Middle East

Israel will buy two Boeing KC-46 aerial refueling tankers for $500 million, which will be financed by U.S. military assistance. The Israeli Defence Ministry announced this on Wednesday. The Israeli government said that it would sign a contract with the U.S. Government once the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Defence Procurement gives its approval. The U.S. oversees the foreign military transfers and sales to other countries. In a recent statement, the Ministry of Defence said that four Boeing-made KC-46 aircraft are already in service. Amir Baram, Director General of the Ministry, said that the aircraft will strengthen the military’s long-range tactical...

Turkish Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has accepted its offer to acquire a minority stake of Spanish airline Air Europa. In June, the Turkish flag carrier announced that it had begun non-binding discussions about a possible Air Europa investment. It then revealed earlier this month that they were in the process preparing a legally binding offer. Turkish Airlines issued a late-night statement on Tuesday to the Public Disclosure Platform stating that Air Europa had accepted the offer. The process now moves to the preparation and commencement of the official closing procedures. It said that the transaction involved an investment...

Turkish Airlines still has a strong interest in purchasing a stake in Spanish carrier Air Europa, and is preparing a legally binding offer. A company executive stated this during a earnings call held on Wednesday. "We will be presenting a binding proposal very soon." We are not yet at that stage. "We will make public the decision and approval of the board as soon as it is made," said the executive. Turkish Airlines' investor relations and financial executives answered questions during the earnings call. The executive stated that the primary reason for interest in the Spanish carrier was that it...

A spokesperson for the German Group announced on Tuesday that Lufthansa had abandoned its plans to bid for an interest in the Spanish airline Air Europa. This comes only one week after Air France KLM also announced that it would be pulling out of the bidding process. Turkish Airlines is the only bidder known to exist. British Airways' owner IAG has a 20% stake but after years of discussions, failed to gain regulatory approval for the full takeover. After thorough analyses and intensive negotiations, at this point we have decided to refrain from further engagement in a capital contributions and...

Transport services were halted in Tunisia Wednesday as workers demanded better working conditions, higher wages and urgent reforms. This added pressure to President Kais Said to address the deepening crisis. Tunisians have suffered from poor public services for many years, particularly in the sectors of health, education, transportation and investment due to a lack of funding and public investments, as well as frequent interruptions in water and electricity supply. Saied, a man who has been in power since 2021 and tightened it, accuses those he believes are conspirators, seeking to undermine the government and exacerbate social tensions. The three-day strike...

Jozsef Varadi, the chief executive of Wizz Air, said on Thursday that the budget carrier plans to reach full capacity in Israel by the end of September. This will allow it to become the largest carrier in the country. Hungary's airline announced earlier that its first-quarter profit was below expectations due to plane groundings and the instability in the Middle East, which forced frequent airspace closings and impacted travel demand. Wizz Air halted Israeli flights during the Israel-Iran War in June. The airline plans to resume its flights on 8 August, although Ryanair said that it would not be returning...

Gulf stocks fell across all key markets on Monday as investors weighed concerns about U.S. policy in light of an upcoming deadline for tariffs and lower oil prices against strong corporate earnings. According to EU diplomats, the European Union is looking at broader countermeasures against Washington as the prospects for an acceptable trade deal with Washington are fading. The imposition of tariffs by Donald Trump around the globe could harm global economic growth as well as oil consumption. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell 0.3% on the back of broad sector declines, and lower oil prices. This was after it...

Four companies have submitted bids to rebuild an 83 km railway in central Croatia and build a new track. This is the largest rail project the country has ever undertaken, estimated at 620 million euro ($725m), according to a state infrastructure company. HZ Infrastruktura announced on its website that the reconstruction of Dugo Selo - Novska will be financed by funds from the European Union. HZ Infrastruktura reported that a consortium consisting of Ashoka Buildcon Ltd., Serneke International Group AB, and Konkan Railway Corp Ltd. offered to complete the work at a cost of 780 million Euros. Afcons Infrastructure Ltd...

The Kremlin announced on Monday that the Russia-Azerbaijan relationship is going through a tough phase, but Moscow hopes they will recover. Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani president, said on Saturday that he wants Russia to publicly admit it accidentally shot down a passenger plane from Azerbaijan in December last year, killing all 38 people aboard, and punish those responsible. In recent weeks, tensions between Moscow and Baku also increased following the death of two Azerbaijani men who were in Russian police custody. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said that the relations between Russia and Ukraine were built on a solid basis of...

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said that Russia-Azerbaijan relationships are going through a difficult phase. However, Moscow is hopeful of an improvement, as both countries have common interests. In recent months, tensions between Moscow and Baku grew after several ethnic Azerbaijanis were detained in Russia. Two of these Azerbaijanis died in police custody. Ilham Aliyev said on Saturday that he wants Russia to publicly admit it accidentally shot down a passenger plane from Azerbaijan in December of last year and killed 38 people. He also wants to punish the responsible parties. At the time, President Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev over...

Investors weighed positive corporate earnings against the uncertainty of U.S. Trade Policy, following reports that Washington wants a minimum tariff of 15% to 20% in any agreement with the European Union. In spite of global uncertainty, the steady price of oil and strong results from regional giants helped to offset external headwinds. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index is on track to end its longest decline in two years with a 0.2% gain, driven by financials. Saudi National Bank, which is the country's largest lender based on assets, gained over 1.5%, while Al Rajhi Bank (the largest sharia compliant bank) jumped...

The London-listed low cost carrier Wizz Air is planning to resume flights at Warsaw Modlin Airport, in central Poland, after a 13 year hiatus. It plans to deploy two planes there starting December, said operations officer Roland Tischner on Friday. Wizz Air announced on Monday that it would be closing its Abu Dhabi operations, allowing it to move capacity across Europe. After a runway malfunction at Modlin, the airline moved its operations in 2012 to Warsaw’s Chopin Airport. After successful negotiations and discussions and agreement with Modlin Airport management, we will deploy two new Airbus neo aircraft to Modlin Airport...

The Turkish company Karpowership announced on Wednesday that it had signed a contract to supply Iraq with 590 megawatts to stabilize its national grid. Iraq, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the world's largest oil producer, has struggled since 2003 to provide power to its citizens following the U.S. invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein. Karpowership stated in a press release that the initial contract signed with Iraq's Ministry of Electricity and General Company for Electric Energy Production is for 71-days. It added that two floating power plants docked at Khor Al Zubair port and Umm...

Azerbaijani statistics showed that Azerbaijan exported 16.2 million tons of oil via the Baku, Tbilisi, and Ceyhan pipelines in January-July, a drop of 5.9% compared to a year ago. The route had been contaminated with tainted crude oil. BP operates the Azeri Chirag and Guneshli Oilfields. The BTC pipeline runs through Georgia into Turkey. Exports are down because of a gradual decline in Azerbaijani oil reserves. Last month, organic chloride was detected in Azeri BTC cargoes. This pushed the price differentials down to their lowest level in four years and delayed loading. Oilfields use organic chloride to increase extraction and...

Azerbaijani statistics showed that Azerbaijan exported 16.2 million tons of oil via the Baku, Tbilisi, and Ceyhan pipelines between January and July, a 5.9% decline from the previous year. The route had been contaminated with contaminated oil. BP operates the Azeri Chirag and Guneshli Oilfields. The BTC pipeline runs through Georgia into Turkey. Exports are down because of a gradual decline in Azerbaijani oil reserves. Last month, organic chloride was detected in Azeri BTC cargoes. This pushed the price differential to its lowest level in four years and delayed loading. Oilfields use organic chloride to increase extraction and it must...

Officials have confirmed that when U.S. president Donald Trump hosts the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia at the White House this Friday, it will culminate with the signing of an agreement for peace, which includes exclusive U.S. rights of development to a strategic corridor running through the South Caucasus. Since the late 1980s, Armenia and Azerbaijan are at odds. This is because Nagorno Karabakh - a region of Azerbaijan that was populated primarily by ethnic Armenians - separated from Azerbaijan. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan gained independence from the Soviet Union by 1991. Peace could be achieved in the South...

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...

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...

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...

Alparslan Bayraktar, Energy Minister at the state-owned Anadolu News Agency, said that Turkey will begin supplying Syria with natural gas as of August 2. Azerbaijan will also be involved in exports through Turkey's Kilis Province. Ankara has become the main foreign ally of the new Syrian Government. It is also positioning itself as a key player in Syria’s reconstruction. In May, during a trip to Damascus, the Turkish Energy Minister Bayraktar said that Turkey would supply Syria with 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, along with 1,000 megawatts. In a statement made this month, he said that...

The press service for the president of Kazakhstan said that the two leaders discussed a possible increase of oil exports from Kazakhstan via the Baku, Tbilisi and Ceyhan (BTC), oil pipeline. The statement did not provide any additional information. "The delegations talked about issues of energy cooperation, including the prospects for increased exports via Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan oil pipe." Tokayev visited Turkey to attend a high-level meeting of the strategic cooperation council between Turkey and Russia. The agenda included cooperation on power generation, agriculture, and mining. According to state statistics, Kazakhstan increased its oil exports via BTC by 12% in the...