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Energy Markets

Oil & Gas

Oil & Gas

France and Saudi Arabia agree to EUR6 billion Dragon Ball Z Theme Park Project near Paris

The Elysee Palace announced on Monday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had visited Paris and agreed to build a manga-themed amusement?park near Paris?. The Elysee said that the project, which is based on the popular Japanese manga and anime series Dragon Ball Z, would be built in Cergy-Pontoise to the northwest of Paris, and was expected to create 22,000 jobs. Macron advisers claim that the idea came about after French President Emmanuel Macron discovered a common interest in Dragon Ball Z with Saudi Crown Prince during Macron's trip to Saudi Arabia 2025. The project will be funded by...

Oil & Gas

Aramco Jazan facility fire extinguished, Saudi Arabia reports

The Saudi Energy Ministry reported that firefighters extinguished the fire at Saudi Aramco Jazan refinery, which broke out early Sunday morning. The fire was brought under control by Aramco's Industrial Security Teams and the authorities are completing the procedures to handle the incident. This is what the Saudi Energy Ministry said on X. The ministry did not say what started the fire. Jazan lies on the Red Sea, near the border of Yemen. Aramco closed its 400,000 barrels-per-day Jazan'refinery' on July 27, following an attack from Yemen's Houthi militants, which damaged the plant’s Integrated 'Gasification Combined Cycle' (IGCC) and tank...

Oil & Gas

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign joint defense deal amid regional turmoil

Sources say that a pact will be signed in Mecca this Friday Erdogan, Sharif, and Munir the army chief are scheduled to meet Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman * An agreement was reached after nearly a year-long negotiation, as reported in January. (Adds context and details throughout). By Timour Azhari Ariba?Shahid, and Tuvan Gumrukcu RIYADH/KARACHI/ANKARA, Aug 7 - Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will sign a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, sources with ?knowledge of the matter said, amid regional ?turmoil with Gulf states coming under fire from Iran after it ?was attacked ?by the U.S. and Israel....

Oil & Gas

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign joint defense deal amid regional turmoil

Sources say that a pact will be signed in Jeddah this Friday. Erdogan, Sharif, and the army chief Munir are due to meet with Prince Mohammed bin Salman * An agreement follows nearly a year's worth of negotiations, as reported in January By ?Ariba ?Shahid KARACHI/RIYADH. 7 August. Regional sources who have direct knowledge of this matter confirmed that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan would sign a joint defense agreement on Friday. This comes at a period of turmoil in the region, with the Gulf States under attack from?Iran following its attacks by the U.S. The pact?cements the growing grouping...

Oil & Gas

Beiersdorf says Middle East conflict disrupts Gulf sales, deliveries

Beiersdorf, the maker of Nivea, said that the conflict in the Middle East was disrupting sales and deliveries in key Gulf markets. This highlights how geopolitical tensions continue to impact consumer goods companies in the region. Vincent Warnery, Chief Executive of the company, said that due to the conflict the company was unable to ship some products to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. "This is something that impacts not only our costs, but also consumption." We hope the war will end soon so that we can get back to business as usual," he said in a press conference....

Oil & Gas

Trump announces that Iran talks will take place Monday and does not set a deadline for a deal

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that talks with Iran would take place on Monday. He declined to give a 'deadline for agreement' after announcing earlier that he had halted an imminent attack to reach a quick deal to reopen Strait of Hormuz in order to resolve the impasse regarding Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Trump said on Saturday night on his Truth Social platform, that Iran and Middle Eastern countries asked for more time to reach a deal which would result in "the Immediate Complete and Total Reopening" of the Strait and "an End to Iran's Nuclear Threat" but that Tehran...

Oil & Gas

Germany's Fuchs suspended operations at Saudi joint-venture plant after fire

Fuchs, a German lubricants manufacturer, announced on Friday that the production of its jointly-owned facility in Yanbu (Saudi Arabia) had been suspended until further notification after a Saturday fire caused significant damage to the site. The cause of the fire is not known. It may have been caused by the Houthi?militants who attacked Saudi ports on Saturday. A spokesperson for Fuchs told us that the company relied solely on information supplied by its partner, and was unable to provide further details. The company confirmed that no employees were injured. Yanbu is Saudi Arabia's Red Sea oil port and has now...

Oil & Gas

Saudi Arabia claims to have intercepted drones that were launched by Iraq and targeted oil facilities

Saudi Arabia announced 'on Tuesday' that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed a number of drones that were launched from Iraqi territory in an attempt to 'target?oil?installations in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. This was the second attack of this kind in less than a week, and it raises the stakes as Riyadh tries to pressure Iraq to stop its territory being used as a launching pad against Saudi oil installations. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesperson for the Saudi Defense Ministry, said on X that drones had been 'launched by militias backed by Iran from Iraqi soil. Al-Maliki stated that Saudi Arabia...

Mineral Resources

The Gulf's major markets are mixed in response to the US-Iran hostilities and Q2 earnings

Investors weighed the escalating tensions in the region and an array of corporate earnings announcements as they viewed major stock markets in Gulf in early trade on Thursday. The?U.S. The?U.S. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards reported that an oil tanker was set ablaze after an explosion occurred while trying to navigate what they described as a "mined" route near the coast of Oman in the southern Strait of Hormuz. Two other tankers returned. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index fell 0.1% due to a 0.9% drop in the Saudi National Bank, the largest lender of the country. However, ?oil major Saudi Aramco gained...

Oil & Gas

Sources say that China's Zhenhua has booked the first Saudi crude cargo to be refined by a joint venture with Saudi Arabia.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed on Wednesday that China's Zhenhua Oil had booked to load 2 million barrels in Saudi crude for August. This is a sign that a new?joint venture? refinery between China and Saudi Arabia will soon begin operations. The crude will be supplied to the newly built 300,000-barrel-per-day Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co (HAPCO) refinery in northeastern China's Liaoning province, the sources said. HAPCO was formed by Saudi Aramco, Norinco Group (a Chinese state-owned conglomerate) and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group. HAPCO has delayed its start-up to September or even October due to disruptions in Middle...

Oil & Gas

OPEC lowers its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2026

* Oil demand growth in 2026 is cut by 190,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to the impact of the Iran war * OPEC+ production?rises 3 million bpd by June as Hormuz flow starts to?recover * Reduced geopolitical tensions could give the economy some 'upside' in the second half of the year Olesya Astakhova & Alex Lawler LONDON - OPEC lowered Monday its forecast for the world's oil demand growth to 780,000 barrels a day. This is its third consecutive downward revision. The producer group has continued to predict a lower impact on consumption than other forecasters, such as the...

Oil & Gas

Russian officials claim that a major drone attack on St Petersburg has been carried out by Ukraine.

St Petersburg, Russia's second largest city and the surrounding Leningrad area were hit by a major Ukrainian drone attack over night. A Baltic Sea port which handles oil exports was also reported to have been affected. Alexander Beglov, the governor of St Petersburg, said that the city's?6-million population had been subjected to a "large scale" drone attack. He did not give any details about specific targets but the local media outlet Bumaga reported that there was a fire in the oil terminal of St Petersburg. Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of the Leningrad region, said that drones struck the port of Vysotsk...

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels

OPEC+ loses influence in Iran War as China gains influence

Six months after the 'Iran War,' the world’s most powerful oil coalition, OPEC+ finds itself in a new position. It is unable to influence a marketplace it?once shaped. The war has eroded OPEC's share of the market and its ability to influence prices. The group's policy decisions and statements barely affect oil markets any more. Analysts describe the worst ever supply disruption as a major factor in balancing oil markets. OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (and its allies, including Russia), accounted for 40% of the global oil production in July. Calculations based on data from the International...

Fossil Fuels

Oil steadies near one-week highs as US-Iran peace deal hopes dim

The oil prices remained steady?on Tuesday? at a level higher than a week ago?despite fading hopes of an agreement between the U.S.A. and Iran that would end their war and open the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump demanded damages for the U.S. Brent crude futures remained flat at $87.81 per barrel at 0013 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate crude?futures stayed at $82.20 per barrel. Both benchmarks rose by more than 5% Monday, reaching their highest level since July 31. Trump's response to Iran’s conditions for a deal was to demand that Iran pay compensation for those killed in...

Fossil Fuels

Oil prices rise on the uncertainty surrounding the reopening Hormuz

Oil prices rose Monday?on the uncertainty of a reopening the Strait?of Hormuz any time soon. Iran said a?deal with Oman?defining?new shipping?lanes? was in its final phases?but?insisted that the U.S. still must meet other conditions. Brent crude futures increased 91 cents (1.09%) to $84.46 a bar by 0056 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures also rose 61 cents (0.78%) to $78.79 a bar. Both benchmarks fell more than 7% in the last week, on the hope that Iran and Oman would soon reach a deal that would lead to the reopening of Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz carried...

Crude Oil

Refined Products

Refined Products

Saudi June crude exports rise from record low May data

Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports rose from a record low of just 3.434 million barrels per day to 3.993 million barrels per days in June. The crude oil production of the country increased from 6.560 to 7.122 millions bpd between May and June. JODI has data on Saudi crude exports and outputs dating back to 2002. Riyadh, and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries provide monthly export data for publication on the JODI website. The U.S. and Iran signed a MoU in June that allowed'more vessels to cross the Strait of Hormuz,' according to UBS analyst Giovanni...

Refined Products

Russell: Crude oil futures prices are a measure of market adaptability and not a sign of Iran peace.

Since the beginning of the Iran War, there has been a debate about whether crude oil futures accurately reflect?the stress in the physical markets for oil and refined products or if the are blindly 'optimistic' that peace is on the horizon. The Iran War between the United States of America and Iran continues on its volatile and unpredictable course, with renewed hope that there is a chance for a new pause in the?reverse strikes. This flicker of optimism led Brent futures to fall in the early Asian trading on Monday. The price fell by nearly 5%, reaching around $92.06. The...

Refined Products

Can it deliver? Who will buy and how much crude oil can OPEC+ increase? Russell

Two questions are raised by the decision of OPEC+, to increase crude production quotas a fifth consecutive month? from August. Who will purchase the product if they are able to ship it? At a Sunday meeting, the'seven core members' of OPEC+ (which groups together OPEC, as well as other producers like Russia) agreed to increase quotas - by 188,000 barrels a day starting August. This will bring the 'total increase since April to nearly 800,000 bpd. The first question can be answered positively if the Strait of Hormuz remains open and the volume of water flowing through the narrow waterway...

Refined Products

Kuwait's crude oil production surged sharply in June following the US-Iran agreement, a source said

Kuwait's crude production jumped to 1.65m barrels a day in June, from just 580,000 bpd a month earlier, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday. The OPEC member is boosting exports via the Gulf after the?U.S.-Iran peace agreement. Kuwait's surge in crude oil production is a sign that Gulf oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have recovered rapidly after the disruption caused by the Iran War. Stranded cargoes are slowly clearing the Strait of Hormuz, and exporters are restoring their production. Kuwait produced about 2.5 million barrels of oil per day before Iran effectively closed the...

Refined Products

Sources say that OPEC+ is likely to increase oil production targets again in August.

Three sources told Reuters that OPEC+ countries are likely to agree on a 'further increase in their 'output targets for August, when they meet?Sunday. This will add supply at a moment of falling prices, as the Strait of Hormuz slowly reopens. Sources said that the target for August will be the same as it was for June and for July. OPEC didn't immediately respond to a comment request. All sources, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said that 'no decision has been finalized. Seven members of OPEC+ (which groups OPEC, Russia and other producers) have increased their 'output quotas between...

Refined Products

Chairman of India's BPCL says that the company reviews its oil imports every day and buys more on the spot amid Iran War.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation, India's state refiner. Sanjay Khanna, the chairman of Bharat Petroleum?Corp. said on Tuesday that it is recalibrating their crude import strategy nearly daily and ramping up its spot purchases following the U.S./Israeli conflict against Iran which disrupted Middle East supplies. India, which is the third-largest oil importer and consumer in the world, has been affected by the rising prices of crude and the disruption of supply following the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. South Asian nation raised retail petrol and diesel prices twice in one week. BPCL planned to procure about 55% its crude requirements?for 2026/27...

Refined Products

Russell: Refined fuel prices in Asia are declining, but supply is still stressed.

The price of refined fuels has fallen sharply, in line with the declines seen in crude oil after the tentative ceasefire agreement between the United States & Iran. However, the prices remain at levels that indicate a shortage. The prices of gasoil and jet fuel in Singapore, the Asian trading center, all dropped by?double digits on Wednesday amid relief from the market that the 'deal' may lead to the reopening of Strait of Hormuz. The 'ceasefire' and commitment to peace talks announced by the United States in separate announcements looks already to be on its way out. Tehran said it...

Refined Products

US and Iran agree on two-week ceasefire brokered through Pakistan

The United States, Iran and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire for two weeks, which was mediated by Pakistan. This could potentially end a six-week war that has claimed thousands of lives, spread throughout the Middle East, and disrupted the world's supply of energy. Trump announced the deal late Tuesday night, only?two hours after a deadline that he set for Iran:?opening the Strait of Hormuz blockade or face destruction of their "whole civilization". Shehbaz sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, said he invited Iranian and U.S. delegates to meet at Islamabad this Friday. Trump said that the deal was contingent on Iran...

Refined Products

Starmer, UK's Starmer, heads to the Gulf for talks on reopening Strait of Hormuz

His office announced that British Prime Minister Keir starmer would 'travel to the Gulf tomorrow to 'hold talks with regional leaders to...?ensure that the Strait of Hormuz is permanently opened after a U.S. Iran ceasefire. Starmer, in a press release, said: "I welcome the overnight ceasefire agreement which will bring relief to the area?and world." "Together, with our partners, we must do everything possible to support and sustain the 'ceasefire. We need to turn it into an agreement that will last and reopen the Strait of Hormuz." Starmer, who has been heavily criticized by U.S. president Donald Trump for not'supporting...

Refined Products

Russell: The key to a boost in crude oil production from OPEC+ is the duration of the disruption caused by Hormuz.

OPEC+'s decision to increase crude oil production by 206,000 barrels a day (bpd), starting in April, is likely?the most unimportant decision that the group has taken during its nearly decade-long existence. Addition of 0.2% to global oil demand in a month is nothing more than a symbol in light of the escalating conflict in the Middle East that is already causing serious disruptions in supply. There was not much the 'eight members' of OPEC+ who are voluntarily cutting production could have done if they had met on Sunday in order to reassure the market that the supply would be secure....

Refined Products

Russell: China is changing its crude oil purchases in response to the price rally.

China's role in setting the floor and ceiling prices for crude oil is one of the less discussed dynamics of the global market. The world's biggest crude?importer is known to buy excess oil and build up inventories when the refiners or government consider prices to be low. They also pull back imports when they feel that prices are rising too quickly. Analysts and journalists covering the crude oil market are not aware of the changes in imports because they occur with a delay of several months. There are early signs, however, that China will shift its imports in favor of...