Europe

A company official confirmed that Syria signed a deal on Thursday with French shipping and logistic group CMA CGM for a 30-year partnership. The agreement includes the construction of a new berth in the Latakia Port and an investment of 230 million Euros ($260 million). Latakia is Syria's principal maritime gateway. CMA CGM took over Latakia’s container terminal from Bashar al Assad, the now deposed Syrian leader in 2009. Most recently, the contract was renewed for another 30 years in October 2024 under Assad. After the rebels overthrew Assad in December, the new authorities started talks about an amended agreement....

A government minister announced on Thursday that Turkey will build a canal to relieve the pressure on the Bosphorus Strait once funding is secured. This is despite widespread criticism about its potential environmental impact. The President Tayyip Erdoan laid the foundation for the canal in 2021. Its goal is to connect the Black Sea, north of Istanbul, to the Marmara Sea in the south. This will also prevent accidents on the Bosphorus. It was estimated that the initiative, which Erdogan called his "crazy" project when he announced it over a decade earlier, would cost around 75 billion liras ($1.9 billion)...

Calculations based on official sources and data showed that Kazakhstan increased its oil exports from January to March by 7%, to 19.51 million metric tonnes (1.63 millions barrels per day), thanks to an increase in supply via the Caspian Pipeline. The oil output and exports of Kazakhstan, a country that ranks among the top 10 oil producers, are in the spotlight. This is because the Central Asian nation has exceeded the quotas set by the OPEC+ group, which has angered several members, including Saudi Arabia. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium exports oil via the Black Sea from Kazakhstan. Drone attacks have...

Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, Germany has sought to import liquefied gas (LNG), to replace Russian gas piped to Germany. The first step was to deploy floating storage units (FSRUs), which receive seaborne LNG. Longer term, it planned shore-based regasification facilities and terminals to import and manufacture ammonia and clean hydrogen. Here are the latest updates: MUKRAN Gascade's OAL pipeline supplies the terminal on Ruegen Island in Baltic Sea with LNG. The private operator Deutsche ReGas announced on April 16 that there were no regasification slots left at Mukran until 2025. They said LNG carriers arrive...

According to LSEG data and traders, India's purchases of ESPO blend oil from Russia increased in April to their highest level since August 20,24 due to a decline in demand from Chinese companies. ESPO Blend, the flagship grade of light crude oil that Russia exports from Kozmino to Asian markets is most popular with Chinese refiners. Chinese state refiners reduced their purchases of ESPO blend oil in March and April due to sanctions against Russian companies, seasonal maintenance and other factors. This left more barrels for India, the second largest buyer of Russian oil. According to LSEG data and traders,...

Three trading sources reported that Greek shipowners have returned to the Russian Urals oil market, as the price has fallen below the Western price ceiling of $60 per barrel. This allows them to offer transport and insurance while still complying with the sanctions. The Group of Seven countries has introduced a price cap that prohibits Western companies from providing insurance or transport services to Russian oil above $60 per barrel sold at the port of loading. Since December 2022, most Western shipowners have avoided working with Russian oil because of relatively high oil prices that kept Urals near or above...

According to a notice on DET's site, the terminal's superstructure at the transhipment facility's jetty will reopen soon after scheduled repairs were completed last week. The regasification vessel Hoegh Esperanza had returned to its docking on the 26th of April at noon. The note from Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH stated that "the Esperanza is now connected to the superstructure, and will be soon able to accept the next LNG delivery, regasify and feed it to the German gas grid." Lower Saxony's state port operator dug at the site in order to maintain the necessary water depth. DET announced Friday that...

China's top regulator of the market said that it is closely monitoring CK Hutchison’s plans to sell most of its port operations to a BlackRock led consortium, and that parties should not attempt to avoid a review of antitrust. As trade tensions between the United States and China intensify, the sale of the Hong Kong conglomerate's two ports on the strategically significant Panama Canal has become a highly political issue. In a recent statement, the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that "no concentration of undertakings will be implemented without prior approval. Otherwise, legal liability may be incurred." The statement...

Three people with knowledge of the matter said that ByteDance is considering a large investment in a Brazilian data center to harness the abundant wind power on Brazil's northeast coast. Two sources, who requested anonymity in order to discuss confidential negotiations, said that the company was in discussions to partner with renewable power producer Casa dos Ventos in developing a facility at the Pecem Port Complex in the state Ceara. Discussions are taking place as Latin America’s largest economy tries to position itself as the global hub for a fast-growing industry of data centers, by leveraging its abundant renewable energy....

A senior official at Ukraine's State Rail Company said that the company anticipates that the government will increase freight transport rates soon, despite resistance from farmers and steelmakers. Ukrzaliznytsia announced last year that it would raise freight rates by 37% in order to cover significant increases in fuel, electricity, and equipment repair costs as it attempts to deal with the effects caused by Russian attacks. The agricultural producers, however, said that the move could cause some farmers to go bankrupt as it would increase their transport costs from $3 to $6 per ton. Rail.insider, a specialist media outlet, quoted Valeriy...

Trading documents revealed that Venezuela will export a new medium blend of crude oil this month. This is part of a strategy to prevent a collapse in its revenue-generating sales of oil once the licenses of the U.S. sanctioned OPEC members expire next month. Washington revoked a few licenses in March that it had issued in the past to partners and customers of Venezuelan state company PDVSA for cargoes of Venezuelan oil bound for Spain Italy India and the U.S. The U.S. Treasury Department has given the companies until May 27, to complete their operations in Venezuela and ship all...

Nikolai Patrushev is one of the Kremlin’s senior hawks. He said that the trust between Russia and the United States, the "great powers", should be restored. Moscow was also ready to resume its cooperation with America on the Arctic. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has shifted his focus towards Russia to try to end the three year war in Ukraine. He and his administration see China as the greatest threat to the United States. The Kremlin welcomed the opportunity to restore relations with the United States, after the confrontation about Ukraine caused what diplomats in both countries described as the...

InCommodities, a Danish commodity trader, said that better management of renewable assets on a short-term basis and by balancing the markets could help them integrate into Europe's power system overall and counter grid constraints. Wind and solar power are increasing in Europe, but their intermittent production is a challenge for grid operators. They need to balance supply and demand all the time. The blackout that occurred in Spain and Portugal last week was a stark example of the challenges facing European power grids. These grids require trillions in dollars of investment to keep up with the growing green energy output....

The European Union is expected to announce on Tuesday a roadmap for the phase-out of the remaining gas ties between the EU and Moscow. However, in the absence sanctions, it will be hard for gas buyers to terminate contracts by using legal options like force majeure. A spokesperson for the Commission confirmed Monday that EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen will present the roadmap on Tuesday at Strasbourg. The U.S. has been pushing Russia to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine. The deal, if reached, could reopen doors for Russian energy as well as ease sanctions. Around 19% (or more) of...

Calculations showed that the Russian energy giant Gazprom’s pipeline gas exports into Europe fell by 44% between January and April compared to a period a year ago after the closure of transit via Ukraine in January 1. Calculations showed that the Russian pipeline gas exports into the region fell to 5.7 billion cubic meters (bcm), from 10.2 bcm during the same period of 2024. The only remaining transit route for Russian gas pipelines to Europe is the Turkey after Ukraine decided not to renew a five-year deal with Moscow that expired in January. The calculations based on the data of...

The energy minister announced on Friday that Portugal supplies electricity to its clients using its own resources, as the power exchanges between Portugal and Spain are still suspended due to an investigation into the cause of the blackout this week. On Monday, Spain experienced a massive outage of its electricity grid. This also caused a power outage throughout Portugal as it imported cheaper renewable energy from Portugal. After a meeting online with her Spanish counterpart Sara Aagesen, acting Energy Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said to reporters: "For the time being, we will continue without exchanging electric with Spain, as...

The German spy agency classified the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD), on Friday, as "extremist". This allowed it to intensify monitoring of the largest opposition party in the country. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution's (BfV) decision was based on a confidential 1,100-page report prepared by experts. According to the security officials that have seen the report, here are some key findings and evidence: Anti-Migrant Incitement Officials from the parties often refer to citizens with immigrant backgrounds as "passport Germans", and use terms like "population replacement" when describing what they claim is the impact of mass...

Three traders reported that the freight rates for ESPO blend crude shipped from Russia's port of Kozmino into China in April fell to their lowest level since mid-January due to increased availability of tankers. The lower rates will mean that Russian exporters spend less money on freight and get more oil for their money. The freight rates for the route are now around $2-3 million per cargo for April loadings, down from $4-5 million in February and March. This is because more non-sanctioned tanks have entered the ESPO marketplace. Calculations based on data from three trading sources revealed that the...

On Wednesday, Spain's grid operator denied that solar power was the cause of Spain's worst blackout in history. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is under increasing pressure to explain why it happened. After a blackout which halted trains and airports, and trapped Spanish in lifts, life has returned to normal. Sanchez's critics blamed low investment for a system heavily reliant on intermittent solar power and wind. Sanchez announced an investigation by the government and stated that he wanted answers from private companies who feed electricity into the grid. He said that he had not ruled out the possibility of a cyber-attack,...

The need to replenish Europe's storages that were two-thirds empty following the winter will keep the market tight, and demand an increase in the supply of liquefied gas, according to Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor. Equinor is the continent's biggest gas supplier. The European gas storage sites have ended winter heating at their lowest levels since 2022. This is due to the colder weather, lower wind speeds and increased demand for gas. Opedal stated that Europe will need 200-300 additional LNG cargoes than last year. He said that gas storages in Europe are low and that a tighter market is...

A massive blackout in Spain, Portugal, and parts of France has halted trains and bank machines, as well as traffic lights. It was one of the biggest power system failures ever seen in Europe. Cyber Attack? The Spanish grid operator Red Electrica has ruled out cyber attacks as the cause, but the High Court of Spain said that it will open an investigation in order to determine the reason. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Red Electrica said on Tuesday that just because it had ruled out any cyber attacks on its systems did not mean they could not have occurred....

The massive power outage on Monday reminded the Portuguese and Spaniards of their dependence on electricity in modern life and how they can be rendered helpless in an instant. Some people were trapped in lifts during the eight-hour power outage that began around midday. Others had to descend multiple flights of stairs with their phones as light. Metros and trains came to a complete halt. People were either trapped in carriages for hours by electric doors, or forced out to walk, jump over the tracks and pick their way across. Ana Cordero, a Puerto Rican tourist, was stranded for three...

ENTSO-E - the European power grid lobby - has demanded that Germany split its 25-year-old single electric market into five zones of price bidding. This is to prevent intra-German prices from leaking out to neighboring countries. As a six-month period of consultation began on Monday, here are some facts and considerations. Why has the topic been brought to the forefront? The European Network Companies' Group argues in its Bidding Zone Review that dividing Germany into zones will increase efficiency and lower management costs both inside and outside Germany. It said that a scenario based on conditions in 2019 showed that...

A massive blackout in Spain, Portugal, and parts of France has prompted a search for the cause. The outage, which halted traffic lights, trains, and bank machines, was one of Europe's largest ever power system failures. Cyber Attack? Portugal's Premier Luis Montenegro said that there were no signs of a cyberattack. However, both countries continue to investigate all possible hypotheses. EXPLAINATIONS SO FAR In a Monday night statement, Spanish grid operator Red Electrica pointed out a "strong fluctuation in the flow of power" that caused "a very substantial loss in generation." The electrical system was not designed to handle this...