It was another week of ratcheting in crude oil politics as President Donald Trump surprised Iran’s customers last week by demanding they halt the purchases, ending the sanction waivers to importers effective May 2.  Trump reinstated the sanctions in May 2018, by dumping the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has become a real issue globally. Many believe that environmental wisdom begins with the fear of greenhouse effect.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Ms Christine Lagarde has come again, and from a familiar and turfy terrain, the strictures of subsidy in Nigeria. At the IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington DC last week, Lagarde explained why the Fund is insisting on fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria.

It might have come as a surprise to many that Saudi Aramco was rated the world’s most profitable company in 2018.  With an earning of US$224 billion, Aramco the Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, generated far and above any company in the world last year. It surpassed Apple, Samsung Electronics and Alphabet Inc.

By Sonny Atumah It might have come as a surprise to many that Saudi Aramco was rated the world’s most profitable company in 2018.  With an earning of US$224 billion, Aramco the Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, generated far and above any company in the world last year. It surpassed Apple, Samsung Electronics and Alphabet […]

In the last two years refiners faced volatile challenges that were tied to market developments. The United States shale revolution which increased production affected global oil production significantly.

Oil prices slightly went up during the week with the WTI benchmark settling at US$56.87 while the Brent benchmark traded at US$66.65 on Tuesday. The slowdown in demand for petroleum, together with renewed oil stockpiling in the US and the issuing of waivers to eight countries to buy Iranian oil after imposed sanctions, pushed the price of Brent down from US$80 per barrel in October 2018 to US$66.65 on Tuesday.

When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS presented the Saudi vision 2030, on April 15, 2016, few gave the 33-year-old the benefit of the doubt. The Saudi vision statement of not depending solely on oil for future energy needs recognized the fact that real wealth lies in the ambition of its people and the potential of the younger generation. To him, all success stories start with a vision. Was the crown prince certain he would be able to fulfill his dream for a nation that had for long been the largest exporter of global crude? His wish was to pep up the revolution on the need to increase refining capacity as oil transition bells tolled.

President Muhammadu Buhari won the 23rd February 2019 election that appeared predictable. As the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu presented the certificate of return last Wednesday, the winner; Buhari condemned the primitive acquisition of wealth which he hoped to tackle as he prepared for his second term in office. Like President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Buhari is one of the mortals that would rule Nigeria three times.

China’s launch of the yuan-denominated oil contracts in March 2018 was to promote the Chinese yuan as a global reserve currency.