North Asia

Two traders reported that the freight rates for Russian oil from its Baltic ports into India have fallen from recent records highs due to an increase in Western shipowner offers after Urals crude prices dropped below a price ceiling of $60 per barrel. The Group of Seven, in coordination and cooperation with the EU imposed a price cap on Russian oil at over $60 per barrel in late 2022, blocking access to Western shipping and insurance services. This was done to limit Moscow's financial ability to fund its Ukraine War. After reaching a record high in early March, the cost...

Shiptracking data shows that a ship carrying Russian crude from three smaller tanks under U.S. sanction unloaded at a Chinese harbor last week, ending a month-long journey that highlighted the efforts made by producers and traders in order to keep Moscow's oils flowing despite tightened restrictions. Two people with knowledge of the situation said that the Panama-flagged Daban was one of the dozens of nonsanctioned ships drawn to the Russian Oil Trade by fat margins after the U.S. Sanctions of January 10. The vessel was berthed at a private-owned Qingdao Haiye Group berth in the port of Qingdao. Kpler data...

Shiptracking data shows that a ship carrying Russian crude from three smaller tanks under U.S. sanction unloaded at a Chinese harbor last week, ending a month-long journey that highlighted the efforts made by producers and traders in order to keep Moscow's oils flowing despite tightened restrictions. Two people with knowledge of the situation said that the Panama-flagged Daban was one of the dozens of nonsanctioned ships drawn to the Russian Oil Trade by fat margins after the U.S. Sanctions of January 10. The vessel was received by a privately-controlled Qingdao Haiye Group berth in the port of Qingdao. Kpler data...

Data shows that a second tanker subject to U.S. sanction is moored at the Syrian port Banias, and could deliver a cargo of diesel from Russia. This comes as Moscow and Damascus are strengthening their ties. Moscow supported former Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad for more than 10 years of civil war, but now wants to improve its relations with Ahmed al-Sharaa as it wants to keep the two Russian military bases in Syria. According to LSEG, the Barbados flagged Proxima with approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of diesel left Primorsk back in February. It is currently drifting near Banias as it...

The majority of jet fuel onboard Stena Immaculate's cargo, which is US-flagged, was intact and did not leak, Stena Bulk, the vessel owner, said on Wednesday. On Monday, the Portuguese flagged Solong container vessel crashed into a tanker transporting jet fuel to the U.S. Military. The British police arrested Solong’s captain a day later on suspicion of gross negligent manslaughter. Stena Bulk Chief Executive Erik Hanell said, "There is no fire on the Stena Immaculate any more." In the next 24 to 48 hours, we will have a clearer picture of the entire salvage operation. Hannell stated that two of...

Calculations showed that the Russian Urals crude price in Baltic ports dropped to $6 per barrel under the Western price cap, which is $60 per barrel. This was the lowest level since January 2024, as Brent prices continued to be weak and freight rates high. According to the cap, which was imposed by the Group of Seven and Australia in 2022 to reduce Russia's oil export revenue, buyers are only allowed access to Western services, such as insurance and shipping, when the price of Russian crude falls below $60 per barrel. LSEG data show that the price of uranus in...

The Ukrainian authorities reported that a Russian missile strike on Tuesday destroyed a grain ship in the Black Sea Port of Odesa and killed four people. Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine's Deputy Premier, said that a ballistic missile hit the MJ Pinar Bulk Carrier, which was loading wheat to Algeria. The attack killed four Syrians, injured another Syrian, and also injured a Ukrainian. Kuleba stated that "Russia is attacking Ukraine’s infrastructure, including its ports, which play a role in ensuring food security around the world." The global grain merchant Louis Dreyfus Company stated in an email that the vessel was loading at...

These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Headlines Container ship strikes tanker in North Sea carrying jet fuel for the US Navy OpenAI signs $12bn contract with CoreWeave NHS England plans to cut central staffing by 50% Marco Rubio: Ukraine must make territorial concessions to reach a peace agreement View the full article A container ship struck an anchored tanker that was carrying jet fuel to the U.S. Military in the North Sea, triggering explosions. The 37 mariners aboard the vessel were rescued. OpenAI has...

The rates of shipping Russian Urals oil to India from ports on the Baltic Sea and Black Sea rose to their highest level since March 2024, following U.S. sanctioned against tankers that were involved in Moscow’s energy exports. Trading and shipping sources and calculations also showed this. Sources said that the demand for tankers has been pushed higher by the expected rise in oil exports, partly because of the increase in CPC blends. After the U.S. sanctioned 183 tankers, Urals crude freight rates began to increase in January. The higher freight costs result in lower revenue for Russian oil sellers...

The price of Russian Urals Crude Oil in Indian Ports has eased slightly, for barrels arriving March. The market expects supplies to increase as Turkey shipments decline, traders reported on Tuesday. LSEG data and traders' reports show that February Urals crude oil loadings to Turkey from Russia's western port ports fell to their lowest level in the past two years, after Turkey's biggest oil refiner, Tupras stopped buying Russian oil. Sources in the trade said that Russia diverted Urals cargoes to Asia - primarily India - during February. India is the biggest importer of Urals sea cargoes. In Indian ports,...

According to LSEG and four sources, the Russian agricultural conglomerate Rusagro began exporting sunflower oil via the St Petersburg Terminal (PNT) at the Baltic Sea in order to alleviate bottlenecks that exist at Black Sea ports. Russia, which is the largest wheat exporter in the world, aims to increase its agricultural exports 50% by 2030. As the Black Sea ports are limited, Russia has turned to its Baltic ports. These ports are typically used for crude oil and refined products. According to LSEG's ship tracking data the first cargo of sunflower oil at PNT was loaded on a tanker named...

STG Engineering is a Russian firm that operates the Tartous port in Syria. The company said that they were continuing their work as normal and that their contract was not cancelled as some Middle East media had reported. Three Syrian businessmen, as well as media reports in January, suggested that the new Syrian ruling administration had canceled the contract signed by former President Bashar Al-Assad. He fled to Moscow after a lightning rebel attack in December. The semi-official Syrian paper Al-Watan quoted Riad Jourdy at the time as saying that port investment contract was annulled because the Russian company had...

One of the topics on the agenda is a possible relief in the sanctions against Russia, which includes its vast energy sector. The oil and gas sector is a major source of revenue for Moscow. It has been under Western sanctions since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. These sanctions were tightened considerably after Russia invaded Ukraine 2022. Washington announced its most severe round of sanctions in January 2010. Here are some implications of a possible reversal. RUSSIA TRADE with US and EU Before the war, Russia was the biggest supplier of fuel oil in the United States. It...

Shell's annual report, published on Tuesday, said that the outcome of a Russian prosecution asking Shell to pay Gazprom 1,5 billion euros ($1.62billion) for alleged unpaid deliveries of gas in 2022 was "uncertain". Shell had a number of projects in Russia, before Moscow sent troops into Ukraine to conduct what they called a "special military operation" in February 2022. Shell had a stake on the Pacific Island of Sakhalin, which is controlled by Kremlin Gazprom. Shell left Russia after Russia took control of the plant as a result of sanctions imposed by Western countries. This meant that Shell had ended...

The fire that raged at an oil depot hit by a drone in southern Russia for the fifth day on Sunday, according to the regional administration, continued to burn as firefighters attempted to put out the flames at the facility, which delivers Russian crude into the Caspian Pipeline. Russia accused Ukraine of being responsible for the drone attack that took place on 19 March, claiming Kyiv violated a ceasefire proposed on attacks against energy sites. The depot is only a few kilometers away from the Kropotkinskaya Pumping Station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which was also struck by a drone...

The Kremlin announced on Monday that the Russian moratorium on attacking energy infrastructure in Ukraine was still in effect despite reports of Ukrainian attacks against Russian energy infrastructure targets. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters that Russia is monitoring the situation. The United States can do the same thing and reach its own conclusions. In a phone call on Tuesday, last week, the Russian president Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counter-part Donald Trump agreed to observe a 30 day ceasefire on Ukrainian targets for energy. Peskov replied that "there haven't been any other orders given by the president"...

According to LSEG, a government official and local television, two tankers that have been hit by U.S. Sanctions are expected to deliver Russian Arctic Oil to Syria for the very first time. This comes just days after Moscow delivered its first diesel to Syria in over a decade. According to pro-government Syria TV and a government source, one of the tankers Aquatica with 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil aboard is expected to unload at Baniyas soon. According to the television report and a government source, the vessel arrived on Friday, but it has not yet been unloaded. LSEG data...

The Russian Defence Ministry accused Ukraine on Friday of blowing up an important Russian gas pumping station and metering facility near the Ukrainian border, as Ukrainian forces fled the Kursk area that they had controlled in parts since August of last year. The ministry stated that the facility near Sudzha in Russia, which was once used by Gazprom for exporting gas to Europe via Ukraine, was under control of Kyiv forces "until recently" and had been used as a logistic base. The ministry issued a statement saying that the explosion of a Russian energy facility in the Kursk area by...

Kazakhstan's oil production has reached a new record this month, thanks to the expansion of oilfields. This is a further increase over OPEC+ production quotas. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two leaders of OPEC+, have pressed for a reduction in output after repeatedly exceeding their quotas. It is difficult for the government to convince U.S. major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron to reduce production from Kazakhstan's largest fields, after these companies invested tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in expanding their projects. After a series of difficult discussions about OPEC+ compliance, the Energy Minister of the...

Authorities in the region said that an explosion rocked a Russian oil depot where firefighters were trying to put out a fire which broke out following a drone attack by Ukraine earlier this week. Officials said that during the extinguishing procedure, an explosion occurred due to the depressurisation. Burning oil was also released. They added that the fire had spread to a second tank and increased the area to 10,000 sq m (108,000 sq ft) - which is more than double the original size of the fire. Two firefighters had been injured and more than 450 firefighters tried to put...

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Ukraine has already violated the proposed ceasefire in energy sites during the three-year war by attacking an oil depot. According to Russia's TASS News Agency, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on state television Channel One, that it was up the United States to confront Ukraine for its actions, as they had proposed the ceasefire. The Kremlin announced this week that Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed to a 30-day truce on energy targets during a phone call with Donald Trump, his U.S. counterpart. The agreement fell short of the wider agreement sought by the...

Russia and Ukraine both accused each other of air attacks on Wednesday that caused fires and destroyed infrastructure, just hours after the leaders had agreed to a temporary ceasefire in order to stop attacks on energy infrastructure. In a phone call on Tuesday with Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that the Russian military would temporarily cease attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure. However, he declined to endorse an official 30-day ceasefire requested by Trump. Since the Russian invasion of 2022, Ukraine's energy sector has been the subject of massive attacks. Ukraine has responded by launching drone strikes on Russian oil...

Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance in Russia, said that the country intends to revive major privatisation plans in 2025. It also expects to raise over $1.2 billion through selling assets confiscated by courts. Moscow, shunned since the start of the conflict in Ukraine by Western capital, has sought ways to encourage more private investment at home, improve economic efficiency, and ultimately boost budget revenues, as Russia is spending heavily on the war. Siluanov told Rosimushchestvo (Russia's federal agency for property management) that "we had big privatisation proposals". "In our opinion, this is the right time to bring the issue back...

The captain of the container ship that collided with a U.S. oil tanker off Britain's East Coast earlier this week appeared before an English court Saturday and was charged with gross negligence. Vladimir Motin was the captain of the Portuguese flagged Solong, which hit the Stena Immaculate tanker carrying military jet fuel on Monday morning. Motin appeared in Hull Magistrates' Court Saturday, after being charged on Friday night, over the death Mark Angelo Pernia (38), a Filipino national who was a member of the Solong crew. Amelia Katz, the prosecutor, said that the Solong had been travelling at over 15...