Energy crisis

Oil rose further above $68 a barrel on Jan. 4 to the highest since May 2015, supported by unrest in Iran raising concern about risks to supplies, cold weather in the United States boosting demand and OPEC-led output cuts.

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister says those waiting to see if OPEC will extend production cuts will have to wait until the cartel’s upcoming Vienna meeting.

Greece's National Electricity Company warns of the possibility of the country falling into an energy crisis, as in December last year, when large consumption has triggered a sharp shortage of electricity, Greek electronic publications reported.

Iraq on Nov. 27 invited foreign companies to bid for contracts to explore and develop oil and natural gas reserves in nine new blocks as the OPEC nation seeks to boost its output capacity.

Oil markets were roiled on Monday after Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc along the U.S. Gulf coast over the weekend, knocking out numerous refineries and some crude production, Reuters reported.

Gasoline prices hit two-year highs as massive floods caused by the storm forced refineries across the U.S. Gulf Coast to shut down.

OPEC forecast higher demand for its oil in 2018 due to rising global consumption and slower supply growth from rivals, although another jump in the group's output suggested the market will remain in surplus despite efforts to rein in production.

OPEC leader Saudi Arabia said on July 24 the group would quickly address weak compliance with output cuts by some OPEC states and would monitor rising production from Nigeria and Libya, which have been exempted from the curbs.

Turkey's crude steel production rose 11.5 percent on an annual basis in the first five months of 2017, reaching 15.1 million tons, the Turkish Steel Producers' Association (TCUD) said on July 4.      

Turkey was listed as the world's eighth largest crude steel producer, contributing to about 2.2 percent of global crude steel output, according to TCUD data.         

OPEC decided on May 25 to extend cuts in oil output by nine months to March 2018, OPEC delegates said, as the producer group battles a global glut of crude after seeing prices halve and revenues drop sharply in the past three years.

Crude steel production in Turkey increased sharply in the first quarter of 2017, reaching 8.8 million tons, according to World Steel Association data released on May 8.        

The output increased by 14.1 percent year-on-year during the first three months of 2017.