News broke Monday that Gazprom would no longer move forward with the South Stream pipeline project due to European opposition. Russian President Putin made the announcement after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Putin said the two countries would cooperate on the possibility of creating a gas trading hub on the Turkish-Greek border.… Keep reading →
US Vice President Joe Biden recently addressed the Atlantic Council Energy and Economic Summit in Istanbul, Turkey where he discussed numerous topics related to European energy security. Biden began his talk with the situation in Ukraine and Russia’s use of energy as a political tool. He recognized the fact that Russia will remain a major… Keep reading →
Ankara’s security and political concerns may drive it to establish buffer zones unilaterally, while Washington’s hesitance could cost it a coalition. Since the armed phase of the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad began in summer 2011, Turkey has been intent on setting up safe havens and accompanying no-fly zones in northern Syria to protect areas held… Keep reading →
Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, suggests in an article titled “What can the Middle East learn from the US shale boom?” three ways for regional policymakers to bring interconnectivity to the Middle East’s oil and gas market as well as accompanying infrastructure. These steps are intended – in his words – to “unleash a… Keep reading →
A climate researcher recently discovered some of the darkest snow and ice on record in Greenland and the findings have potentially alarming climate-change implications. “There are several potential explanations for what’s going on here. The most likely is that some combination of increasingly infrequent summer snowstorms, wind-blown dust, microbial activity, and forest fire soot led… Keep reading →
The situation on the ground in Iraq is sketchy, with conflicting reports about the extent to which the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has advanced and how much territory now controlled by the group. The Sunni Al Qaeda splinter group reportedly took control of the northern city of Mosul and overran the Turkish… Keep reading →
Iraq’s Oil Ministry is taking legal action against The Republic of Turkey and state-owned pipeline operator BOTAŞ, further ratcheting up tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government over oil exports. The ministry filed an arbitration request with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris in response to reports that oil pumped from Iraqi… Keep reading →
As the death toll in a coal mine explosion in the western Turkish town of Soma climbs toward 300, devastated workers and residents are lashing out at the country’s leadership. Widespread protests have broken out in several cities as people blame the government for prioritizing profit over safety. Numerous coal mining operations have been privatized,… Keep reading →
The Afşin-Elbistan coalfield and power plant project looks to tap the 40% of Turkey’s lignite coal reserves located in the region to generate up to 8,000 MW of power. After the UAE’s TAQA put investment on hold, Turkey’s state power generator is negotiating with Chinese and South Korean companies. [Reuters] A recent New York Times… Keep reading →
Washington has rightfully avoided backing a candidate in next week’s [today’s] elections, but it should still use counterterrorism assistance and other levers to push Baghdad on pluralism and KRG oil revenue sharing during the presumably lengthy transition period. On April 30, the Iraqi public will vote in national parliamentary elections, establishing the next four-year term… Keep reading →
