It was meant to be the week when OPEC nations gathered in Baghdad to celebrate the cartel’s six decades as a dominant force in global oil markets. Instead, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will convene online, and reflect on whether the coranavirus has thwarted their best …

Uncertainty continues to rule. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has cut its 2021 demand growth outlook for 2021 to 6.5 million barrels per day (bpd) – 500,000 bpd lower than projected last month. The EIA now expects the Chinese demand to grow only by 1m bpd next year, and …

On Sept 14, 1960, the five founding fathers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo of Venezuela; Abdullah Al-Tariki of Saudi Arabia; Dr Tala’at Al-Shaibani of Iraq; Dr Fuad Rouhani of Iran and Ahmed Sayed Omar of Kuwait gathered together in Al-Shaab Hall in …

Director-General of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization’s Office for Arabian and African Countries Farzad Piltan announced exports of about $2.5 billion worth of non-oil goods from Iran to the Middle Eastern countries over the past five months. “Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Syria, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, and Bahrain have been the …

Automotive players in Turkey expect up to 8m used car sales in 2020 as a pre-pandemic shortage of new vehicles is exacerbated by supply chain disruptions attributed to the virus. Some 2.1m cars and light commercial vehicles were sold in the first quarter of the year, putting the market on …

Poland’s oil and energy giant PKN Orlen says it is aiming at carbon emission neutrality by the year 2050. Central and Eastern Europe’s leader in the energy sector, Orlen said this week it will invest heavily in developing cleaner production methods and greater efficiency, as well as in wind and …

Saudi Arabia has been encouraging members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers such as Russia, known as OPEC+, to increase output in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Times reports on Wednesday. According to report, Saudi Arabia plans to keep oil production …

Iraq is debating whether to ask to be exempted from the oil production cuts OPEC+ agreed on this April. Initially set at 9.7 million bpd, the cuts have now been eased to 7.7 million bpd but as the second-largest producer in OPEC, Iraq is shouldering quite a large chunk of …

German authorities are considering the suspension of the construction of Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline in response to the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The final decision depends on Russia’s actions, said the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on air of the TV channel ZDF. “We will put all …

Even the cleanest fossil fuel is losing its appeal to rich nations. Just a few years ago, natural gas was hailed as vital for the transition toward an economy that runs on renewable energy. But sentiment is changing and the fuel is going the same way as coal, its dirtier …