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QatarEnergy has signed a series of long-term agreements with European partners on the North Field expansion projects in recent weeks. Separately, QatarEnergy's agents were also in London agreeing LNG deliveries with brokers. 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld the conviction of France's TotalEnergies and Switzerland-based Vitol for bribing Iraqi officials during the United Nations-run Oil-for-Food (OfF) programme between October 2000 and March 2003.

Iran has discovered its largest-ever dry gas field at Lamerd, in the south of Shiraz province, petroleum minister Javad Owji announced during a visit to provincial capital Fars. The discovery is estimated to contain reserves of 623bcm of natural gas.

Emirati Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Juma Al-Maktoum has been involved in a number of business deals around Africa. During the Covid pandemic, he was connected to efforts to sell Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in several countries in Africa and Asia. 

A Dubai-based company backed by a well-connected but relatively low-profile member of Dubai's ruling Al-Maktoum family has been signing deals across Africa to generate carbon credits – while generating some controversy in the process.

Turkish attacks: Türkiye (Turkey) launched a sustained aerial bombardment of Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in early October, following a suicide bombing at the Ministry of Interior building in Ankara on the opening day of the month, a few hours ahead of the reopening of the Turkish parliament after a three-month summer recess.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani laid the foundation stone of the North Field Expansion Project in Ras Laffan early October. The project will raise Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity from 77m t/yr to 126m t/yr by 2026. 

A plan by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and British major BP to jointly buy a 50% stake in Israel's NewMed Energy, the largest shareholder in the offshore Leviathan gas field, may yet collapse after a panel set up by NewMed to review their $2bn offer recommended a higher price tag.

Italian major Eni has withdrawn from Block 1, relinquishing a licence it gained in 2019 and casting fresh doubt on Bahrain's ability to exploit its offshore resources. 

QatarEnergy has been awarded the East Port Said exploration block as part of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company's 2022 international bid round. It has also applied for offshore oil and gas blocks 8 and 10 in Lebanon, in a consortium with Eni and TotalEnergies.

Two Saudi state-owned bodies, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), launched a new electric vehicle (EV) charging company on 8 October, in which ownership is split 75/25 in the PIF’s favour.

Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it would extend its 1m b/d production cut until the end of the year – backed by Opec+ partner Russia’s commitment to extend its 300,000 b/d export cut – moved the price of marker Brent crude back above $90/bbl for the first time since November 2022.

Amini death anniversary: Iran marked the first anniversary of the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on 16 September. Her death  had sparked widespread protests across the Islamic republic, which were eventually suppressed by the authorities. In the run-up, the authorities had launched a concerted effort to dissuade anyone from marking the anniversary, although some protests still went ahead.

Saudi Aramco said it was buying a minority stake in liquefied natural gas (LNG) company MidOcean Energy for $500m, with an option to buy more shares in the future. It is the Saudi giant’s first international LNG investment. 

Oman offers significant oil storage facilities at sites including Sohar and Ras Markaz, with the latter having the advantage of being outside the Strait of Hormuz.