Unending conflict
The course of war in Syria will go a long way to determining the wider Mena region’s fate in 2016
Five years on from the uprising in the southwestern town of Deraa that sparked the twenty-first century’s most brutal civil conflict, the Syrian crisis remains stubbornly immune to resolution. The human and financial cost of the conflict continue to spiral ever higher. The emergence of IS, parasitically gnawing on the carcass of the dishevelled Syrian state, caused a collective nervous breakdown across the region. Terrorism born in Syria has now extended its deadly reach to European capitals. Russia’s belated entry to the Syrian theatre has ratcheted up the tension level a notch higher, providing a lifeline for the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad while challenging the Gulf-
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6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
6 March 2026
After Europe’s rapid buildout of floating LNG import capacity, Exmar CEO Carl-Antoine Saverys says future growth in floating gas infrastructure will increasingly be driven by developing markets as lower prices, rising energy demand and the need to replace coal unlock new opportunities for unconventional and tailor-made solutions
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
