Transportation

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued a safety warning to airlines on Tuesday, citing an alarming number of incidents involving lithium batteries. The FAA has recommended that airlines implement risk mitigation strategies. This includes clear messaging about potential fire risks associated with lithium batteries carried by crew and passengers, and reviewing firefighting training and procedures. The FAA reported that 50 incidents of lithium-ion batteries causing extreme heat, smoke or fire have occurred in the U.S. this year. Some of these have caused accidents or injuries. A cell phone that was being used by a passenger on an American Airlines flight...

Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed that Japan hired Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy, to assess the proposed 800-mile Alaska gas pipeline project and LNG plant. This is a sign of its support for the $44billion project pushed by U.S. president Donald Trump. One of the sources said that the assessment could ease concerns of potential Japanese investors and off-takers about a project which has been stalled for decades because of cost and logistical issues. It is not clear what the scope of the Wood Mackenzie deal is, nor if any report that results from it will be public....

According to a filing made by the company with the state's environmental regulators and data from LSEG, a financial firm, Freeport LNG is on track to receive more natural gas at its Texas export plant on Monday. This indicates that a liquefaction station that was shut down on Saturday will likely be back in operation. Freeport LNG is closely watched by the global market because its start-ups and stop-offs often cause price fluctuations. Gas prices in the United States typically fall when flows to Freeport decrease due to a lower demand for fuels from the export facility. Prices in Europe...

Trans Mountain, the Canadian pipeline operator, expects the dredging work at the Vancouver port to be finished by the end of 2026, or in early 2027. This will allow ships load more oil, according to a senior executive on Monday. Jennifer Pierce, Chief Administrative Officer of Trans Mountain, said this at the APPEC Conference in Singapore. When this dredging project is finished at the end or beginning of 2027 (end of '26), an Aframax could move out of the dock with 100% of its cargo. This will boost our shippers' competitiveness. Aframax tanks can transport up to 800 000 barrels....

New Fortress Energy, a U.S. LNG company, posted a larger loss for the second quarter on Friday as lower contributions from asset sales affected its performance. The New York-based firm reported a net profit of $556.8 millions, or $2.02 per common share, for the three months ending June 30. This compares to a $86.9million loss, or 44c per share, one year ago. NFE's revenue total fell from $428.8 million to $301.7 in the second quarter. The company's core adjusted earnings dropped to a loss $3.7 million, from a profit $120.2 million one year ago. New Fortress Energy's earnings were negatively...

Federal Aviation Administration announced on Friday that it would extend the ban on U.S. flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city, through March 7 due to risks posed by armed groups for civil aviation. The FAA temporarily stopped all flights into Haiti in November but allowed flights to resume at six other airports around northern Haiti following the gunfire that hit three U.S. commercial aircraft. The restrictions were set to expire in one week. U.S. planes are allowed to fly over Port-au-Prince at a height of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Last year, the agency allowed American carriers to resume flights at...

On Thursday, the U.S. Midwest Grid Operator announced that it had selected 10 initial power plant projects to be fast tracked for review. This is part of a program to quickly add new resources as demand for energy surges. The record U.S. consumption of electricity due to artificial intelligence data centres and the electrification and buildings and transportation in the United States is pushing grids to their limits, which has led some operators to accelerate new resources. MISO is the Midcontinent Independent System Operator that controls electricity flow through transmission lines in 15 U.S. States. In addition to conducting engineering...

The Russian state news agency RIA reported that Russia and China had agreed on the route of the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline and the volumes of gas to be supplied, citing Energy Ministry Sergei Tsivilev. The signed memorandum states that the pipeline will pass through Mongolia, and it is estimated to deliver 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year. A binding memorandum was signed by Russia and China during Putin's China visit. However, little is known about key details and Gazprom has said that the pricing of the project still needs to be decided. Tsivilev stated, "We need...

Via Transportation, a transit technology company, said it would aim for a valuation up to $3.50billion in its initial public offer. It joins a number of other companies that are planning to list on U.S. stock exchanges by the fall. Via is offering 10,7 million shares at a price between $40 and $44 each to raise $471 million. Investor interest in IPOs is increasing amid a rally on the equity markets, fueled by strong tech earnings. Expectations of short-term rate cuts are also growing. The popularity of first-time shares has also been boosted by the debuts of design software company...

A U.S. Federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump can terminate more than 16 billion dollars in grants given to non-profit organizations to combat climate change. The grants were awarded as a result of the signature 2022 Inflation Reduction Act signed by Biden, Trump's predecessor. They were aimed at reducing greenhouse gases emissions. Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency sought to cancel the grants. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, ruled by a 2-1 margin that a lower court judge lacked the jurisdiction to hear a case brought forth by five of...

Plains All American Pipeline, Plains GP Holdings and Diamondback Energy announced on Tuesday that they had agreed to purchase a 55% share in the pipeline operator EPIC Crude Holdings. The deal is valued at $1.57 billion including debt. Sources familiar with the situation said that the owners were seeking a buyer for the pipeline in August. EPIC Crude, one of the largest pipelines in the United States, transports oil from the Permian shale and Eagle Ford basins of Texas. The facility has a daily capacity of 600,000. It can be expanded to 1,000,000 bpd. There are also around 7 million...

Canada appointed Dawn Farrell, a senior executive in the energy industry on Friday as head of a new office that will expedite the approval and review of natural resource projects like mines and pipelines. This process can take up to a decade. The office was announced by the Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this year. He said that streamlining would boost the gross domestic product, and offset the impact of U.S. Tariffs. Farrell and her team, which includes Farrell who served as CEO of Trans Mountain Pipeline between 2022 and 2024, will identify projects that are in the national interest,...

Two traders with knowledge of the situation said that the crude oil loadings at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC's) marine terminal in Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka, near Novorossiisk, have remained steady so far this month at 1.6 million barrels a day, according to a preliminary export schedule. The revised CPC Blend loading plan for September has not changed from the provisional schedule as the expected disruptions to exports due to an oil spill at the mooring port did not occur. CPC suspended its operations on August 29 due to an accident that occurred during a loading process and a spill of oil...

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said that Russian forces attacked a thermal power plant in the Kyiv area as part of a nighttime attack. This caused localised blackouts, and gas shortages. The strikes came a day following the largest air strike by Moscow in its three-and a-half-year war against Ukraine. The ministry posted a message on Telegram saying that the goal was to "cause even more hardship for the peaceful population in Ukraine", and to leave Ukrainian homes and hospitals, kindergartens, schools and other institutions without heat and light. On Monday, rescuers and technical workers were on the scene. The Russian defence...

Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday that Russia had launched the largest air strike of the war against Ukraine over the weekend, causing the main government building in central Kyiv to catch fire and killing four people including an infant. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said that the drone barrage and missiles killed four people, and caused extensive damage in the north, the south, and the east of the nation, including Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Righ, Odesa and Sumy, and Chernihiv. Zelenskiy, in a recent post on X.com, said that such killings are a deliberate act and a war prolongation. He...

Janaf's CEO said that Croatian pipeline operator Janaf can cover the needs of two refineries in Hungary and Slovakia of Hungarian oil company MOL, which currently rely on Russian oil via the Druzhba pipe to meet their requirements. MOL warned of possible fuel shortages last month in Central Europe after Ukrainian attacks on Druzhba, which caused a temporary suspension there. MOL, who signed a February contract with Janaf for the delivery of 2.1 millions tons of oil to the end of 2025 has expressed doubts that the Adriatic Pipeline could provide enough oil even if Druzhba shipments were stopped completely....

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...

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...

Fico announced on Monday that the Slovak prime minister Robert Fico would hold bilateral meetings this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at China's World War Two Anniversary celebrations in Beijing. In a Friday statement, he announced that he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the eastern part of Slovakia. Fico has had tense relationships with Zelenskiy, who is the leader of a NATO member and EU country, but opposes Western sanctions against Russia. Fico has also broken ranks with European Allies. In December, he met Putin in Moscow. Fico is the only European...

Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, said that Russian state-owned Gazprom would sign an "important agreement" with Chinese company CNPC during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China next week. He refused to provide details, but said that there would be at least three documents relating to Gazprom. After losing access to European markets due to Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, Russia wants to increase its oil and gas exports into Asia. According to two industry sources, China is looking to purchase more Russian gas via an existing pipeline because talks between the countries on a...

Two industry sources said that the Ust-Luga oil terminal in Russia will only be able to export 350,000 barrels of oil per day, which is about half its normal capacity, due to damage caused by Ukrainian drones on pipeline infrastructure. This disruption shows that recent Ukrainian attacks on key energy facilities have caused Russian exports to be affected and could lead to supply disruptions. Drone strikes in Russia's Bryansk Region earlier in August caused problems at the Unecha pumping stations. Unecha is an important transit point for crude oil heading to Ust-Luga. The Druzhba Pipeline, which supplies Belarus to Slovakia...

Three people with knowledge of the situation said that Russia revised its crude oil export plans from western ports in August by 200,000 barrels a day (bpd). This was due to the fact that Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted the refinery operations, allowing more crude to be shipped. Due to the ongoing strikes and changing repair schedules, delays and volume revisions may be expected, they stated. "Attacks continue and repair deadlines vary daily." One person stated that it is unclear how much Russia will be able to load in this month or the next. The final plans for loading Russian oil...

Denisa Sakova, Slovak Minister of Economy, said that in the best case scenario, Russian oil deliveries to Slovakia via the Druzhba Pipeline, which were interrupted by a Ukrainian attack on Russia last Thursday, could resume as early as Monday. In recent weeks, Russia and Ukraine have intensified their attacks on the energy infrastructure of each other. They have targeted Ukrainian heating supplies as well as Russia's Druzhba Pipeline and other facilities. After a Ukrainian attack on a Russian facility, Slovakia and Hungary announced on Friday that they could suspend their supply of Russian oil for at least five more days....

Kazem Jalali, Iran's envoy in Russia, said in comments published on Monday that Iran expects supplies of Russian natural gas through Azerbaijan to begin soon. This is because almost all issues in the negotiations with Gazprom are resolved. We hope that this will happen very soon. "We are currently in negotiations with Gazprom and most issues have been resolved," TASS quoted Jalali. We need to reach a common price. "If that is resolved, everything can be launched." Moscow and Tehran signed an agreement in April for 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas after Gazprom had signed a 2024 memorandum...