Latest News
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Enbridge and KKR create joint venture to invest Westcoast natural gas pipeline
Enbridge, a Canadian energy company, announced on Thursday that it had 'agreed' to a joint venture with KKR and Apollo in which they will invest C$2.7 billion to expand its Westcoast Natural Gas Pipeline System?in British Columbia. KKR, Apollo and Enbridge are investing 'alongside Enbridge' as the demand for natural gas -infrastructure grows in Western Canada and U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Westcoast system is also a route to international LNG markets. The agreement provides that the two companies will receive a 29% indirect interest in the Westcoast system once the Sunrise expansion is operational in exchange for C$0.7billion in cash. According to the agreement, Enbridge will retain a majority?ownership? and operational control over the system. The Sunrise Expansion Program is scheduled to begin in late 2028. $1 = 1.3883 Canadian Dollars (Reporting and editing by Shreya Biwas in Bengaluru)
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What has been attacked by Ukraine in its attacks on Russian energy sites?
Ukrainian forces continue to strike at Russian energy infrastructure, as well as other sites. Kyiv claims that this is part of an effort to deny Russia resources for funding its military. The following is a list of recent attacks, starting with the latest. NORSI Ukrainian drones attacked NORSI this week, Russia's 4th largest oil refinery owned by Lukoil. The crude oil processing was suspended on August 26. NORSI is Russia's second largest gasoline producer. It can process?15,000,000 metric tons per year. NOVOSHAKHTINSK A drone from Ukraine damaged the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, located in southern Rostov Region of Russia. The governor announced that operations had been suspended. The refinery can process more than 5 million tons per year. AFIPSKY A drone attack on the Afipsky refinery in southern Krasnodar, Russia caused it to catch fire. The regional governor announced this on August 25, 2018. The refinery is capable of processing over 9 million tonnes of oil each year. Two industry sources reported that the Perm oil refinery - Russia's seventh largest oil processing plant in terms of volume - halted operations on August 21 after a drone attack from Ukraine caused damage and fire to technical units. The refinery will process about 12,6 million tons of crude oil by 2024. The Ukrainian military attacked TANECO Tatneft oil refinery on August 10 and 19. TANECO will process 17?million tonnes of crude oil by 2024. UFA The regional governor of Bashkortostan said that a drone strike in Bashkortostan caused a slight damage to a Russian oil refinery. Ukraine also attacked the refinery in Ufa on July 1, near the Ural Mountains. The refinery is capable of processing more than 7,000,000 tons of oil each year. Three industry sources have confirmed that a drone attack in August '14 damaged the gas condensate-processing complex of UST-LUGA Russian Gas Producer Novatek at the Baltic Port of Ust-Luga. Three industry sources said that the complex processed 3.8 millions tons of gas condensate during the first half this year. ORSK Russia's Orsknefteorgsintez mid-sized oil refinery stopped processing on August 11, after an fire caused by a drone attack from Ukraine, according to two industry sources. The regional governor stated on August 13 that repairs could take six months. The design capacity of the refinery is approximately 6 million tons per year. ZAPSIBNEFTEKHIM Russia’s Sibur Zapsibneftekhim Petrochemical Complex in Tobolsk in the Tyumen Region of Western?Siberia was damaged by a drone on August 10?three sources in industry told. The Sibur Holding plant has a total design capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. ILSKY Following a drone attack by Ukraine, a fire broke out in the Ilsky oil refinery. Five people were injured. Fire was extinguished. Local officials reported that the Ilsky refinery caught fire as well after a drone strike on July 10. The design capacity of the refinery is more than 6 million tons per year. YAROSLAVL The Yaroslavl Russian refinery, located about 250 km (160 mi) northeast of Moscow was on fire after a Ukrainian drone strike on August 6, but it was extinguished by emergency crews, according to regional governor Mikhail Evrayev. Ukrainian forces attacked Russian oil installations in Yaroslavl on July 27, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The Yaroslavl refinery has a processing capacity of up to 15 million tons each year. VOLGOGRAD A drone attack on the Volgograd refinery has caused a complete shutdown of crude oil processing at that facility since July 31, according to two industry sources. Five people were injured in the attack that set fire to an energy facility in Volgograd and its warehouses, according to regional governor Andrei Bocharov, without providing any further details. The Lukoil refinery will process 13.5 million tonnes of oil in 2024. SARATOV According to the military of Kyiv, on August 2, Ukrainian forces attacked Rosneft's Saratov oil refining plant in southwest Russia. Two sources claim that the refinery stopped processing oil?on 2 August due to damage caused by the attack. The plant will process 5.8 millions tons of oil in 2024. RYAZAN Russia’s Ryazan refinery, which is one of the largest in the country, halted crude processing on July 29, following a drone strike, and could close for a period of?two weeks. In 2024, the refinery will process 13.1 million tonnes of crude oil. SYZRAN According to industry sources, the Russian oil refinery Syzran on the Volga River in the Samara Region halted operations after a drone strike on July 12, which damaged a primary unit. The Rosneft refinery was also attacked by Ukrainian drones on May 21. After the attack, which damaged a primary unit of processing, the refinery stopped operations. The refinery had suspended operations after an attack on April 18th. The refinery can process 8.5 million tons per year. OMSK On July 6, Ukrainian drones attacked the Omsk refinery, causing a large fire. Governor Vitaly Khotsenko stated that Russian air defences destroyed the majority of drones. The extent of the damage to the refinery was not immediately known. The design capacity of Omsk's oil refinery is 22 million tonnes of oil per annum. MOSCOW A Moscow refinery stopped operations on June 16 after an attack by a Ukrainian drone, according to sources. On June 18, a second attack caused damage to processing units and multiple fires. The Kapotnya district in the southeast of the capital has an annual production capacity of approximately 11 million tons. Mark Potter (Reporting and Editing)
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Russian air strikes target Kyiv and its ports, industrial sites
Officials?said that Russia targeted warehouses, ports and energy and industrial installations in an hour-long attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday morning. After an overnight barrage of unspecified ballistic missiles, 258 drones and an unknown number of hypersonic missiles, commuters in Kyiv rushed to work amid the booming sounds of air defences shooting at jet-powered aircraft attacking the city. Andrii Sybiha, Foreign Minister, said that Russia launched a massive attack against Ukraine overnight, targeting ports, grain stores, energy, industry and other infrastructure with ballistic and hypersonic weapons and combat drones. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said that Ukraine received a small number of Patriot interceptors made by the United States this week. These interceptors are capable of intercepting fast-moving missiles which are notoriously hard to intercept. In a Thursday statement, the Kyiv air force stated that Ukrainian forces had shot down seven ballistic missiles and one anti-ship cruise rocket, as well as nearly 90% of?drones. Oleh Syniehubov, regional governor of Kharkiv region, confirmed that one person was killed in the attack at lunchtime on a Kharkiv shopping center. Two others were injured. Damages in several regions of Kyiv. According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, debris has fallen into at least two districts and damaged a school. It also shattered windows at a health facility. He added that two people were injured during a daytime assault. The regional governor reported that two people were injured outside of the capital, after strikes damaged private homes and warehouses. A large plume of smoke was seen on TV over a nearby warehouse. The regional governor of the central Poltava said that air strikes targeted industrial sites, an energy facility and cut power to seven settlements. Oleksandr Hanzha, the governor of Kryvyi Rih (Zelenskiy’s hometown), a mining and steel hub, reported that three people were injured after a missile attack on an industrial site. Ivan Fedorov, regional chief of Zaporizhzhia, said that three more people were injured?in southern city Zaporizhzhia following strikes on a production facility. Officials said that in an attack lasting several hours on southern Odesa, infrastructure, a?educational facility and a multistorey building had been damaged. Three people were injured. The Russian defence ministry reported that Moscow had?hit steelworks in Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia and an oil refinery located in Poltava, as well as logistics centres in Kyiv, and three ports within the Odesa area. Local authorities reported that six Russian drones 'crossed over into the airspace of neighboring Moldova. This prompted President Maia Sandu "to strongly condemn this intimidation". One of the drones was discovered on Moldovan soil. The company reported on Thursday that a drone attack overnight in central Russia destroyed a logistics facility belonging to the online retailer Ozon. This is the latest apparent Ukrainian attack against the company. (Jekaterina Golubkova, Tokyo; Dan Peleschuk, Writing; Alexandra Hudson and Gareth Jones editing)
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Russia's Ozon claims that a drone damaged its Ufa logistic hub
A drone attack overnight?caused?minor damage and??temporarily???closed? a logistics complex operated by Russian online retailer Ozon, according to the company on Thursday. Ukraine has been 'attacking' several Ozon facilities in the city of Ufa since Saturday as it continues its campaign against Russia by targeting ecommerce giants who are?key employers in an?expanding?sector. The company stated that no fire broke out at the Ufa Complex in Bashkortostan Region, but the complex sustained minor damages. The area is temporarily closed as it undergoes an inspection. The company said that a second Ozon facility in the southwest city of Orenburg had been evacuated due to a warning about missiles. Since then, it has resumed its operations. In the last month Ukraine has attacked over 20 warehouses belonging to?Ozon, and?Wildberries - two of Russia's top online retailers. Reporting by Alessandra Prentice, Writing by Louise Heavens, Editing by Louise Heavens
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Singapore opposition legislator opposes Temasek funding to Air India
Singapore opposition legislator urges that Temasek, the state investor, not be used to bolster Air India after reports that 'the Indian carrier had asked owners Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines and Temasek, who is majority owner of Singapore Airlines for $1.5 billion. Kenneth Tiong of the Workers' Party, an opposition member of parliament, stated in a post on social media that since Singapore Airlines owned about 25% of Air India, and Temasek, in turn, owned most of Singapore Airlines, the request "was not only a private shareholder question." I will not support or expect any future use by Temasek of funds to support Air India through Singapore Airlines. "If Singapore Airlines wishes to continue its?bet on Air India, they should do it on their own, not with Temasek’s help," he said. He added without further explanation that "whichever of the two writes a cheque?it will have an impact on Temasek." Singapore's Ministry of Transport did not reply to requests for comment. Neither did Temasek or Air India. A spokesperson for Singapore Airlines said that the board of directors would consider Air India's request for additional capital, taking into account the group's?capital needs and its business strategy. Tiong also said that he filed a written question to the Transport Minister on 8 September, asking if the losses and carrying amounts of Singapore Airlines' foreign affiliates had been compared with its ability to provide essential transportation services. Singapore Airlines' commercial decision is now being scrutinized by the political establishment in Singapore. The airline's 25.1% share in Air India has affected its earnings, as Air India's losses have widened. Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said that the turnaround could take up a decade. Air India Express and its budget-wing Air India posted combined losses in the year ending March of $2.33 Billion, which is more than twice the previous year. Singapore Airlines absorbed its share of the losses. Air India will continue to require capital infusions "in the coming years", a source with knowledge of the matter said earlier this week. Air India's future funding has been a topic of discussion for many years. The Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS) asked the Singapore Airlines board whether it had set limits on the amount of capital that could be allocated to Air India, and under what conditions they would approve additional capital. Singapore Airlines didn't provide a limit in a response written on 17 July. The company stated that its board would consider any requests carefully, while taking into account its other capital needs?and Air India’s business strategy. Air India is suffering from Pakistan's ban on Indian carriers flying in its airspace, the disruptions caused by the U.S./Israeli war against Iran and the fallout of a fatal crash that occurred last year. (Reporting from Abhijith Ganahapavaram, New Delhi; Additional Reporting by Xinghui Kok, Singapore; Editing Jamie Freed).
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Kuehne+Nagel's Apex unit cooperates with US investigation after report about alleged chip-smuggling
Kuehne+Nagel announced on 'Thursday' that 'Apex Logistics, its division, was cooperating fully with authorities in a u.s. Bloomberg News reported on a government investigation into alleged AI chip smuggling. The Swiss logistics group Kuehne+Nagel confirmed that Apex Logistics was cooperating fully with the authorities in this isolated case, as part of a larger investigation by the U.S. Government. Kuehne+Nagel was not contacted by authorities. As this case does not concern Kuehne+Nagel, and is still under investigation, we are unable comment on the matter further. Apex is a business that Kuehne+Nagel acquired in 2021 and operates as an independent company within the portfolio of the group. Kuehne+Nagel's shares dropped?3.7% during the first hour of trading following the publication by Bloomberg?of the report early in the morning. Anastasiia Kozova and Amir Orusov report from Gdansk; Milla Nissi Prussak edits.
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According to a railway operator, Ukraine's grain imports are down 60% this month as compared to July.
Ukraine's grain sales have plummeted?this week after Russian attacks effectively shut down its Black Sea ports.?Rail and river routes are unable to compensate for the lost capacity. Ukrzaliznytsia, the state railway operator, said that grain exports have been reduced by 60% compared to the same period in August last year. It said that the volume consisted of 170,000 tons delivered to Ukraine's Danube port and 343,200 tonnes transported to the western border crossings. After Russian attacks effectively blocked Ukraine's Black Sea port, which handled?90% grain exports, shipments have been rerouted via Danube ports, and border crossings to European countries. These routes, however, 'cannot compensate for the lost Black Sea export capability. Ukrzaliznytsia claims it can transport up to 1 million tons per month of grain to land borders, for export. And 500,000 tons a month into Danube port. Ukraine's deep water?Black Sea port in the Greater Odesa region can handle up 6 million tons per month of grain exports. According to data from the Agriculture Ministry, Ukraine exported only 539,000 tons of grains between August 1 and 21, compared to 1.73 million during the same period last year. ALERTS FOR AIR RAIDS ARE COMMON WHEN NO FLEET IS AVAILABLE Officials from the Ukrainian railways say that exports could be increased via the Danube, just as they were in the 'early years of the conflict. But a lack of vessels and frequent alerts of air raids is hampering operations. "We can send 500,000 tons of cargo to the Danube... But?the main issue is regular availability of vessels for load," Valeriy Tkachev said, deputy director of the commercial department of?Ukrzaliznytsia, during an online trade conference. Data from the company showed that only nine rail wagons have been unloaded since midnight, because air-raid alerts were in place for the majority of this period. Reni is one of Ukraine's two main ports on the Danube, Izmail being the other. However, no grain wagons have been unloaded there in the last 24 hours as no vessels are available to load. Analysts and traders said that?on Tuesday, up to 70 vessels were waiting for access to Ukrainian port to load grain to export due to a lack of pilots. Priority was given to other cargoes. (Reporting from Pavel Polityuk. (Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter.)
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Singapore opposition legislator opposes Temasek funding to Air India
An opposition Singapore lawmaker urged against using state investor Temasek’s money to bolster?Air India after reports that the Indian carrier had?asked for $1.5 billion from owners Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines and Temasek, who are majority-owned by Temasek. Kenneth Tiong of the Workers' Party, an opposition member of parliament, stated in a post on social media that since Singapore Airlines owned about 25% of Air India, and Temasek, in turn, owned most of Singapore Airlines, the request "was not only a private shareholder question." I will not support or expect any future use of Temasek funds to support Air India through Singapore Airlines. "If Singapore Airlines wishes to continue its wager on Air India, they should do it on their own, not with Temasek’s help," he said. He added that whichever of the two wrote the cheque, it would have a significant effect on Temasek, without going into further detail. Singapore's Ministry of Transport and Temasek did not reply to emails asking for comment. Neither did Air India, Tata Sons, or Tiong. Tiong also said that he filed a written question to the Transport Minister on September 8th, asking if the losses and carrying amounts in Singapore Airlines' associates abroad have been compared with its ability to provide essential transportation services. Singapore Airlines' commercial decision is now being scrutinized by the political establishment in Singapore. The airline's 25,1% stake in Air India weighed down on its earnings, as Air India's losses increased during the multi-billion dollar turnaround. Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran said that it could take up to 10 years for Air India to turn around. Air India Express and its budget-arm Air India posted combined losses in excess of $2.33 Billion dollars for the year ending March. This is more than double what they reported the year before. Singapore Airlines has taken its share of the losses. Air India will continue to require capital infusions over the next few years, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Earlier this week. Air India's future funding has been questioned before. The Securities & Investors Association (Singapore), which held its annual general meeting in Singapore last month, asked if the Singapore Airlines board has set limits on the amount of capital that can be allocated to Air India and under what conditions it will approve additional capital. Singapore Airlines didn't specify a limit in a response written on July 17. The company stated that its board would carefully consider any request, taking into consideration its other capital needs and Air India's?business strategy. Air India is suffering from a number of factors, including the ban on Indian airlines flying into Pakistan, the disruptions in its international network caused by the U.S./Israeli conflict with Iran and the aftermath of a fatal crash that occurred last year. (Reporting from Abhijith Ganahapavaram, New Delhi; Additional Reporting by Xinghui Kok, Singapore; Editing Jamie Freed).
Sources say that drone attacks have reduced the oil loadings at CPC by about a fifth in July.
Four sources with knowledge of the data claim that drone attacks in the Black Sea wiped out a fifth (?5) of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) oil loads in July, while the Russia-Ukraine conflict spilled over to affect Kazakhstan and western oil majors.
Sources said that CPC loadings were'more than 20% behind schedule in July, falling to between 1.2 and 1.3 million barrels a day (bpd), after drone attacks near Black Sea export terminal disrupted supply.
Reduced loadings resulted in the loss of 400,000 bpd of CPC blend oil for international markets during July. This added to the disruption of?atleast 10 million bpd via the Strait of Hormuz, which together accounts for 10% of the global supply.
About?2% (or a little more) of the world's oil is supplied by the CPC pipeline. It transports crude from Kazakhstan into Russia's Black Sea Port of Novorossiysk. The CPC terminal has been experiencing frequent interruptions since mid-July. Two sources say that oil loadings were again suspended on Friday morning, after briefly resumed on Thursday.
One source said that the tanker Oneiroi was due to depart 'on Friday' if the terminal reopened. One source said that another vessel, Mareta was scheduled to be loaded on Friday.
DISRUPTION PERSISTS
CPC Blend crude oil loadings in August have been between 1.1 and 1.2 million barrels per day, according to two sources. This indicates that exports are still below the July levels due to disruptions.
According to sources, Kazakhstan's oil production dropped by 14% in July compared to June. Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other major Western oil companies are active in Kazakhstan. Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Ukrainian forces attacked oil tanks during loading operations at CPC terminal, and accused Kyiv for trying to "destabilise" global oil markets. Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, but Ukraine has neither claimed responsibility nor commented on the drone strikes on facilities that primarily handle Kazakh crude.
CPC declined to comment on July and August's loadings.
The government has not made any public comments about the latest disruption. Kazakhstan has limited alternative routes to replace CPC volumes, which are typically between 1.5 and 1.7 million barrels per day. This makes the pipeline crucial for the country's revenue from oil and its oil sector.
(source: Reuters)