Yemen. sales of hybrid SUVs and other fuel efficient vehicles will prove interesting to watch this year, especially if fuel prices remain relatively low. Expert predictions about where oil and gas prices are headed vary widely. Some expect both to remain steady due to global economic conditions while others point to the return of $3/gallon gas (in the states) fueled mainly by an increase in foreign demand. MORE

Attack on pipeline in Yemen. As the price per barrel goes beyond $97, one story in the NY Times reports : •Bombing in Afghanistan kills 64. Domestic oil inventory to fall. Severe weather forecast for North Sea. Oil platforms evacuated. Dollar weak. Severe weather shuts Mexican ports, disrupts oil supply to US. MORE

He said that without solutions to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, an agreement is unlikely. by Rakesh Upadhyay for Oilprice.com. The next OPEC meeting on the 2nd of June will act as little more than a forum for continued altercations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. MORE

It is located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, and connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. With Iran’s current threat to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to sanctions as a backdrop, the US Energy Information Agency issued an update to its “World Oil Transit Chokepoint” brief ( earlier post ), noting that “ Hormuz is the world’s most important oil chokepoint due to its daily oil flow of almost 17 million barrels in 2011, up from between 15.5-16.0 MORE

Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, the United States, and Yemen. The global geothermal industry surpassed 12,000 MW of geothermal power operational, with about 600 MW of new geothermal power coming online globally, according to a year-end update by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). New geothermal power came on line in Kenya, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Turkey, and Mexico, as well as Oregon, Nevada and Utah in the United States. MORE

The swarm demo announcement comes near the anniversary of the terrorist attack on USS Cole (DDG-67) off the coast of Yemen. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is developing an autonomous offensive swarming capability for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) not only to protect Navy ships, but also, for the first time, to attack hostile vessels. MORE

Thanks to its generous public spending and a costly war against Yemen, one of the major worries for Saudi Arabia is that it is burning through its foreign reserves at an alarming pace. by Gaurav Agnihotri of Oilprice.com. Saudi Arabia has long enjoyed the status of being the top crude oil exporter in the world. With record production of 10.564 million barrels per day in June 2015, Saudi Arabia has been one of the major driving forces behind the current oil price slump. MORE

The group has interests in LNG projects in Indonesia, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Angola, and Russia. Location of the Ichthys project. Source: INPEX. Click to enlarge. Japan-based INPEX Corporation and its joint venture partner Total have made the final investment decision (FID) for the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia, representing an investment of US$34 billion dollars. MORE

Last Friday, President Trump signed an executive order suspending “immigrant and nonimmigrant entry” into the US from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen for 90 days, with the potential for adding further countries of origin to the list of proscribed. MORE

They are fighting a multi-front war with Iran directly (in Yemen) and indirectly (in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq). by Dalan McEndree for Oilprice.com. In the last quarter of 2014, in the face of possible oversupply, Saudi Arabia abandoned its traditional role as the global oil market’s swing producer and therefore it role as unofficial guarantor of existing ($100+ per barrel) prices. MORE