Transportation

On 'Friday, President Donald Trump proposed that the Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency created in the wake of 'the September 11, 2001 attacks, begin the process of privatizing the airport security operations. The White House budget proposes to cut the TSA budget of $52 million. Small airports would be required to enroll in a TSA-funded program that pays for private screeners. TSA employs?about 50 000 federal employees to handle screening in nearly all U.S. Airports. Budget documents stated that airports using the program had shown savings when compared with?federal screen operations. Major U.S. Airports have been experiencing massive disruptions...

The head of a group that represents nearly all major automakers called on Wednesday for the scrapping of the 18.4 cent per gallon U.S. tax?on gas and replacing it with a vehicle charge?to pay for road repairs. John Bozzella is the head of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors (GM), Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and other major auto companies. He said that a government proposal should be used to address the growing financial shortfall within the highway trust fund. This would involve imposing a fee on each vehicle based on its weight. Congress hasn't raised the federal gas...

Transportation Security Administration said absences among the nation’s 50,000 security agents fell'sharply' on Monday, as workers received their paychecks after six weeks of working without a paycheque. Major?airports which had experienced multi-hour lines reported that operations were largely back to normal. Homeland Security Department reported that the absence rate dropped to 8.6% from 12.4% on Friday. Atlanta had the highest number of absenteeism reported on Monday, with 29%. Other airports with high absence rates include Baltimore, New Orleans and John F. Kennedy in New York, Philadelphia, Houston's two airports, Baltimore, New Orleans and Houston. The TSA experienced a surge in...

The major U.S. airports which?suffered massive delays for weeks because 50,000 Transportation Security Administration security officers were not paid since mid-February have now returned to normal. On Monday, airports in Baltimore and Houston, as well as New Orleans, Dallas, New York, and New York City, which have all seen massive delays over the past few weeks, reported very short queues. In some cases, security lines were as long as four hours. This was the longest line in TSA history. The Homeland Security Department announced that workers would be paid by Monday, despite the fact that Congress has failed to end...

Sable Offshore announced on Monday that it had 'begun selling oil to Chevron from its Santa Ynez Pipeline System off the coast of California, after resuming crude transport earlier this month. In premarket trading, shares?were up by more than 3%. Since 2015, the pipeline system that runs along California's Gaviota coast has been closed. The spilled oil polluted miles of coastline and killed wildlife, damaging local fisheries. Sable's effort to restart the system is now the subject of a?long-running dispute between California regulators and the environmental groups who have filed lawsuits against the reopening. The restart is a result of...

Kuwait 'International Airport 'was targeted by multiple drone attacks Saturday, causing significant damage to the radar system, but resulting in no injuries, according to state news agency KUNA, citing Kuwait Civil Aviation Authority. Later, the spokesperson for the authority said that the attacks were perpetrated by Iran and its proxies as well as the armed groups it supports. Kuwait's fire department, meanwhile said a??fire? that broke out??? in fuel tanks at an airport on Wednesday after a previous drone assault had been extinguished AFTER 58 CONSECUTIVE HOURS, KUNA reported??on Saturday?. Tehran launched strikes on Israel, as well as on Gulf...

The veteran Republican U.S. legislator?Sam?Graves said Friday that he would not run for re-election in this year. He joins more than 50 incumbents who have left the chamber. Graves has been representing a Missouri congressional district since 2001. The Republican colleagues of President Donald Trump are trying to keep their narrow majority in the House and Senate during the midterm elections in November. According to a House count, 57 House members - 36 Republicans & 21 Democrats – have declared they won't run for reelection. Graves has been a leading legislator in aviation issues, including the safety legislation the House...

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson on Friday, said that Russia does not seek to undermine U.S. interests in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. He was answering a question regarding comments made by several Russian experts on state television, who suggested that Russia should stop oil deliveries via the CPC to Kazakhstan as a response to Washington sanctions against Russia. CPC, in which U.S. oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron are major shareholders, exports oil from a Russian port on the Black Sea. Peskov said in a daily press conference that "along with our American partners, we also have Kazakh partners." Despite everything, Russia...

On Thursday, oil prices increased 5%, reversing the previous session’s decline, amid fears that a long-term conflict in the Middle East could disrupt supply. Brent?futures rose $5.26 or 5.2% to $107.48 per barrel at 10:57 am?EDT (1450 GMT), near the session high of $107,84. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures rose $3.53 or 4% to $93.85 per barrel after reaching as high as $94.84. Both benchmarks fell more than 2% Wednesday. Iran has reviewed a U.S. plan to end this war but does not intend to hold talks, said Iran's Foreign Minister on Wednesday. U.S. president Donald Trump warned Iran...

Investors flocked to safer assets as they awaited clearer signals on whether the Iran War was truly de-escalating. U.S. president Donald 'Trump' said Iran was eager for a?deal? after nearly four weeks fighting. This claim was in stark contrast with comments made by Iran’s foreign minister who stated that Tehran was reviewing an American proposal, but did not plan to enter into talks to end the conflict. Jim Reid, a Deutsche Bank analyst, said that the market's attention was quickly shifting to Trump's deadline of five days. "There is still plenty of uncertainty.. given that Iran has publicly rejected the...

Canada's Trans Mountain Oil?pipeline is expected to be?almost completely full in April. This marks an important milestone for the conduit, which has seen a record-breaking level of usage since the C$34 billion expansion last year. The 890,000-barrel-per-day pipeline, which carries oil from the province of Alberta to British Columbia's west coast, is running near maximum capacity, said Trans Mountain ?CEO Mark Maki. Maki stated that the Iran War has caused disruptions in Middle East oil supply, which have led to an increase in demand for Canadian oil, particularly from Asian buyers, including China. Maki stated in Houston, at the CERAWeek...

Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, criticized Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau on Wednesday for not expressing his condolences in French after a fatal crash. Carney told reporters he thought?Rousseau showed a 'lack of judgment' and that the airline board would make a statement. Air Canada's jet crashed into a firetruck on Sunday evening as it was landing at New York LaGuardia Airport, killing the two pilots. Air Canada is bilingual but?Rousseau, an English native speaker, released a 4-minute video with only two words in French. The language committee of Parliament voted to summon him on Tuesday to Ottawa...

Data from market sources and LSEG revealed that Russia's seaborne gasoil and diesel exports dropped 3% between February and?March to 3.06 million metric tons, as drone attacks disrupted fuel loads at key ports. Sources said that the ultra-low-sulphur Diesel shipments from Primorsk in the Baltic, Russia's largest outlet for diesel exports fell to 1.713 millions tons, down 2.6% since February. Last week, Ukrainian drones repeatedly attacked the Russian Baltic ports Primorsk & Ust-Luga. Following drone attacks, the two ports halted oil and fuel loadings on March 22. The next day, a drone attack caused a fire to break out at...

Moldovan opposition parties demanded on Sunday an explanation from the pro-European Moldovan government regarding its imposition of a "sweeping energy state of emergency" over a damaged electricity line that took four days to repair. Last Tuesday, the Eastern European country’s?parliament?approved a 60-day energy state of an emergency to streamline decision-making. The government had blamed Russian attacks on neighbouring Ukraine after knocking out the Isaccea - Vulcanesti electricity line. Moldova's Energy Ministry announced that the line, which runs from Romania to Moldova, and crosses 40 km of Ukrainian territory, was restored Saturday. This line is responsible for 70% of the country's...

The European Commission and the natural gas grid operators of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine agreed on Friday to tariffs for the corridor that carries gas from Greece to Ukraine, in an effort to increase competition and diversify supply. The Greek gas grid operator DESFA announced in a press release that operators and EU executive have agreed on 'tariffs which will be implemented from October and are in line with EU rules. Greece, Bulgaria Romania and Hungary have agreed to develop the necessary infrastructure in order to realise the so-called Vertical gas Corridor, which would allow bidirectional gas transmission...

Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said on Friday that the attack on Russia’s major port in the Baltic, Ust-Luga, did not affect?Kazakhstan’s oil exports. It added?that flows were operating normally. The Ministry said that it continues to monitor the situation. Three processing units at the Ust-Luga Complex, each with a capacity of three million metric tonnes per year, refine stable condensate to light and heavy naphthas, jet fuel, ship fuel oils and gasoil. Kazakhstan exports part of its crude oil through Russian ports along the Baltic Sea. This includes Ust-Luga which was 'hit by a Ukrainian drone on March 25. Both Ust-Luga...

Two 'industry' sources said that Russian oil producers warned buyers on Friday they could declare force majeure over supplies from major Baltic Sea ports, as Ukraine continues to attack Russian energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week that Kyiv uses long-range attacks to maintain pressure on Russia, after international sanctions against Moscow were eased because of global supply disruptions caused by the Iran War. Sources said that Ukrainian drones targeted the port of Ust-Luga on Friday, where an ongoing fire from a strike made Wednesday still burned. The raids have halted oil loadings in the port since...

Two market sources say that the closure of Russia's Baltic Port of Ust-Luga after a drone strike?on Wednesday may force major refineries in Europe to reduce crude oil runs because of shipping restrictions. Sources and social media reports claim that the strike caused damage to a rail deloading rack at the Ust-Luga Terminal. The Ust-Luga bottleneck threatens oil processing in four of the largest refineries in 'the European part of Russia - Kirishi Yaroslavl Moscow and Ryazan. According to traders, they process around 55 million metric tonnes of crude oil each year (400,000 barrels a day). On Wednesday, the?Ust-Luga Oil...

Hungary has banned the gas transmission system operator of Hungary from holding auctions for shipments to Ukraine during the third quarter as it moves to reduce supplies to its neighbor in a dispute over oil flows. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Hungary will gradually stop sending gas to Ukraine once oil flow to Hungary is restored through the Druzhba Pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia, who are the only countries in Europe to maintain relations with Moscow, have blamed Kyiv for a failure of?the Druzhba Pipeline, which supplies their refineries through Ukraine with Russian crude. Kyiv claims that a...

After the U.S. and Israeli air strikes on?Iran are over, a new competition is likely to begin: the race for contracts to repair damaged oil and gasoline infrastructure and to restore?shipping routes - and influence – across the Middle East. The destruction does not stop in Iran. Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, warned that at least 40 energy assets in nine Middle Eastern countries have been "severely" or "very severely" damaged. Oil and gas fields, refineries, and pipelines will all take time to be repaired, he said. The crisis is worse than both oil shocks in the...

Energy Minister Alparslan bayraktar stated on Wednesday that despite the Iran conflict, Turkey's dependence on Middle East crude oil is at a "manageable and minimal" 10% of total supplies. On a programme of the state-run Anadolu Agency, he stated that the war caused a "crisis in global energy security". He added that Turkey, as a "large energy importer" and a neighbor to Iran, has taken steps to diversify its energy supply. Bayraktar said that a $1 rise in the price per barrel of oil cost Turkey $400 million. When asked about the natural gas supply, Bayraktar replied that there have...

Ukraine increased its attacks on Russian energy installations in recent weeks, as peace talks failed to progress. The following is a brief summary of the attacks and their impact. SARATOV RIFFINERY Sources claim that the Saratov oil refining plant, controlled by Rosneft was 'hit by a drone' on March 21. Its crude?distillation? unit has been closed since then. The refinery will process 5.8 million tons of oil in 2024, which is 2.2% of the total Russian oil refining. ILSKY REFINERY On February 17, a fire broke out in the Ilsky Oil Refinery, located in southern Russia. The cause was drone...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said on Monday that Ukraine was interested in importing Mozambican liquefied gas, because it "struggles" to meet its energy requirements after years of Russian attacks against its production infrastructure. Prior to the war, Ukraine produced almost all its own gas. Andriy Pyshnyi, Central Bank governor of Ukraine, said that the Russian attacks have caused Ukraine to lose about half of its gas production. In the?autumn of last year, Russia intensified their attacks on Ukrainian gas facilities. Most are located in the?frontline areas in northeast and central Ukraine. Zelenskiy, who met with the President of...

Data released on Friday showed that a barrage of Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia's Black Sea oil export facilities as well as severe storms and ice conditions in Baltic Sea affected Russian oil exports. The United States issued a waiver on Thursday for countries to purchase sanctioned Russian crude oil and petroleum products that were stranded in the sea. This was done to stabilize global energy markets, which had been roiled by war with Iran. The easing of U.S. sanctions may not have a major impact on Russia's oil production due to the drone attacks and the bad weather. The...