Message From Saied Rafeiefar, Secretary General of Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union (OPEX) and Secretary of Policymaking Council

IBIA met with several large globally operating shipping and bunkering companies during a visit to Copenhagen in mid-January, who were all reporting a surprisingly smooth transition to the 0.50% sulphur limit for marine fuels which came into force on 1 January, 2020.

A discussion about oil-dependent economies often calls to mind an image of some anonymous Middle Eastern country almost entirely dependent on its oil exports to generate revenues. But there is one Middle Eastern country that plans to celebrate the last barrel of oil that it will one day export.

OPEC members are discussing a potential extension of the oil production cuts through the end of 2020, an OPEC source told Russian news agency TASS

Here's what you need to know about the global economy

Oil prices were down early on Friday for a fourth consecutive session, as fears of the deadly Chinese virus spreading and concerns about oil demand trumped supply outages and set prices on course for a 5-percent weekly loss.

Russian gas supplies shipped to Europe via Ukraine plummeted in the first two days of 2020, lifting hub prices and prompting central European countries to ramp up storage withdrawals and off-takes from Norway to compensate for the sharp decrease.

2020 looks set to be a bullish year for crude with several key factors pushing the price higher across the globe.The IMO 2020 regulations coming into effect and the US-China trade deal reaching a phase one agreement are some of the most pressing.

There’s nothing like wild volatility to destroy the integrity of those high-end bankers and analysts who are brave enough to make oil price predictions year in and year out. But the forecasting nightmare doesn’t stop them, even at the worst of times. In the final month of last year, banks and analysts were brave enough to divulge their predictions for 2019.

With global gas supplies growing faster than demand and forecasters warning of a deepening glut, it was only a matter of time before analysts began talking about a gas version of OPEC with the power to control international prices. But is an OGEC even possible?