Central Asian states are knocking down trade barriers, addressing a prerequisite for the formation of a unified regional market. The recent diplomatic efforts appear to have caught the attention of the Kremlin, which worries that freer trade in Central Asia will facilitate the expansion of commercial networks bypassing Russia. The creation of a unified...

Via Metal Miner By now, anyone in the metals market will know that the U.S. and UK recently banned the consumption of Russian aluminum, copper, and nickel produced from April 13 onward. While metal already on the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) are still available for consumption, no metal delivered after this date...

As the global oil market eagerly anticipates the upcoming OPEC(+) production decision—a potential shift in the current production cut strategy—most eyes are on Saudi Arabia or Aramco leaders. However, there's a new player in town, already hinting at a dramatic strategy change without OPEC's approval. Sources in Abu Dhabi suggest the Emirate is no longer...

Four expatriate workers lost their lives, and two others sustained injuries in a recent drone attack on the Khor Mor gas field in Iraq's Kurdistan region. This attack, reported by an advisor to the Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister and a senior Kurdish political source, has also resulted in the suspension of production at the site. The ramifications of the...

ExxonMobil continues to expect that the U.S. antitrust authority will give the green light to its proposed $60-billion all-stock acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources by the end of the second quarter, Exxon’s chief financial officer Kathy Mikells told Bloomberg in an interview on Friday. Exxon said in its Q1 earnings release today that it expects...

TotalEnergies (NYSE: TTE) saw its first-quarter adjusted net income drop by 22% from a year ago, but the French supermajor’s adjusted earnings beat the consensus estimate. Stable oil prices and healthy refining margins failed to fully offset a decline in natural gas prices, but helped TotalEnergies beat analyst forecasts as it reported Q1 earnings on...