Asia

Israel stopped gas exports to Egypt following the start of the war with Iran The exports resumed on the 23rd of June, but Egypt's gas challenges remain. Egypt's gas production has declined dramatically in recent years and is unlikely to recover anytime soon Ron Bousso LONDON 30 June - Egypt is one of the worst economic losers in the 12-day Middle East war, after Israel cut off vital natural gas supplies to Egypt. After Israel and Iran agreed on a ceasefire, President Donald Trump of the United States declared it on June 23. However, the incident highlights Egypt's vulnerability as...

The price of Asian LNG spot fell from its four-month peak this week, as the threat of a supply disruption was reduced by a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran. Average LNG price for August deliveries into North-East Asia According to industry sources, the price was $13,10 per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu), a drop from $14.00/mmBtu a week ago. This was the highest rate since February 21. "We have a slightly negative outlook for Asian prices (which is stable)." "A sustained Iran-Israel truce would reduce geopolitical risks, and refocus on the weak demand in China, South Korea, and Japan,"...

Shiptracking data from LSEG/Kpler revealed that a liquefied gas vessel named Iris, sanctioned by America, was docked at Russia's Arctic Gas 2 plant on Friday. Kpler data shows that if the vessel takes gas, this would be the ninth LNG cargo offloaded from Arctic LNG 2 Project. The Arctic Metagaz vessel picked up the last shipment on October 5. The U.S. State Department imposed sanctions in October on owners and managers registered of several LNG ships, including Iris (formerly known as North Sky). According to Equasis, the shipping database, Iris changed its commercial or ship manager to Elegest OOO on...

Interfax reported that Sovcomflot, a tanker company from Russia, said on Wednesday that the first Russian-built ice class tanker for liquefied gas will be in operation at Arctic LNG 2. The international sanctions against Ukraine have caused a shortage in Russia of tankers that can cut thick ice. This has prevented Arctic LNG 2 from being able to export cargo since the plant's first stage began operating at the end 2023. The tanker named Alexey Kosygin, after a Soviet stateman, was constructed at the Zvezda Shipyard. It will join the fleet for the Arctic LNG 2 Plant. The final stage...

The shipping costs of liquefied gas cargoes are at their highest level in eight months. This is due to the tightening of vessel availability as more ships head to Asia, while conflict in the Middle East escalates. Spark Commodities, a pricing agency, said that the Atlantic freight rate for vessels equipped with two-stroke engines and capable of transporting 174,000 cubic meters LNG, which is the most common type on the market, reached $51,750 per a day, its highest since October 3. Spark assessed the Pacific freight rate at $36,750/day, its highest level since 25 October. Qasim Afghanistan, analyst at Spark...

Fears of Middle East oil disruption after US strikes on Iran Iran has attempted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in the past. US Navy is likely to respond quickly in the event of disruptions Ron Bousso LONDON, 22 June - The U.S. strikes against several Iranian nuclear sites are a significant escalation in the Middle East conflict. This could cause Tehran to disrupt essential exports of gas and oil from the region, causing a spike in energy prices. History tells us, however, that any disruption will likely be brief. Since Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Iran on June 13...

This week, Asian spot LNG prices reached their highest level in the past four months due to concerns about disruptions of supply caused by the Israel-Iran war. Average LNG price for August deliveries into North-east Asia According to industry sources, the price of gas was $14.00 per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu), an increase of 11% over $12.60/mmBtu from last week. This is also the highest since February 21. Israel launched an attack on Iran last Friday after claiming that Tehran was close to developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, responded with...

The conflict between Israel and Iran has increased global diesel prices. Gains have outstripped the increase in crude oil prices. This highlights the vulnerability of Europe's diesel-heavy consumers, even though the refiners are rewarded. Benchmark Brent crude has risen 10% to more than $76 per barrel since the Israel-Iran War began on June 13. This reflects investor concerns over a potential disruption in supply, especially issues related to Strait of Hormuz – a narrow waterway that connects Iran and Oman and through which a fifth of crude oil and refined petroleum products pass. The speculation that U.S. president Donald Trump...

Energy equity investors have been adjusting their positions in the U.S. Power sector to try and pick winners and reduce losers before the final passage of President Donald Trump’s tax-and spending bill. The "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act", which contains aggressive reductions to tax credits and incentives related to clean energy generation using renewable sources, has caused a sell-off of stocks in the sector. The bill also accelerates the phase-out for federal support of electric vehicles, clean energy components manufacturing and wind farm developments. The latest U.S. Senate proposal - which is a tweaked version of the version passed by...

Energy equity investors have been adjusting their positions in the U.S. Power sector to try and pick winners and reduce losers before the final passage of President Donald Trump’s tax-and spending bill. The "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act", which contains aggressive reductions to tax credits and incentives related to clean energy generation using renewable sources, has caused a selloff of stocks in the sector. The bill also accelerates the phase-out for federal support of electric vehicles, clean energy components manufacturing and wind farm developments. The latest U.S. Senate proposal - which is a tweaked version of the version passed by...

Lorenzo Simonelli, the chief executive of Baker Hughes Energy Services, said on Monday that all the company's facilities in the Middle East are running normally. He made the remarks on the sidelines Energy Asia Conference. He said: "At the moment, our employees are all safe and the facilities continue running and operating." "I hope tensions will deescalate." He said it was too early to predict the impact of the conflict between Israel and Iran on energy supply. He said, "It is too early to tell. We need to monitor the situation." He added, "We know that the demand is resilient...

Section 899 proposes a tax of up to 20% on the income of foreign investors The proposal is included in President Trump's tax bill signature The tax could have a major impact on the profits of European oil giants Ron Bousso LONDON, 12 June - A proposed U.S. Tax targeting foreign investors may hurt European Energy Giants that operate in America’s booming Oil and Gas Sector, undermining President Donald Trump’s energy dominance agenda. The Senate is reviewing Trump's tax and spending plan, which includes an extra tax of up 20% on the incomes of foreign investors such as dividends or...

Two U.S. officials claim that the Iranian military loaded mines on vessels in the Persian Gulf in late November. This move heightened concerns in Washington about Tehran's plans to blockade Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel's attacks against Iranian sites. Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive intelligence issues said that the previously unknown preparations took place some time after Israel's initial missile attack against Iran, which occurred on June 13. The mines were not deployed in the Strait, but the loading suggests that Tehran was serious about shutting down one of the busiest...

Enbridge filed a motion on Monday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the location of a Michigan lawsuit that sought to force Enbridge to cease operating a pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac (waterways connecting two of the Great Lakes) due to environmental concerns. The Justices heard Enbridge's appeal against a lower court ruling that rejected the company's request for the case to be moved from state court to federal court. Federal court is generally more favorable to defendants. The Supreme Court will hear the case during its next session, which begins in October. Enbridge, based in Calgary, has...

Ireneusz Fafara, the chief executive of Orlen's Czech refinery, said that after June 30th, it will no longer purchase Russian oil. Orlen said that the contract with Rosneft to supply Russian oil to the Litvinov Refinery in Czech Republic is the last contract linking it to Russian oil. Fafara said at a press conference that "we freed Central Europe today from Russian oil." In April, the Czech Republic announced that it was becoming Fully independent The completion of the capacity upgrades of the TAL pipeline from the west has resulted in the first time ever that Russia will be able...

Calculations based on two sources indicate that Russia's daily oil output from its western ports is expected to be 1.93 million barrels a day in July. This is a slight decrease from the plan for June, due to an anticipated increase in refinery runs. Daily oil loadings in Russia from Primorsk and Novorossiisk, as well as from Kazakhstan's KEBCO, and Siberian Light grades of oil, will decrease by 3% from this month. According to calculations based upon data from industry sources, the offline primary oil refinery capacity of Russia is expected to fall by 3.7% from June to 3,21 million...

A document published on Friday revealed that Germany may change its foreign trade laws to prevent the Nord Stream 2 company from being takenover. This is part of Berlin’s efforts to stop any resumption in Russian gas imports. Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, Germany has been looking for alternatives to cheap Russian gas. The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would ensure that Nord Stream 2, a project the country had once backed, wouldn't go into operation. However, the country currently has no legal way to stop the sale of assets owned by Russian giant Gazprom. The Nord...

Two industry sources said that Kazakhstan's Tengizchevroil exported 100,000 metric tonnes of oil to Germany via Russia's Druzhba pipe last month, as it ramped up production. TCO is 50% owned by Chevron, 25% by ExxonMobil, 20% KazMunayGaz, and 5% Lukoil. Tengiz is the largest oilfield in Kazakhstan. The consortium declined comment. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is Kazakhstan's primary oil export channel. It ships around 80% via Russia's Black Sea Terminal. The world's biggest landlocked country, however, is trying to diversify its routes of export. Chevron announced in January that it had started a $48 billion expansion at Tengiz. This is...

Tanjug News Agency reported that the United States had postponed its sanctions against NIS, a Russian-owned Serbian Oil Company for a forth time. NIS has secured three waivers so far, with the last expiring later this Friday. NIS, which has a majority ownership by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom in Pancevo (just outside Belgrade), operates Serbia's sole oil refinery. The plant has a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year and can meet the majority of Serbia's oil needs. The sanctions could threaten its crude oil supplies. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed initial sanctions on...

Transneft, Russia's oil pipeline monopoly, has seen its oil flow continue to fall this year despite the OPEC+ agreement and technological challenges. This was confirmed by Maxim Grishanin on Friday. He also stated that due to the decline in turnover, the revenues would not reach the level typical of the last 10 years until 2030. Transneft, which operates 67,000-kilometre-long (42,000-mile) oil pipeline network, handles more than 80% of all the oil produced in Russia. Transneft CEO Nikolai Tokarev stated that the company will ship 447 million metric tonnes (around 8,94 million barrels of oil per day) in 2024. This includes...

In a long-term projection, Japan's power transmission operators warned that the country could be facing a major power shortage in 2050 due to a surge in demand and if aging thermal plants and older nuclear power plants were not replaced. Japan has been predicting a decline in electricity demand for years due to the shrinking population. However, it recently updated this forecast to include new demand from chip factories and data centres. According to the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators' scenarios, Japan's electric demand will rise by 8-42% in 2050 compared to 2019 before the COVID outbreak. The...

Two traders have said that Russia will increase the ESPO Blend oil loadouts at its Far East Kozmino Port in July from 3.6 millions metric tons to 4 million metric tonnes (about 970,000 barrels per daily) from 3.6million tons in June. The traders reported that oil exports from Kozmino were reduced in June due to planned maintenance. Exports of ESPO Blend reached 4.2 millions tons in May. Calculations showed that ESPO loadings at Kozmino would increase by 7.5% on a daily average in July compared with June. Calculations showed that July is one day more than June. ESPO Blend Oil...

Officials and managers of companies have stated that Russia, the country with the largest reserves of natural gas in world, is looking for ways to use its surplus gas to run data centres. This comes as European exports continue to fall. According to calculations, the conflict in Ukraine caused Gazprom to see its gas exports to Europe reach a peak between 175 and 180 billion cubic metres in 2018-2019. By 2024, however, it is estimated that this will drop to only 32 bcm. This level will drop by half again in this year, following the suspension of Russian gas transit...

The Russian-owned Serbian Oil Company NIS asked the United States on Friday for a 4th waiver from sanctions that could reduce its crude supply. NIS operates Serbia's sole oil refinery. It is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom. The refinery has a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year, which is enough to meet the needs of most Balkan countries. On January 10, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions against Russia's oil industry and gave Gazprom a 45-day deadline to sell its NIS shares. NIS has secured three waivers so far, the third of...