Asia

The top federal prosecutor of Brooklyn said he did not have any basis to dispute the 'U.S. The Department of Justice has decided to drop its case against Indian billionaire Gautam?Adani. However, he did not say whether he was in agreement with the decision. U.S. attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. wrote a letter to the judge overseeing the case on Friday, saying he "was not the decisionmaker" in the dropping of the 'case. He also said he had no reason to believe that the reasons given by Trent McCotter, the top Justice Department official who was his supervisor, were "not the...

According to experts and satellite images, a vessel sanctioned for?moving Russian oil is likely to be leaking oil off the coast Oman in a marine protected area. According to data from ship tracking, the Caroline Bezengi vessel took "Russian oil" on board before departing for its latest voyage in Novorossiysk. The last time it sent a signal to the public AIS tracking system was on June 11, off the coasts of Yemen. Rentoor Shipmanagement of Shanghai, the owner listed in shipping databases, was not available for comment. The Oman Maritime Security Centre - and Oman's Environment Authority - did not...

Two Greek government officials stated on Friday that Greece objected to a'sanctions package' against Russia and warned the EU about a possible loss of market share by non-EU competitors if a ban was imposed on the transfer of Russian 'gas' to third countries. Two sources claim that European Union envoys were unable to reach an agreement on Wednesday on the 21st package against Russia because a number of countries, including Greece and Austria, objected. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said on Monday that EU countries are undecided about tightening restrictions against Russian liquefied gas. Greece dominates Europe's market for LNG...

Iraq temporarily suspended oil loadings at its Basra terminal on Thursday before they were resumed, according to four Iraqi sources in the oil and security industries. Sources added that the drone was not damaged or set ablaze and that it wasn't immediately apparent who launched it. The head of Iraq's state-owned oil marketing company SOMO said that the incident did not involve a direct assault on terminals or vessels. It is not targeting Basra Oil Terminal. It is not targeting Basra Oil Terminal. Ali Nazar stated that loading is done at the normal rate, depending on vessel availability. A spokesperson...

India's Customs Authorities have joined the Health Ministry in a fight against Adani Group for the sale of nicotine sachets at airports. They claim that duty-free shops are only tax-advantageous and not immune to other regulations. The sale of nicotine pouches in duty-free shops at the Mumbai airport owned by billionaire Gautam Adani was found to be illegal during a March inspection. His company is now appealing this decision at the Mumbai High Court. The customs department stated that the concept of "goods being outside customs borders" for taxation reasons "doesn't grant immunity from regulatory control," in a document submitted...

The Russian defence ministry announced on Thursday that it had struck military and industrial facilities in Kyiv and infrastructure in Odesa, Pivdennyi, and Odesa ports as well as a vessel. Moscow and Kyiv both intensified their attacks against key economic targets. Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian energy infrastructure including oil tankers. Meanwhile, Russia has intensified attacks on Black Sea ports over the past few weeks. Officials in Ukraine said that Russian missiles?hit at least two districts?in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv?early on Thursday morning, causing fires and killing 2 people. The Russian defence ministry has said that it struck Ukrainian...

The U.S. - Iran 'war' has affected supplies at the?key Middle Eastern ship fuelling hub near the Strait of Hormuz. Fujairah has lost its lead as the top bunkering hub in the world. China's Zhoushan Port is now poised to overtake Fujairah this year, as the third largest hub in the world. According to S&P Global's data on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, marine fuel sales in Fujairah for the first half 2026 were about 1.63 metric?tons (10.40 million barrels), down 55% compared to the?first halves of 2025. Volumes continued to decline, reaching a new low of 86,000 tons in...

Taras Vysotskiy said that Ukraine would do all it could to protect its seaports, and ensure grain exports are at least equal to last season. In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its attacks on the infrastructure of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and cargo ships entering Odesa port to export grain and agricultural products. Vysotskiy stated that the state recognizes the importance of agricultural exports. He added, "It'll be hard, but we will do everything to maintain minimum guaranteed export volume to support international food security at a level that is no lower than the last year." Before the recent attacks?Ukraine...

The race to secure vital minerals has created a wealth of opportunity for countries that have the fortune of having the right metal deposits. The goal is to extract as much value as you can from the metals in the earth. The obvious answer is processing. Smelters that convert ore to metal are not only more valuable, but also provide a path to greater industrial and economic growth. It's a way for Western policymakers to loosen China's grip over midstream capacity in a large part of the critical metals spectrum. According to a joint study by the consultancy CRU, and...

According to a memo obtained by the media, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem will be taking over as the new CEO of?Malaysian company MMC Port Holdings. The group chief executive is leaving his post immediately. Emirati bin Sulayem is now the executive chairman of MMC. He resigned in February from Dubai's DP World after the Department of Justice released emails between Jeffrey Epstein and the company. Bin Sulayem did not comment publicly on the emails he exchanged with Epstein who died in prison in 2019 while waiting to be tried for'sex trafficking' charges. Bin Sulayem was not immediately available. The MMC...

The race to secure the critical minerals is opening up new opportunities for countries that have the fortune to possess the right deposits. The goal is to extract as much value from the metal?riches' in the earth as possible. The obvious answer is to process the ore. Smelters that convert ore to metal are not only more valuable, but also offer a path to economic and industrial development. It's a way for Western policymakers to loosen China's grip over midstream capacity in many critical metals. According to a joint study by the consultancy CRU, and the World Bank, the number...

Shipping data revealed that the number of tankers traversing the Strait of Hormuz dropped to its lowest level in two months in the last day, after renewed strikes between Iran and the U.S.?and attacks against vessels raised safety concerns. Shipping industry sources say that vessels are increasingly turning off their public AIS?transponders. This makes it difficult to count the total number of ships on the waterway. According to Kpler's analysis, based on the data available, oil and gas tanker traffic has fallen to its lowest levels since May 25. In a recent report, ship broker Gibson stated that the world...

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...

CPC announced on Sunday that two?oil tanks were attacked by a gang of armed men at a terminal near the Black Sea coast in?Russia. Oil loadings have been suspended. CPC reported that the ASIA and NISSOS tanks were attacked during loading operations. CPC said that the ASIA tanker caught on fire and was put out. CPC employees and contractors were not injured or killed. CPC confirmed that there was no oil spill, adding that the tankers were still afloat. CPC has not identified any party responsible for the incident. In the past week, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified their...

The energy ministry announced on Friday that Azerbaijan’s oil and condensate production fell from 13.7 million metric tons in the same period last year to 13.3 millions metric tons in this time frame. Azerbaijan’s gas production from January to June increased to 25.4 billion cubic meters from 25.2 billion cube metres in the same period last year, while oil exports fell to 10.2 millions tons from 11.6million tons, according to the report. BP, a British company, reduced its Azerbaijan oil?production to?7.9 millions tons from 8.0million tons a year ago. Gas exports into Europe dropped to?5.9 billion cubic meters from 6.1...

CPC reported that two drones attacked and damaged an oil tanker, which was chartered to load oil at the Caspian Pipeline consortium terminal near Russia's Black Sea coast. ExxonMobil was said to have chartered the Suezmax class Nordic Zenith. CPC has not identified any party responsible for the incident. In the past week, both Russia and Ukraine have intensified their attacks on shipping in the Black Sea and Azov Seas. This marks a new phase in a war which has been fought mainly on the ground. CPC stated in a press release that a fire had broken out on the...

Telstra CEO Vicki. Brady said on Friday that the outage last week at Australia's biggest telecoms.firm was probably caused by a.missed software update and an undocumented.design change.on a network.time-keeping.device. Last Wednesday's outage was the latest of a series that has hit Australia's telecoms sector in the last few years. It cut off phone service for thousands of customers and disrupted wireless payment systems. Optus, Australia's second largest telecoms company, experienced a?13 hour disruption in emergency call services, which may have led to four deaths. This was followed by a cyberattack in 2022 that exposed the personal information of millions of...

Kuwaiti authorities reported?on?Friday that an Iranian attack?hit one of Kuwait's power generating and?water -desalination stations, causing a fire, damage, and the interruption of a number of electricity generation units. The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy reported that firefighters brought the fire under control, while technical teams assessed the damage, secured the station and worked to restore service as quickly as possible for the affected electricity generation units. Iran claimed to have launched a new attack on U.S. military facilities in the Middle East on Friday. This included 'the first direct attack on Syria, following a sixth night of...

China imported 11.5 million barrels per day on average in the past five years. Since April, the average has been just 8 million barrels per day. China's rapid slashing of imports - shipments dropped to 40% below pre-Iran War levels in June - has helped keep a lid on global prices, and has freed up cargoes that could be used by other countries. Market observers want to know if the decline in demand will last. Michal Meidan is the head of China Energy Research for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "There is a huge level of uncertainty, because we...

Three sources have confirmed that Saudi Arabia's ROSHN group is looking for investors to help finance its Aramco stadium, which will host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. The state-backed developer wants to free up capital so it can deliver projects as part of the kingdom's economic transformation strategy. Saudi Arabia is relying more on outside capital as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil and gas revenues. Two sources who declined to be identified because the matter was not public said that JPMorgan had hired ROSHN to manage the equity raising process. According to a third source, PIF...

The administration of New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday condemned an "ongoing outage" on the Champlain-Hudson Power Express transmission line. She had championed the $6 billion project to reduce the use of dirty oil-fired power plants and increase the razor-thin'state grid's buffer against unforeseen events. According to the latest transmission outage calendar from grid operator New York ISO, the?1,250 megawatt Champlain Hudson Power Express is expected to remain offline until July 31. New York ISO's data previously indicated that CHPE would not be in service until the end of this week. New York ISO didn't respond to a request...

Three sources have confirmed that Saudi Arabia's ROSHN group is looking for investors to help finance its Aramco Stadium which will host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. The state-backed developer wants to 'free up capital' so it can deliver projects as part of the Kingdom's economic transformation plan. Saudi Arabia is increasingly relying on outside capital for funding projects in tourism, sports, and logistics to reduce the economy's dependence on oil and gas revenues. Two sources who declined to be identified because the matter was not public said that JPMorgan had hired ROSHN to manage the equity raising process....

Fuel shortages are affecting Russians in all 11 time zones. Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries have disrupted supply and caused long queues, high gasoline prices, and even rationing?in some regions. Fuel access has improved in Moscow and other cities, mainly due to measures such as increasing imports and clearing low-quality fuels for use. However, the situation in Russian-annexed Crimea is still tense. Fuel shortages began in June, when some regions began to restrict gasoline and diesel use. Here is the situation in some Russian regions: CENTRAL RUSSIA According to 'witnesses, local media, and service aggregators who monitor the availability of...

Trafigura has "walked away" from a proposed 2,050 megawatt transmission line that would have transported surplus hydropower in Angola to copper mines and cobalt deposits in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to two sources who are directly involved. This is one of three private-backed transmission projects, worth billions, that aim to supply electricity from Angola – which has an abundance of stranded hydropower – to vital minerals operations in neighbouring countries facing power shortages. Trafigura signed a non-binding agreement in July 2024 with the Angolan Government and engineering firm ProMarks to conduct feasibility studies. One industry source...