US foreign policy has dominated headlines in the first weeks of the new year, with developments in Venezuela forcing the region into the global limelight. The abundant reserves located in the country have potential ramifications for the wider oil and gas industry.
With the first sale of this heavy crude between Caracas and Washington announced in mid-January,1 the importance of interdependency across the oil and gas industry has never been more pertinent. As oil flows from Venezuela to its likely destination of the US Gulf Coast refiners,2 it brings with it many questions for geopolitical dynamics over the coming months.
Whilst tensions between the Americas shape current industry discourse, other developments across the globe arise. The IEEFA has asserted that the EU risks new energy dependency on LNG imports from the US, a potentially worrying trend amid plans for more diversified energy sources.3 Following attempts to curtail gas imports from Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, these prohibitive measures have triggered imports from Moscow to fall by 75% between 2021 and 2025. How smoothly oil and gas travels across the globe is vital to the downstream sector, as international troubles inherently affect the refining, processing, and distribution of such goods.
This theme of interdependency is further highlighted in our opening report to this month’s issue by Nancy Yamaguchi, as she explores oil markets across the major territories and scattered island nations out in the Southwest Pacific. The reliability of fuel supply has long been a question for this corner of the world, with disruptions affecting such small markets sharply. Renewable energy sources have been posited as a potentially strong solution for these territories but traditional energy sources still firmly hold sway, as fuel shortages across Tonga in late 2025 prompted concerns for rationing practices and queues at petrol stations.4
This diverse discussion is expanded upon throughout the remaining pages of this issue, with articles covering various industrial facilities and their processes. From pump servicing solutions for a lubricants centre in Canada (p. 52), integrity protection of heat exchangers at a petrochemical facility in Mexico (p. 47), sensor-based monitoring systems for a large scale refining complex in Europe (p. 35), the interconnected importance of all of these facilities is illustrated in this issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering.
From Australasia to North America, and biogas to LNG, this issue reflects the breadth of the global downstream sector. While 2026 is only just beginning, it is already proving to be a catalytic one, with turbulent times posing even greater questions of the flexibility and endurance of the industry.
