North Africa

Ship-tracking data showed that four tankers changed their course in the Red Sea Wednesday. Two of them indicated the Suez Canal, after Yemen's Houthi militia warned ships to avoid sailing into Saudi Arabian ports. The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, declared a naval blocade on Saudi Arabia Monday. This opened a new front in the war between the United States and Iran. It also raised the risk of global energy and trade outside the Gulf. The threat of Houthi hostile action against Saudi Arabia has started to have a general effect on the tanker industry, according to a ship...

Four sources claim that a $30 billion project, which would provide Germany with renewable energy from Morocco via the longest intercontinental undersea power link in the world, is currently being delayed by disagreements about structure and guarantees. Sila Atlantik is a project that aims to link Morocco and Germany through two subsea cables capable of delivering up to 5% the annual German electricity demand. According to project developers, the cables would be 4,800 km long (2,892 meters) and fed by solar and wind power installations up to 15 gigawatts in Morocco. The total infrastructure costs around $30 billion. European countries...

Three sources with knowledge of the matter said that Egypt was in talks with Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP to buy 15-18 cargoes per month of liquefied gas for a minimum period three years. The talks take place as Egypt struggles to meet the rising demand for LNG and global LNG markets are tight due to the Iran conflict. This has led to a reduction in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and an increase in competition among buyers. Two sources confirmed that talks were ongoing with Shell, TotalEnergies and BP, as well as commodities traders Hartree Partners. A third source...

Three sources with knowledge of the matter said that Egypt has been in discussions?with energy giants such as Shell, TotalEnergies, and BP - to buy 15-18 cargoes per month of 'liquefied 'natural gas for at least three year. The talks take place as Egypt struggles to meet the rising demand for domestic LNG and global LNG markets are tight due to the Iran conflict. This has led to a reduction in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and increased competition between buyers to secure supplies. Two sources confirmed that talks were?ongoing' with Shell, TotalEnergies and BP, as well as commodities...

Portugal and Morocco said they would ask the European Commission to consider funding a long-promised power interconnector that connects the two countries. They will also explore private sector investment. The crippling power "blackout" in Spain and Portugal that occurred in April 2025 revealed the Iberian Peninsula’s limited electrical links with Europe. This helped revive plans for the Portugal-Morocco connection first studied in 2018. Iberia only has 3% of its total electricity capacity interconnected with neighbouring European countries. This is well below the EU's target of 15% for 2030. A link to?Morocco could strengthen the energy security of Portugal, which is...

According to a Moroccan-Nigerian statement, member states of the Economic Community of West African States signed an intergovernmental agreement in 'Freetown on Sunday backing the 'Nigeria - Morocco Atlantic gas pipeline. According to a joint?statement?by Morocco’s hydrocarbons & mining agency ONHYM & Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC, the pipeline will transport up to 30 billion cube metres (bcms) of natural gases a year through 13?West African nations to Morocco. The statement stated that 15 bcm of that capacity will be?available for Moroccan and European markets via an?existing pipe that links 'Morocco with Spain. The pipeline was agreed upon a decade...

Data from market sources and LSEG show that Russia's seaborne gasoil and diesel exports plummeted in June. They fell by 39% from the month before to 1.8 million metric tonnes and 46% from 3.35 mtonnes in the same month a year ago, as waves of drone strikes forced unplanned shut downs at key refineries. According to traders' calculations and estimates, the number of ultra-low-sulphur Diesel shipments from Primorsk - Russia's largest outlet for diesel exports - has fallen by over half since May. The Russian authorities haven't made a definite decision yet about banning diesel exports. However, traders believe that...

Data showed that after an interim agreement to end the Iran War, the Fertiliser shipments through the Strait of Hormuz began to increase. Analysts say, however, it will be some time before they return to their pre-conflict level and bring relief to the market. Before the U.S. launched their war with Israel on February 28, a third or more of the global urea trade -- the most commonly used fertiliser in the world -- and almost half of the seaborne sulphur -- a critical input -- typically passed through the strait. But the near-closure of the crucial waterway during most...

Basim Mohammed, Iraq's new Oil Minister, told a?press?conference on Saturday that the country exported 10 million barrels?of?oil via the Strait?of Hormuz?in?April. This is down?from 93 million barrels per month before the Iran War. Oil prices have risen sharply since the Iran war closed the 'Strait of Hormuz. Iraqi crude oil exports via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline resumed in march, after Baghdad agreed to restart the flow. Mohammed said: "We currently export 200,000 barrels via Ceyhan, but we plan to increase that to 500,000 barrels". Iraq 'plans to engage OPEC in order to boost its production - and export capacity. 'The minister...

Nigeria's foreign ministry announced that Nigeria and Morocco are expected to sign an Intergovernmental Agreement in the?fourth quarter of 2026, to progress a major Atlantic coast gas pipeline project. The agreement to be signed between the Nigerian president Bola Tinubu, and the Moroccan King Mohammed VI follows preliminary studies of the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline). In a Tuesday statement, the Ministry said that this development was discussed during a phone call between Nigerian Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, and her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Borita on Friday. Amina Benkhadra of the?Morocco’s hydrocarbons & mining...

Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Energy, said that Turkey was looking to extend the 'liquefied gas (LNG), agreement with Algeria before it expires in September 2027. He added that some of the LNG could be transported into southeastern Europe. The first gas supply contract was signed in 1988 by the Turkish state energy company Botas with Algerian state oil & gas company Sonatrach. It has been repeatedly extended since then. "We hope to conclude a new agreement this year." "Our current agreement expires September 2027. We aim to renew it," Bayraktar said after the meeting between the Turkish and Algerian leaders...

Iraq began work on a 'oil pipeline connecting Basra and Haditha with a capacity of 2.5m barrels a day, according to the'state news agency, citing the Oil Ministry, in an effort to expand the export routes for the OPEC producer. The ministry stated that the project has received a budget of $1.5 billion, but its speed will be determined by the amount of additional funding. A spokesperson for the ministry said that the 700-kilometre pipeline (435-miles) will be used to transport crude oil via multiple routes including Syria's Baniyas and Turkey's Ceyhan, as well as Jordan's Aqaba. It will also...

The head of Morocco's hydrocarbons & mining agency (ONHYM), said that an intergovernmental agreement on a $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco pipeline would be signed in this year. Amina Benjamin, an ONHYM representative, told me by email that the project, known as the "African Atlantic Gas Pipeline", was agreed upon a decade earlier. It would run 6,900 km along a hybrid route, offshore and onshore, with a capacity of up to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm). This included 15 bcm for Morocco, to support exports to Europe. The feasibility study of the pipeline has been completed, as has the front-end engineering design...