By Benyamin Poghosyan, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

The recent US – Iran escalation is the hot topic for the Middle East pundits. Many policy briefs have already been published discussing the motives behind the US and Iran actions, the implications of these developments on the US Presidential campaign and Iranian Parliamentary elections. Many experts are seeking to assess the future of the US – Iran relations and the Iran’s influence in the region. Meanwhile, US – Iran tensions which fell short of a full blown war will have an impact also on Russia – Iran relations and in particular on their uneasy partnership in Syria. READ MORE

• January 17, 2020

OPEC expects lower demand for its crude oil in 2020 even as global demand rises, it said on Wednesday, as rival producers grab market share and the United States looks set for another output record.

• January 15, 2020

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow has been urging Gulf countries to consider a common security mechanism for the region and it was time the world got rid of unilateral measures such as sanctions.

• January 15, 2020

Belarus introduced a tax on Friday on oil transportation and transit across its territory, setting it at 50% of profits, a statement from the president’s office said.

• January 10, 2020

Belarus’ state oil company Belorusneft has suspended supplies of its own oil to Germany this month as Minsk needs to compensate for shortages of Russia-sourced oil amid a contract dispute with Moscow, four industry sources told Reuters on Friday.

• January 10, 2020

The presidents of Turkey and Russia on Wednesday formally launched the TurkStream pipeline which will carry Russian natural gas to southern Europe through Turkey, part of Moscow’s efforts to reduce shipments via Ukraine.

• January 8, 2020

Russia’s Russneft, co-owned by trader Glencore, is the only Russian supplier delivering oil to Belarus after the start of the new year, allowing the neighbor’s refiners to continue processing modest volumes of crude, three industry sources told Reuters.

• January 8, 2020

Russia has halted oil supplies to refineries in Belarus, the Belarusian state energy firm said on Friday, amid a new contract dispute that is also threatening large Russian oil deliveries to Western Europe crossing the country.

• January 8, 2020