Middle East

The major Gulf stock markets were up slightly on Monday morning as investors waited for clarity about the next tariffs from U.S. president Donald Trump amid increased geopolitical tensions in the region. Trump's reciprocal duties, which are due to go into effect on April 2, will likely fuel inflation and stunt the economy. Trump said on Friday there could be some flexibility with tariffs. This would potentially reduce their impact. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index rose 0.1% thanks to a 1.3% increase in Saudi Arabian Mining Company. Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction, on the other hand, soared by...

Industry sources report that sales of marine fuel are slowing down at major refuelling stations around the world at the beginning of the year, as the shipping industry struggles with geopolitical uncertainty and the impact of rising tariffs on the global trade. Official data revealed that marine fuel sales in the first two month of 2025 at the world's No.1 and 3 refuelling hubs - Singapore and Fujairah, both in the United Arab Emirates - totaled 9.78 million metric tonnes (62.09 millions barrels), down 9% compared to the same period last year. Singapore's marine fuel sales in February hit a...

The Saudi index is on track to end its three-session winning streak. Palestinian health officials said that Israeli air strikes in Gaza have killed more than 300. This threatens to bring down a two-month truce as Israel vows to use force to release its remaining hostages. Donald Trump has also vowed that the U.S. will continue its assault against Yemen's Houthis until they stop their attacks on ships on the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell 0.3% as a result of a 1.4% drop in Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that traded ex-dividend. Dubai's main stock index dropped...

Data shows that a second tanker subject to U.S. sanction is moored at the Syrian port Banias, and could deliver a cargo of diesel from Russia. This comes as Moscow and Damascus are strengthening their ties. Moscow supported former Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad for more than 10 years of civil war, but now wants to improve its relations with Ahmed al-Sharaa as it wants to keep the two Russian military bases in Syria. According to LSEG, the Barbados flagged Proxima with approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of diesel left Primorsk back in February. It is currently drifting near Banias as it...

DP World, a Dubai owned ports and logistics firm, reported a 28 percent fall in its annual profit on Friday, partly because of higher finance costs. It also highlighted global trade uncertainty and geopolitical risk as clouding the outlook. DP World announced that the profit attributable by owners after accounting for items separately dropped from $820 to $591 millions a year ago. In a statement, Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem stated that "while the year started on a good note, global trade is still in flux because of ongoing geopolitical issues." DP World's revenue rose by 9.7%, to...

After completing an offer, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ announced on Tuesday that it now holds a 58% share in logistics company Aramex. ADQ now holds a majority stake in Aramex, thanks to a 35.31 % stake that was acquired through the tender offer by unit Q Logistics. Previously, Abu Dhabi Ports Group held a 22.69 % stake. Q Logistics announced in January that it was interested in acquiring up to 100% shares of Aramex, not already owned by Abu Dhabi Ports. Aramex offers logistics and transport services including domestic and international express deliveries via road, air, and...

Shaun Norris of South Africa carded a 67 on Saturday to take a 4-shot lead at 14-under-par after the third round of the DP World Tour’s Joburg Open. Norris, despite suffering from an ear infection on Friday, had a one shot lead going into the weekend. He extended his lead despite making a double bogey at the par four third hole, and another missed shot on the fifteenth. The second-place finishers are Adrien Saddier of France (70), Jacques Krusywijk of South Africa (68), and Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, a German. Both players have 10 strokes under par. Norris won the Alfred...

Sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that the Trump administration is considering stopping and inspecting Iranian oil tankers on the high seas as part of an international agreement aimed at preventing the spread of weapons. Trump has pledged to reinstate a "maximum-pressure" campaign in order to isolate Iran from global economics and reduce its oil exports down to zero. This is to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons. Trump imposed two new waves of sanctions on Iran in the first few weeks of his second term, focusing on companies and a shadow fleet of old oil tankers without...

Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings announced on Tuesday that a consortium, including BlackRock Inc., would purchase an 80% share in a unit which controls ports in Panama at a value of equity equal to $14.21 billion. The sale of 90% of the shares in Panama Ports Company (which owns and operates Balboa Port and Cristobal Port) comes at a time when U.S. president Donald Trump is putting pressure on China to stop its influence and control of the Panama Canal. CK Hutchison operates the ports of Balboa & Cristobal, at the Canal's Pacific & Atlantic entrances, for over two decades....

After making two holes-in one at the DP World Tour South African Open, held at the Durban Country Club in Durban on Friday, Englishman Dale Whitnell could toast his good luck with a few expensive round at the clubhouse. Whitnell, who had never achieved a hole in one in tournament play before, aced both the second and 12th holes in his second round. Both par threes. His rollercoaster 63 puts him at nine under par for the tournament. He is five shots behind South African Shaun Norris (64), the leader in the clubhouse. Whitnell became the second player on tour...

STG Engineering is a Russian firm that operates the Tartous port in Syria. The company said that they were continuing their work as normal and that their contract was not cancelled as some Middle East media had reported. Three Syrian businessmen, as well as media reports in January, suggested that the new Syrian ruling administration had canceled the contract signed by former President Bashar Al-Assad. He fled to Moscow after a lightning rebel attack in December. The semi-official Syrian paper Al-Watan quoted Riad Jourdy at the time as saying that port investment contract was annulled because the Russian company had...

After bad lighting cut short Thursday's opening day of the DP World Tour South African Open, Fredrik From, Sam Bairstow, and Darren Fichardt shared the lead with seven under par. Fichardt had yet to complete his round. The course was covered in huge puddles on Wednesday, and the start of first round was three hours delayed. This left a number of golfers with a lot of time to finish their rounds. From had two eagles on his 65. Both were par fives. Bairstow, on the other hand, managed eight birdies. His round was only marred by a missed shot on...

Hayan Abdel Ghani, Iraq's Oil Minister, has claimed that Iranian oil tanks seized by U.S. troops in the Gulf used forged Iraqi documentation. The Trump administration has re-instituted "maximum" pressure on Iran. This is a new policy that seeks a way to isolate Iran from the global economic system and to eliminate its oil revenue to slow down Tehran's nuclear weapons development. Abdel-Ghani, was asked whether he received any messages from the United States regarding the possibility of sanctions being imposed on the state oil marketing company SOMO for violating Iranian sanctions. The oil minister told state television that he...

According to LSEG, a government official and local television, two tankers that have been hit by U.S. Sanctions are expected to deliver Russian Arctic Oil to Syria for the very first time. This comes just days after Moscow delivered its first diesel to Syria in over a decade. According to pro-government Syria TV and a government source, one of the tankers Aquatica with 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil aboard is expected to unload at Baniyas soon. According to the television report and a government source, the vessel arrived on Friday, but it has not yet been unloaded. LSEG data...

BP and Apollo Global Management announced on Friday that they had agreed to sell a $1 billion stake in a company invested in the TANAP pipeline connecting Azerbaijan with Turkey. Murray Auchincloss, BP's CEO, is leading a $20 billion waste disposal programme that will run through 2027. BP wants to reduce its spending on renewables and increase expenditure on oil and natural gas. BP aims at reducing net debt from the current level of around $23 billion to between $14 and $18 billion. The TANAP pipe is part of a system that transports gas from the Shah Deniz field in...

According to data provided by pipeline company KazTransOil, the number of metric tons exported in February, up from January, was 97,300 (roughly 28,000 barrels a day). Kazakhstan relies heavily on Caspian Pipeline Consortium, one of the largest pipelines in the world that crosses Russia and reaches the Black Sea port Novorossiisk. The BTC pipeline is the main alternative route for the CPC. It originates from Azerbaijan, on the other side of the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan. To get Kazakh oil into Baku, either tanker shipments must be made across the Caspian Sea or a transcaspian pipeline needs to be built....

The summer driving season will increase global oil demand in the coming months, said Russia's top official for oil. He added that the OPEC+ producer's group decided to release more crude oil on the market because of this. Russia has reduced its oil output in the OPEC+ Group, which decided to increase its production from April this year, the first time since 2022. Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, said OPEC+ – which includes OPEC and its allies like Russia – was ready to take action if sluggish consumer demand and a surge in supply from producers like the...

Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had hit an oil refinery in the vicinity of Moscow, as well as a facility located in Russia's Oryol Region which is part of Druzhba Pipeline System exporting oil into Europe. Hungarian Foreign minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Tuesday that crude oils were no longer being shipped via the Druzhba pipeline system after an attack by a Ukrainian drone on a metering facility. "Explosions...were...recorded...in the area of? The Steel Horse linear production dispatch (Oryol Region, Russia) manages the technological processes for Druzhba Oil Pipeline," Kyiv General Staff stated in a press release. The facility...

U.S. Energy Sec. Chris Wright announced on Monday that he planned to work with Congress to cancel previously mandated sales of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to deal with low stockpiles. Congress mandated the sale of 100 million barrels from the reserve. This is the largest stockpile in the world for emergency crude oil. A 7 million barrel sale was set up for fiscal years 2026-2027 and subsequent sales until 2031. Wright said in an interview during the CERAWeek Conference that "anything with Congress is harder, and it takes time." Wright stated that it would take between five and...

Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that the leader of Yemen’s Houthis would resume his naval operations against Israel, if Israel didn’t lift its blockade of Gaza’s aid within four days. The Iran-aligned group launched more than 100 attacks against shipping in November 2023. They claimed to be in solidarity with Palestinians due to Israel's conflict with Hamas. However, the assaults stopped in January following a ceasefire in Gaza. Over the course of that time, it sank at least two ships, captured another, and killed four seafarers. This offensive disrupted international shipping and forced firms to take longer and more costly journeys...

LSEG data revealed that Russia sent a diesel cargo on a tanker to Syria under U.S. sanction, marking the first direct supply of this kind to the Middle Eastern nation in over a decade. It is not clear where the cargo will end up. The final destination of the cargo is unclear. The control of Russia over these bases is in danger after the abrupt fall of Bashar Al-Assad last December. Moscow said that it wanted to maintain its control over the bases. According to LSEG, on February 8, the Barbados flagged vessel Prosperity (formerly known as the Gabon flagged...

Five sources familiar with the matter said that a U.S. ambassador will attend the planned Baghdad meeting on Thursday to discuss the resume of Kurdish crude oil exports through Turkey's Ceyhan Pipeline. Washington is pushing for the restart. The Iraqi Oil Ministry is hosting talks to accelerate the resumption of oil exports out of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan Region. The talks were delayed until Thursday because of disagreements between oil companies and the oil minister over terms. According to one source, an Iraqi official from the oil ministry who was directly involved in the meeting, the U.S. diplomat based in Baghdad...

Treasury Department reported that the United States sanctioned seven top members of Yemen’s Houthi Movement, which is aligned with Iran. Treasury released a statement saying that the individuals had smuggled weapons and military equipment into areas controlled by Houthi in Yemen, and had also negotiated with Russia to buy weapons. Treasury also named Abdulwali Abdoh Hasan Al-Jabri and Al-Jabri General Trading and Investment Co. for recruiting Yemenis in Ukraine to fight on behalf of Russia and raising money to support Houthi Military Operations, it said. The U.S. Government is committed to holding Houthis accountable if they acquire weapons or weapons...

The U.S. State Department announced on Tuesday that it had implemented the designation of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi Movement as a “foreign terror organization” after U.S. president Donald Trump's request for this move earlier in the year. Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary for State, said that "the Houthis’ activities threaten the safety of American civilians, personnel, and regional partners in the Middle East as well as the stability of the global maritime trade." He added that "the United States will not tolerate any country who engages with terrorist groups like the Houthis under the pretense of legitimate international business." Trump reclassified the...