Transportation

According to a letter published on Monday, Tesla informed U.S. regulators its answers on the safety and deployment of its robotaxi in Texas were confidential business information that should not be released. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Friday that it was reviewing the answers provided to questions about the safety and reliability of Tesla's self-driving roboticaxi in bad weather. The agency stated on Monday that Tesla is invoking federal law which "restricts NHTSA’s ability to release publicly what the companies call confidential." The agency said that, "after assessing these responses and any other relevant information NHTSA will...

The U.S. electricity prices have risen to their highest level since winter, as businesses and homes turned up their air conditioners in order to escape the brutal heatwave that blanketed the eastern half. This has put a strain on regional power grids. Extreme weather reminds the consumers of the deadly freeze in February 2020, which left millions of Texans with no power, water or heat for days. And a brutal heatwave in August 2020 that caused the California The power grid imposed rotating outages on about 800,000 consumers over two days. AccuWeather, a weather forecaster, predicted high temperatures for New...

Grid operator PJM Interconnection issued an alert on Monday, asking generators to prepare to run at full capacity if necessary. The hot weather is continuing in the east U.S. area that the grid operator services. PJM said that it expects to meet its electricity requirements of 160,000 MW Monday, 158,000 MW Tuesday, and 155,000 MW Wednesday. Grid operator stated that the alert was intended for transmission and generation owners so they can plan maintenance accordingly. It also sends a signal to nearby regions to reduce PJM's power exports. PJM has issued a hot weather alert for the entire service area...

Tesla released a small fleet of self-driving cabs to pick up paying passengers in Austin, Texas on Sunday. Elon Musk announced the "robotaxi release" and social media influencers posted videos of their initial rides. Musk described the moment as the "culmination" of a "decade of hard work," in a Facebook post. He also noted that the "AI chip and software teams at Tesla were built from the ground up." One Tesla was spotted in South Congress, a neighborhood in Austin early on Sunday with only one passenger in the car. Automaker planned small test with 10 vehicles, and riders in...

The Russian-owned Serbian Oil Company NIS asked the United States on Friday for a 4th waiver from sanctions that could reduce its crude supply. NIS operates Serbia's sole oil refinery. It is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom. The refinery has a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year, which is enough to meet the needs of most Balkan countries. On January 10, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions against Russia's oil industry and gave Gazprom a 45-day deadline to sell its NIS shares. NIS has secured three waivers so far, the third of...

A federal judge blocked the administration of President Donald Trump from forcing 20 Democratic states to comply with immigration enforcement to receive billions in grant funding for transportation. John McConnell, Chief U.S. district judge in Providence (Rhode Island), ruled that U.S. Department of Transportation lacked the authority to demand that states cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for transportation funding and the condition was a violation of the U.S. Constitution. McConnell stated that the administration did not provide any plausible link between the cooperation with immigration enforcement and what Congress intended the funding for, which was to support highways...

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to force 20 Democratic-led state to cooperate with immigration enforcement to receive billions in grant funding for transportation. John McConnell, Chief U.S. district judge in Providence, Rhode Island, granted the request of the states for an injunction to bar the Department of Transportation policy. He said that the states would likely succeed in some or all of the claims they made. The Trump administration didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought by a group Democratic state attorneys general, who claimed that...

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to force 20 Democratic-led state to cooperate with immigration enforcement to receive billions in grant funding for transportation. John McConnell, Chief U.S. district judge in Providence, Rhode Island, granted the request of the states for an injunction to bar the Department of Transportation policy. He said that the states would likely succeed in some or all of the claims they made. The Trump administration didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought by a group Democratic state attorneys general, who claimed that...

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to force 20 Democratic-led state to cooperate with immigration enforcement to receive billions in grant funding for transportation. John McConnell, Chief U.S. district judge in Providence, Rhode Island, granted the request of the states for an injunction to bar the Department of Transportation policy. He said that the states would likely succeed in some or all of the claims they made. The Trump administration didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought by a group Democratic state attorneys general, who claimed that...

Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, said that Canada may increase its counter-tariffs against U.S. steel and aluminum if a broader deal is not reached with President Donald Trump in 30 days. Trump raised import duties on aluminum and steel to 50%, up from 25% in early February. The industry demanded an official response. Trump's decision could harm Canada, the U.S.'s largest metals supplier. Carney said that he agreed with Trump on Monday that both nations should work to conclude a new security and economic deal by the 21st of July. Carney said at a press briefing that Canada...

Careem, Uber’s ride-hailing division in the Middle East will suspend its Pakistani service on 18 July, citing economic issues, increasing competition, and capital restrictions. This marks an end to its core business, which was pioneered in Pakistan nearly a decade earlier. This move highlights the strains on Pakistan's digital industry as tech firms cut back due to high inflation, weak demand from consumers, and tighter capital flows. Careem's nearly 10-year run is over. The app was launched in 2015, and quickly became the dominant player in mobile apps. In a LinkedIn posting on Wednesday, Mudassir Shaikha, Careem's co-founder, CEO, and...

A person familiar with this matter told me on Monday that Mitsubishi Corp was in negotiations to buy the U.S. Shale Production and Pipeline assets of Aethon Energy Management. The price is estimated at $8 billion. If the deal is struck, the Japanese conglomerate would gain a significant natural gas operation near the U.S. Gulf Coast and the energy export infrastructure being developed there. The source said that talks between Mitsubishi and Aethon were ongoing. She cautioned, however, that no transaction was guaranteed and spoke under condition of anonymity in order to discuss confidential discussions. The assets are operated and...

LSEG data and two sources stated that the increase in Turkey's Urals crude imports is due to seasonal demand and healthy refinery margins. According to LSEG, the imports of Urals in Turkey will reach 1.64 million metric tonnes in May. This will be the highest level since May 2024 when the country imported 1,76 million tons. The second largest importer of Urals crude oil by sea is Turkey, after India. It has not complied with Western sanctions against Russia, but it does comply with international laws. Data shows that urals prices were below $60 per barrel at Russian ports during...

Japan's second-largest shipping company, Mitsui O.S.K. Takeshi Hashimoto, CEO of Lines (MOL), said that the company is continuing to operate as usual in Gulf while closely watching the situation in the area. Hashimoto said on the sidelines the Energy Asia Conference that "we are operating so many container, car carriers, and chemical tankers, so it is very difficult for us reduce or stop the service." He added that although there was no alternative route in the Gulf for shipping, it had been re-routed to the Cape of Good Hope following the attack by the Yemeni Houthis on ships in the...

According to industry sources and calculations, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium has reduced daily oil production in May from April by 6% to 5,906 million metric tonnes (1.51 millions barrels per day). CPC, the company that carries over 80% of Kazakh oil exports connects Tengiz in western Kazakhstan, and other fields, with the CPC terminal at Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka in Russia, near Novorossiisk. Sources said that Kazakh exports of oil via CPC dropped to 5.386 millions tons in may from 5.523 in April, while Russian oil supplies via CPC reached 0.52 million tonnes in May compared with 0.57 million in April. The...

According to LSEG and shipping data cited from an industry source, Russia has increased its supplies of oil to Syria. Syria needs it for its refineries. Russia has considered Syria a major gateway for its military and commercial operations in the Middle East. The Kremlin announced in January that Moscow was in negotiations with Syria's newly islamist-led government to maintain its bases in the west. According to LSEG and a source, a tanker that was hit by U.S. sanction, Mitzel, has loaded 140,000 metric tonnes of Russian oil at the Arctic port Murmansk. It is now heading to Baniyas, which...

Thorsten Frei is the chief of staff to Germany's new chancellor. He said that Europe must step "outside its comfort zone" in order to consider more severe sanctions against Russia. These could include a ban on uranium or gas, or tapping into frozen Russian assets. The EU and Britain have announced new sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. They are focusing on the "shadow fleet" (oil tankers and financial companies) that has helped Moscow avoid other sanctions. Frei told an interviewer in his new office at the Chancellery that the next round of EU sanction measures, which are...

It said that the European Commission would propose next month legal measures for the EU to gradually phase out its imports of Russian gas, including liquefied gas, by the end 2027. Here are some key details: GAS AND LNG Before the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia supplied around 45% (or a little more) of all gas consumed by the European Union. This share dropped to 19% in the past year and the EU is determined to eradicate it completely as a result of the war. In plans published Tuesday, the European Commission announced that it will present legal proposals in...

The need to replenish Europe's storages that were two-thirds empty following the winter will keep the market tight, and demand an increase in the supply of liquefied gas, according to Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor. Equinor is the continent's biggest gas supplier. The European gas storage sites have ended winter heating at their lowest levels since 2022. This is due to the colder weather, lower wind speeds and increased demand for gas. Opedal stated that Europe will need 200-300 additional LNG cargoes than last year. He said that gas storages in Europe are low and that a tighter market is...

The Kremlin announced on Thursday that Russia does not hold talks with Europe or America about Russian gas supplied via Ukraine. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, in February 2022, and the explosions at the Nord Stream subsea pipelines in the summer of 2016, Russian gas supplies have been cut off to Europe. The gas exports from Russia to Europe via Ukraine have also fallen since the beginning of this year, when the transit agreement expired and Ukraine refused a renewal due to the conflict in Ukraine. Sources with knowledge of the issue told this magazine that as...

Sources in the trade and industry said that oil exports from Russia's western port are expected to increase this month due to lower crude production at Russian oil plants. However, the OPEC+ production limits may only have a small impact on Moscow’s export plans. The port of Primorsk may increase its daily loadings to an average of 2.0-2.1 million barrels next month, up from the 1.9 million barrels planned for April. Calculations showed that this is an increase of 5-10% per day. On account of low margins, refinery runs could fall by 80,000 to 100,000 barrels per a day. The...

Government officials announced on Thursday that the Czech Republic is now completely independent from Russian oil supplies, for the first ever in its history. This follows the completion of capacity improvements on the TAL pipe coming from the West. In a Thursday news conference, Czech TV broadcasted by Prime Minister Petr Filia that the first increased oil supplies have arrived at the central oil depot of the Czech Republic. The Czech government is trying to reduce its partial dependency on the Druzhba Pipeline, which has been delivering Russian supplies for more than 60 years. At the end of last year...

Calculations based on trader's data show that the Russian Urals oil price fell to its lowest level since 2023, as Brent international benchmark prices plummeted amid the escalating tensions in the U.S.-China following the tariff policy announced last weekend. Weaker Urals will have a negative impact on Russia's oil revenue - the mainstay of Moscow's budget. Oil and gas revenue is down at a time when Russia and the United States are negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine. Brent futures fell $2.43 or 3.7% to $63.15 per barrel at 1009 GMT. They continue to drop from last week, and are now...

Russia has ordered Kazakhstan’s main oil terminal to shut down two of its three moorings. The terminal handles crude pumped from the U.S. by majors Chevron, Exxon Mobil and others. This comes amid a standoff with OPEC+ and Kazakhstan over excessive production. The operator of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which exports about 1% of the global oil supply through the Russian Black Sea Terminal, announced late on Monday that two moorings had been halted after a quick inspection by Russia's transportation watchdog. Trading sources said that if the stoppage lasts more than one week, it could more than half CPC...