The US government has imposed sanctions on two more diamond companies, including Russia’s largest producer, Kristall. The cutting and polishing unit, which Alrosa acquired for $29 million in 2019, processes more than 200,000 carats of rough diamonds annually. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed Kristall on the Specially […]
The Chinese government reacted angrily over the weekend to the news that 39 companies in China and Hong Kong had been placed on a list of companies that are subject to special export controls when doing business with US companies. The so-called Entity List, maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and […]
Iran is launching a $70 billion investment program to halt the dramatic decline in production at its key South Pars gas field. Failure to do so will result in 40 percent of the country’s oil production from the Persian Gulf Star gas condensate refinery being lost and petrochemical costs increasing by as much as $12 […]
