After over 40 years in the energy business, more than two decades of that with a parallel career in intelligence, I regularly witness the impact of global developments on the energy markets. So it’s hardly surprising that I often address geopolitical events here. Currently, situations in Latin America (Venezuela), Asia (the South China Sea crisis), and Africa (ongoing civil conflict in Libya and Nigeria) show how widespread the geopolitical impact is on energy prices and availability. Each one either is, or could easily, spike oil price volatility. But the instability in a different region remains the biggest single factor in how the two sectors interact… The Middle East. There, two significant events unfolded over the past week. Each is certain to have an impact on how crude oil trades in the near-term. The curious de-certification of JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more popularly known as the “Iranian […]