International

Immense damage to its revenue streams by the raging COVID-19 pandemic and an ill-timed oil price war has forced Saudi Arabia to unleash a massive emergency stimulus package worth $32 billion to succor its slowing economy. Saudi Arabia has 344 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Saturday but no deaths. The …

More than 200 small- and medium-sized oilfield services operators in Europe, or 20 percent of all European oilfield services firm, could go bust as the coronavirus epidemic will hit the market hard and wipe out US$5 billion worth of orders, Rystad Energy said in a new impact analysis. Most of …

Moves to unlock the full potential of Japan’s offshore wind industry are underway with the announcement of a task force set up to accelerate the sector’s development. Ambitions are to see the country’s renewables share increase from 16 percent to 24 percent by 2030 through a mixture of methods – …

Russia introduced fresh tax relief on Wednesday for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the Arctic, focused on those intended to come on stream from 2022, the text of a law signed by President Vladimir Putin showed. The zero-rate extraction tax on natural gas will primarily benefit independent gas …

With oil plummeting near an 18-year low amid unprecedented supply and demand shocks, Russia finally admitted: crude is too cheap. “Of course it’s a low price, we would like to see it higher,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call, signaling for the first time that the country’s …

Russian oil and gas workers in the Arctic Yamal peninsula could see their shifts extended by months to shield the energy industry and its employees from the spread of coronavirus. The region’s governor recommended in an order published on Tuesday that the shifts of those currently working in the region …

Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter, said the current oil-price slump was expected and it doesn’t plan talks with Saudi Arabia for the time being. The decision to keep the Saudis at arm’s length comes as oil tumbles to a four-year low, continuing its slide after the collapse of OPEC+ …

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant, capable of generating 700 megawatts. During daylight, solar power will provide cheap electricity, and at night the UAE will use stored solar heat to generate electricity. But at the same time, four nuclear reactors are nearing …

The leaders of G7 countries will hold a teleconference on March 16 to discuss the spread of the novel coronavirus in the world, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday at the debates in the country's parliament.

Although the oil price war was triggered by the Russia-Saudi fall-out, US shale will be the first casualty, writes Robin Mills. In the process, the US will learn that producing a lot of oil at high prices is not the “energy dominance” it has made a centerpiece of foreign policy, …