Middle East

According to data and shipping sources, Iran has sent small amounts of crude oil to destinations like Bangladesh and Oman. This is the latest indication that Tehran wants to maintain its output near to its highest level in five years. Iran's main revenue source is oil sales. The country has been trying to find ways to avoid U.S. sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 on Tehran's nuclear program. Iran is not subject to the output quotas of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It is aiming at maximising production and exports. According to the semiofficial Mehr News...

Yemen's Iranaligned Houthi motion stated on Sunday that it targeted the MV Groton vessel in the Gulf of Aden, claiming its first attack on shipping lanes because Israel performed a vindictive airstrike in Hodeidah port on July 20. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree stated in a televised declaration that the ship was attacked by ballistic rockets. British maritime company UKMTO and British security firm Ambrey stated on Saturday that the vessel was targeted by a. rocket 125 nautical miles east of Yemen's port of Aden. Both said the ship did not sustain damage and that no water. entry or oil...

Team on board an oil tanker accused of undermining undersea power and communications cable televisions in the Baltic Sea were poised to cut other cables and pipelines when Finnish authorities boarded the vessel last month, the head of the Finnish examination stated. Baltic Sea countries are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline blackouts because Russia got into Ukraine in 2022. Leaders of the NATO member states around the Baltic Sea are set to meet in Helsinki on Tuesday to go over the alliance's response to the threat. On Dec. 26, Finnish authorities...

Recognizing suspect ships and limiting their activities is the most effective method to protect important undersea facilities, European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen informed Reuters on Monday. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline blackouts in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The NATO military alliance, of which Finland is now a. member, has stated it will improve its presence in the region. Virkkunen, who will participate in a Baltic Sea NATO members. conference in Helsinki on Tuesday, is the EU Commission's brand-new. executive vice-president...

Russia said on Monday it had actually downed 9 Ukrainian drones that attempted to assault part of the infrastructure of the TurkStream gas pipeline, through which Russian gas streams to Turkey and Europe. The Russian defence ministry stated the attack was intended against a compressor station in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, however the center was working normally and there were no casualties. Reuters might not individually confirm the occurrence, and there was no instant comment from Ukraine. TurkStream and Blue Stream, which run under the Black Sea to Turkey, are Russia's last paths for supplying pipeline gas to...

Russian gas materials sent via Ukraine to Europe for more than 40 years are set up to end on January 1 after Ukraine's Naftogaz declined to restore its latest fiveyear transit deal with Russia's Gazprom. In spite of the war between the two nations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Dec 19 said Kyiv may consider allowing the transit of Russian gas if payments to Moscow were kept till the combating ends. Russian President Vladimir Putin a week later on said there was no time left this year to sign a brand-new offer. Here is what we know about options for...

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, said that there is no time to sign another Ukrainian gas transit agreement this year. He blamed Ukraine for not extending the agreement which brings gas to Slovakia and Czech Republic. Putin added that Kyiv had punished Europe with its decision to not renew the contract. The current gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which runs for five years, expires at the end of this year. In a briefing televised, Putin stated that "there is no contract" and that it was impossible to complete it within 3-4 days. Russian gas is only a small...

Russian President Vladimir Putin fulfilled Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in the Kremlin on Sunday, an uncommon visit by a European Union leader to Moscow as a. agreement allowing for Russian gas to transit through Ukraine. nears expiration. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had stated on Thursday. that Kyiv might think about continued transit of Russian gas, but. just on condition that Moscow did not receive payment up until. after the war - a condition it was unlikely to accept. Putin. said that day that it was clear there would be no new deal with. Kyiv to send out Russian gas...

Rates for flagship Russian Urals oil cargoes loading in January and early February for shipment to India held a little above the $60 per barrel Western cost cap, traders said and Reuters estimations showed. Softer shipping expenses on the primary export routes to Asia and steady rates in Indian ports offered assistance to Urals free-on-board (FOB) estimates, according to market sources. Under the cost cap, providers of Russian oil are just able to use Western services such as shipping and insurance if Russian crude trades listed below $60 per barrel. Urals oil freights filling at Primorsk on the Baltic Sea...

Rome's Jewish community revealed discouragement on Friday after two unions called an across the country strike to protest versus Italy's support for the genocidal Israeli federal government amongst other problems. Friday's strike by the USB and Cobas unions has primarily hit public transportation and is because of last 24 hours. Ours is a strike against the war economy and thus also against our federal government's support for the Israeli state, a. representative for the USB union told Reuters. Along with a need for greater wages and a shorter working. week, a lengthy strike manifesto published online singled out. Israel in...

Countless people got away the central Syrian city of Homs over night and into Friday early morning, a war display and homeowners said, as rebel forces looked for to press their lightning offensive against federal government forces further south. They have currently caught the crucial cities of Aleppo in the north and Hama in the center, dealing successive ravaging blows to President Bashar al-Assad, almost 14 years after demonstrations versus him appeared across Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war display, stated thousands of people had actually begun getting away on Thursday night towards Syria's western seaside...

Turkish Airlines has actually resumed flights from Istanbul to Beirut after a more than twomonth suspension prompted by dispute in the Middle East, Turkey's stateowned Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday. The airline company, Turkey's flag carrier, suspended flights to Beirut on Sept. 21 amidst the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group. The 2 sides concurred a. ceasefire recently, though both accuse the other of infractions. Anadolu said the airline prepared one flight daily in the. first stage, rising to two daily flights on Friday. It stated. there would then be 4 everyday flights from Dec. 11...

(This material was partly produced in Russia where the law restricts protection of Russian military operations in Ukraine.). Spot premiums for Russia's Far East ESPO Blend petroleum. deliveries to China rose to their highest given that the Ukraine war. broke out in 2022 on robust winter season need and as prices for. rival grades from Iran firmed, three trade sources said on. Tuesday. ESPO Blend cargoes loading in January traded at. premiums of about $1.30 to $1.50 per barrel against ICE Brent on. provided ex-ship (DES) China basis, the sources informed Reuters,. rising from premiums of $1 per barrel for...

Azerbaijan said it would just be able to receive 2.2 million metric tons of Kazakhstan's oil into its pipeline each year as it has a high sulphur content, curbing Astana's efforts to decrease reliance on a Russian crude transit path. Azerbaijan's state energy business SOCAR and Kazakhstan's. KazMunayGas signed a contract in March to slowly. increase the volume of Kazakh oil carried through the. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline system to Turkey's Ceyhan. port to 2.2 million lots a year, from 1.5 million currently. But Kazakhstan's energy minister, Almasadam Satkaliyev, this. week stated, without providing a time frame, that this could increase...