Energy
Libya’s Zawiya Refinery Resumes Operations After Two-Day Armed Shutdown
The News Libya’s largest functioning oil refinery was closed and an emergency declared after clashes erupted near the facility in Zawiya on May 8. The refinery, with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and connected to…
UAE Withdraws from OPEC and OPEC+
The News: The United Arab Emirates announced through its state news agency WAM its formal withdrawal from OPEC and the OPEC+ alliance, effective May 1, 2026. The announcement came on the same day OPEC was preparing to…
United States & Iran — Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
The Islamabad Talks and Their CollapseWhat Happened? Weekend talks in Islamabad between Washington and Tehran ended without a deal. A source close to the negotiations said the two sides came “very close” to an agreement…
A Turkish drillship opens a new energy chapter off Mogadishu
Turkey’s deep-sea drillship Çağrı Bey arrived in Somali waters today, Thursday April 9, 2026, completing a 53-day voyage from the port of Taşucu in southern Turkey — the first time a Turkish drillship has ever operated…
Africa Faces Imminent Inflation Shock
Estimates by the International Energy Agency indicate that the conflict linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused the largest disruption to global energy supplies in modern market history. Oil flows that…
The Oil Shock Hits the Most Vulnerable
The News: With Brent crude above $105 per barrel — after a 64% surge in March alone — African governments imposed sharp fuel price increases within days: Ghana raised petrol by 15% and diesel by 19%; Malawi raised them…
Gulf Economies Under Pressure from the Iran War: The Strait of Hormuz and the Limits of Fiscal Resilience
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states entered the Iran-related conflict from a stronger financial position than many observers expected. Prior to the escalation, International Monetary Fund projections indicated that…
Syria: The Quiet Battle for Influence Through Energy
Strategic Summary Syria’s energy sector is not just an economic story — it is the arena where regional and global powers are quietly competing to shape post-war Syria. Understanding this file means understanding who will…
North Africa in Motion: Three Pressure Points Reshaping the Maghreb
The Strategic Frame The Maghreb rarely makes global headlines as a unified story. It tends to appear in fragments — a tourism statistic here, a parliamentary vote there. But read together, this week’s developments across…
OIL MARKETS & THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ: WHEN THE WORLD’S ECONOMIC ARTERY BECOMES A HOSTAGE
What happened? Serious threats now hover over the Strait of Hormuz amid a partial freeze in tanker movement, while OPEC+ has approved only a limited production increase to absorb the shock. Oil prices are trending upward…
Libya Attracts $20 Billion Western Oil Investment Amid Sharp Institutional Division
Tripoli — Libya’s Government of National Unity announced the signing of a long-term investment agreement with France’s TotalEnergies and America’s ConocoPhillips worth over $20 billion, a move reflecting major Western…
The Gulf Dimension in the Venezuelan Crisis: Oil, Mediation, and Regional Balances
What is happening in Venezuela is no longer purely an internal matter, but has transformed into a geopolitical issue that directly affects the global energy system, redraws the map of international alliances, and…