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Oil prices increase after EU sanctions against Russia
As investors considered new European Union sanctions on Russia, crude oil futures increased and gasoil futures reached a 17-month peak. Brent crude futures rose 73 cents or 1.05% to $70.25 per barrel at 1151 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures rose 83 cents or 1.23% to $68.37. Brent crude futures premium for low-sulphur gasoline The spread was at its highest level since February 2024, with a $3.50 increase to $27.27. This represents an almost 15% increase. The EU has agreed on an 18th package of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine. This includes measures to deal further blows to Russia’s oil and energy industry. Diplomats said that the latest sanctions package would lower the G7 price cap on buying Russian crude oil from $47.6 per barrel to $47.56. EU diplomats have said that the EU will no longer import petroleum products derived from Russian crude. However, this ban does not apply to imports coming from Norway, Britain and the U.S. Kaja Kallas, the EU's chief of foreign policy, said on X the EU had designated the Rosneft refinery in India that is the largest as part the measures. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo stated that a ban by the EU on fuel imports made from Russian crude as well as low stocks in north-west Europe could lead to higher gasoil futures. According to Kpler, data analytics company, the EU and UK imported 196,000 barrels of refined fuel per day from India in this year. The majority was diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. Europe imports more diesel and jet fuel from other regions than it produces. Janiv Shah, vice president for oil markets at Rystad, said that the market is concerned about the lack of diesel supplies into Europe. India was a major source of barrels. Investors considered the impact that the change in price caps and vessel designations could have on the crude market. Investors await news from the U.S. about possible new sanctions, after President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on buyers who buy Russian exports until Moscow agreed to a peace agreement in 50 days. Analysts at Commerzbank said that "it is now time to wait for any major changes" in U.S. tariffs and sanctions policy. The U.S. did not support Europe's latest sanctions package. This leaves the EU with a limited ability to enforce these measures. Aldo Spangjer, analyst at BNP Paribas, said: "We expect limited impacts from the lower price caps and tanker sanctions. Landed prices for diesel could increase slightly due to greater logistics issues in getting products into Europe. But we think that enforcement challenges will limit the impact on flow." The prices could have also been supported by reports that the Iraqi federal government had not announced a resumption of Kurdish oil shipments immediately, despite its announcement on Thursday. Reporting by Robert Harvey, London; Siyi Liu, Singapore; Editing by Emelia Sithole Matarise and David Goodman
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Barcelona, Europe's most popular cruise port, will reduce its capacity amid concerns about overtourism
Barcelona's port, Europe's busiest cruise ship port, will reduce its passenger terminal capacity to a minimum by 2030. The city is trying to curb the surge in arrivals, and also address the concerns of overtourism. City hall and the port authority agreed to reduce the number terminals from seven to five by the end of this decade. This will lower the port's ability to simultaneously handle cruise ship passengers from 37,000 to 31,000. Official data revealed that Barcelona saw a 21% rise in cruise ship visits and a 20% increase in passengers from January to May this year compared to the same period last year. This was a rapid acceleration, after passenger numbers had grown by a total of 20% between 2018 and 2024. In the Spanish city, there have been protests and discussions about overcrowding. "For the very first time ever, there are limits on the number of cruise ships that can enter the city", Mayor Jaume Colboni announced the agreement. Last year, the left-wing Mayor said he wanted to negotiate a new agreement with the port authorities in order to reduce the number one-day cruises. This was to prevent overcrowding of cultural landmarks like the Sagrada Familia Basilica. Three terminals are being combined under the new plan. The port will give priority to cruise ships using Barcelona as their homeport for arrivals and departures, and encourage tourists and locals to spend longer in the city. The port stated that the refurbishment will facilitate connecting ships to local electricity grids, reducing emissions. European Union regulations on carbon emission reduction have set a deadline of 2030 for the installation of infrastructure in maritime ports that will provide onshore electricity. A study released this week said that most European ports have not installed them. Reporting by Corina Pous and Joan Faus Editing and Frances Kerry by Andrei Khalip
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Wizz Air resumes flights from Poland’s Modlin Airport
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 starting in December," Tischner stated at a Warsaw conference. Modlin will be connected to eight countries via the new routes: Athens (Sardinia), Barcelona, Bergamo (Bergen), Brindisi (Chisinau), Malta, Palermo and Paphos. Ryanair announced last week that it plans to triple the number of passengers served at Modlin Airport to over 5 million per year by 2030. (Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Writing: Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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Mexican truck drivers learn English to comply with the new US language regulations
Mexican truck drivers from the border city Ciudad Juarez are studying English to comply with a President Donald Trump executive order that requires commercial drivers to be proficient in English. To meet U.S. standards, 50 truck drivers hauling goods between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso in Texas attend four to eight hours a week of English classes organized by their employers, Fletes Sotelo. Manuel Sotelo said that classes began six weeks ago and the goal was to have all drivers of the company know basic English. Sotelo also serves as the president of Ciudad Juarez's transport association. Jose Murguia said that he felt the classes offered a wonderful opportunity, particularly in light of the recent executive order. He said, "It is important to be able to speak the language at least to the extent that it is necessary to our work which involves transporting goods into El Paso." The English proficiency standard for truckers is a long-standing U.S. Law. However, Trump's April executive order reversed the 2016 guidance to inspectors that they not remove commercial drivers from service if all their violations were due to a lack of English. The executive order was issued in March, shortly after Trump's order mandating English to be the official language of United States. This executive order was criticized for being discriminatory, since millions of Americans do not speak English or other languages.
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Sources say that the restart of Iraqi Kurdish oil exports is not imminent.
Sources close to the issue said that, despite Iraq’s federal government stating on Thursday that oil shipments would be resumed immediately, there is no imminent restart. Baghdad has been in talks with Erbil since February to resolve a standoff that has stopped oil flows from the northern part of Iraq to Turkey's Mediterranean Port of Ceyhan. Before the pipeline's closure in March 2023, the KRG produced about 435,000 barrels of oil per day. The federal government announced on Thursday that Iraqi Kurdistan will resume oil exports through the pipeline into Turkey immediately despite drone strikes that have closed down half the region's production. A source from APIKUR - a grouping of oil companies operating in Kurdistan - said on Friday that the restart of production was dependent on receiving written agreements. A second source at KAR Group which operates the pipeline said that no plans had been made to restart. Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Anna Hirtenstein Writing by Alex Lawler Editing David Goodman
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Analyst: Ukraine has stored 9 billion cubic meters of gas.
ExPro, an analysis firm, said that Ukraine had over 9 billion cubic meters (bcm), or around 29% of its total storage capacity in underground storage as of Friday July 17. It said that the reserves were 13.9% lower than the same period in last year and at their lowest level for the past 12 years. After Russian missiles damaged the production facilities to the east of Ukraine, Ukraine was forced to increase gas imports and withdraw more gas from storage this winter and in the spring. ExPro reported that gas injection volumes were higher than the previous year. Since July 1, more than 940 mcm has been pumped in to storage facilities. Last month, the energy minister stated that Ukraine would need to import at least 4,6 bcm (billion cubic meters) of gas in order to heat its homes during winter 2025/26. (Reporting and editing by PhilippaFletcher; YuliiaDysa)
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Maguire: Trump's efforts to bring coal back may be in ashes
The U.S. president Donald Trump has identified the coal industry as one of the key drivers for U.S. dominance in energy. However, there are no new coal plants currently under construction and utilities found cheaper and faster ways to increase power supplies. In the early months of Trump's new term, the president has issued several executive orders as well as allocated federal funding to revive the coal mining and energy sectors. U.S. utilities prioritize renewables, battery power, gas, and nuclear energy over new coal-fired capacities based on cost and efficiency. The coal export market is also limited in growth potential. This is because Australia and Indonesia, who are much larger exporters, have a quicker and cheaper way to reach key buyers in Asia. Asia is the only region that has seen a sustained rise in coal demand. Even with the strong support of the federal government, it is likely that the U.S. Coal sector will struggle to achieve any sustained growth in the near-to-medium term due to the global shift towards cleaner energy sources. AVOIDING AGING OUT The U.S. has retired six times as many coal power plants than it has built in this century. This highlights the magnitude of the challenges facing even the most passionate coal bulls who are trying to revive the industry. Global Energy Monitor (GEM) data shows that between 2000 and 2024 in the United States nearly 166,000 megawatts of coal-fired capacity will be retired. Even though 26,000 MW worth of new coal plants in the U.S. have been built since 2000, Sandy Creek Energy Station (in Texas) was the first to come online more than a decade ago. According to Ember, this has led to a 42% drop in coal-fired power generation capacity in the United States over the past quarter century. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 80% all coal-fired power plants in the United States were built between 1950-1990. Over 75% of remaining plants have already exceeded their lifespan by 40 years or more. Some power networks delayed the closing of older plants, arguing that they would prevent a potential shortage of power. The Trump administration has also exempted a number of coal plants from the new emission standards that would otherwise have forced them into closure within the next decade. The power sector has been consuming less coal, as more plants are being retired and replaced with other types of generation. The Energy Institute reports that since 2000, the amount of coal consumed by the electricity sector has decreased by 65%. The utilities are not interested in building new coal-fired power plants because there are so many other options that generate electricity more quickly, cheaper and with less emissions. COAL CRUTCH EIA data show that the drop in coal-fired U.S. electricity has resulted in a sharp decline in domestic coal mining output. It has fallen by more than half since 2000, to just under a half billion short tons of coal in 2024. In 2023, the states with the highest coal production were Wyoming (237 millions tons), West Virginia (85.5 million tons), Pennsylvania (43.5 million tons) and Kentucky (128 tons). EIA data show that the decline in mine production has led to a steep drop in the number of coal miners. The EIA shows that this figure peaked in 2011 at around 96,000, but will fall to about 45,500 in 2023. Layoffs have affected every major coal-mining state, but some are harder hit than others. Kentucky's coal employment has dropped by more than 70% since 2011. Pennsylvania and Virginia also saw a drop of nearly half. EXPORT CHALLENGE These mass layoffs, which primarily affect Republican "red" state coal miners, have made the coal industry a powerful political force. Candidates are now able to highlight their pro-industry credentials. Trump has been a great example of this. The Trump administration, in addition to encouraging power networks in their use of coal for generation, has approved recent mine expansions in federal land to boost supplies to Japan and South Korea. Kpler data shows that 80% of the global coal consumption comes from Asia. This makes it a logical choice to target this region, given its buyers account for more than half of U.S. thermal coking coal shipments. The U.S. can only increase its market share so far in the region, since rival exporters like Indonesia have a huge advantage when it comes to shipping costs and times. According to LSEG, the journey time of a coal shipment from Westshore Export Port in British Columbia – the main exit port for coal mined throughout the Western U.S. – to Japan takes around 15 days. The journey from Indonesia's largest coal exporting point to Japan takes nine days. Indonesian coal exporters are able to offer a combination of lower coal prices and higher cargo volumes. This is a very attractive package for large scale importers. This means that U.S. suppliers will only be able eke out small sales to Asian buyers while larger exporters are able to secure more regular and large trade flows with utilities in the region. This will leave the coal mining industry struggling to sustain demand for its product, despite Washington DC's support. These are the opinions of a columnist who writes for. You like this article? Check it out Open Interest The new global financial commentary source (ROI) is your go-to for all the latest news and analysis. ROI provides data-driven, thought-provoking analysis on everything from soybeans to swap rates. The markets are changing faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on You can find us on LinkedIn.
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Spain's energy lobby demands higher returns on grid investments
Aelec, the lobby for power utilities in Spain, warned that a proposal from Spain's competition regulator CNMC - to increase the guaranteed return on investment in power grids up to 6.46% - is not sufficient to prevent Spain losing capital to other nations. The massive blackout in Spain and Portugal that occurred on April 28, has reignited the debate on the need for investment and return on investments to the power network of the countries. In exchange for grid investments, power companies receive a guaranteed return of 5.58% in Spain. The rate is paid by the consumers through their electricity bills. Aelec stated that the return on investment for electricity distribution would be approximately 7.5%. This is in line with rates applied in other countries. Marta Castro told reporters that "we run the risk of attracting investment and capital from Spain away to other European Union nations, thus jeopardizing the implementation of energy transition investments." The new remuneration period will be 2026-2031. The CNMC proposal will be open for feedback until August 4th. REE, a grid operator in Spain owned by Redeia and managing the trunk grid as per government plans, carries out all investments. Iberdrola, Endesa and other power companies control and invest locally distributed grids that deliver electricity to final consumers. In recent years, energy giants such as Iberdrola or Enel have focused more on upgrading and expanding power grids and less on renewable energy projects. (Reporting and editing by Pietro Lombardi, Emma Pinedo and Frances Kerry.)
Lawyer for Greek owner of cocaine-loaded ship seized in 2023 says that he denies the charges
His lawyer stated on Friday that the former Greek owner of a cargo vessel, which was seized by Spain 2023 after it was found to have carried more than four tonnes of cocaine and coffee beans from Latin America into Europe, denied any connection to drugs.
The Spanish authorities found cocaine worth approximately $200 million aboard the Blume vessel, which was then Greek-operated and Togo-flagged, when they intercepted it in January 2023 off the Canary Islands. This was one of Spain's largest cocaine hauls for that year.
The crew was arrested and Blume, the ship that had left Brazil to go to Russia, was taken by them to Tenerife. This week, Greece detained the former owner of Blume, 68 years old, along with his son, 24 years old, and a female. The suspects were brought before a prosecutor on Friday to answer charges, including running an international drug-trafficking group since at least 2021. Sakis Kehagioglou said that "the main investigation and potential trial will prove my clients' innocent", adding that the crew was convicted in the case. The detainees have not been named by the Greek authorities. Court documents seen by.
Documents show that Blume had been monitored for a long time before it was intercepted. The British police received a tip-off about the drug operation on September 20, 2022. Spanish police examined Blume's records and concluded that the vessel matched the profile of ships involved in ship-to-ship drugs transfers.
Tenerife police raided the ship on 18 January 2023 and confiscated 153 bags in a crewmember's cabin as well as a storage area.
The documents stated that Greece's investigation found the ship bought by Rentoor Chartering in 2022 and operated by Dignatio Corp. Both companies are based on the Marshall Islands, set up by 68-year old suspect, an ex-police officer with a criminal history. The renamed ship was sold to Turkish company in may. (Reporting and writing by Yannis Soulieotis, Renee Maltezou, Editing by Sharon Singleton).
(source: Reuters)