Asia

The Italian government approved the construction on Wednesday of the longest single-span span bridge in the world, which will connect Sicily with the mainland. This project has been delayed for years due to financial and environmental concerns. The right-wing Government of Prime Minister Giorgia Melons has allocated 13.5 billion euro ($15.63billion) over the next ten years for its construction and facilities around it. The following are some key facts about this bridge. They were compiled from data provided by the Italian Infrastructure Ministry and the construction company Webuild. Webuild is the leader of the Eurolink consortium that has won the...

The major Gulf stock markets fell on Wednesday as investors focused on corporate earnings and the tepid performance of the private non-oil sector. Dubai's benchmark index of stocks fell by 0.3% with all sectors falling. Dubai Investments fell 1.7%, and Dubai Islamic Bank declined 1.4%. DIB, the largest Islamic bank in UAE, reported an increase of 10.7% in its second-quarter net profits attributable shareholders. The benchmark Abu Dhabi index fell 0.2%. This was due to a drop of 1.3% in Burjeel Holding and a fall of 4% in Phoenix Group. ADNOC Gas however rose 1.5% following a 16% increase in...

The government announced on Wednesday that South Korea would offer visa-free access to Chinese tourist groups for a limited time, from September 29, 2018 through June 20, 2026. This is to promote foreign tourism in advance of the Asia-Pacific Summit. After China announced last November that it would offer visa exemptions to South Koreans, and other foreign visitors from various countries, the offer of visa-free entry was made public in March. The new South Korean government of President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal, is expected to improve relations between the two nations. After a meeting on measures to revive tourism...

The differential between Brent and Urals oil remained stable on Tuesday. Meanwhile, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he would raise the tariffs on Indian imports in response to the country's purchase of Russian oil. Trump's threats to India regarding its purchases of Russian crude oil began on July 31 when he announced 25% tariffs for Indian goods along with an unknown penalty. Trump announced on Tuesday that he will increase the tariffs on Indian imports by "substantially" in the next 24 hour, due to New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. India is the biggest importer of Urals oil....

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone in India reported on Tuesday a rise in quarterly profits, thanks to a growing cargo volume. India's largest private port operator can be used as a proxy to predict long-term prospects for infrastructure in the fastest growing major economy on earth. The April-June period saw a 6.5% increase in the consolidated net income to 33.15 billion Rupees (377.6 millions dollars). The company announced that Gautam Adani, its Executive Chairman, will become a non-executive chairperson. The company said that the Indian billionaire will no longer be a key manager of the firm. The port operator's...

Investors increased their bets on the U.S. Federal Reserve to support the world's biggest economy. CME Fedwatch says that the soft U.S. payroll data on Friday has increased the odds of a Fed rate cut in September. This is a significant increase from the 63% chance it had at the beginning of the week. The Fed's interest rate movements have a major impact on the Gulf Region's monetary policies because the majority of their currencies are pegged with the U.S. Dollar. Dubai's benchmark index of stocks rose 0.6% on the back of gains in shares related to real estate, utilities,...

Three industry sources reported that the Rosneft oil refinery in Ryazan, which is operated by Rosneft, has stopped around half of its refining capacities since August 2, following an attack on a Ukrainian drone last week. Sources claim that two oil refinery units have been shut down following the drone strikes. CDU-3, with an output of 8,600 tons per day and CDU-4, with an output of 11,400 tons. Rosneft didn't respond to our request for comment immediately. The Ryazan refinery currently operates with the primary oil-refining unit CDU-6 which has a capacity of 23,200 tonnes per day, or around 48...

Two industry sources confirmed that the primary oil processing has been stopped at Russia's Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery since August 2, following an attack by a Ukrainian drone last week. This was the first drone attack on a major Russian refinery since March 2025. The announcement came after U.S. president Donald Trump set a 10- to 12-day deadline for Moscow and Kiev to reach a ceasefire or face consequences. This underscored his frustration with the ongoing 3-1/2-year conflict. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy to Israel, is expected to visit Russia in this week's time after his current trip to Israel....

According to data from vessel tracking and company documents, Venezuelan oil exports fell by about 10% in July compared to the previous month. This was because key partners of the state-owned PDVSA were waiting for U.S. approvals to expand their operations in the nation. Washington granted a limited license to Chevron in late July, allowing it to export crude oil to the U.S. and operate in Venezuela under sanctions. The license does not permit any payments to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s administration. Several other PDVSA partners still await similar authorizations. Mike Wirth, Chevron's CEO, said Friday that the company is...

The Gulf stock markets were largely muted on Monday morning due to weak corporate earnings. However, rising expectations of interest rate reductions by the U.S. Federal Reserve eased concerns over the slowing economy. Data released on Friday indicated that U.S. employment growth was slower than expected in the month of July. This has led to expectations that rates could be cut by the Fed in September. Fed decisions can have a major impact on the Gulf's monetary policies, since most of the currencies in the region are pegged to U.S. dollars. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.7%, with the majority...

Six people including a former Minister were arrested Friday for their involvement in the reconstruction of a train station whose roof collapsed in November, killing 16 people and triggering Serbia’s largest anti-government demonstrations in decades. Tomislav Mojii, the former minister of infrastructure, was arrested by the office of prosecutor for organized crime. The six men are suspected of inflating the invoices of a consortium consisting of two Chinese companies, China Railway International Co. and China Communications Construction Co. who were tasked with reconstructing the Novi Sad railway station and its tracks. The statement stated that the Chinese consortium was able...

Azeri BTC Crude Oil arriving at BTC Ceyhan Terminal in Turkey has returned to its normal specifications, a BP spokeswoman said on Thursday. Last week, it was discovered that Azeri BTC crude cargoes contained organic chloride. This caused the price differentials between them to reach a record low of four years and caused several days delay in loading, partly due to extra testing each cargo underwent. The BP spokesperson stated that oil loadings are still being done from Ceyhan tanks containing oil of the right specification, while BP works with Azerbaijan’s Socar in order to manage oil of the wrong...

Two industry sources say that Russia will increase its exports to two million barrels of oil per day from its western ports in August. This is about 200,000 barrels more than the previous estimate. The reason for this is because two refineries have cut back on their production following drone attacks by Ukraine. The additional oil could add downward pressure on the global oil markets, as OPEC+ and its allies including Russia have already agreed to increase their output. Following the drone attacks late on Saturday, several crude distillation unit at Rosneft's refineries in Ryazan, and Novokuibyshevsk, were shut down....

Iraq's Oil Minister, Hayan Abdel Ghani, announced on Wednesday that after a 2-year hiatus oil exports will resume through Turkey's Ceyhan Pipeline later on Thursday or Wednesday, according to Iraqi State News Agency INA. Abdel-Ghani stated that an agreement was concluded with the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding the resumed crude oil exports through Turkey's Ceyhan Pipeline. He told INA that "80,000 barrels of oil per day would be exported through SOMO, the Iraqi state-owned oil marketing company," referring to Turkey's Ceyhan Pipeline. Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline has been off-line since 2023 after arbitration court ruled Turkey must pay $1.5 billion damages for...

Official statistics released on Monday showed that China's renewable energy potential in distant provinces is increasingly being wasted, as it rushes to increase long-distance transmissions and energy storage systems to fill the gap. According to the National New Energy Consumption Monitoring and Early Warning Center, the curtailment rate of solar power increased to 6.6% during the first half 2025 from just 3.9% a year ago. The rate for wind also rose from 3% to 5.7%. Grid managers must limit the power entering the grid in order to balance the demand for electricity or because of grid infrastructure limitations. China's national...

Experts predict that the rates of sea freight between Asia and the United States will continue to fall in 2025, as shipping capacity exceeds demand, and trade routes change due to geopolitical tensions and tariffs. However, rerouting vessels is expected to mitigate some losses. Shipping analytics firm Xeneta says that the average spot rates of containers shipped from Asia to U.S. east and west coasts has fallen by 46% and 58%, respectively, since 1 June. Unresolved negotiations between the U.S.A. and China have added to the uncertainty. Last week, officials from the two largest economies in the world agreed to...

India's stranded solar power capacity, which is the amount of renewable energy that has been awarded but not yet installed, has more than doubled in nine months due to delays with transmission lines and other legal and regulatory issues. South Asia aims to double its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030. However, the rapid acceleration of projects has led to a lack of firm agreements for power supply. The number of renewable projects in India that have won power generation tenders but still need to sign power purchase contracts with buyers has risen to more than 50 gigawatts,...

Azerbaijan plans to export 1.2 billion cubic meters (bcm), or 1.2 billion cubic feet, of gas per year through Turkey from the BP operated Shah Deniz field in the Azeri-Caspian Sea. A senior official with the Azeri energy company SOCAR said this on Saturday. Turkey has been a key ally of the Syrian government since the end of the civil war in December, which ended after 13 years of fighting in Syria. Ankara has now positioned itself as a major player on the international stage. Syria's reconstruction Elshad Nasirov, SOCAR vice president, spoke at a ceremony held in the southern...

Azerbaijan plans to export 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the BP operated Shah Deniz field in the Azeri-Caspian Sea. This was revealed by a senior official with the Azeri energy company SOCAR on Saturday. Elshad Nasirov, SOCAR vice president, was speaking near the Syrian border in southern Turkey as Turkey and Azerbaijan began natural gas exports into Syria. Azerbaijani, Turkish, Syrian and Qatari ministers and officials attended a ceremony to mark the launch in Kilis. Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov stated that the project was a result of agreements made in April and July by Azerbaijani...

Sources said that eight OPEC+ member countries will likely approve a new oil production hike on Sunday. The group is still debating how much to increase output in September, amid fears about further disruptions of supply from Russia, and a seasonal decline in demand. In recent months, the group has increased output due to low global stock levels and increasing demand. The Sunday meeting, which is scheduled to start at 11:00 GMT, coincides with new U.S. requests that India stop buying Russian crude oil, as Washington looks for ways to pressure Moscow to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine. New...

India's stranded solar power capacity, which is the amount of renewable energy that has been awarded but not yet installed, has more than doubled in nine months due to delays with transmission lines and other legal and regulatory issues. The number of renewable projects in India that have won power generation tenders but still need to sign power purchase contracts with buyers has risen to more than 50 gigawatts, India's Sustainable Projects Developers Association said on June 27, in a note to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Another letter sent on 4 October by the SPDA showed that...

The U.S. president Donald Trump's request to India to stop Russian oil imports may threaten billions of dollars in Russian revenue, and Moscow could retaliate with the shutdown of a major U.S. oil pipeline. This could lead to another global supply crisis. India, the third-largest oil importer in the world, is now the largest buyer of Russian crude oil. It purchases up to 2,000,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents 2% of the global supply. China and Turkey are also among the top buyers. Analysts at JP Morgan stated this week that the Indian route was so vital to...

Calculations showed that the average daily supply of natural gas to Europe by Russian energy giant Gazprom increased 37% from a previous month when maintenance had reduced it, according to calculations released on Friday. After Ukraine decided not to renew a transit agreement with Moscow that expired in January, the only route for Russian gas to reach Europe is through the TurkStream pipeline and Turkey. According to calculations based on data provided by the European Gas Transmission Group Entsog, Russian gas exports through the TurkStream pipeline increased from 37.6 million cubic metres per day to 51.5 mcm/day in July. This...

BP, operator of the Baku, Tbilisi, Ceyhan (BTC), oil pipeline, announced on Wednesday that it would continue its extensive quality evaluation of Azeri BTC by taking samples at each loading terminal. Last week, organic chloride contamination was found in Azeri BTC cargoes. This caused a drop in price differentials of four years and caused several days delay in loadings at Turkey's BTC Ceyhan Terminal. Sources say that the extra testing has caused delays in part. A port agent said that after enough oil is poured into the BTC Ceyhan terminal to form a cargo, the test results are presented to...