Energy Strategy & Foreign Policy Energy Strategy & Foreign Policy

Texas’s November 3, 2026, election results overturned assumptions that had shaped American politics for decades. Democratic victories in major statewide races, alongside the party’s capture of Congress, immediately raised questions about the country’s political direction. They also drew attention from energy producers and governments whose interests are tied to Texas’s …

Iran may be able to repair much of its war-damaged energy infrastructure without new Western technology. Whether it can rebuild a modern, reliable energy industry is another question. Successive rounds of US and Israeli strikes have damaged oil storage facilities, gas-processing plants and petrochemical infrastructure. Iranian engineers, supported by suppliers …

Kazakhstan sent more than four-fifths of its oil exports in 2025 through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which crosses Russia to the Black Sea. Repeated disruptions have exposed the risks of relying so heavily on a single route. While alternative shipments across the Caspian Sea are growing, volumes remain small. …

Qatar is buying American liquefied natural gas while spending billions to expand its own export capacity. That apparent contradiction offers a way to understand Doha’s diplomacy during the Persian Gulf crisis. Buying gas abroad gives QatarEnergy something to sell when tankers cannot leave Ras Laffan. It does far less for …

A seabed survey is usually an engineering step. For the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), it has become a test of how far Greece, Cyprus and Türkiye can manage their maritime dispute without letting it derail a major infrastructure project. In mid-October 2026, the GSI developer applied to resume surveys for …

Iran still has the knowhow, middlemen and shadow-fleet infrastructure it spent years developing to sell sanctioned oil to China. But it has now run out of oil outside Iran to put through that system. The US naval blockade has exposed a limitation in Tehran’s sanctions-evasion machinery: ship-to-ship transfers, false paperwork …

Iran is turning to its land borders for ways to keep trade moving as the U.S. naval blockade constrains shipping. But these routes are best seen as a buffer, not a substitute for maritime trade. They can help move selected goods, give merchants more options, and support businesses in border …

Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad resigned Sunday, leaving acting minister Hamid Bovard with crude exports choked by a US blockade and scrutiny of intermediaries used to sell sanctioned oil, raising questions over what he can change. President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted Paknejad’s resignation on October 4 and appointed Bovard, chief executive …

With war disrupting Iran’s southern trade routes, Tehran is looking north to the Caspian for alternatives. But the available evidence suggests they cannot replace its crucial oil exports. More cargo moving across the Caspian could help Iran keep supplies coming in. But rising freight totals do not show whether Tehran …

Military cooperation among Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is growing, but it does not yet amount to a unified four-country alliance. The ties are taking shape through different channels: a formal alliance between Azerbaijan and Türkiye, a separate allied-relations treaty between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, and broader exercises that bring Central …