Turkey’s Growing Reliance on U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Represents a Purposeful and Strategic Policy to Improve Energy Security As Turkey’s second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas this past winter, the United States has become a significant player in the country’s gas industry. By topping five billion cubic meters and surpassing more established …
Read More »From Caspian to Continental: Türkiye’s Bid to Supply Europe with Turkmen and Azeri Gas
Significant progress has been made in establishing Türkiye as a major regional gateway for the transit of natural gas, especially in enabling the shipping of gas from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to Europe. Its strategic positioning in the global energy market is strengthened by its participation in significant infrastructure projects like …
Read More »The Gulf States’ Carbon Capture and Storage Ambitions
The GCC states have invested heavily in carbon capture and storage systems to lower their atmospheric emissions and take advantage of the high demand for these services in the years to come. The states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), long among the world’s greatest oil producers, are going through a …
Read More »Rare earths: Why China’s dominance is a trump card in US trade war
‘While countries like the US and Australia have reopened mines, they remain dependent on China for refining,’ says energy strategist Umud Shokri In the 1990s, the US started offshoring a lot of our mining and a lot of our processing. So, a lot of that went to China … There’s …
Read More »From Sanctions to Seizures: The New U.S. Push to Halt Iranian Oil Shipments
Iran Economy & Innovation Commentary Dr. Umud Shokri EN AR TR FA According to media reports, the Trump administration is thinking about physically intercepting and inspecting Iranian oil tankers on the high seas as part of a major escalation of Washington’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic. According to March 2025 reports, American …
Read More »The China-GCC Equation: Energy, Critical Minerals, and Geopolitical Strategy
As the GCC states undergo economic diversification efforts, they have increasingly turned to China for help—and Beijing has happily reciprocated. The geopolitical environment surrounding renewable technology and essential minerals is changing dramatically as the globe speeds up its journey to sustainable energy. China, which has become the main actor in the …
Read More »Critical Minerals in Ukraine: Harnessing Potential in the Face of Conflict and Geopolitical Shifts
Due to geopolitical tensions and the growing need for minerals necessary for green technology, Ukraine’s vital mineral resources have drawn more attention from around the world. Ukraine, the second-largest nation in Europe, has abundant mineral resources, including sizable amounts of nickel, cobalt, graphite, rare earth elements, lithium, and titanium. Because …
Read More »Critical Minerals and the U.S.-China Trade War
The U.S.-China trade war grew more intense in 2018 due to several factors, including concerns about trade imbalances, intellectual property theft, and restrictions on market access. These issues led to several wars as both countries sought to assert their economic dominance. When the U.S. placed tariffs on a range of …
Read More »The Pitfalls of an America-First Energy Policy
President Donald Trump has promised to drastically lower oil prices in the United States during his second term—but the world’s oil-producing states may not allow him. U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambitious plan to revitalize the American oil sector and slash prices, a key promise of his reelection campaign, may be …
Read More »COP29 and Iran: Overcoming Sanctions, Fossil Fuel Dependence, and Harnessing China’s Role in the Clean Energy Transition
Iran is facing serious environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change, which threaten its long-term sustainability. Rising temperatures, acute water shortages, and increasing frequency of natural disasters such as droughts and floods are placing mounting pressure on the nation’s ecosystems and agriculture. Iran’s heavy reliance on gas and oil, combined with …
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