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Sources say that Russia will ship oil via the Arctic route to Brunei for the first ever.
Two sources familiar with shipping data said that Russia would deliver oil to Brunei for the first ever via the Northern Sea Route in September. This will expand its export reach by using the strategic Arctic route. NSR shipments were limited until now to China because of its proximity to Russia’s Far East. Moscow has actively promoted the route to partners such as India and the U.S., claiming that it is cheaper and quicker than shipping crude oil through the Suez Canal. One source confirmed that the tanker Latur was currently on its way to Muara, Brunei, carrying Arctic heavy ARCO Oil loaded in Murmansk by Gazprom and supplied by Gazprom. Gessi Marine of Seychelles owns the vessel, which was sanctioned in January 2025 by the U.S. Treasury. It sails under the Comoros Flag. Gazprom and Brunei Energy Ministry did not respond to our requests for comment. Gessi Marine could not be reached for comment. Brunei imports small quantities of Russian crude oil since 2022, when Western sanctions forced Moscow to look for new buyers. Brunei imported $15,6 million of Russian oil in 2023. This included its first Urals cargo, which was delivered to Hengyi Industries' Pulau Muara Refinery. The NSR is navigable during summer and fall, connecting Russia's western port to Asia via the Arctic. This route can reduce shipping times by up to ten days when compared with the Suez Canal. Over 12 million barrels of oil were transported to China last year via this route. Russia will likely increase NSR shipments in this year, despite the high costs and approval requirements from Rosatom. LSEG data indicates that around 4 million barrels are on their way to China through the NSR. Rosatom has said that it offers permits, icebreaker services and safe navigation, but refused to disclose the vessel's details. Reporting by journalists in Moscow and Gleb Stlyarov in Tblisi. Additional reporting by Ain Bandial, Bandar Seri Begawan. Editing by Jan Harvey.
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Sources say that Russia will cut oil exports to western ports in September by 6% compared to August
Two industry sources say that Russia will cut crude oil exports to its western ports, Primorsk Ust-Luga, and Novorossiisk, to 1.9 million barrels per day in September, down from 2.0 million barrels per day in August, as refinery runs increase in the country. Calculations showed that daily shipments of Urals, KEBCO, and Siberian Light grades will fall by approximately 6% from month to month. As a result of the completion of maintenance work at several Russian refineries, expected in late August or early September, domestic processing is expected to increase and crude exports to decrease. Sources said that delays in the completion of scheduled maintenance, as well as external factors like drone attacks on energy infrastructure and oil plants could cause Russia to adjust its crude lifting plans in September. After drone attacks, Russia increased its August export program sharply after additional crude volumes were available for export. The provisional plan for crude exports and transit through Russia's western port ports was exceeded by 200,000 barrels per day in August. Calculations based on data from the industry suggest that Russia's idle refining capacity could fall to around 5 million metric tonnes in September, down from a record-breaking 6.4 million tons recorded in August. (Reporting and Editing by Jan Harvey).
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Canada's WestJet orders 67 Boeing aircraft as part of its fleet renewal plan
WestJet, a low-cost Canadian airline, announced on Wednesday that it had ordered 67 Boeing aircraft for a fleet upgrade, including seven Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 60 Boeing 737-10 MAX narrowbodies. The Calgary-based airline said that it has also acquired options to purchase 25 additional 737-10 MAXs and four Dreamliners with delivery dates extending through 2034. WestJet operates 193 aircraft, and it has an order list of 123 jets with 40 options. The average age is 10 years. Alexis von Hoensbroech, Chief Executive Officer of WestJet, said: "With these additions to our aircraft fleet, WestJet will double our Dreamliners." The Boeing planes will be expected to improve fuel efficiency significantly, he said. Boeing claims that the 737 MAX reduces fuel consumption and emissions by 20 percent and airframe maintenance costs are reduced by 14 percent.
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Putin claims China will benefit from market-based price of gas via new pipeline
The Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday that China would benefit from the new Power of Siberia 2 pipeline because it would provide gas at a competitive price, based on market formula. Gazprom announced on Tuesday that Russia and China had signed a binding agreement on the pipeline but they have not yet agreed on its price. This shows President Xi Jinping’s disdain for Western pressure to back away from a deeper partnership with Moscow. Putin said that the gas agreements would guarantee Russia's supply of more than 100 billion cubic meters (bcms) of gas to China each year when the new pipeline is built. He stated that the price of gas to be supplied to China will be determined by a "market-based formulation", but did not provide any further details. Putin stated that energy demand was increasing globally, including in China. He said that agreements with Russia, as the world's largest producer of natural resources would ensure reliable and stable supplies. Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Guy Faulconbridge
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Ryanair reduces capacity in Spain following airport fee increases in a move that the operator calls "blackmail"
Irish airline Ryanair announced on Wednesday that it would reduce its passenger capacity for Spain by one million seats next winter in response to a fee increase announced by airport operator Aena, which it called "shameless". Aena's CEO Maurici Lucena responded by accusing Ryanair of "self-righteousness", "rudeness", "blackmail" and greed, as the long-running conflict between the largest airline in Spain by passenger numbers and the operator of most of the country's commercial airports escalated. Ryanair stated in a press release that the Aena fee hike of 6.5% announced for 2026 rendered some regional routes non-viable. Eddie Wilson, CEO, Ryanair DAC, said that the monopoly airport operator had no interest in developing traffic to regional airports throughout Spain, but only wanted to concentrate on achieving record profits at Spain's largest airports. The Irish low cost carrier announced that it would reduce capacity at regional airports on the peninsula by 600,00 seats, and in the Canary Islands 400,000 seats from late October to late March. This represents 16% its traffic at regional Airports. Ryanair said that because it operates the majority of flights from several regional airports throughout Spain, these cuts would lead to the closures of Valladolid Airport and Jerez Airport. Lucena stated that the slots booked by the airline at regional airports during this period are larger than what Ryanair claimed. Aena's price increase is much lower than that of Ryanair, which has increased its ticket prices by a significant amount. Yolanda Diaz, Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz announced on Wednesday that she would request a meeting between Ryanair's Chairman and herself. She told reporters that she would enforce the labour laws. Ryanair announced in January that it would be cutting 800,000 seats at regional airports throughout the country during the summer. Ryanair plans to increase its passenger numbers by at least 3% in 2026, despite the reduction of capacity in Spain. The airline said it would redistribute some of its winter capacity to airports that are cheaper in Croatia, Hungary and Morocco, as well as Sweden. Marta Serafinko, Gdansk reporter; Inti Landauro, Jan Harvey and Inti landauro are editing this report.
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Energy transition has become a matter of national security. Ask India: Maguire
India's public humiliation over its imports from Russia of oil that has been sanctioned is a painful reminder of the fact that energy policy involves national security and increases the attractiveness of local energy sources. Nearly 90% of the crude oil used to fuel the world's largest economy is imported. India is more independent in terms of electricity. Around 90% of India's coal is mined locally, and the rest comes from a surge in clean, domestic power. The power industry, as a result of this, is better protected from geopolitical and supply shocks than refiners. The power industry is also more easily influenced by policy changes and is a reliable source of long-term tax revenue and employment. This makes India's energy sector, rather than the oil refining industry, a more attractive base for its future national strategy. FLATTERING TO DECEIVE? India's oil dependency is unlikely to be reduced anytime soon with approximately 50 million cars, and almost 300 million motorbikes and scooters. India's apparent addiction to oil may not be as bad as it appears. Data from the Energy Institute show that India's oil consumption will grow at an average annual rate of 4.4% per year between 2021 and 2024. This was the fastest rate of growth in the top 10 oil-consuming countries during this time period, and it was well above the average global annual growth rate of 3.0%. Due to two factors, India's ability to increase global oil demand may seem greater than it actually is. These are China's slowdown in the economy and Russia's cheap exports of oil. In recent years, China's debt crisis in the property sector and a slowdown of international trade has reduced oil demand growth. This has upset expectations on energy markets. China's oil consumption increased by 6% per year between 2000 and 2019. Beijing is now the largest driver of oil demand worldwide. Since 2021, this rate has dropped to just 3% per year. India has emerged as the frontrunner to pick up the baton, thanks to its robust demand metrics. India's rapid growth in consumption has been artificially inflated, it is argued, by its massive increases in imports of Russian oil at discounted prices. Too Good to Refuse The actual price that India paid for Russian oil from 2022 is not known, but given the rapid change in India's import mix it seems that Russian oil was sold at a price that could not be refused. Up until 2021, Russia's share of India's annual imports of oil was only around 3%. The majority of India’s oil requirements were met by suppliers such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Since 2023 however, Russian oil accounts for nearly 40% India's imports of oil, making Russia the country's largest oil supplier. According to Kpler, India's oil imports from Russia increased 16-fold in the period 2021-2024, going from 100,000 barrels per a day to 1.8 millions barrels. It has led to the perception that India's demand for oil is increasing at an incredible rate. India's total oil imports increased by a modest 14% between 2021-2024. This is likely to be a better indication of India’s real oil consumption potential. This jump is still impressive, as it represents record imports to India for each of the last two years. This growth, however, was probably only possible because a large portion of imported oil was bought at prices that were well below the benchmarks for global oil. This discount allowed Indian refiners and their consumers to buy fuel at a lower price, which in turn boosted demand. India would likely have purchased less oil if it had been forced to buy the oil at full price. Fuels and refined products would have been much more expensive. POWERING UP It seems unlikely that the Indian government will base its future energy strategy on increased import dependency and aggressive oil consumption, given the international hostility towards India over its dependence on Russian oil. The Indian government, on the other hand, has supported the rapid electrification and automation of industrial processes, transport fleets, and appliances. They are likely to continue to support the expansion of electricity supply to drive future economic growth. Gleichzeitig, the country also expands the use of renewables within its energy basket. India has taken aggressive steps to boost the local manufacturing of energy-related products and is on course to double its manufacturing capacity by 2030. This was revealed in a report published by SolarPower Europe. Local and federal authorities will likely continue to support the energy transition effort of the country and the businesses that are behind it if these efforts create jobs and boost the national economy. The Indian refining industry will be weakened by further criticism of Russian oil purchases, and any price increases triggered by switching suppliers. If energy independence is necessary to ensure national security, geopolitical tensions could be an important catalyst in speeding up energy transition. 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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Cato Networks, a company based in Israel, buys Aim Security and raises an additional $50 million
Cato Networks, an Israeli cyber security company, announced on Wednesday that it had acquired Aim Security. This was its first acquisition and the company raised another $50 million through a private financing round. Cato said that it also had exceeded $300 million in annual revenue. Sources close to the deal say that it is around $350 million. Cato raised $359m in June in a round of funding, which valued the cybersecurity firm at over $4.8bn. Investors betted on growing demand for artificial-intelligence-driven networking and security solutions. Investors are becoming more interested in cybersecurity companies that use AI to combat sophisticated cyberattacks. It said that the latest funding brought its total raised for the round to $409 millions, adding that the financing was done on the same terms. Cato was founded by Shlomokramer and Gur Shatz in 2015. It combines network and security services into a cloud platform called Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). Kramer, CEO of Cato Networks, said that "AI transformation is going to eclipse digital transformation in the next decade as the primary force shaping enterprises." With the acquisition of Aim Security we are turbo-charging SASE with advanced AI security features to secure our customer's journey into the exciting new AI era.
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HappyRobot raises $ 44 million to expand AI agents and freight operators
HappyRobot is an artificial intelligence startup which automates communication, including rate negotiations and appointment booking, for freight operators. Base10 Partners led the funding round, raising $44 million. In a statement released on Wednesday, the San Francisco-based company did not reveal its valuation. According to a source familiar with the deal, the Series B round valued HappyRobot around $500 million. The round also included existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, and new backers, such as Tokio, WaVe-X, and World Innovation Lab. HappyRobot now has raised over $62 million in funding since its founding 2022. HappyRobot, which has more than 70 enterprise clients, including DHL, Ryder, and Flexport, provides companies with AI agents capable of handling critical, but routine, tasks that would otherwise require several human workers. Venture capital firms are pouring billions into AI startups even as the uncertainty caused by tariffs is affecting funding in other sectors. This has led to concerns about possible saturation and increased competitiveness for the firms. HappyRobot believes that its unique logistics and tech know-how, which is tightly integrated with freight systems, and customized on-site by engineers, will enable it to stand apart from general-purpose AI-voice startups like ElevenLabs. Pablo Palafox said that "verticalization" gives HappyRobot a competitive advantage over other general-purpose competitors, who may be "clueless" about the operations of and intricacies within these industries. It appears that the approach is working. The company's revenue has grown 10 times in the last 12 months since its previous Series A funding round, which was late last year. It helps customers to handle more freight, collect payment, recruit staff, and reduce scheduling resolution time. HappyRobot plans to use the funds to expand its AI assistants, improve its software, and hire more sales, product and on-site teams. The team currently consists of over 70 members, primarily based in San Francisco or Madrid.
British FCA questions Mercuria on its LME Aluminium Holding
Two sources familiar with this matter claim that the British financial watchdog contacted commodity trader Mercuria to inquire about its large London Metal Exchange aluminum holdings, which have distorted prices of contracts with short maturities.
The LME has not broken any rules, but the disruption of its largest volume market leaves consumers in the packaging, construction, and transport industries without access to aluminium metal and price transparency.
Mercuria, a Swiss company and the Financial Conduct Authority of Britain declined to comment.
Since May, Mercuria has held over 90% of all aluminium warrants. These are documents that confer ownership. LME data shows that as of September 2, its aluminium holdings were more than 421,000 tons.
According to industry sources, the FCA will likely question Mercuria regarding its aluminium positions at the request of a broker or bank that may have made a complaint, or if the LME refers them.
According to two sources who are familiar with the issue, as well as sources in the industry, the FCA will ask Mercuria about why it holds the metal. The FCA will want to know when it intends to use the metal and what it has planned to do, as this position influences prices for aluminium contracts.
The LME didn't address any questions regarding Mercuria or FCA.
It said that "as per its position management policy, the LME is in place with a number arrangements to guard against undue influences of large or dominating positions. These include lending rules, daily reporting of position and accountability levels."
History repeating itself?
In recent years, the LME has been criticized for its handling of disruptions. For example, the 2022 Nickel Crisis when the market was closed for over a week following a price spike that doubled in a matter of hours to a record-breaking $100,000 per metric ton.
A large company with a high share of LME inventories suggests tight supply and can create premiums or reverses for contracts that are short-dated, such as the cash over three-month aluminium contract.
Near-term metals contracts are typically traded at a discount, or in contango with longer-dated futures. This is because it is assumed that higher prices on the short end or a reversed curve will bring metals to the exchange.
The September premium is higher than the contract for three months.
The 479,600 aluminium inventories at LME-approved warehouses have increased by more than 40% from late June.
Mercuria's position is a familiar one to many in the aluminum industry.
Sonny Mcness was a JPMorgan trader who, more than a decade before, used a large amount of holdings to implement a trading plan. JPMorgan declined comment.
Mcness has now joined Mercuria, and according to four sources who are familiar with the situation, he is using a similar strategy.
Mcness could not be reached for comment.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing owns the 148-year-old LME.
(source: Reuters)