Hunt called off for MH370: Here’s what we do know January 17, 2017 Teams from Australia, Malaysia and China working together to find an airliner which disappeared three years ago say they have called off their search. The Press Association reported today that authorities hunting for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared with 239 people on board, had taken the decision with "sadness", after they scoured more than [...]
Getting an Opec output cut won’t be a piece of cake September 26, 2016 With the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan rate decisions out of the way, focus could now shift elsewhere. Like towards the expected weaker US durable goods orders (which are, according to Credit Suisse, set to drop to -2.3 per cent in August compared to 4.4 per cent in July), or the oil [...]
Opec remains positive on output cut as oil crashes to $44 November 4, 2016 With markets rattled and oil prices tanking after being bombarded on a variety of fronts, Opec has attempted to bring some calm to the market regarding its optimism that it will be able to reach some kind of a deal. But will the market buy it? Oil prices this week took a tumble on the back [...]
Oil prices could spike at $500 on a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran January 13, 2016 A leading academic has warned a full scale war between Middle Eastern rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia could send oil prices as high as $500 per barrel. The two countries' long-running regional rivalry is borne out in a series of proxy wars across the Middle East, such as the one which is being waged in Yemen. But relations soured recently when [...]
Saudi Arabia will go ahead with production freeze deal in April without Iran, sending the oil price up 50 per cent in just two months March 22, 2016 Saudi Arabia has signalled it will go ahead with a deal with Russia and other Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) members to freeze production in April despite Opec rebel Iran vowing to continue to increase output. The deal, which already includes Venezuela and Qatar, is scheduled to be finalised at a meeting in Doha [...]
Will Boris Johnson’s Saudi comments hurt the UK’s Gulf trade charm offensive? December 8, 2016 Foreign secretary Boris Johnson's attack on Saudi Arabia runs the risk of harming UK efforts to build trading relations with Gulf states, experts say. In remarks reported earlier this week, Johnson accused the Saudi regime of “twisting” Islam for political ends, fighting “proxy wars” in the region with Iran. Downing Street this morning issued a [...]
British Airways relaunches flights to Iran between London Heathrow and Tehran for first time since 2012 February 3, 2016 British Airways will restart flights from London to Iran this summer after a four-year break. The airline will run six services a week from Heathrow Terminal Five to the Iranian capital Tehran, starting on 14 July. Daily flights will start on 30 October. BA first flew between London and Tehran in 1946 but services stopped in [...]
Everything you need to know about Opec’s output cut agreement September 29, 2016 Markets swung wildly this morning after Opec provisionally agreed to cut oil output for the first time since 2008, as it tries to accelerate the stricken market's recovery. What the agreement entails The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said yesterday that it would cut output to a range of 32.5-33m barrels per day. But how much each country [...]
Saudi-Iran schism: The West should cut its losses in the Middle East January 11, 2016 The most annoying intellectual pathology of the western foreign policy elite must be its singular insistence that action, however mindless, beats informed inaction; that doing more is always better than doing less. I saw this intellectual disease time and again in the aftermath of the utterly disastrous Iraq War. Smart opinion was divided between those [...]
Higher oil prices alone won’t rescue failing petro-states like Venezuela March 1, 2017 At the annual International Petroleum Week at Grosvenor House on Park Lane last week, all eyes were on Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, the Qatari energy minister. The dignitary was honoured with a special award, “International Oil Diplomacy Man of the Year 2016”, as one of the masterminds behind the production cuts agreed to last November [...]