IOCs undeterred by Middle East conflict
Companies operating offshore assets in the region are unlikely to halt development plans for now, even as hostilities intensify
ExxonMobil, Italy’s Eni and a host of other IOCs operating offshore assets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are expected to soldier on through the widening hostiles that are engulfing Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and the Palestinian territories. So far, Chevron is the only IOC that has publicly revealed the suspension of work on an offshore MENA project. NewMed Energy, Chevron’s Israeli partner on development of the Leviathan gas field, said on 6 October that the US oil major had halted the expansion plans until April 2025. NewMed had already suffered a setback this year after BP and Emirati state-owned ADNOC suspended talks to buy 50% of the company, which is the biggest sh

Also in this section
11 July 2025
Equinor and its partners at Norway’s largest oilfield have pulled the trigger on a fresh $1.3b investment that will maintain high output for longer
11 July 2025
Reassessment of the country’s export-facing gas policy coincides with worsening domestic market backdrop
10 July 2025
Without sanctions relief, there is little reason to believe the latest potential attempt at exports from the Russian liquefaction project will be more successful than the one last summer
9 July 2025
Efforts to restructure and boost investment appear to be working, but doubts remain about the plan to almost double crude production by 2030