A Knot of Pipeline Projects/Proposals: The Caspian Conundrum
June 13th, 2008
Via Radio Free Europe, an insightful look at the multitude of Caspian pipeline projects that leaders of the Caspian Sea littoral states — Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran — and others such as the EU and U.S. are discussing, debating, funding, and developing. As the article notes: “…we are in the middle of a […]
Read more »Azeri Aim To Become Gas Transit Route
June 13th, 2008
As recently reported in The Financial Times, Azerbaijan – already a growing force on world oil markets – is carving a role for itself both as a natural gas exporter and as a strategic gas transit route linking the Caspian region with the west. As the article notes: “…2007 marked a turning point in the […]
Read more »Central Asia’s Great (Oil and Gas) Game
June 13th, 2008
Via The Geotimes, an interesting look at the machinations around Central Asian hydrocarbon resources. As the article notes: “…Today for Central Asiatic countries of the Caspian project (via Russia), there are only two alternatives for the West and the East. The Western direction is represented by the trans-Caspian gas pipeline, which passes at the bottom […]
Read more »The Future of Petronas: Pemex or Petrobras?
June 13th, 2008
As reported by Stratfor (subscription required), Malaysia’s energy giant Petronas could go broke within a decade if the government takes all of its profits under a new tax scheme, the company’s president and chief executive Tan Sri Hassan Marican recently said. Although Petronas would not be the first Asian energy major to bow under soaring […]
Read more »Resource Nationalism and The New Seven Sisters
June 8th, 2008
A very interesting Reuters article on how resource nationalism — countries nationalizing and controlling their domestic oil industries — is changing the way global oil markets respond to higher prices. After all, when you can revenue acceleration from a finite resource without increasing supply, why bother pumping more? As the report notes: “…Resource nationalism in […]
Read more »Iran’s Oil: Bounty & Curse
June 8th, 2008
Via AFP, an interesting brief examination of a century of oil in Iran, with a particular focus on how subsidies & mismanagement is preventing the country from realizing the potential of either its oil riches or its gas reserves, the second-largest in the world. As the article notes: “…It was just before dawn on May […]
Read more »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.