President Donald Trump signed an executive order to lift restrictions placed on offshore oil drilling by the previous administration, opening vast areas to exploitation.
Is Trump's breach with Putin real, or is all the sudden sabre-rattling part of an elaborate charade to throw Congress off the scent of ongoing Trump-Putin collusion?
Amid growing crisis in Venezuela, it emerges that the country's state oil company, heavily indebted to Russian giant Rosneft, made a big donation to Trump's inauguration festivities.
As Burma's government tries to lure hold-out ethnic rebel armies to the negotiating table, Chinese-backed oil and hydro projects emerge as a last obstacle to peace.
The Benghazi Defense Brigades seized Libya's key oil ports from warlord Khalifa Haftar, and urged the Tripoli-based "official" government to take control of the country's "oil crescent."
The Central Bank of Iran formally dropped its use of the US dollar as Trump slapped new sanctions on the Islamic Republic in response to its latest missile test.
The International Court of Justice ruled that it has the authority to adjudicate a dispute between Kenya and Somalia over an oil-rich stretch of the Indian Ocean.
Iran's government and companies close to the elite Revolutionary Guards have signed major economic contracts with Syria, gaining control of large areas of the country.
Several states across Mexico have been shaken by days of angry protests in response to a jump in the price of gasoline sparked by a new deregulation policy.
Ahwazi Arab militants claimed responsibility for two pipeline blasts in Iran's Khuzestan province, amid growing unrest over the ecological impacts of oil exploitation.
With Cossacks joining the Klan in celebrating Trump's victory, stateside activists are demanding a recount in swing states, citing fears the vote was hacked by Russian agents.
The Emir of Kuwait issued a decree to dissolve the country's parliament after weeks of deadlock over austerity measures imposed due to depressed global oil prices.
