As we have now entered the International Polar Year (see also page 72), we should expect a strong focus on the development of fossil fuels in northern latitudes for the years to come.

We live in troubling times. After the hope of the 2010 ‘Arab Spring’ in Tunisia, we have witnessed the toppling of Ghaddafi in Libya, the overthrow of two governments in Egypt, full scale civil war in Syria and Iraq looks increasingly unstable as fundamentalist fighters of IS spread their hold on the oil-rich regions of northern Iraq and Kurdistan. And Gaza and Israel continue their uneven trade in missiles. Despite this, the search for hydrocarbons goes on. Worries about energy security and conflict always bring gains and losses to someone.