Saudi Arabia has pressured smaller nations to accept production quota reductions
E&P investment becoming mission impossible
Oil price volatility and the high cost of hedging mean putting money into exploration and production is unaffordable for all but the largest players
The Opec+ members and central bankers from the EU, the US and the UK all announced key decisions in June 2023. Their actions vividly demonstrated why investors across the world will put money into building plants to produce everything from computer chips to batteries but will not back proposals to drill for oil. The central bankers, as usual, telegraphed their actions in advance in a concerted effort to warn investors and/or confirm market expectations. The policies adopted since the appointment of Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as oil minister have made it more challenging for most companies to invest safely in oil exploration. These policies clearly result from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salma
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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
