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Urals oil prices steady as traders assess impact of new European sanctions
The differential between Urals crude and Brent dated remained unchanged on Monday as traders awaited the impact of European sanctions on Russian oil supplies. The UK imposed new sanctions Monday on Russia's "shadow fleet" that includes 135 oil tanks, as well as two Russian companies: shipping company Intershipping Services LLC, and oil trader Litasco Middle East DMCC. The EU approved Friday its 18th package against Russia which includes sanctions against Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy. Nayara Energy condemned Monday the European Union sanctions against it and said that it was exploring its legal options to combat the latest "restrictive actions." After the latest round sanctions, Indian private refiners who have used cheap Russian crude as a way to boost their margins will need to find ways to work around it and rely on traders more to find new markets. PLATTS WINDOW On Monday, there were no bids or offers made on Urals, Azri BTC Blend or CPC blend in the Platts Window. China's crude oil imports from Russia dropped 1% from a year ago to 8,35 million metric tonnes or 2,03 million barrels per a day, according to data released by the Chinese Customs on Sunday. * Russia's biggest oil producer Rosneft announced on Monday that the former Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada was re-elected to be company chairman. Mark Porter (Reporting)
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FAA investigates SkyWest Jet's near-miss with B52 bomber above North Dakota
Federal Aviation Administration announced on Monday that it is investigating the near-miss between a SkyWest Airlines plane and a U.S. Air Force aircraft over North Dakota, last week. SkyWest Flight 3788 was an Embraer ERJ-175 that operated as a Delta Connection from Minneapolis to Minot in North Dakota. The flight landed safely at Minot last Friday after performing a turn-around on its landing approach because another plane appeared in its flight path. The Air Force confirmed that a B52 aircraft from Minot Air Force Base flew over the North Dakota State Fair last Friday. The Air Force confirmed that they are investigating the matter. According to a passenger's video posted on social media, the SkyWest pilot said that he was taken by surprise by the incident, which prompted him to take aggressive action to avoid a collision. SkyWest has not yet commented on the video, or confirmed its accuracy. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA are investigating a close call that occurred on March 28, involving a Delta Jet and a group Air Force jets in the vicinity of Reagan Washington National Airport. A Delta Airbus A319 jet, involved in the incident, received a cockpit warning that another aircraft was near. Controllers then issued corrective instructions for the Delta jet and the military jet. Four Air Force T-38 Talon aircraft were performing a flyover at Arlington National Cemetery when the Delta plane was cleared to leave. In a preliminary report, the NTSB stated that there was confusion over when traffic controllers should have halted during the flyover. Since the January 29 collision between an American Airlines regional plane and an Army helicopter near Reagan National that killed 67 people, there has been a focus on military traffic near civil aircraft. Early May, the FAA Army helicopter flights banned Around the Pentagon After Another way to say it is: Near miss (Reporting and editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao, and David Shepardson)
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Alaska Airlines warns that more flight delays are likely after IT outage
Alaska Airlines warned Monday of further flight disruptions after an unexpected failure in a crucial piece of hardware caused it to stop all flights for three hours late Sunday. As of 10:45 am, the Seattle-based carrier had cancelled 66, or 7%, of their scheduled flights. 110 flights, or 12% of them, were delayed. FlightAware data shows that the ET time zone is currently GMT. Horizon Air, a subsidiary of the company, was also experiencing flight delays. The airline has cancelled more than 150 flights since Sunday night. It was prompted to request an all-system ground stop on Alaska and Horizon Air at 8 p.m. Pacific Time. Around 11 p.m. PT, its operations were resumed. Alaska Airlines said that additional flight disruptions were likely due to the repositioning of aircraft and crews across its network. The IT outage has nothing to do with any current events and is not a cyber event. A critical piece of hardware in its data centers was unexpectedly faulty. It was manufactured by a third party. Alaska said that the failure affected several of their key systems and required a ground-stop to maintain aircraft position. It said that it was working with its vendor to replace hardware at the data centre, but did not specify the location. Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh and David Shepardson in Chicago; editing by Aurora Ellis
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Four companies compete for Croatia's biggest railway project
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 submitted a bid of 677 million euros, while Turkish companies Dogus Insaat ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (also known as Dogus Insaat ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi) and Cengiz Insaat Sanavi ve Ticaret A.S. bid 990 and 873 millions euros respectively. HZ Infrastruktura stated that the bids would be evaluated within the time limit set by law, and a contract would only be signed once the most economically advantageous offer was selected. The estimated duration of the project is six years. ($1 = 0.8592 euros)
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Abu Dhabi passenger traffic increases 13% in the first half despite regional challenges
Abu Dhabi Airports announced on Monday that passenger traffic increased by 13.1% to 15,8 million passengers in the first six months of the year. This is despite the periodic disruptions in air travel in the Middle East due to conflicts. The airport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, handled the majority of traffic. It had 15.5 million passengers. This was an increase of 13.2% compared to the first half last year. In the six-month period ending June 30, the number of flights at AUH rose by 11.4%, to almost 94,000. Abu Dhabi Airports announced that new airlines have joined their network, increasing the number of destinations to China and India. They also noted the demand for tourism and business travel. These increases were made despite disruptions, including a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran that took place last month. This war forced the closure of airspace in several Gulf countries and forced airlines and airports to reroute and suspend some flights. Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi’s main airline, temporarily cancelled flights to Kuwait, Doha and Dammam in Saudi Arabia and suspended Israel-bound flights during a few weeks of June. Last week, Wizz Air announced that it will cease its Abu Dhabi operations on September 1, citing various factors such as geopolitical instabilities. In a press release, Abu Dhabi Airports CEO Elena Sorlini stated that "the first six months of the year presented some operational challenges." She added that the results of the company demonstrated the resilience and strength of its network. Abu Dhabi Airports operates Al Ain International Airport as well as Al Bateen Executive Airport. Delma Island Airport is also operated by Abu Dhabi Airports. Reporting by Luke Tyson Editing Mark Potter
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Flexjet is valued at $4 billion following funding by LVMH-backed private investment firm
Flexjet announced on Monday that it raised $800m in a funding led by L Catterton. This private equity firm is backed by LVMH. The deal valued the U.S. Jet operator at $4billion, just two years after a failed deal with Todd Boehly’s SPAC. Funding comes at a time when more private companies are seeking to remain private and have greater control over their decisions, less regulatory scrutiny, as well as access to private capital. The round was also attended by affiliates of KSL Capital Partners, LLC, J. Safra Group, and other companies. This is a significant increase over the $3.1 billion that Flexjet had originally planned to raise through Todd Boehly’s blank-check company Horizon Acquisition Corp. II by late 2022. The deal fell through the next year. Flexjet wants to expand its fleet with an emphasis on larger aircraft, international flights and other services. Following a $7 Billion Deal with Embraer For 182 Phenom or Praetor Executive Jets with 30 additional options. JPMorgan analysts forecast that the deal will increase Embraer’s total backlog of about 26%, to $28,7 billion. Flexjet intends to double its fleet over the next five-year period. Kenn Ricci, Flexjet Chairman, said: "L Catterton offers the perfect opportunity to collaborate in areas such consumer insights, retail expansion and luxury product delivery." Flexjet, founded 30 years ago, provides fractional ownership, leasing and jet cards in the private aviation industry. Directional Aviation is the new owner of Flexjet, a private equity firm. Financial Times was first to report the funding round. Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru and Pritam Biwas; editing by Rashmi aich and Tasim zahid
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Putin announces that foreign vessels will need to be approved by the FSB before entering Russian ports
According to a presidential decree, foreign vessels must be approved by the FSB to enter the Russian ports. In the decree, it was stated that the FSB (the main successor organization to the Soviet KGB) would be the one to agree with port authorities to allow foreign ships entry. The decree came into effect immediately. Previously, the Transport Ministry set entry rules and there were special procedures in ports near naval bases. It was clear that the new decrete would be applicable to all ports. The new decree did not give any explanation for the change. The West closely monitors Russian ships, including those of the shadow fleet that Moscow uses to avoid sanctions. The European Union lowered sanctions last week. Price cap Donald Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on Russia for its efforts to squeeze oil revenues Additional sanctions On Russia and its buyers unless they agree to end the Ukraine War.
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Kremlin admits Azerbaijani relations are strained, but hopes for a recovery
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 common interests. Sometimes, there are tough times in the relationship between the two nations. "This is one of those periods, and we are hopeful that it will pass," he said to reporters. (Reporting and writing by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Mark Trevelyan).
Mexico does not see any reason why the US should impose sanctions against airlines
Sheinbaum pointed out that the United States had not yet informed her government in writing of any possible sanctions against Mexico's aviation sector. She said she did not see a reason why the neighboring nation would take such measures.
The comments follow the U.S. Department of Transportation's announcement on Saturday that it would respond to Mexico's decision of cutting flight slots and forcing cargo carriers to move operations to Mexico City. This will affect U.S. Airlines.
Sheinbaum stated in her daily press briefing that there was no reason to sanction Mexico for the changes made to its airport system.
Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary, said in a Saturday statement that the department could reject new flight requests by Mexican carriers if it is not addressed concerns about airport decisions made in 2020 and 2022.
According to a statement, the department will propose that Delta Air Lines withdraw its antitrust immunity for its joint venture Aeromexico in order to address concerns about competition.
(source: Reuters)