Energy risk in all shapes, all sizes
Geopolitics may be bullish or bearish. But it will almost certainly bring volatility to the oil market
The beverage options in Calgary restaurants just narrowed. On 6 February, Alberta's premier Rachel Notley announced that her province was now banning imports of wine from British Columbia (BC). It is the first shot in a budding trade war between the neighbouring provinces. BC is blocking the expansion of a pipeline from the oil sands to the Pacific Coast. Notley now says that unless BC lifts its objections, Alberta might stop trading electricity across the border. For Alberta, the BC foot-dragging over Kinder Morgan's C$7.4bn ($5.8bn) plan to almost treble capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline, to 890,000 barrels a day, is serious stuff. Evacuation capacity from the oil sands will be insuf
Also in this section
19 February 2026
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has grown its business rapidly since exporting its first cargo a decade ago. But Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin tells Petroleum Economist that, as in the past, the company’s future expansion plans are anchored by high levels of contracted offtake, supporting predictable returns on investment
19 February 2026
Growth in LNG supply will surpass the rise in demand in 2026 for the first time in years, according to Mike Fulwood, senior research fellow at the OIES, but lower prices are likely to encourage fuel switching and could create more demand on a permanent basis
19 February 2026
Awais Ali Butt, manager for sales and business development at Pakistan LNG Ltd, discusses LNG’s role in energy security across developing, price-sensitive economies, as well as examining trade-offs between buying strategies and the impact of lower prices and policy on import behaviour
19 February 2026
LNG’s technical maturity, availability and price, as well as regulation, have driven its rapid adoption as a marine fuel, yet its future in shipping will depend on transition policies and progress in cutting methane emissions and scaling bio- and synthetic LNG, according to Carlos Guerrero at Bureau Veritas






