Author
Articles by Valentina Sokolov
Energy
Brent, Murban, OSPs: how Middle East oil is actually priced
Two-thirds of the world's physical crude trades against Brent; the Gulf's own benchmark, Murban, has traded in Abu Dhabi since 2021; and Saudi Aramco's monthly official selling prices set the region's real reference. A decoder.
Valentina Sokolov
Energy
MENA's power grids are linking up: from the GCC supergrid to Egypt-Saudi
The Gulf has run a shared 400-kilovolt supergrid since 2009, the Egypt-Saudi HVDC link is being commissioned around three gigawatts, and the Morocco-Spain cables carry power across the Mediterranean. How the region's wires connect.
Valentina Sokolov
Energy
OPEC+ adds 206,000 barrels per day for April as war disrupts supply
Meeting a day after the strikes on Iran opened, the eight core producers agreed a modest April increase and left the 1.65 million-barrel voluntary tranche mostly intact, balancing the war's supply loss against demand uncertainty.
Valentina Sokolov
Energy
Green hydrogen in MENA: the projects that reached final investment
NEOM's $8.4 billion ammonia plant took final investment decision in 2023, Oman's HYDROM auctions have allocated land to developers, Egypt signed a stack of framework deals. What is real, and what is still a signature away.
Valentina Sokolov