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 …
Read More »Iran’s evasion network survives, but the crude feeding it has run dry
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 …
Read More »Overland lifelines under pressure: Iran’s trade with its neighbours
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 …
Read More »What can Iran’s new oil chief change under the US blockade?
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 …
Read More »Can the Caspian give Iran a way around Hormuz?
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 …
Read More »Beyond shared identity: Military cooperation across the Turkic states
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 …
Read More »Turkiye’s electricity paradox: More capacity than peak demand, but what comes next?
Turkiye has nearly 127 GW of installed generation capacity, while its summer peak demand reached about 60.4 GW in July 2025. At first glance, that looks like a big surplus. But not every power plant is available when demand is highest. Solar output drops in the evening, wind depends on …
Read More »Iran faces postwar winter with a third of gas capacity lost
Iran is racing to restore gas infrastructure before winter after losing about a third of its pre-war production capacity, a reconstruction challenge that could force Tehran into difficult choices between keeping homes warm, power plants running and industry supplied. Iranian officials say attacks have knocked out about 230 million cubic …
Read More »From Caspian gas to Turkish industry: SOCAR’s geopolitical energy strategy
State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has become one of Türkiye’s largest foreign investors and a core pillar of the Baku–Ankara energy partnership. Since acquiring Petkim in 2008, the Azerbaijani state energy company has built an integrated portfolio spanning petrochemicals, refining, gas transit, logistics, storage, and power …
Read More »The illusion of redundancy: Why oil markets are misreading Gulf supply risk
Oil markets are behaving as if the region’s supply problems will soon resolve themselves. That confidence is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.By mid-September 2026, futures prices had repeatedly eased or paused on the basis of limited diplomatic signals, even as three major vulnerabilities were developing at the same time: Iran’s …
Read More »