Energy Personality of the Year: Ali al-Naimi
There were two contenders for this year’s award. The most obvious, and certainly the man who has won the most coverage in this (and every other) publication, is Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin has certainly...
View ArticleSaudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions
Having talked vaguely for many years about the possibility of developing nuclear power as an alternative source of energy, it seems that Saudi Arabia under its new leadership may finally be taking...
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Oil prices – the Saudi dilemma
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting Jordan this month © Getty Images With the latest analysis from the International Energy Agency showing that oil production capacity continues to rise...
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How long is the oil market cycle?
Oil sprays from a well at Tuba oil field in Iraq © Getty Images Oil is now clearly a cyclical commodity that is in a period of over-supply. According to recent commentaries from the International...
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Oil and the tinder box of Iran-Saudi rivalry
Iranians protest against Saudi Arabia after the hajj stampede © Getty Images Oil prices are now 50 per cent lower than they were a year ago, and less than 40 per cent of their peak in 2012. Worldwide,...
View ArticleIsis and the war for oil
It has always been hard to accept the argument that the series of wars in the Middle East since 2001 have been about oil. Afghanistan is not an oil state and most of the oil which will be produced from...
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The Saudis blink over oil production
Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi holds a press conference in Doha after meeting energy ministers from Russia, Qatar and Venezuela © Getty Images The Saudis blinked. The latest deal — an agreement with...
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Russia and Europe: nightmares and realities
Russia locks on gas supplies to Ukraine © Getty Images Is Europe trapped in a state of dependence on Russian gas? What would happen if by some accident, let alone a strategic decision taken in Moscow,...
View ArticleToo soon to declare the end of the oil downturn
The prospect of a partial freeze on oil production at current levels. Some upbeat numbers from China. A couple of days of rising prices on the market. These signals are enough, it seems, to make some...
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Expect a wave of privatisation in energy
Sampling crude oil at well operated by Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA © Getty Images In strong contrast to the previous downturns in the energy market the sharp falls in prices seen over...
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Are we approaching peak energy demand ?
Energy demand in China appears to have decoupled from GDP © Getty Images The changes taking place in the world energy market are not just a matter of oversupply or the unwillingness of Saudi Arabia to...
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The summer mirage of rising oil prices
Khalid al-Falih, the new Saudi oil minister © Getty Images Are we on the verge of a real upturn in oil prices? Over the last 10 days, the price has risen almost 20 per cent. Is the talk of a...
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The Saudis play with fire
Khalid A Al-Falih, Saudi energy minister © Getty Images With less than 10 days to go until the next Opec meeting the gamesmanship goes on. Saudi Arabia has maintained its production at around 10.7m...
View ArticleEnergy personality of the year
For most of those involved in the energy sector 2016 has been a year to forget. Oil prices have risen a little but despite the Opec deal are still almost 50 per cent down on where they were 2 years...
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An optimist’s view of 2017
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman © Getty Images The downbeat mood of the times was confirmed before Christmas by the publication of the Bloomberg Pessimist’s Guide to 2017. The guide...
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The second shale revolution
Workers on a fracking rig in the Permian Baisin, Texas © Getty Images The oil price is falling again, with the latest drop taking the price in the US below $50 a barrel. Behind the fall is a...
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Plentiful oil will sustain the age of hydrocarbons
© Getty Images Last week, I wrote about the likelihood of a long plateau of oil demand at something around 100m barrels a day for the next two to three decades. That figure reflects a balance between...
View ArticleThe implications of shelving the Aramco IPO
A decision to consider dropping the planned sale of a minority stake in the Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco through a formal listing of the company on the international market as reported in the...
View ArticleDoes the oil market expect a new Mideast war?
The oil price has risen by almost 20 per cent over the last four weeks. Does anything in the market justify such an increase, or is the change driven simply by speculation about the dangers of a direct...
View ArticleMade in China – the world energy market of the future
What happens next in the global energy market depends to a disturbing degree on China. Disturbing not because the Chinese have done anything wrong – they haven’t. The country’s energy policy has been...
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