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The latest signs of such a realignment have come from the UAE’s awarding of contracts for the massive expansion of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) capabilities, centred on the Ruwais LNG Project. Once fully operational, the Ruwais LNG plant will more than double the current LNG production capacity of the UAE’s ADNOC Gas to over 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Last week saw the UAE energy giant award US$2.1 billion in contracts to bolster its LNG supply infrastructure with the largest (valued at US$1.24 billion) going to a consortium consisting of the Egyptian firms, Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) and Petrojet.

The U.S. last week stepped into the long-running embargo by the Baghdad-based Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) of independent oil exports from Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan (KRI) centred in Erbil. These flows into Turkey were stopped on 25 March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay the FGI US$1.5 billion in damages for these allegedly unauthorised oil exports. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told local Iraqi news outlets that Washington has encouraged the historically pro-West Erbil and more pro-China Baghdad to reach a sustainable agreement on budgetary issues that would facilitate sustained oil production in the Kurdistan Region.

Although the U.S. dropped four rigs week on week, Canada added 13 during the same period, taking the total North America rig count up to 809, comprising 580 rigs from the U.S. and 229 rigs from Canada, the count outlined.

The biggest Indian state refiners have asked one Middle Eastern exporter to offer alternative price quotes for its crude as India is scrambling for the cheapest possible supply amid soaring oil and shipping prices after the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade.

West Texas Intermediate advanced almost 1% to settle above $74 a barrel, buoyed by frigid weather in the US that’s boosting demand for heating fuel and increasing the risk of freeze-offs in production areas. And while crude fell for the first time in six sessions on Monday after failing to breach the $75 psychological level, some internal market gauges have strengthened in recent days.

Oil markets have started the year with a renewed sense of optimism, driven by stock draws in the U.S. and China’s attempts to stimulate its economy.