Latest News
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Sources say that Russia's Primorsk Oil Port partially resumes loading after drone attacks
Two sources familiar with this matter reported that the Baltic Sea port Primorsk - a major outlet of Russian oil exports - partially resumed its operations on Saturday after being disrupted and damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks. The sources stated that Primorsk's capacity to load 1 million barrels per day is likely to be reduced due to damage. The sources added that they expect the loading schedule to be delayed several days. Sources said that only a few vessels loaded oil on the weekend. It was unclear if all berths are operational. Transneft Pipeline Operator, which manages this port, has not responded to our request for comments. According to LSEG, the tankers Kusto, Cai Yun and other vessels that were damaged during the attack of Friday remain at anchor in the vicinity of the port. Jan Harvey (Editing and Reporting)
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Nigerian conservationists are fighting to protect sea turtles in Nigeria from pollution and poaching
Conservationists fighting to save the turtles say that plastic pollution, fishing nets left behind and coastal development have taken a toll. "We are seeing a dramatic decline," said Chinedu Mogbo. The founder of Greenfingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative has treated and released over 70 turtles in the past five years. Mogbo stated that at least five threatened or endangered sea turtle species live in Nigerian waters. However, the exact number is unknown and monitoring resources are inadequate. Mogbo's team has saved Olive Ridley turtles, Hawksbill turtles and Leatherbacks. Mogbo’s group, which is mostly self-funded and works with local fisherman to save animals, has worked with them since its inception. "Fishers are in need of income." "We offer net repair kit in exchange for turtles or nests that have been rescued," he said at the turtle sanctuary of the group in Lagos, Nigeria's capital. Mogbo, a conservationist, said that the lack of marine protected areas, and the shrinking nesting sites, have made the coast a trap for turtles. He called on state authorities to take more action to protect these animals. The Nigerian environmental agency has not responded to any requests for comments. In Nigeria, the demand for sea turtle meat, eggs, and shells is high, for both consumption and for traditional rituals. "We eat the eggs, and give them sometimes to village elders as voodoo," says Morifat Hassan who sells seafood in the coastal region of Folu near Lagos. Hassan says sea turtles can fetch as much as 90,000 Naira ($60). Rescuers rescued a large green turtle that had been injured by a fishing net in July. He was named Moruf. Mogbo, after negotiating with the fisherman who discovered Moruf was able to deter people from trying to purchase the injured turtle. Mogbo, who was standing on the shore, said, "Normally, a turtle like this would be butchered, or sold. But we intervened, and will make sure it's returned to the sea safely."
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US natgas at Waha hub, Texas, falls into negative territory
The U.S. Natural Gas Prices for Monday in West Texas' Permian Shale Basin turned negative due to the fall pipeline maintenance. The financial company LSEG reported that the average gas production in the Lower 48 States has fallen to 107.6 bcfd so far in September. This is down from a monthly record of 108.3 bcfd set in August. The Waha Hub spot gas price has been boosted by traders who have noticed that the Permian Basin is flooded with gas due to the maintenance of the pipeline. The price of British thermal units (mmBtu), which was 6 cents on Friday, fell by 2,350% to a 17 week low of minus 1,26 dollars on Monday. This was the sixth time that Waha prices averaged less than zero in 2025. The previous averages were $1.66/mmBtu for 2025, 77c in 2024, and $2.91 in the five years prior (2019-2023). In 2019, the Waha price average was first below zero. This happened 17 times between 2019 and 2020, six times each in 2021, once in 2023, and 49 times on record in 2024. Analysts said that low prices are a sign that the Permian needs more gas pipelines. Some pipes are under construction including Kinder Morgan's Gulf Coast Express, Blackcomb, and Energy Transfer's Hugh Brinson. However, they will not be in service before 2026. The Permian Basin in West Texas, and Eastern New Mexico, is the largest and fastest growing oil producing shale region of the United States. With the oil, a lot of gas is also released. Energy companies are willing to accept some gas losses, even though U.S. Crude Futures have fallen about 12% in 2025. They can still compensate for the oil profits. Some energy companies are planning to cut back on the capital they spend this year on new oil drilling, as oil prices are expected to fall for a third consecutive year in 2025. This could eventually lead to less oil and gas coming out of the Permian. According to the federal outlook, U.S. oil production is expected to hit record levels in 2025, before declining in 2026. Scott DiSavino (Reporting) and David Goodman (Editing)
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Data shows that a ship carrying Russian oil with Adani banned switches to an Indian port
Ship tracking data revealed that the blacklisted vessel Noble Walker, carrying Russian oil, has changed its course and is now heading to India's Vadinar Port after Adani Group in India banned entry into Mundra port for ships on the sanctions list. According to data and shipping reports from LSEG, the Noble Walker was headed for Mundra until Friday, with about a half-million barrels of Russian crude oil bound for Indian refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd. The European Union and Britain have blacklisted the vessel for violating sanctions by transporting Russian oil. HMEL didn't respond to an email seeking a comment. According to LSEG, Mancera Shipping, which owns Noble Walker has no contact information. Adani has issued an order to bar vessels sanctioned by Britain, the EU and the United States from entering its 14 ports, including Mundra, in western India. The port is used by Indian refiners HMEL, Indian Oil Corp and others to import oil from Russia. After the Western sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India is now the largest buyer of Russian oil by sea. India has tightened its surveillance on vessels and transactions that involve Russian supplies. The majority of Russian oil is shipped by the so-called "shadow fleet" after the United States and EU imposed sanctions on vessels, traders, and companies to reduce Moscow's oil revenues, which are its lifeline. Spartan, another sanctioned tanker carrying 1,000,000 barrels of Russian crude oil, was anchored Monday near Mundra port. Kpler data indicated that the vessel was to discharge its crude oil at the port Monday. Reporting by Nidhi verma. Beijing Bureau contributed additional reporting. Editing by Florence Tan, Mark Potter and Mark Potter
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Alaska Air's third-quarter profits are expected to be at the low end of forecasts on fuel costs
Alaska Air said that it expects to earn a profit at the lower end of its forecast due to high fuel prices and operational challenges. Fuel prices have risen due to refinery shutdowns on the U.S. West Coast. Alaska expects to spend up to $2.55 a gallon, compared to its previous projections of around $2.45. Alaska also highlighted weather and air traffic management issues that are driving costs up, such as compensation for passengers and crew overtime expenses. Storms and an overstretched air traffic control system have led to costly disruptions in the U.S. aviation industry this year. Alaska also suffered a major IT failure in July, which disrupted hundreds and thousands of flights during the busy summer travel season. Later, the airline attributed the outage to an erroneous software update. Alaska expects to achieve its adjusted third-quarter profit per share between $1 and $1.40, which was the previous forecast. However, the airline pointed out that revenue trends were improving due to a strong premium demand as well as a rebound of corporate bookings. It said that unit revenue, which is a key indicator of pricing power was moving toward the upper limit of its previous forecast. (Reporting and editing by Sahal Muhammad in Bengaluru, with Shivansh Tiwary from Bengaluru)
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US and Europe trade billions of dollars with Russia despite sanctions
U.S. president Donald Trump stated on Saturday that he was willing to impose new energy sanctions against Russia, provided all NATO countries stopped purchasing Russian oil. The U.S., and the European Union, import Russian energy and commodities worth billions of Euros, from liquefied gas to enriched Uranium. The main commercial ties between the EU and U.S. with Russia and their evolution in the last four-years are listed below: EU TRADE WITH RUSSIA According to Eurostat's latest data, the EU has placed various import and export restrictions upon several products. This resulted in a 61% drop in exports to Russia, and an 89% decline in imports into Russia, between the first and second quarters of 2025. In the second quarter 2025, EU imports from Russia decreased while exports increased. This resulted in a trade surplus of 0.8 billion euro. The EU continues to buy oil, nickel and natural gas from Russia, as well as fertilizer, iron, steel, and iron ore. The EU ban on the maritime import of Russian crude oil has reduced the share of Russia to just 2.01% by 2025, down from 28.74% at the end of 2021. The share of oil imports from Russia dropped from 29% in 2021's first quarter to only 2% in 2025's second quarter. NATURAL GAS The share of Russian natural gas imported by the EU in 2025 dropped from 48 percent in 2021 to 12 percent in 2025's second quarter. Algeria (+2%), the EU's biggest partner, now accounts for 27%, of its natural gas imports. TurkStream, a Turkish-built undersea pipeline that supplies gas to Russia, still reaches some EU countries like Hungary and Bulgaria. As prices rose sharply, the value of EU imports from Russia of liquefied gas increased significantly between the first and second quarters of 2022. The share of LNG imported by the EU from Russia has decreased to just 14%, down from 22% during the first quarter 2021. In the second quarter of 2010, the United States had a share of 54% of the frozen gas that was shipped to Europe. IRON AND STAINLESS STEEL In the second quarter 2025, Russia's share of non-EU imports of iron and steel dropped to 6% from 18% in 2004. FERTILIZERS As of the second quarter 2025, Russia was still the largest fertilizer exporter to the EU of 27 nations, and the share of its market increased from 28% in the previous four years to 34%. The European Parliament voted to impose prohibitive duties on Russian fertilizer exports in May. However, these tariffs will be implemented in phases. It is still too early to determine their impact on the market. U.S. Imports FROM RUSSIA According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. imports of Russian goods fell from $14.14 to $2.50 billion during the first half of 2025. Since January 2022 the United States imported $24.51billion of Russian goods. FERTILIZERS In 2017, the U.S. imported approximately $1.27 billion worth of Russian fertilizers. This is up from $1.14 in 2021. URANIUM, PLUTONIUM In 2024, the U.S. will import enriched uranium (plutonium) and uranium from Russia for around $624 millions. This is down from $646 in 2021. PALLADIUM In 2024, Russia will export palladium worth $878 million to the United States. This is down from $1.59 Billion in 2021.
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Indonesia announces economic stimulus package of almost $1 billion
Indonesia announced on Monday a new economic stimulus program worth 16,23 trillion rupiah (989.33 million dollars), which includes food assistance and a programme to build infrastructure that could provide temporary employment for over 600,000. Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia's chief economist, told reporters that the stimulus measures would be implemented by the fourth quarter in 2025. He also said that some of the measures would be extended until 2026. Southeast Asia's biggest economy grew by 5.12% in the second quarter. This was its best rate of growth in two years. However, some policymakers have said that there are signs the economy will slow down in the third quarter. Airlangga, a reporter, said: "We hope that we can still achieve the 5.2% target for economic growth this year with this stimulus package." Airlangga announced that the government would give 10 kilograms to households in the fourth-quarter, eliminate personal income tax from workers in tourism, and allocate 5.3 trillion Rupiah in September to December for a scheme called "cash for Work" for over 600,000 people. Cash for Work schemes typically involve paying daily wages to people who are mostly from rural areas to work on infrastructure like roads and bridges. Airlangga stated that the stimulus package included a paid-internship programme for 20,000 graduates of universities and a discount of 50% on policy payments to state-provided insurance for work injury for motorcycle taxi drivers and trucks. Airlangga announced that the removal of personal income taxes for certain sectors, as well as the insurance scheme, will be extended until 2026. Airlangga stated that the government decided to keep the current tax rate in place until 2029. Airlangga stated that the government would also launch in 2026 a replanting program on 870,000 hectares of plantations, which will include commodities like sugar cane and cocoa. Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, the Finance Minister, said that the new measures would have no impact on the budget deficit forecast for 2025. The latest forecast for the deficit was 2.78% GDP.
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Gulf bourses mix in early trading ahead of Fed decision
Investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue its easing cycle this week. The markets are priced at 100% for a 25 basis point easing by the Fed. This would bring its key rate down to 4.0-4.25%. Futures indicate a mere 4% chance that it will be 50 basis points. The U.S. monetary policy changes have a major impact on Gulf markets where the majority of currencies are pegged with the dollar. Dubai's benchmark index rose 0.2% thanks to gains in consumer goods, utilities and industry shares. Gulf Navigation gained 3.2%, while Tecom Group increased by 1.8%. Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, also known as du fell 1%. Mamoura Diversified Global Holding, the shareholder of telecoms firm du, sold a 7.55% share in the company through a secondary stock sale for 3,15 billion dirhams (858 million dollars). Abu Dhabi's benchmark index gained 0.3%, as the majority of its constituents also posted gains. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank gained 1.4%, while Multiply Group increased by 2.1%. Space42's share price, on the other hand, fell by 1%. Space42, an AI-powered space tech company, and Viasat announced plans to create Equatys. This joint venture will enable global Direct-to Device (D2D). Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.2% due to pressure from healthcare and finance stocks. Al Rajhi Bank fell 1.8% after the world's biggest Islamic lender announced an interim cash dividend at SAR 0.75 per shares, down from SAR 1.25 a year earlier. Fawaz Abdulaziz Al Hokair & Co advanced 6%. The retailer announced on Sunday that it had signed a banking facility agreement worth 1.60 billion Saudi riyals ($426.53 millions) with Emirates NBD Bank-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for prepayment of debts. Qatar National Bank added 0.1% to the benchmark index, while Industries Qatar dropped 0.3%.
How much aid has been delivered to Gaza by the U.S.-built Gaza Aid Pier?
The U.S. built pier that was intended to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza has faced many challenges. It is expected to be permanently demolished.
Officials from the United States have stated that they will try to reinstall it to clear up a backlog in aid bound for Gaza, but then dismantle it permanently.
The project has been questioned by aid workers and others for years. They say that delivering supplies via land is the most effective way to reach Gaza where Israeli forces fight a war with the Palestinian islamist militant group Hamas.
The pier is described in detail.
Why was the Pier built?
The U.S. president Joe Biden announced in March a plan to build the pier, after warnings of famine spreading across Gaza, and increased difficulties in sending aid via land crossings. Most were closed by Israel for several months.
Biden announced the decision to calm the anger of many Democrats over his support for Israel's offensive in Gaza and the toll it took on civilians.
Gaza's 2.3m residents have seen their humanitarian situation rapidly deteriorate during the war, which began when Hamas-led gunmen launched an attack on Israel last October 7, triggering Israel's military response. Nearly all of Gaza's residents have been forced to leave the coastal enclave. Many people were displaced multiple times.
How is the PIER operated?
The floating pier, which is about 1,200 feet long (370 metres), is located just offshore to the north of Wadi-Gaza coastal wetland. The construction of the partially-preassembled pier in Ashdod port, Israel, began in April. The first aid began to arrive on May 17.
Cyprus, the country that spearheaded efforts to create a humanitarian sea route, has delivered food and other supplies to the pier.
Israeli officials have screened supplies in Cyprus, in the presence on Israeli officials who have carefully monitored aid going into Gaza. They believe that it could be used by Hamas.
The aid is then transported by ship to the pier before it is loaded onto trucks and driven to the coast.
It is a complex operation, with about 1,000 U.S. soldiers, some of whom are stationed at the pier. The Pentagon estimated the cost of the first 90-day operation at $230 million.
What problems has the PIER faced?
The pier was temporarily removed several time because of rough waters. The pier was once towed south to Ashdod, a port city in southern Israel, for repairs when a section of it broke off.
The delays in the distribution of supplies to Gaza have also slowed down the shipment. This process is risky and requires Israeli approval.
The marshalling area adjacent to the pier had nearly filled up when U.S. officials considered whether or not to reopen the pier following bad weather in June.
Supplies coming off the pier are sometimes seized or looted by Gazans who are desperate.
In June, the U.N. World Food Programme - which was responsible for overseeing aid distribution from the pier - halted its operations due to security concerns.
Some aid workers have expressed concerns that a U.S. military-operated pier could put the lives of humanitarians and their operations in danger because locals may question neutrality or view them as undercover agents.
The Pentagon tried to dispel false reports on social media that Israel had used a U.S. floating pier near Gaza for a hostage-rescue mission.
HOW MUCH ASSISTANCE HAS BEEN PROVIDED
U.S. officials reported that as of June 25, nearly 7,000 metric tonnes of aid had arrived via Cyprus in Gaza, the equivalent of approximately 350 aid trucks.
Officials from the aid sector say that about 600 trucks a day of commercial and humanitarian supplies are required in Gaza to meet the daily needs of the people.
Prior to Israel's military expansion in southern Gazan Rafah, in early May, the majority of aid was arriving in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt or the nearby Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. According to U.N. statistics, in April, an estimated 189 trucks crossed the Rafah crossing and Kerem Shamlom daily.
Air drops are another way to deliver aid. However, they only carry a few tonne of aid - much less than the amount that would be delivered by a truckload - and put civilians at risk.
In a March statement, a group 25 NGOs stated that states should not hide behind an airdrop and a maritime channel "to create the impression that they are doing sufficient to support the Gaza needs".
What is the future of Pier?
The pier has been given permission to continue operating until July 31. In June, a senior U.S. government official said that the pier could remain open for at least one more month.
Pentagon officials warned that the sea might become too rough to use the pier once the summer is over. (Compiled by Aidan Lewis and edited by Timothy Heritage).
(source: Reuters)