Archive for 2025

Looking Back at a Hot Railroad Summer for Central Asia and Afghanistan

Via The Diplomat, a look back at the summer of Central Asian railroads, when – in July – Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan all signed agreements with Afghanistan related to the development of railways: On July 31, Turkmenistan signed a $5 million agreement with Afghanistan to jointly develop and invest in the expansion of Torghundi, a dry […]

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China’s Pipeline Diplomacy Is a Nightmare for U.S. Gas

Via Bloomberg, a look at how the revival of a project that would transport Russian gas to China has the potential to upend Trump’s plans for energy dominance: It’s a potential prize fight for the ages: US “energy dominance” versus the Power of Siberia. A proposed pipeline to bring natural gas from Russia, across Mongolia and […]

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The Quad can Break China’s Mineral Stranglehold

Via Nikkei Asia, commentary on how – the Quad can break China’s mineral stranglehold: Critical minerals are the building blocks of modern civilization. They underpin every sector of the global economy: semiconductors, electronics, automobiles and defense equipment, and have given rise to what Gregory Wischer, an official at the U.S. Department of the Interior, calls […]

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Namibia’s Big Ambition to Become Oil Hotspot Tested By Wildcatter

Via Bloomberg, a report on Namibia’s oil ambitions: Rhino Resources Ltd. made a significant oil discovery off Namibia’s coast after diverting the Noble Venturer drillship to a new location. The company is now drilling another well called Volans, with results expected next month, as the market watches to see if Namibia has the resources to […]

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Iran’s SCO Entry Turning Into a Road to Nowhere

Via Asia Times, a report on how Iran’s SCO inclusion has brought Tehran little relief from Western sanctions and even less from promised but stalled economic projects: For a nation under the crush of international sanctions, membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was never just about diplomatic photo-ops. For Iran, it was pitched as […]

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How The Trumps Won The Gulf

Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on the first family’s complex, lucrative and growing business interests in the Gulf region: Donald Trump Jr looked completely at ease as he strode across the plush carpet of the Waldorf Astoria in Doha one afternoon this May. Thick hair smoothed back, custard-yellow tie on display, smile flashing, […]

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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.