Petroleum politics

The United States will overtake Russia as the world's biggest oil producer by 2019 at the latest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday, as the country's shale oil boom continues to upend global markets, Reuters reported. 

The rise in global oil production, led by the United States, is likely to outpace growth in demand this year, the International Energy Agency said on Feb. 13.

OPEC member Kuwait plans to spend more than half a trillion dollars by 2040 to boost its oil and gas output and refining capacity, a top executive said on Jan. 31.

Crude oil exports by Iraq state-oil marketer SOMO ran at an average rate of 3.5 million barrels per day in January, an Iraqi oil official have said.

Oil hit $71 a barrel on Jan. 25 for the first time since 2014, supported by OPEC-led supply curbs, a record-breaking run of declines in U.S. crude inventories and a weaker U.S. dollar.

Oil rose further above $68 a barrel on Jan. 4 to the highest since May 2015, supported by unrest in Iran raising concern about risks to supplies, cold weather in the United States boosting demand and OPEC-led output cuts.

Turkey should benefit as much as possible from a more diversified global natural gas market, as the United States, Canada and Australia have become major players in liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Saudi Energy Minister Khaled al-Faleh has said that oil producing nations could start discussing in June when to raise output, though OPEC is expected to maintain curbs until it clears a global glut.

Iraq on Nov. 27 invited foreign companies to bid for contracts to explore and develop oil and natural gas reserves in nine new blocks as the OPEC nation seeks to boost its output capacity.

As Venezuela's dilapidated energy sector struggles to pump enough crude oil to meet the country's OPEC output target, rival producers within the exporters group have started to plug the gap, OPEC and industry sources said