International Energy Agency

As the global economy has recently entered another crazy era with the plunging oil prices down to $60 per barrel, the Turkish economy is again in the middle of opposing trends; old and new “norms.”

Turkey is about to make new deals with new companies, which will be of great importance to Iraqi oil, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said at the launch meeting of the World Energy Outlook 2014 report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) yesterday, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

I was not surprised at all when reading the news leaked from the recent Brisbane meeting of the G20 Summit that the world’s top political leaders were seeking to lay the foundations for a new global energy body.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a huge terrorist organization making $1 million day by smuggling oil via Turkey and Iraq, warned a former U.S. envoy on energy.

Turkey’s dependence on Russian gas and oil has turned into another factor in the Middle East. As the price of oil fell into historic lows, Moscow is suffering financially and Turkey can turn its “dependent customer” role into a bargaining chip.

Unfortunately, the most recent figures I could find on the International Energy Agency (IEA) website belong to 2008 and according to them, Turkey in that year consumed energy that corresponds to a total of 99 million tons of oil.

The world will see much weaker oil demand growth in 2015 than forecast previously, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, adding that oil prices may drop further.

Fighting in Iraq threatens Baghdad’s oil exports less than structural bottlenecks, but an Islamic offensive near the north oil hub of Kirkuk is “worrisome,” the IEA has said.

Oil production from Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) remains unaffected despite an incursion by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants along the autonomous region's border, its Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement on August 9. 

The International Energy Agency cut its forecast for 2014 oil demand to 92.7 million barrels a day due to weaker than expected global economic growth.