Russia is planting flags in the Middle East
Pragmatism and a tolerance for risk are giving Russian energy interests an edge in the region
Sometime in 2024, capacity at Iran's sole nuclear power facility, at Bushehr on the Gulf coast, will double to 2 gigawatts. A couple of years after, another 1GW reactor is due online. If nothing else, Iran is coming good on its civilian nuclear ambitions. Russia, whose state atomic firm Rosatom is building the two new plants, is the enabler. Russia's and Iran's energy plans don't stop at reactors. Lukoil, a private firm but Russia's second-biggest oil producer, and state-controlled Gazprom both have Tehran's approval to bid for upstream projects. Lukoil, which hopes to develop the Abe Timur and Mansuri fields, in western Iran, says the country "is our target area at the moment". Gazprom, whi
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10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
