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Oil Drilling and Energy Policy in Focus

In a victory speech following the close of the Iowa Caucuses last night, the first electoral event of the U.S. Republican Party’s 2024 primary race, former President Donald Trump’s first order of business was a promise to “drill, baby, drill — right away” if re-elected. The priority given to concerns regarding the U.S.’s energy output by the Republican frontrunner appeals to Americans’ frustration with relatively elevated oil prices and an expectation that they will rebound again in the near future.

Occidental’s CEO Sees Oil Supply Crunch from 2025

The ratio of discovered resources versus demand has dropped in recent decades and is now at around 25%.
Oxy CEO Hollub: “2025 and beyond is when the world is going to be short of oil.”.
Oil industry executives have been warning that new resources, new investments, and new supply will be needed just to maintain the current supply levels as older fields mature.

China Awarded Major Contract By Iraq For Supergiant Oil And Gas Field 

PetroChina’s contract to develop the Nahr bin Umar gas field follows the takeover by PetroChina of ExxonMobil’s operator role in the giant West Qurna 1 field.
For China, Iraq’s gas sector is not just potentially massive but is also highly connected to its equally potentially huge oil sector.
Around 70 percent of Iraq’s gas reserves are ‘associated’ with oil fields, and the majority of these fields are located in the southeast of Iraq.

What’s At Stake for China As Houthis Attack the Red Sea

Japanese shipping operator Nippon Yusen has become the latest among dozens of shipping companies to suspend sailings through the Red Sea.
Beijing has so far remained tight-lipped about the raging war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip despite China being Israel’s second-largest trading partner.
Beijing has called for an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea.