The United States Tells China to Kick Rocks in Central Asia
July 3rd, 2024
Via East Asia Forum, commentary on U.S. efforts to diversify its supply chain for critical minerals and reduce its dependence on China by establishing partnerships with Central Asian republics, though it anticipates various challenges. In particular, China’s restrictions on gallium and germanium exports and significant economic influence in the region raise concerns. The United States, […]
Read more »Komatsu Opens Central Asia Hub to Tap Mining Rush for EV Metals
June 23rd, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, a report on growing industry interest in Central Asia’s energy transition metal potential: Komatsu will facilitate deliveries of mining equipment across Central Asia through a new logistics hub in Kazakhstan, with an eye on the region’s reserves of key electric vehicle materials like nickel and lithium. The Japanese heavy machinery maker recently […]
Read more »The West Is Laser-Focused on Central Asia’s Middle Corridor. So Is China.
June 20th, 2024
Via The Diplomat, a look at the Middle Corridor but – for more commodities to move west from Central Asia – better infrastructure, more inter-agency cooperation, and modern customs systems are necessary: The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Kathleen Tai visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in mid-June, the first time a USTR has ever visited the Central Asian region. […]
Read more »The New Reality of Energy Geopolitics in Eurasia
May 31st, 2024
Via The Diplomat, a look at how – with the so-called gas union – Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are engaging in opportunistic cooperation and flirting with dangerous new dependencies. On November 28, 2022, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Moscow, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials. During their meeting, Russian media […]
Read more »Power of Siberia 2: Close Deal or Re-Route?
May 11th, 2024
Via Asia Times, a look at the geopolitics surrounding the Power of Siberia 2 as China debates how alternate Kazakhstan gas route affects Mongolia route plan: A plan to transit Russian natural gas to China via Kazakhstan has recently triggered a hot debate among Chinese pundits over the fate of the long-discussed Power of Siberia […]
Read more »Taliban Plan Regional Logistics / Energy Trade Hub With Russian Oil In Mind
May 2nd, 2024
Via The Frontier Post, a report on the Taliban’s plans to build a regional logistics / energy trade: The Taliban has agreed with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a logistics hub in western Afghanistan aimed at making the war-torn nation a major logistics point for regional exports, including oil from Russia to South Asia, the […]
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.