Japan's incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested Dec. 21 that he might abandon the current government's policy of not allowing power companies to build new nuclear reactors, Kyodo reported.

China National Petroleum Corp. has emerged as the frontrunner to take over Iraq's West Qurna-1 oil field from ExxonMobil, Iraqi and Chinese sources said Dec. 21, Reuters reported.

Oil shipments from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region have fallen to around 5,000 barrels per day, down from roughly 30,000 barrels per day at the beginning of the week, two officials from Iraq's state-run North Oil Company said Dec. 20, Reuters reported.

National Iranian Gas Company head Javad Owji arrived in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Dec. 17 for meetings with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimukhammedov and Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow, Fars News Agency reported.

Iran is losing half of its oil revenues due to international sanctions targeting the Iranian nuclear program, Iranian Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said Dec. 17 on state television, AFP reported.

Groups of masked gunmen attacked an oil well and caused a powerful explosion in Yemen's Hadramout province Dec. 14, a local government official said, Xinhua reported.