Transportation

Air travelers in the United States will still have to endure a few days of delays and cancellations before things return to normal. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has instructed airlines to reduce 4% of their daily flights at 40 major airports starting last week due to safety concerns regarding air traffic control. The Federal Aviation Administration has mandated that flight reductions reach 6% by Tuesday, and then 10% by Friday November 14. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that they could reach up to 15% or 20% if there is no end to the shutdown. If lawmakers restore federal funding this...

On Monday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) widened. CalRock reported that WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in December settled at $11.70 per barrel below the U.S. benchmark WTI. This compares to Friday's closing price of $11.65. Since September 1, the differential has traded in a narrow band between $10.25 to $11.70 below WTI. Analysts have noted a strong demand for Canadian crude oil off the Pacific Coast via the Trans Mountain Pipeline, particularly from China. The Gulf Coast also bought more Canadian barrels than usual to re-export. This was in...

Mexico's Esentia said it aims to raise 610 million dollars through an initial public offer. Esentia Energy Development is a company dedicated to transporting and selling natural gas. It plans to sell 224,000,000 common shares in this operation. The company stated that it would sell its shares between $2.70 to $3.90. Esentia has not provided any details about the dates of the transactions. Esentia stated in an investor presentation that the funds raised will be used for financing expansion plans of the company and partially paying off some debts. The Waha System (also known as Wahalajara) is its main asset....

New York's environmental regulators approved on Friday a water permit to the controversial and long-delayed Northeast Supply Enhancement Natural Gas Pipeline Project of U.S. Energy Company Williams Cos in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The company also retracted its permit application for the Constitution gas pipeline project, which runs from Pennsylvania to New York. Williams had canceled both projects in the past, but they were controversial because environmental regulators in New York had rejected them. After the DEC issued three Notices of incomplete application due to insufficient information, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said that Constitution...

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced on Friday that it is delaying flights in eight airports, including Atlanta, San Francisco and Houston. The agency cited widespread staffing problems as controllers were not paid during the shutdown. Staffing shortages are reported at 10 different locations in the United States, and could lead to delays at other airports. Separately, the agency required airlines to cancel more than 700 flights or 4% of their flights at 40 airports with high traffic to deal with air traffic control staffing. According to FAA ground delays programs, flights at Reagan Washington National are delayed on average by...

Enbridge announced on Friday that it will gauge formal commercial interest early next year in the second phase of capacity addition on its Mainline crude pipe network. The Calgary-based pipeline operator, which is based in Canada, said that if the project proceeds, it will add an additional 250,000 barrels of capacity per day to the Mainline by the year 2028. This would help meet the growing demand from Canadian oil shippers for access to export markets. This project is in addition to the planned first phase expansion. The company will make its final investment decision on this before the end...

The Trump Administration said on Thursday that it would continue negotiations with China about its dominance in shipbuilding and ocean logistic as it formalized its plans for a year-long pause on U.S. Port Fees on China-linked ships as part of an broader agreement to reduce trade tensions. In a Federal Register announcement, the U.S. Trade Representative announced that all punitive measures against China resulting in its "Section 301", unfair trade practices investigation would be halted for a period of one year beginning November 10. USTR also said that it would be accepting public comments about the matter between November 6...

The Canadian company Pembina Pipeline announced on Wednesday that it would supply Malaysia's PETRONAS with 1.0 million tonnes of liquefied gas per year. Cedar LNG Project for 20 Years The agreement marks an important milestone in the $4 billion Cedar LNG Project and reinforces Canada's efforts to become a global supplier of LNG to Asia. The company stated that it would give PETRONAS an additional outlet to export natural gas for its Canadian upstream investments, while also providing Pembina a stable and long-term revenue source. Cedar, a joint-venture between Haisla First Nation, an Indigenous community, and Pembina would produce 3.3...

Matt Cox, the CEO of U.S. ocean-shipping company Matson, said that since October 14, Matson had paid $6.4m in port fees to China. Last week, President Donald Trump agreed with President Xi Jinping to put these tit-fortat levies in pause for a year starting November 10. China's media reported that Hawaii's Matson, which is one of a few global shipping companies with U.S. built and -flagged ships, was the first company to pay these fees. Cox, Matson's CEO, said that the U.S. trade representative and the China Ministry of Transport will soon publish detailed instructions, as well as any refund...

On Tuesday, the Canadian government unveiled its first budget under Prime Minister Mark Carney. The budget proposes a number of key measures. INVESTMENTS The government proposes to invest a total C$280 billion over the next five-year period. This includes C$115 billion for infrastructure, C$110 in productivity and competition, C$30 in defense and security, and C$25 in housing. Increased Defense Spending The government will spend C$81.8billion over 5 years to improve recruitment, repair infrastructure, and invest in military technologies. This money does not include the funds planned for fighter jets or submarines. SAVINGS The government will save C$60 billion over the...

The administration of President Donald Trump, which had threatened to remove aging railcars in Pennsylvania from service, announced on Tuesday that it would extend the deadline for an inspection by a state transit agency. The Federal Railroad Administration issued a special order on October 1 requiring that the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority address the fire risk from its 225 Silverliner IV Railcars within 30 days. The order was issued in response to a safety recommendation made by the National Transportation Safety Board after five fires. FRA gave the agency until November 14 to finish inspections, and until early in December...

Ukraine's authorities reported that two people died in Odesa's southern region, and nearly 60,000 were left without power after the overnight Russian airstrike on Ukraine's frontline Zaporizhzhia region. As winter approaches, Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's electricity grid. This has caused outages, and forced Kyiv emergency crews into a race to fix damage and manage rolling power blackouts. Ivan Federov said that the attack in Zaporizhzhia resulted in two injuries and the destruction of buildings, he told Telegram. Fedorov posted photos of nighttime images of buildings that had their facades and windows ripped off. Zaporizhzhia...

In an opaque market, the differentials between urals crude and other grades remained stable on Monday as participants assessed the impact of sanctions placed on Lukoil last month and Rosneft the previous month on the supply of this grade to India and Turkey. Sources in the trade said that two Indian state refiners bought 5 million barrels from spot markets as they continued to search for alternatives to Russian oil supplies. Sources said that Lukoil declared force majore at its Iraqi field of oil, while Bulgaria was preparing to seize the Burgas refinery as its international operations buckled due to...

Hungary announced on Saturday that it has been granted an indefinite exemption from U.S. sanction for its use of Russian oil and natural gas. This is contrary to a White House official, who claimed it was only granted a year-long exemption. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions related to Ukraine on Russian oil firms Lukoil & Rosneft. These sanctions carried the threat of additional sanctions against entities who buy oil from these firms. Viktor Orban met with Trump, a longtime ally of Trump, at the White House last Friday in order to push for a reprieve. Hungary heavily...

The Suez Canal has seen two tankers with around 1.5 million barrels each of Russian Urals crude drop anchor in the sea. This is an indication of the difficulties Moscow faces selling oil following the tightening of Western sanctions last month. According to tracking data provided by LSEG, OilX and LSEG, the vessels Sikar and Monte 1 both carried oil from Russia’s Baltic port Primorsk at the beginning of October. They have remained anchored for more than a week near this canal. The United States, along with the European Union, have tightened sanctions on Russia's oil industry in an effort...

The price differential between Urals and Brent for December arrived in India on Thursday, as the flagship blend of Russia was traded at its steepest discount in over a year. This is due to new U.S. sanctions against Russia's top oil producers. The price difference for Russia's flagship Urals oil in Indian ports has widened from $2 to $4 per barrel under Brent for December arrival. This is the largest discount in about a month. According to estimates and shipping and trading sources, Russia's oil imports to western ports will decrease in November due to higher refinery runs but remain...

According to two industry sources, and LSEG ship tracking, Russia's Black Sea Port of Tuapse suspended fuel exports while the local refinery halted crude processing following the November 2 Ukrainian drone attack on its infrastructure. Ukraine announced on Sunday that its drones had struck Tuapse - one of Russia's major Black Sea oil port - causing an explosion and damage to at least one vessel. This was part of Kyiv’s effort to undermine Russia’s war economy through targeting its energy infrastructure. The regional administration confirmed that the strike caused an fire in the port. Since several months, Ukraine has been...

Calculations on Saturday showed that the average daily supply of natural gas to Europe by Russian energy giant Gazprom via the TurkStream pipeline increased 5% from previous months. The only remaining transit route for Russian gas into Europe is through Turkey after Ukraine decided not to renew a transit agreement with Moscow that expired in January. Calculations show that the total Russian gas supplied to Europe through TurkStream in the first 10 months of the year was 14.7 billion cubic metres (bcm), compared to 13.7 bcm for the same period last year. Gazprom exported 26.6 billion cubic meters of gas...

U.S. sanctions against Russian oil producer Rosneft rekindled German discussions about nationalising its business, including the refinery on which Berlin relies for the majority of its fuel. Two sources familiar with these talks said that the U.S. sanctions had prompted the discussion. The situation reveals the complex web of links between Germany and Russia that supplied Europe's industrial superpower with energy during the decades preceding the war in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury announced on Wednesday that it had granted a license exempting Rosneft’s German arm of the U.S. Sanctions until April 2026. The two sources said that Berlin prefers to...

The differential between dated Brent and Urals crude remained unchanged on Monday as buyers of both grades awaited clarity about the impact of new Western sanctions on Russian oil imports. Last week, the European Union (EU), Britain and the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia, including those affecting its two largest oil producers, Lukoil, and Rosneft. The U.S. gave companies until November 21, 2011 to end their transactions with Russian oil producers. Four sources familiar with the discussions said that OPEC+ is likely to increase output modestly in December as it continues with its monthly increases aimed at regaining market share....

Hayan Abdel Ghani, the Iraqi oil minister, said that Iraq was in negotiations with OPEC over its quota within the available capacity of 5.5 millions barrels per day. In April, the country, OPEC’s largest overproducer submitted plans to further reduce oil production to compensate for pumping beyond agreed quotas. Abdel-Ghani stated that Iraq was committed to its OPEC quota despite having a larger production capacity. Total oil exports are currently at 3.6 million bpd. Abdel-Ghani said that the fire which broke out in Zubair's southern oilfield on Sunday has not affected exports. Abdel-Ghani said that exports from Iraq's Kurdistan north...

Three industry sources confirmed on Wednesday that a Chevron-led group developing Kazakhstan's biggest oilfield Tengiz, will resume oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi - Ceyhan pipeline by November. The pipeline connects Georgia with Turkey, and is primarily used to export oil produced by the Azeri Chirag and Guneshli fields, operated by BP. In July, organic chloride contamination was found in Azeri BTC crude shipments. This caused several days of delays in loadings at BTC Ceyhan in Turkey. The TCO consortium halted exports along the route in the month following. Tengiz did not return to the pipeline when Kazakhstan recommenced oil supply...

Transneft's pipeline network is not experiencing a reduction in supplies from Russian oil companies, according to a senior Transneft executive. Deliveries this year will be on par with those of 2024. Maxim Grishanin is the first vice president of the company. He told reporters that the company had enough capacity to handle a possible rise in supply. Russia will increase its output to meet the demands of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies. Transneft transports over 80% of the oil produced by the country. Grishanin stated that Transneft had a growing cash deficit due to an...

Three market sources reported that the Black Sea port in Russia, Novorossiisk, has reached its export capacity limit. This leaves traders scrambling to find a new route for crude oil, which it is unable to refine at home and can only produce because of increased OPEC+ quotas. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have been easing up on output restrictions. In addition, Russia's refining facilities carried out record amounts of maintenance in August, and September. This was partly due to damage caused by Ukrainian drones. As a result, its ability to process crude oil domestically has...