News
Construction of a key cog in the Middle Corridor trade network known as TRIPP should begin during the second half of 2026, according to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. TRIPP, or the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, is a central feature of a provisional peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan signed in Washington in August. The corridor would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave across Armenian territory. In his most expansive comments to date concerning a construction timeline, Pashinyan told MPs that…
Well, someone important finally said it. Craig Albert, head of construction firm Bechtel, credited by the Financial Times for “rescuing” the Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia (we think “finishing“ it would be a better description), told that august paper that if the government wanted to get Donald Trump’s nuclear construction expansion going, it should be willing to pick up part of the costs. That is, subsidize the seemingly inevitable cost overruns? All the stories that followed talked about encouraging the “early…
On 6 November, U.S. president Donald Trump hosted the C5 + 1, the diplomatic platform that brings together the U.S. and the five Central Asia republics, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Trump hosted the leaders at the White House, the first time he met any of them except for Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev who he met at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in September 2025, and at the White House in May 2018. (Then-president Joe Biden met the Central Asian leaders at the UNGA session in…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev are meeting in Moscow this week to discuss gas cooperation and the impact of U.S. sanctions on Russian oil majors with operations in Kazakhstan. The talks come as the Kremlin faces tighter restrictions on Lukoil and Rosneft, both sanctioned last month by the Trump administration. Lukoil holds stakes in Kazakhstan’s Tengiz and Karachaganak projects, which are operated by Western majors and remain dependent on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) for exports. The CPC—controlled…
Oil prices gained on Tuesday as fresh U.S. sanctions on Russian oil disrupted exports. OPEC+ Plays the Waiting Game as Stock Builds Loom Large - This winter’s LNG markets are unlikely to replicate last year’s tightness as key Asian buyers have built up sufficient inventories ahead of Q4 2025 and have minimized spot purchases in October. - South Korea, having imported a whopping 5 million tonnes LNG in August, has been winding up imports in recent months amidst ample stocks, whilst Chinese LNG imports were 15% lower year-over-year in…
