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Dutch geological data specialist Fugro said on Friday that Iran war-linked disruptions had dented its earnings by €25 million ($28 million) this year, including €10 million in the third quarter alone, while GPS jamming and restrictions on vessel movements continued to hamper Gulf offshore operations.Some clients in the region have altered project plans and, in some cases, used their own vessels for work that would otherwise have been contracted to Fugro, CEO Mark Heine told Reuters."We have work…

QatarEnergy is buying long-term supplies of liquefied natural gas from the US and other producers as part of a trading strategy designed to generate revenue if exports through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted in the future, CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi told Reuters on Thursday."In a scenario where you have a closure of the strait, which is the true contingency that we're looking to have, you'd immediately see a spike in gas price and you'll be able to generate revenue for QatarEnergy that otherwise wouldn't be generated…

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Wednesday for a global maritime truce after a drone attack sank a Greek container ship off Bulgaria, the latest of a series of strikes on ships in the western Black Sea this month.Speaking at a high-level debate of the Greek presidency of the UN Security Council on maritime security, Mitsotakis said commercial vessels must be able to navigate safely and freely even during times of conflict."Targeted civilian commercial shipping is completely unacceptable.

Dockworkers in 22 countries will strike on Friday, protesting against war and the use of ports for arms exports in action organisers say could disrupt over 40% of Mediterranean cargo and snarl over $2 billion worth of freight.The strike, originally called by dockworkers' unions in Italy, France, Greece, Spain's Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco, is now backed by more than 25 unions in 113 ports.The protest is expected to target major shipping hubs across Europe and beyond, including Hamburg…

The Maritime Administration has approved a deepwater port license application for the $8.2 billion ST LNG project, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Wednesday.The project could further expand US liquefied natural gas export capacity. President Donald Trump's administration has promised to ease permitting in a bid to speed up energy infrastructure development.The ST LNG deepwater port, set to be built about 10.4 miles (16.7 km) offshore Matagorda, Texas, will include four 2.1 million tonnes per annum liquefaction plants for a combined production capacity of 8.4 mtpa…

Europe's benchmark natural gas contract briefly touched €100 per megawatt hour (MWh) on Wednesday as disruptions to Middle East shipping of liquefied natural gas keep supply tight ahead of winter and consumers and industry feel the pinch from high energy prices.Prices have been rising to 2022 highs as the conflict in the Middle East has escalated, and are now trading at around triple pre-Iran war levels.The US-led war on Iran has raised costs for oil, transport fuels, gas, electricity and food.

Global commodity prices are set to surge 23% in 2026, the World Bank said on Wednesday, citing rising energy prices and disruptions to cargo shipping during the Middle East war, grain shipment problems in the Black Sea and high demand for safe-haven assets such as gold.Oil, natural gas, food and metals prices all rose sharply this year as global shocks mounted, the World Bank said in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook. It said the situation could worsen if the conflict in the…

Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche on Wednesday said companies may return previously auctioned offshore wind farm sites, provided they pay a penalty to transmission system operators, as mounting economic pressures continue to batter the sector.The move comes as increasing financing costs, overcapacity in certain sea areas and declining revenue expectations have made it harder for developers to deliver on awarded projects.In a letter to Reiche, the heads of eight of Germany's 16 states called on her to amend a bill before the German lower house of parliamentThey advocated for a one-tim

Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler on Wednesday warned Russia and Ukraine against further attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, saying Ankara reserved the right to take legal action against the strikes, in Turkey's most direct intervention to date.NATO member Turkey, which has maintained good ties with both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has repeatedly called on both sides to halt attacks in the Black Sea that have also struck…

Sea drones struck a container ship off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast on Wednesday, the ship's owner and the government said, the latest in a string of attacks that have raised concerns about the growing scope of Russia's war in Ukraine.It was not clear who carried out the attack on the Greek ship that was sailing under the Liberian flag in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), or what the vessel's 421 containers were carrying."A container ship was hit...with three naval drones…

Russian authorities have issued permits for vessels carrying grain for export to leave the Sea of Azov for the first time since July 10, when they closed maritime traffic in the area due to Ukrainian drone attacks, seven industry sources told Reuters.The sources said permits to pass through the Kerch Strait, which links the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, would be issued for a period through November 15. Two of the sources said the vessels would be accompanied through the Black…

An oil spill from a damaged tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has widened, satellite images showed, triggering more beach closures and raising environmental concerns.Images from the European Union's Copernicus satellite observation network dated October 24 show the oil spill has widened over the last few days and is reaching close to the shores of the northern Umm Al Quwain emirate, with dark layers of oil spreading at sea and along its coastline.Since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran…

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they had hit Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery, the ⁠biggest in the kingdom, with a ballistic missile.The Houthis also said they had attacked Saudi military aircraft and repelled an advance by Saudi-backed forces near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, an important Red Sea shipping route.Intensifying hostilities between Yemen and Saudi Arabia have further disrupted oil supplies and heightened the risk of a wider regional conflict, eight months since the Iran war began.The Houthis' military spokesperson…

Turkey may reach agreements to make acquisitions or further explore for hydrocarbons by the end of the year as part of its target to produce 1 million barrels of oil and natural gas a day, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Tuesday.Speaking at the Turkey Energy Summit in Istanbul, Bayraktar said Turkey had a production capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent, adding that the current planning had this reaching 550,000 to 600,000 by 2028Reaching the target would mean more than tripling Turkey's current output, and even the level planned for 2028 would leave it well short.

Oil futures fell on Tuesday as attention turned to Middle East peace talks, though prices remain near multi-month highs as the Houthi-Saudi Arabia conflict rages and the potential for fresh US-Israeli attacks hangs over the market.Brent crude futures were down $1.00, or 0.86%, at $114.81 a barrel by 1311 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 78 cents, or 0.77%, at $100.98.Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei on Tuesday met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei a day after holding talks with representatives of Saudi Arabia…

Most Gulf bourses ended higher on Tuesday as diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Middle East conflict gathered pace, a day after Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials held talks in Tehran. It was the first high-level contact between Iran and the three allies, who signed a mutual defence pact in August, since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered a war that spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index advanced 2.3%, led by a 2.8% jump in Al Rajhi Bank, while First Milling Company soared 9.9% after the flour miller reported a steep rise in quarterly profit.

Top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday in a bid to de-escalate the Middle East conflict, as Yemen's Houthis launched new attacks on Saudi Arabia and Egypt approved defence support for the Gulf kingdom.The talks were the first high-level contact between Iran and the three nations — which signed the Mecca mutual defence pact in August — since a war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran also spread to Saudi Arabia and…

Oil prices fell $2 a barrel on Monday amid hopes of easing hostilities between the United States and Iran, but persistent attacks on key producer Saudi Arabia kept investors wary and prices near six-month highs.Brent crude futures were down $2.03, or 1.7%, at $114.70 at 10:37 a.m. ET (1437 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $2.60, or 2.5%, at $100.71 per barrel.On Friday, prices settled more than $3 higher, with Brent finishing the week up 6% and WTI ending the week 2.3% higher."With the jeopardy doubled by Houthi attacks into Saudi…

Shipping through Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta was stable and grain exports had increased by end-September, the port authority said, despite a spike in marine insurance premiums driven by increased attacks on cargo vessels.In September, London's marine insurance market widened the area in the Black Sea it lists as high risk, as Russia's war in Ukraine escalated, with only the territorial waters of Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey exempted.The Black Sea is a vital route for grain…

Borr Drilling's Prospector 5 jack-up rig has sunk offshore Gabon after experiencing a punch-through event during preload operations that caused it to lose stability, leaving five people missing and 110 safely accounted for among the 115 personnel on board.In its latest update on October 26, Borr Drilling said extensive marine and air search and rescue operations were continuing for the five missing individuals, while the 110 personnel accounted for were being brought ashore in Gabon…

China is combining militia vessels with coast guard ships to expand "battlefield preparation" around Taiwan and into the western Pacific, Taiwan's Coast Guard said, warning the operations were also putting pressure on Japan and the Philippines.Responding to a Reuters exclusive this month on the first known sighting of a Chinese militia boat off Taiwan's Pacific coast in mid-August, the coast guard said it had dispatched a patrol boat to drive away the vessel, which was operating alongside a Chinese coast guard ship and a research vessel.The coast guard confirmed details in the Reuters report…

Oil prices rose on Friday, with Brent crude touching its highest since early May, after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concern over further disruption to energy supplies from the Middle East where UAE authorities also reported an oil spill.Brent crude futures gained $1.71, or 1.5%, to $114.99 a barrel by 1300 GMT, having earlier reached $115.16, the highest level since May 4. US West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.80, or 1.8%, to $101.27.The Brent benchmark is on track for a 4.4% weekly rise…

October has been the worst month for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby waterways, according to data compiled by a Washington-based think tank that has tracked maritime security incidents worldwide since 2017."October has seen the highest number of ship attacks on record," said Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Raydan, who maintains the institute's interactive shipping incident map, has recorded 28 confirmed…