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Natural Gas Pipeline

Transport Infrastructure

Transport Infrastructure

Oman, Netherlands and Germany reach agreement on liquid hydrogen import corridor

Tata Steel Nederland announced on Wednesday that major industrial groups from Oman and Germany, as well as the Netherlands, have signed an agreement to develop the first liquid hydrogen import corridor in the world. The group announced in a press release that the corridor would link the ports of Duqm, Oman, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and the key logistic hubs of Germany, including Duisburg. The aim is to allow the importation of liquid hydrogen that complies with RFNBO (renewable fuel of non-biological source) into Europe. Hans van den Berg is the CEO of Tata Steel Nederland. He said: "As a large buyer,...

Transport Infrastructure

The German LNG import terminals

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...

Passenger Transportation Services

OMV reports that the petrochemical plant in Schwechat near Vienna has broken down

The petrochemicals plant at Austrian Oil and Gas Company OMV's Schwechat Refinery near Vienna Airport broke down on February 2. This caused it to switch over to high-flare operation, which alarmed the passersby. It also prompted fire brigade calls. OMV's largest refinery, Schwechat, is one of Europe's largest. It has a capacity to process 9.6 million tonnes crude oil per year. Borealis is a petrochemicals company that's partly owned by OMV, and it's going through a merger. It has a production site next to the refinery. OMV released a statement that said, "On April 15, 2025, at 10:00 am (0800...

Transport Infrastructure

Bloomberg News reports that an Italian tycoon is the lead investor in CK Hutchison Ports

Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that Gianluigi Aponte, an Italian billionaire, is the main investor in a group looking to purchase 43 ports from the conglomerate CK Hutchison. Bloomberg reported that the Terminal Investment Ltd. (TIL) of the Aponte family, which according to their website manages a portfolio of diverse container terminals, will become the sole owner of the ports after the deal has been completed. Two of the ports in Panama would then be controlled by BlackRock Inc. BlackRock Global Infrastructure Partners, a subsidiary of BlackRock, will own 51% and TIL the remainder of the...

Transport Infrastructure

Under threat of ban, defendant in Trafigura fraud case accepts disclosure date

A court document shows that lawyers for Indian businessman Prateek gupta agreed on an April 16 deadline to disclose information in a longstanding fraud case brought against him by commodity trader Trafigura. The judge had threatened to ban him from representing the case further if he continued to delay. Trafigura of Geneva, a major industrial metals trader and oil company, sued Gupta for $600-million in fraud in February 2023. It claimed that it was the victim in a $600-million nickel cargo scam masterminded by Gupta, in which his companies also participated. Gupta has been granted several delays to comply with...

Transport Infrastructure

The oil loadings at Russia's western port ports fell by 6% between April 1-15

Data from trade sources and calculations show that oil loadings in Russia's western port over the period April 1-15 will fall by 125,000 barrels a day (bpd), compared to the same period last March, to around 1.86 million bpd. Calculations showed that the daily decline in exports and transits of Urals, KEBCO, and Siberian Light grades of oil from Primorsk to Ust-Luga, Novorossiisk and Novorossiisk during the first 15 April days will be 6%. As some refineries are undergoing repairs following drone attacks in March and February, Russia's oil output in April may fall below the March level. This means...

Transport Infrastructure

The German LNG import terminals

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 began a three-month bid round on April 4 to expand Mukran’s long-term capacity for regasification by offering 5 bcm extra...

Transport Infrastructure

Source: Russian court lifts suspension of Transneft Black Sea oil berth

An industry source said that a Russian court reversed on Monday the decision of a regulator to stop the operation of a Transneft-controlled oil berth in the Black Sea port Novorossiisk. Transneft announced last week that it had suspended the mooring no. 8 at Novorossiisk, for 90 days following a quick inspection by a transportation watchdog. The Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port is one of Russia’s biggest export outlets. Closing one mooring will not have a significant impact on its operations. Sources claim that the port was fined $2,322 for non-specific irregularities. Transneft didn't respond to a comment request. Last week,...

Ground Freight

Amazon's soy shipping route to Brazil is disrupted by protests and poor roads

In recent days, protests by indigenous peoples and poor roads disrupted the shipping of Brazil's bumper soya crop via the river port Miritituba within the Amazon rainforest. This has caused concern for global companies such as Cargill and Bunge who have important operations. Abiove, the association of grain handlers in Nigeria, reported on Friday that road access to Miritituba had been partially or totally blocked for two weeks. This has prevented the shipment of almost 70,000 tons per day of grain, equivalent to almost $30 millions of product value. In a statement issued jointly with the farm group Aprosoja Brasil,...

Transport Infrastructure

Caspian Oil Pipeline Consortium prepares for court battle with Russia over stoppage orders

Three industry sources said that the Western-backed Caspian Pipeline Consortium was preparing to take on a Russian court to challenge a regulatory order which has crippled their export capabilities and threatens to cut off oil flow to global markets. After a series of inspections in response to an oil spill that occurred on the Black Sea, the Russian transport regulator ordered CPC, which includes Chevron, Exxon Mobil and others, to suspend its operations at two moorings. A court in Russia will review the decision of the regulator. Sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the CPC intends to...

Transport Infrastructure

Norway's FSA claims that a firm issued fake insurance to Russian oil tankers.

According to Norwegian authorities, the insurance documents issued by a small Norwegian firm to cover up the forgeries were bogus. The documents were used to circumvent international sanctions and hide the age of the oil tankers. Romarine AS, a Norwegian-registered company, claimed to be an insurer. Their website listed dozens of tanks believed to be a part of Russia’s shadow fleet. This included vessels that were under Western sanctions. The FSA stated that the company is not registered by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (FSA) as an insurer. Western nations have sanctioned hundreds of ships that they suspect Russia...

Transport Infrastructure

Ukraine's grain exports to Romania through Constanta in January-February drop by 226,000 tons

The port authority reported on Wednesday that Ukraine had shipped 226,000 tons of grain to the Romanian Black Sea Port of Constanta during the first two months this year. This is a sharp drop from the 1.33 million tons it shipped in the same time period last year. The decline reflects Kyiv’s reliance on own ports, despite Russian attacks against infrastructure and shipping. However, Constanta remains Ukraine’s main alternative route for grain exports since Russia launched their full-scale invasion on February 20, 2022. The total grain exports via Constanta for the period January-February amounted at 2.55 million tonnes. Constanta is...

Ground Transportation

Passenger Ground & Sea Transportation

India's BluSmart, a rival to Uber, suspends its operations after a co-founder is investigated

The Indian electric taxi service BluSmart, a competitor to Uber, has suspended its services after an investigation by a market regulator found that a cofounder had misused funds in an affiliated company and purchased a luxury apartment using money meant for electric vehicles. BluSmart was a pioneer in India's clean-energy boom, but its abrupt suspension threatens the livelihoods of thousands of taxi drivers. It set up charging stations in cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, where it had more than 8,000 taxis to compete with Uber and Ola. Both ride-hailing companies rely heavily on gasoline-powered fleets. BluSmart sent...

Ground Freight

The LME now has 88% of Russian metal, up from 78% before.

LME data on Thursday showed that the proportion of aluminium with Russian origin registered in warehouses at the London Metal Exchange increased to 88% from 75%, and the percentage of Indian origin decreased to 11%. To comply with U.S., British and European sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the LME has banned all metals produced in Russia from its warehouse system after April 13, 2024. Metal made before April 13, 2024 can still be traded. Stocks of aluminium with Russian origin, or those on warrant The end-of-March figure was 200,700 tons, up from 155125 tons in February. The...

Passenger Transportation Services

Ukraine's Railways restores half of IT Services affected by Cyber Attack

Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukraine's state railways), the largest cargo carrier in the country, announced on Wednesday that only half of its IT systems had been restored after a massive cyberattack took place at the end of March. The first outage reported was on 23 March when the rail company informed passengers of a problem with its IT system, and encouraged them to purchase tickets in person or on trains. Later, the company said that its online systems were subjected a targeted large-scale cyber attack. Both a Ukrainian official of security and a senior source of the government, speaking under condition of anonymity...

Oil Pipeline

Transportation

Transportation

Siemens Energy increases outlook after exceeding forecasts in second quarter

Siemens Energy raised its outlook on Wednesday for the current financial year. It cited a strong performance across all its business areas, which provide equipment and service to the global energy industry. The group expects to increase sales by 13-15% in 2025 compared to 8-10%. The free cash flow before tax is expected to be around 4 billion euro ($4.55 billion). Siemens Energy cited a "positive development in business" without giving more context. The second-quarter profit of Siemens Energy before special items grew more than five times to 906 millions euros. This is a margin that beat the consensus by...

Transportation

By mid-July, the damaged Finland-Estonia submarine cable is expected to be back in service.

Fingrid, the Finnish grid operator, said that repair work on the damaged undersea electricity line EstLink 2 between Finland and Estonia is scheduled to begin in May. The line should be ready for commercial use by July 15. In December, Finnish authorities seized in the Baltic Sea a ship that was suspected of causing the failure of four internet lines and the underwater power cable. Fingrid announced in a press release on Wednesday that it was installing a new cable on the seabed, to replace the one already there. The distance is approximately one kilometer (0.62miles). Nexans is carrying out...

Transportation

Operator says UK power grid may face lowest demand ever this summer

The National Energy System Operator (NESO), which is responsible for the UK's electricity grid, said that the National Energy System Operator expects the power grid to be well-supplied this summer due to the renewable energy generation and the cheap imports of power from Europe. In its summer outlook for April to October, NESO stated that the electricity transmission network may need to operate below its lowest level ever at certain points. This would be less than June 2020, when COVID-19 lockdowns reduced electricity demand to below summer normal levels. The peak demand for electricity is expected to be 29,7 GW...

Transportation

In mid-2027, a new north-south German electricity line is expected.

The head of Germany's grid regulator announced on Tuesday that the A-Nord link had been approved. This means it will be operational in mid-2027, as part of a major infrastructure upgrade for transmitting wind energy from north to south of the nation. Klaus Mueller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur said he expects approval for a Second Line, Ultranet, to be granted in the second half year. This will show "the rightly anticipated network expansion is accelerated and made a reality". Mueller oversees the construction of 9,600 km (5,965 mi) of high voltage grids that are needed to help Germany use more...

Transportation

Kazakhstan's oil production fell in early April but was still higher than the OPEC+ quota.

An industry source said that Kazakhstan's oil production fell during the first two weeks in April compared to the average for March, but it is still higher than the OPEC+ quota after months of overproduction. Sources said that the central Asian country's crude oil production, excluding the gas condensate was down by 3% between April 1-13 compared to the average of March at around 1.82 million barrels a day. This is due to a decline at the Chevron Tengiz Field, they added. Kazakhstan, a country in the top 10 oil producers, has consistently exceeded the quotas established by OPEC+. This...

Transportation

Prices of oil are set to fall for the second consecutive week due to US-China trade conflict

The oil prices fell for the second consecutive week on Friday, amid investor concerns about a recession caused by the growing trade war between China and the United States. Brent crude futures fell 25 cents or 0.39% on the day to $63.08 per barrel at 1312 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude dropped 30 cents or 0.50% to $59.77. Brent and WTI will both decline by 3.8% and 3.5% respectively this week, after losing about 11% each last week. Brent fell below $60 per barrel this week, its lowest level since February 2021. Analyst Giovanni Staunovo of UBS said...

Transportation

Nigeria wants to drill again in oil-tarred Ogoniland

Due to pollution in the past, activists oppose drilling The government promises to increase the number of jobs and schools Experts say that new oil revenues could be used to fund the cleaning of old sites Bukola Adebayo Nigeria is resuming drilling. Tribal chiefs are gathering their families every Saturday to rally support for the government's plans to pump oil in Ogoniland. This ancient kingdom has been plagued by oil leaks, fires, and pollution over decades. Meetings can last late into the evening as tensions rise and tempers flare up between Ogoni elders and community leaders. He said that those...

Transportation

Investors reassess Trump’s tariff flip as oil prices drop over 3%

The oil prices fell by more than two dollars per barrel on Thursday. This erased the previous session's gains as investors re-evaluated a planned pause of sweeping U.S. Tariffs, and shifted their focus to an intensifying trade war between Washington, D.C., and Beijing. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures dropped $2.28 or 3.7% to settle at 60.07 per barrel. Brent crude futures dropped $2.15 or 3.3% to $63.33 per barrel. Both contracts gained more than 2 dollars a barrel after U.S. president Donald Trump suspended the heavy tariffs that he announced against dozens U.S. trading partner a week earlier, marking...

Transportation

Kyiv: Permit-free access to the EU for Ukrainian cargo is extended until year-end

Ukrainian officials announced on Thursday that a freight liberalisation deal allowing Ukrainian cargo into the EU without a transportation permit had been extended to the end of this year. Signed in 2022 the agreement eliminates the need for Ukrainian carriers for transit and bilateral transports to the EU to obtain permits. It also prevents Ukrainian exports from having to stop by road checkpoints. This arrangement is crucial in a situation in which Ukrainian Black Sea ports are blocked, which are key for imports and exports since the Russian invasion of February 2022. The sharp increase in traffic between Ukraine and...

Transportation

Ifx: Kazakhstan talks to oil producers about reducing output

Interfax reported Thursday that the Energy Ministry had been in contact with Kazakhstan's oil producers to reduce the output. The country was producing more than its OPEC+ quota. Kazakhstan has been pumping more oil than the limit set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, led by Russia, for several months. OPEC+ member countries have been pressuring Kazakhstan to reduce production to honor the agreed quotas. Interfax reported that Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said Thursday the country had exceeded its OPEC+ quota for March, but would fulfill its commitments by April and compensate partially for its earlier...

Transportation

Amprion, a German grid company, increases its five-year investment in renewables to 36.4 billion euros

Amprion, a German grid company, announced on Thursday that it will increase its investment in its transmission network to 40 billion euros in five years, up to 2029. This is to upgrade the lines and cables to allow for renewable electricity transmission. The amount represents a 32.4% rise from the 27.5 billion euro in the previous five-year rolling plan published last year. "We are well-positioned with our funding strategy," said CEO Christoph Mueller. He was referring to an 850 million euro increase in capital in late 2024, by shareholders including power utility RWE. Amprion, along with three other German companies...

Transportation

Oil prices drop as Trump escalates his trade war with China

The oil prices dropped by around 1% as U.S. president Donald Trump intensified his trade war against China. He also announced a 90 day pause in tariffs on other countries. Brent futures dropped 73 cents or 1.1% to $64.73 a barge by 01:08 a.m. GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures declined 49 cents or 0.8% to $61.86. On Wednesday, the benchmarks settled 4% higher after falling as much as 7 % during the session. Trump increased the tariff rate on China from 104% to 125%. This is effective immediately. China has also announced a new import tax on U.S....