Latest News
-
Maersk tests Brazilian-ethanol blend to make cleaner marine fuel
Maersk, a Danish shipping company, announced Monday that it is testing a mixture of Brazilian ethanol blended with marine diesel and methanol - also known as "bunker". This blend will be used to power its vessel engines in an effort to further reduce carbon emissions. Why it's important This initiative could help open up a new market to the Brazilian ethanol industry, while also reducing the carbon footprint of maritime shipping. At present, this sector accounts for approximately 3% global greenhouse gas emissions. By the Numbers Maersk, which accounts for 15% of the world's maritime shipping market is currently testing a fuel blend that contains 10% ethanol. The fuel blend could generate a demand of 50 billion liters per year if the entire industry adopts it. Brazil's production is expected to be around 35 billion liters this year. KEY QUOTES Danilo veras, Maersk Latam's Vice President of Regulatory Policies said: "This is the very first time that ethanol has been burned in a four-story two-stroke engine. It's a new level of research and concern." CONTEXT Veras says that Maersk chose Brazilian ethanol as a test, because it is derived from sugarcane fields or corn, if corn-based. This reduces the potential impact of deforestation. What's Next? Maersk plans to complete the ethanol blend test in methanol powered vessels by October 23. Bunker fuel tests will follow. If the tests are successful, Maersk will begin negotiations with Brazilian ethanol producers such as Raizen, Copersucar Inpasa FS Atvos. (Reporting and writing by Roberto Samora, Fernando Cardoso, Lisa Shumaker).
-
Burgum, US Interior secretary, says that the key Alaska LNG pipeline study is expected to be completed in this year.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced on Monday that the backers of an 800-mile (1 287 km) proposed gas pipeline in Alaska, championed by U.S. president Donald Trump, expect to finish a major engineering and cost study before the end of this calendar year. It has been discussed for years, but Trump's desire to increase U.S. fossil fuel development has given it new life. The pipeline is the result of a joint venture by Glenfarne, a U.S. energy company, and Alaska Gasline Development Corporation. Glenfarne announced earlier this year that it would make a decision about the project by 2025. It had also hired Australian engineering company Worley to produce a Front-End Engineering and Design study (FEED), which is a cost and engineering estimate. Burgum spoke at an American Petroleum Institute event. Trump, since returning to office in 2017, has pledged to advance the mammoth plan to transport gas from Alaska’s north to be chilled before being shipped overseas as liquefied gas. Glenfarne representatives, AGDC representatives and Worley representatives were not available to comment immediately. Reporting by Valerie Volcovici, Washington; Nichola Groom, Los Angeles. Editing by Sonali Paul.
-
Morocco expects modest economic growth, but a 5.5% budget increase in 2026
The Moroccan finance ministry submitted Monday to the parliament of the country a draft budget for 2026 totaling 761.3 billion dirhams (83 billion dollars), an increase of 5.5% over a year earlier. According to the government's draft budget, the country expects the economy to grow at a slower rate next year, down from the 4.8% it grew in 2025. This is due to uncertainty on the global markets and a projected average grain harvest. In its budget for 2026, the government stated that it would prioritize improving health and education as well as reducing regional inequalities. Protests led by youth In recent weeks, anger about public services has spread throughout the Kingdom. The document shows that the Moroccan government expects the public investment to rise by 12% next year to 380 billion Dirhams, mainly due to spending on infrastructure, such as ports, airports, and railways, in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2030. Document shows that the country's fiscal surplus is expected to decrease to 3% of its GDP by 2026, from 3.5% in 2018, as increased tax revenues continue to offset higher public investment expenditure. The estimated financing needs for 2026 are 48.744 milliards dirhams, a decrease of 23.26% compared to 2025. Reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi, editing by Mark Heinrich & Paul Simao
-
Longacre Square and AI startup InvestorSight announce partnership
Longacre Square Partners, a corporate advisory firm, has formed a partnership with InvestorSight - a startup that uses artificial intelligence to analyze investor behavior during takeovers and board battles. InvestorSight is a company co-founded by Dartmouth Professor Mark DesJardine, and data scientists. It has developed the first interactive tool that models how institutional investors and mutual funds are likely to respond to different corporate situations. This tool can be used to collect advanced data including the voting patterns of investors in previous contests to determine a company's or an activist investor's vulnerability. InvestorSight, a tool interactive that allows users to model different outcomes, is offered by many institutions including investment banks. The introduction of the new board comes as activist investors target both large and small companies, pushing them to update their boards or even consider selling themselves. Longacre was founded in 2021, by Greg Marose, Dan Zacchei and Bausch & Lomb. It advised hedge-fund Politan on its successful proxy battle at Masimo and activist investor Ancora in its campaign to elect director and push management changes at Norfolk Southern. DesJardine joins Longacre's board of advisors. (Reporting and editing by Svea HerbstBayliss)
-
EIA reports record US natural gas exports into Mexico
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Monday that U.S. natural-gas pipeline exports to Mexico in May 2025 averaged 7.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), the highest monthly volume ever recorded, as Mexico's natural-gas demand increases. The EIA reported that the annual average of U.S. natural-gas pipeline exports to Mexico in 2024 was 6.4 bcfd, which is a 25% rise compared to 2019 and also the highest ever recorded in data dating back as far as 1975. The EIA reported that "Total consumption in Mexico has increased from 7,7 bcfd in 2019-2024 to 8,6 bcfd in the same period. Most of the growth is concentrated in the electric power sector in Mexico." It also noted that natural gas enters Mexico through four main corridors: South Texas, West Texas Arizona and California. The combined capacity of these four export corridors is approximately 14.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) with an approximate utilization of 43% by 2024. The EIA reported that in 2024, pipelines exports from West Texas and South Texas would account for 91% (or more) of U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico. This report stated that there are many factors that limit the exports of gas, the main ones being the limited capacity for storage and the lack of pipeline infrastructure in Mexico. It also noted that the recent commissionings of connecting pipelines throughout central and southwest Mexico have helped to facilitate this record-breaking rise.
-
Prague bans shared electric scooters from 2026 due to 'chaos on the sidewalks'
The deputy mayor of Prague has criticised the electric scooter rental option as causing confusion on the sidewalks. The city council approved Monday a new regulatory overhaul concerning shared transportation options in the city with 1.4 million residents whose cobblestoned street and rich history will attract more than 8,000,000 tourists by 2024. The regulation will only apply to bikes, both electric and pedal, but not escooters. This effectively ends the sharing of escooters. "The end of the electric scooters has been approved!" Zdenek Hirb, the national Pirate Party's chairman and deputy mayor of Prague City Hall in charge for transport, spoke on X Monday. "We're introducing rules to clear the public space of uncontrolled scooter traffic. This was used more in the city center as a tourist attraction rather than a mode of transport, and created chaos on sidewalks and pedestrian zones." Prague has joined other popular European tourist destinations that have cracked down on eScooters over the past few years. In Italy, cities have implemented strict safety regulations, including helmets and insurance, while in Paris and Madrid, rentals are banned. Finland prohibits under-15s to use them. The city of Prague has responded to complaints by residents about the dangers associated with scooters that whizzed past on sidewalks, parks or blocked sidewalks and street parking spaces when they were not in use. The city wants to encourage more people to use shared bike services. However, e-scooters have a higher accident rate than bicycles. Lime, a major operator of shared electric scooters in the city, expressed regret over the decision. Vaclav Petr, Lime's director of country in the Czech Republic, told CTK that scooters can serve citizens very well when there is a "constructive dialog" between operators and cities. Lime didn't immediately respond to any further questions.
-
Air France CEO: avoiding Russia airspace compounds China rivalry
Air France-KLM CEO said that on Monday, western European airlines needed more favorable regulation as the requirement to fly around Russian airspace places them at a disadvantage compared to their Chinese competitors. Ben Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, said in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as well as with French newspaper Les Echos and Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Schohr that having to avoid Russia adds two to two-and-a half hours to flights from Europe to Asia. All costs associated with the extra flight time are to be paid by the customer. Smith added that customers don't necessarily want to spend an extra two hours on a flight already very long to Asia. He claimed that Chinese airlines' faster access to Europe was a "gift", while western airlines were at a competitive disadvantage. Both Smith and Spohr supported a proposal from the U.S. Government to deny access to U.S. Airspace to any airline which continues to fly over Russian airspace.
-
Archer Aviation signs deal with Korean Air for eVTOL Air Taxis
Archer Aviation announced on Monday that it had signed a partnership agreement with Korean Air for the commercialization of its electric air taxis throughout South Korea. The potential purchase of 100 aircraft is possible. The deal reflects a race between electric vertical takeoff and landing developers who are racing to secure airline partners, win regulatory approvals and move from prototypes into paid service. Early U.S. trading saw shares of Santa Clara-based company rise 6%. Aerospace startups and incumbents are both promoting short-haul flights and airport transfers to replace congested ground transportation. However, the sector is still battling certification issues, infrastructure development and uncertain timelines for profitability. Archer stated that the agreement targets deployments of Midnight eVTOL across "multiple applications and use cases" starting with government applications. The aircraft was designed for flights of 10-20 minutes and two of the highest altitudes were achieved in a recent series of test flights. Archer, a company backed by Boeing and Stellantis and owned by IndiGo and United Airlines in India, produces six aircrafts at two U.S. facilities. Archer, a company that has yet to make a profit and is still in the red, expects a loss adjusted EBITDA of between $110 million and $130 million for the third quarter. This loss will be higher than last year's loss of $93 million. Archer announced last week that it had won the bid to purchase Lilium's patent portfolio of approximately 300 patent assets related to advanced air mobility for 18 million Euros ($21 million), bringing its portfolio to more than 1,000 patent assets.
What are airlines carrying out in reaction to Cathay Pacific's Jet A350 engine failure
A number of airline companies are performing preventive evaluations on their Airplane A350 fleets after Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific found 15 aircrafts that needed fuel line repair work following the inflight failure of an engine part.
The issue occurred on a five-year-old Plane A350-1000, which uses Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB-97 engines, however some carriers are also checking the more popular A350-900 airplane which use a different engine model.
The European Union Air Travel Security Agency (EASA) on Thursday provided airlines between 3 and thirty days to perform visual checks and measurements on the fuel houses in A350-1000 engines. The A350-900 is not impacted.
Here is what airline companies are doing, divided by the design of the aircraft:
A350-1000
Cathay Pacific, which has 48 A350 jets, identified 15 aircraft that required the replacement of engine components that were set to be completed by Saturday. It did not define which designs were being repaired.
Japan Airlines (JAL), which has 5 new A350-1000s, said on Thursday it had actually checked those engines and discovered no problems. It will do additional evaluations on the airplane based on a Service Publication provided by Rolls-Royce.
Qatar Airways stated on Friday it was carrying out evaluations of its 24 A350-1000s after it received a regulation from EASA and Rolls-Royce.
UAE's Etihad Airways, which has 5 A350-1000s, said it was checking engines across its A350 fleet and had up until now not discovered concerns.
Virgin Atlantic, which operates 12 A350-1000s, stated on Friday it has actually received an Airworthiness Regulation to check the XWB engines, adding that it is working closely with Airplane and Rolls Royce. Examinations should trigger very little disruptions to the group's flying program, it stated.
British Airways, which has 18 A350-1000s, has not commented on the scenario.
A350-900
A representative for JAL stated the Tokyo-based carrier had likewise performed voluntary evaluations of its A350-900 airplane as a. safety measure and no problems were discovered.
Air China, a significant A350-900 operator, will. perform basic engine checks, reported Caixin, a Chinese. company and economics publication.
Singapore Airlines, which has a fleet of 63. A350-900 airplanes, said it was inspecting the engines on its. airplane but there was no influence on flights.
Delta Air Lines, which has 30 A350-900s, stated the. airline company runs its global operation with the high requirement of. look after security, dependability and care that we constantly do.
Thai Airways, which has 23 of them, said its. professionals continuously examine the scenario and make engine. checks frequently.
(source: Reuters)