Evans discovers

  • Centrica and QPI buy Suncor gas assets for C$1 billion

    The Canadian company is to concentrate on its other profitable assets, writes Helen Robertson

  • Thatcher’s energy legacy

    Margaret Thatcher, UK prime minister from 1979-90, who died in on 8 April, brought profound changes to the country’s business life and particularly to the energy sector, Martin Quinlan writes

  • Chinese Petrohead

    Hit by rising import costs and increased government pricing control, Petrochina has posted a sharp fall in results, writes NJ Watson

  • Are sanctions on Iran working?

    Two assessments of the West’s strategy to stop Tehran’s nuclear programme suggest the outlook is grim

  • Waiting in the wings

    East Africa's natural gas discoveries have been in the limelight of late, but West Africa's pre-salt will be the story of 2013, says Lydia Thevanayagam of Deloitte Petroleum Services

  • Security risks loom large

    Increasing attacks on oil and gas firms in West Africa have forced governments and firms to take precautions

  • Angola seeks fresh investment and new markets

    As the US reduces its imports, the country looks elsewhere to sell its oil

  • Nigeria hits a rough patch

    A series of missteps threaten to unseat the country's place as a prime oil producer

  • West Africa’s oil and gas sector faces a pivotal few years

    Instability in the region has impacted upon exports, but can these countries overcome this to become reliable wordwide players?

  • High hopes for an independent Scotland's oil wealth

    The Scottish are due to vote in 18 months on whether to leave the UK - taking with them the majority of the UK's oil and gas production, Martin Quinlan writes

  • Iran and US edge towards détente

    Tehran and Washington may be nearing a political deal. But don’t count on a sharp rise in the country’s oil exports just yet, writes Derek Brower

  • The lord of misrule

    Rory Carroll’s clinical assessment of Hugo Chávez’s legacy is both an indictment of the comandante and a love letter to Venezuela

  • ¿Viva la revolución?

    The post-Chávez era holds potential perils and promise for investors from Houston to Beijing to Moscow. Justin Jacobs reports

  • Anadarko into the light

    The US independent continues to get it right with a mix of reliable onshore assets and a foothold in potentially prolific offshore plays, writes NJ Watson

  • Albpetrol sell-off scrapped as accusations fly

    Albania's attempt to privatise the state oil and gas firm has stumbled, writes NJ Watson

  • UK's nuclear future at risk

    A parliamentary report says a lack of a clear pricing system is spooking investors, writes Helen Robertson

  • Beware the slides of March

    March has provided the turning point for market sentiment in the past. Do not be surprised if it does this year, too

  • Tullow’s tricky balancing act

    The London-listed player has shrugged off disappointing drilling results, saying it remains committed to exploration-led growth. NJ Watson reports

  • Going for broke

    Timor-Leste (East Timor) was once seen as the poster child for developing nations. It had natural resources, a comprehensive legal framework covering their extraction and an oil fund. Now, almost 11 years after attaining independence, the country better resembles a problem child.

  • Latin America hits the road

    Subsidies and economic growth mean fuel consumption and car ownership will rise steadily

  • GTL pushes at the margins

    Turning natural gas into diesel has many advantages, especially in the US

  • Wedded to the wheel

    Cars still rule the Middle East’s roads. But change can – and must – come, writes Robin Mills

  • Europe drives away from oil

    Tight mileage standards, a saturated car market and good public transportation mean the continent's fuel needs will grow slowly, if at all

  • The big slowdown

    New fuel-economy standards in the US will bring big changes to the country’s vehicle fleet

  • Going for broke

    Timor-Leste (East Timor) was once seen as the poster child for developing nations. It had natural resources, a comprehensive legal framework covering their extraction and an oil fund. Now, almost 11 years after attaining independence, the country better resembles a problem child.

  • Gearing down

    A secular downturn in US fuel consumption is under way as Americans fall out of love with their cars, says Gregor Macdonald

  • China’s 'superbank' takes on the world

    China Development Bank has emerged as one of the most important financial institutions in the world, bankrolling the country’s rise at home and abroad, but little is known about its operations. Justin Jacobs reviews a new book which helps shine a light on the secretive bank

  • Asian advance challenges IOCs in the Gulf

    Concession renewals in Abu Dhabi will test corporate appetites, as Middle Eastern governments hold out for more from their foreign partners, reports James Gavin

  • Dips in output and prices dent majors’ results

    Improved refining margins prove a silver lining as big players unveil disappointing full-year figures. Helen Robertson reports

  • Easy rider

    The number of cars will soar in the coming decades. But they will do much more for much less fuel

  • The road to efficiency

    Changes are afoot in global transportation that will profoundly affect the oil sector

  • Asia's final frontier

    Only two years ago Myanmar (Burma) was considered a pariah nation, on a par with North Korea. But since international sanctions were lifted following a series of democratic reforms, energy companies are now eager to tap the country's reserves. Damon Evans reports

  • Iraq's fractious politics weigh on oil sector

    Fears that country is teetering on the brink of civil war and the increasingly poisonous relations between Baghdad and Erbil may stymie Iraq's ambitions to boost crude production. Derek Brower reports

  • Reaping the whirlwind

    THE murder of oil workers in Algeria was a shocking, barbarous act. The dead men at the Tigantourine wet-gas complex, near In Amenas, were not politicians or soldiers. They were innocent oilmen doing their job. That they are now targets of terrorists in the Sahel opens a disturbing new chapter for the oil industry in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), with serious ramifications for the region's governments and investors alike.

  • Shale forces rethink in Trinidad and Tobago

    The Caribbean producer could have suffered more than most with the rise of US shale output. While it has adapted in the short term, to secure its place in the new-look global gas market, Trinidad and Tobago must develop a new, long-term strategy. Justin Jacobs reports

  • Cyber assassins

    The Middle East and North Africa has become a battlefield in an increasingly hostile cyber-war. And the region’s vital energy sector is the frontline, says Justin Dargin

  • 2012 ends on a high for UK offshore

    UK energy sector confidence is on the rise as increase in both drilling and deal-making bodes well for the new year

  • Volatility is the new normal

    As water shortages, greater competition for resources and climate change tighten commodity markets, the old pricing certainties no longer apply. Helen Robertson reports


  • Clock ticking on China-Russia gas talks

    Russia still hopes to strike a gas supply deal with China – vital if the country’s strategic shift from Europe to Asia is to succeed. But, as Justin Jacobs argues, Russia needs to act quickly or miss out on the opportunity

  • Doha deal exacts a price

    The latest round of climate change talks did not result in a binding global climate agreement, but it has paved the way for higher emissions costs. Ian Lewis reports

  • Promised Land fails to deliver

    Matt Damon attempts to take on the controversies surrounding hydraulic fracturing and the US’s booming gas industry – but his latest film misses its target. Review by Shaun Polczer

  • Noble makes a splash

    The US independent has set itself major production goals – and has piqued investors’ interest. NJ Watson reports

News in brief

Focus

Latest issue: May 2013

Toeing the party line

When a stagnant economy and a moribund energy sector, Venezuela needs pragmatism rather than politics. But Maduro's elevation to the presidency leaves little room for hope


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