Will Turkey be impacted by a potential gas squeeze as new Iran sanctions kick in?

Turkey faces heightened risk of disrupted natural gas supplies from Iran following the U.S. Treasury’s launch of an intensified economic isolation campaign against Tehran on August 24, 2026. As a key U.S. ally and Iran’s third-largest trading partner, Ankara must navigate secondary sanctions threats that could complicate or sever one of its major pipeline gas […]

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Mark Carney to Build a New Economy with the EU – It appears he is working for China and the EU, and not the Canadians.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has accelerated efforts to deepen Canada’s economic and security ties with the European Union, framing diversification as essential amid escalating trade friction with the United States. Official statements and actions indicate a strategic pivot toward Europe (and select other partners) rather than prioritizing new comprehensive U.S. trade arrangements beyond existing […]

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Houthis Target Saudi Oil Tanker in Red Sea Missile and Drone Attack, and Oil Goes Down

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces claimed a ballistic missile strike on the Saudi-flagged VLCC Amzan (IMO 9693745, Bahri-owned, approximately 320,926 deadweight tons, built 2014) in the northern Red Sea off Yanbu on August 24, 2026. The attack formed part of the group’s ongoing “siege for siege” campaign enforcing a maritime ban on Saudi-linked shipping, which began […]

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Will Iraq leave OPEC, or will OPEC allow Iraq to double exports within six years?

Iraq is pushing aggressively to more than double its oil production capacity, targeting 8–10 million barrels per day (bpd) within six years—up from roughly 4 million bpd before the recent Iran-related regional conflict disrupted Strait of Hormuz shipping. On August 21, 2026, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced the goal at the Baghdad Dialog conference and […]

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Nigeria looks to lead the oil and gas investment boom away from choke points

Nigeria is positioning itself at the forefront of a global shift in oil and gas investment, targeting up to $50 billion in new offshore projects that could help diversify supplies away from the world’s most vulnerable maritime chokepoints. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has highlighted that new incentives for offshore oil and gas […]

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Ukraine Hits Lukoil Refinery. How Degraded is the Russian Refinery Capacity?

On the morning of August 21, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Russia’s Perm Krai, more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Thick black smoke rose over the facility, one of Russia’s 10 largest refineries with a design capacity of around 13 million metric tons of crude per year (approximately 262,000 […]

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Will Choking Iran’s Economy End the War, or Are They Too Resilient?

In an August 20, 2026, Bloomberg Opinion column, Javier Blas argued that “choking Iran’s economy is the least bad way to end the war.” Drawing on firsthand observations of sanctions-induced collapse in Iraq, Venezuela, and Cuba—worthless currencies, skyrocketing inflation, and soaring unemployment—Blas noted that pure economic pressure has historically failed to force political change. U.S. […]

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Are we about to see paper catch up to physical delivery on oil?

The oil market is sending mixed signals that traders and energy watchers cannot ignore. Futures prices—the “paper” side of the trade—have been surprisingly restrained even as physical barrels face ongoing constraints from the prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel cracks are screaming tightness downstream, China has stepped back as the world’s swing buyer, […]

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