South Asia
Arunachal Pradesh: pawn in the new Great Game
A new diplomatic flare-up over contested Arunachal Pradesh immediately follows the US-India nuclear deal—seen by China as part of an encirclement strategy.
Tag: control of oil
Southern Cone
Argentina and Iran in oil-for-terror deal?
Did Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner strike a secret deal with Tehran to cover up Iran's role in a terror attack in exchange for guarantees of oil imports?
Palestine
Protests as Israel starts Golan Heights drilling
Hundreds of residents and environmentalists protested in the occupied Golan Heights as exploratory oil drilling was initiated by US-owned Afek Oil & Gas.
Planet Watch
Obama’s new offshore plan: don’t believe the hype
Obama's five-year plan for offshore drilling opens up the Southeast coast and grandfathers Arctic leases—but the industry is still griping because it would keep ANWR off limits.
Mexico
Mexico: more Pemex contract scandals exposed
As the Mexican government pushes to get more private contractors for its oil company, Reuters reveals that 8% of the current contracts have serious problems.
Africa
China sends combat troops to South Sudan
A 700-strong Chinese battalion is headed for South Sudan as part of a UN "peacekeeping" mission—but the deployment follows China's massive investment in the country's oil sector.
Planet Watch
Behind oil slump: shale boom or geopolitics?
Experts tell us the North American shale oil boom is responsible for low prices despite Middle East unrest. But the price slump serves Western aims of weakening Russia and Iran.
North Africa
Libya: air-strikes on Misrata as fighting spreads
Warplanes under the command of renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar fired missiles at Misrata's rebel-held airport, as Libya's oil exports remain effectively paralyzed by civil war.
The Amazon
Andes: repression ahead of Lima climate summit
The slaying of an indigenous leader who planned to travel from Ecuador to denounce a mining project before the Lima climate summit is the latest attack on regional ecological defenders.
Southern Cone
Argentina: new energy law seeks foreign capital
Argentina's center-left government passed a law to attract foreign investment in oil production, especially for hydrofracking in the Vaca Muerta shale deposits.
Mexico
Mexico: Supreme Court rejects energy referendum
The plans for opening Mexico's oil industry to private investment are popular in the US media, but are they popular with Mexicans? The courts have nixed a vote on the subject.
Mexico
Mexico: privatization scandals multiply
The Guerrero crisis is diverting international attention from plans for "economic reform," but is Mexico's business class really less corrupt than its politicians?