Archive for 2020

Pandemic Slows Central Asia’s Gas Exports to China

Via The Diplomat, an article on COVID’s impact on exports of natural gas from Central Asia to China: Natural gas exports from the Central Asian republics began to see major drops as a result of the global economic slowdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. China, the main buyer of natural gas from Kazakhstan, […]

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Drying Up: Venezuela’s Oil Industry

Via The Wall Street Journal, a look at how Venezuela has seen its production dwindle after decades of graft and mismanagement under Chávez and Maduro regimes, and now the burden of U.S. sanctions: Venezuela’s oil industry—rich in reserves, a crucial Allied resource in World War II, a founding member of OPEC—is grinding toward a halt. Venezuela […]

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Pemex’s Losses Deepen Mexico’s Financial Woes

Via STRATFOR (subscription required), a short report on Pemex: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s failure to strengthen Pemex’s finances and shore up domestic oil production will exacerbate Mexico’s public finance woes from COVID-19.  On Aug. 24, Mexico’s state-owned energy giant Pemex reported its lowest level of monthly crude oil production since 1979, with the company’s […]

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Iran Welcomes Gas Trade With Turkmenistan

Via MEHR News, a report on Iran’s willingness to resume gas trades with Turkmenistan: The head of the National Iranian Gas Company Hassan Montazer Torbati expressed Iran’s willingness to resume gas trade with Turkmenistan. “During the ICA ruling we expressed our interest to continue the import of Turkmenistan’s gas,” Montazar Torbati said on Monday on […]

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Ashgabat

Via the London Review of Books, an interesting commentary on a businessman’s experience in Turkmenistan: I was? sitting next to a Coca-Cola sales exec on the flight to Ashgabat. ‘I hope you’ve got the right-sized photo,’ he said. ‘If you haven’t …’ He gave a short, sharp whistle through his teeth and jerked his thumb backwards: ‘Home you […]

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US and China Competition Over Energy Corridors In Central Asia

Via AKIPress News, a look at the fierce competition between US and China for energy corridors in Central Asia: Amid already heightened tensions between the United States and China, the Trump administration has now called “for a new alliance of democracies” to counter China’s aggressive policies, and, in a retaliatory move, Beijing has begun adding […]

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ABOUT
WILDCATS AND BLACK SHEEP
Wildcats & Black Sheep is a personal interest blog dedicated to the identification and evaluation of maverick investment opportunities arising in frontier - and, what some may consider to be, “rogue” or “black sheep” - markets around the world.

Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.