Greece protested what it called the “violent seizure” of two Greek-flagged ships in the Persian Gulf by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Friday. Earlier Friday, Greece said an Iranian helicopter landed on a Greek-flagged ship, the Delta Poseidon, in international waters some 22 nautical miles near to the coast of Iran. In a statement, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “Armed men then took the crew captive.” The statement added, “A similar incident has been reported on another Greek-flagged vessel, that was carrying seven Greek citizens, close to the coast ...

Russia’s seaborne crude oil flows are trying to find new destination countries, while the US has already set an embargo on Russian oil. The E.U. is in the process of discussions for final approval by all member countries in the next six months with wavering uncertainty for potential alternative sources to replace the Russian crude oil. In March, the situation was too premature for the potential implications of sanctions on the global oil production and seaborne transportation; and whether there will be decisions from Western countries to move forward with ...

Shipping of containerized cargo into Russia has evaporated. Shipping of tanker cargo out of Russia is booming. It seems the world doesn’t miss selling consumer goods to Russians but can’t stop buying Russia’s oil cold turkey. Sanctions do not prevent liner companies from calling in Russia with their container ships. Yet they’ve stopped anyway, choking import options. FourKites reported Wednesday that Russian consumer goods imports via all transport modes are down 87% versus pre-invasion. Imports of industrial products are down 91%. Tanker companies, like the liners, are not prevented by ...

LNG has gained significant traction in international shipping! It is clearly one of the signs of this fossil-derived fuel overcoming controversies surrounding its green credentials, and how it is able to maintain its place as a primary energy source well into the net-zero emission future. The year 2021 has already witnessed a record high of nearly 200 LNG-fueled vessels placed with shipyards, according to leading classification society, DN Alternative Fuel Insight portal. Globally, LNG-fueled new-builds on order exceeded 240 strong at the end of last year, out-numbering 48 for those ...

China’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are on track to post their first major decline this year, as high prices and weak manufacturing due to COVID-19 lockdowns crimp demand for the super-chilled fuel. China became the world’s top LNG buyer last year but surrendered the top spot back to Japan in the first four months of 2022 as imports sank 18 per cent from a year earlier, Refinitiv data shows. Gas use has fallen further this month as a COVID resurgence caused extended lockdowns across several manufacturing hubs, portending ...

European Union countries are negotiating a deal on Russian oil sanctions that would embargo shipment deliveries but exempt oil delivered by pipeline to win over Hungary and unblock a sixth package of measures against Moscow, officials said on Friday (May 27). An agreement could be reached by ambassadors of EU member states in Brussels on Sunday, on time for their leaders to agree at a May 30-31 summit, one of the officials said. “The idea is to split the oil embargo into pipeline and seaborne deliveries,” another official said. “Pipeline ...

Rental rates for offshore oil and gas rigs have rocketed higher, boosted by a race to lift production because of the war in Ukraine and a recovery in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic. Drilling companies are in a stronger position to demand higher dayrates for their equipment after several lean years that led to a wave of mergers and pushed them to scrap older rigs, leaving fewer available now that demand is rebounding. Daily costs to hire a rig, known as the dayrate, have risen fastest for deepwater equipment in ...

OPEC+ is set to stick to an oil production deal agreed last year at its meeting on June 2 and raise July output targets by 432,000 barrels per day, six OPEC+ sources told Reuters, rebuffing Western calls for a faster increase to lower surging prices. Western nations, grappling with record inflation rates that are threatening economic growth, have repeatedly asked the group to accelerate its output hikes. Members from the group maintain that the oil market is balanced and that the recent price hikes are not related to fundamentals. Under ...

Ministers from the Group of Seven countries on Friday called on OPEC to act responsibly to ease a global energy crunch brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even as they announced a breakthrough commitment to phase out coal-fuelled power. The call, made at the end of three-day talks in Berlin focused on climate change, underscored that the world’s major economies were grappling with how to contain inflation and higher energy prices while sticking to environmental goals. OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, has so far ...

An impressive line-up of experts and key speakers to debate the theme “Boosting Europe’s ports” will meet on 2nd and 3rd June at the City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia. The capital of the Turia will become the European capital of ports with the presence of those in charge of the ports of Valencia, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Algeciras, Dublin, Klaipeda, Amsterdam, Bremen, Esjberg or the Association of British Ports, among others. The fight against climate change and decarbonisation will be one of the central themes of the annual conference of ...

Hamad Port has ranked the world’s third most efficient gateway on the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s 370-member Container Port Performance Index for 2021, a statement from the Ministry of Transport (MoT) said. The index considered the number of hours a ship spent at a port during each loading and unloading task throughout 2021, the year that saw unprecedented traffic at all seaports worldwide and a disrupted supply chain globally. The analysis in its second edition highlighted the resilience and strength of the ports in the Middle East, ...

TruckersForMe.com announced the availability of its same-day or next-day capacity port and rail drayage, servicing a wide variety of industries across rail terminals and ports throughout the United States. TruckersForMe also provides bonded transport; overweight triaxle chassis; container status monitoring; transloading; FTL and LTL; O’Hare airport (ORD) pickup and delivery; and customs clearance. All transport services come with full tracking and status monitoring, virtually eliminating the hassle of demurrage and per diem fees. Owned by All Miles Transport, TruckersForMe maintains a warehouse and base of operations in Lincolnshire, just 30 ...

India’s largest gas transmitter GAIL is open to buying Russian oil and gas assets shunned by Western companies after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the company’s chairman Manoj Jain said on Friday. European countries and the United States have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Writing by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Low crude oil production means Nigeria is barely able to cover the cost of imported petrol from its oil and gas revenue, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed told Reuters. Ahmed added in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos that she hoped Nigerian oil production would average 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, up from around 1.5 million bpd in the first quarter. The government had budgeted 1.8 million bpd of production, Ahmed said, blaming crude theft and attacks on oil infrastructure for the shortfall. “We are ...

Norway’s oil and gas companies have raised their investment forecasts for 2022 as they take advantage of high petroleum prices and tax incentives to boost activity, a national statistics office (SSB) survey showed on Friday. The biggest business sector in Norway now expects to invest 167.2 billion Norwegian crowns ($17.57 billion) in 2022, up from a forecast of 159.5 billion crowns made in February, SSB said. “The upward adjustment for 2022 is driven by higher estimates within the categories field development, onshore activity and exploration and concept studies,” the agency ...