Geopolitics And Regional Stability News

Oil prices fell about 3% on Tuesday with at least one vessel passing through the Strait of Hormuz after the United States said the ceasefire with Iran remained in place despite exchanges of fire between the U.S. and Iran following a U.S. effort to reopen the strait for oil tankers and other ships.Brent futures fell $3.43, or 3.0%, to $111.01 a barrel at 10:29 a.m. EDT (1429 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $4.55, or 4.3%, to $101.87. Earlier in the session…

The United States is set to remove sanctions against Eritrea, according to an internal U.S. government document seen by Reuters, a decision analysts linked to the African state's strategic location on the Red Sea shipping route.The U.S. move is aimed at improving ties with Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline opposite Saudi Arabia, while also sending a message to neighbouring Ethiopia not to go to war with its longtime Horn of Africa foe, analysts said.The war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz…

The United Arab Emirates said it was under attack from Iranian missiles and drones on Tuesday, even as Washington said a shaky ceasefire was intact despite an exchange of fire the previous day as U.S. forces attempted to force open the Strait of Hormuz.The U.S. military said it had destroyed six Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones, after President Donald Trump sent the navy to escort stranded tankers through the strait in a campaign he called "Project Freedom".U.S.

U.N. Security Council members will begin talks on Tuesday on a U.S.- and Bahrain‑backed draft resolution that could lead to sanctions against Iran, and potentially authorise force, if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, three Western diplomats said.Fresh exchanges of fire on Monday underscored the stakes as the U.S. and Iran struggle for control of the narrow waterway, a vital artery for global energy and trade, shaking a fragile four-week-old truce and reinforcing rival maritime blockades.The U.S.

The gap between supply and demand is widening as global energy systems face strain, Guyana's President Irfaan Ali said on Monday, as the Iran warenters its third month and continues to drive up oil and gas prices amid supply shortages.Energy markets have been reeling since the start of the war, which has caused damage to infrastructure across the Middle East and led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade chokepoint. Oil prices have climbed above $100 a barrel and global trade flows have shifted as some nations scramble to secure supply.

Iran said on Thursday it would respond with "long and painful strikes" on U.S. positions if Washington renewed attacks, and also reasserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz, complicating U.S. plans for a coalition to reopen the waterway.Two months into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the vital sea channel remains closed, choking off 20% of the world's oil and gas supplies. That has sent global energy prices surging and heightened concerns about the risks of an economic downturn.Efforts to resolve the conflict have hit an impasse…

Donald Trump discussed how to mitigate the impact of a possible months-long U.S. blockade of Iran's ports with U.S. oil companies, a White House official said on Wednesday, as the U.S. president urged Tehran to 'get smart soon' and sign a deal.The talks with oil executives on Tuesday followed days of deadlock in efforts to resolve the conflict, which has led the U.S. to try to squeeze Iran's oil exports with a naval blockade to try to force it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.Trump…

Ukraine struck what it said was an oil pumping station 1,500 km (900 miles) into Russia near the Ural Mountains with drones overnight, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv would keep increasing the range of its strikes.Kyiv has stepped up its attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, aiming to knock out oil refineries, depots and ports and cripple Moscow's biggest source of funding for its war in Ukraine, as global prices have risen due to the Iran war.Zelenskiy said Ukraine's security service had reported a successful strike deep inside Russia…

At least six ships - a fraction of the usual traffic - have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, shipping data showed on Wednesday, while the U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked over coming to terms that would re-open the crucial waterway.The vessel traffic was mainly through Iranian waters and included the Vast Plus chemical tanker, which is subject to US sanctions, according to Kpler ship-tracking data and satellite analysis from SynMax.Most of the ships were dry bulk carriers…

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it was quitting OPEC, dealing a heavy blow to the oil producers' group as an unprecedented energy crisis triggered by the Iran war exposes discord among Gulf nations.The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could weaken the group, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over geopolitics and production quotas.UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei told Reuters the decision was taken…

Oil prices zig-zagged between negative and positive territory on Friday as traders weighed supply disruptions against the potential restart of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran that could help limit those disruptions.Prices rose 2% earlier in the day on fears of renewed military escalation in the region after Iran released footage on Thursday of commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and as progress stalled on re-opening the key waterway.Crude futures then…

Brent crude futures climbed more than $1 a barrel on Thursday following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to attack ships laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, casting doubt on the survival of a ceasefire in the war with Iran.Brent crude futures were up $1.26, or 1.24%, to $103.17 a barrel at 9:19 a.m. CDT (1419 GMT) after settling above $100 for the first time in more than two weeks on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 72 cents, or 0.77%, at $93.68.Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz with video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship…

Two container ships seized by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz with about 40 crew aboard have been taken toward the port of Bandar Abbas, sources said on Thursday, Tehran having vowed to retaliate after U.S. forces seized an Iranian vessel three days earlier.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the ships on Wednesday, one operated by MSC, the world's biggest container shipping group, and according to three sources, the other chartered by the firm."Some 20 Iranians armed to the teeth stormed the ship.

Safe and sustainable passage through the Strait of Hormuz is what top shipping companies require before the world's sees much oil or cargo leave or enter the Gulf, two top sector executives said on Wednesday."Two weeks ago when the ceasefire, said to be temporary, came into picture, we thought there was hope. But in reality, the agreement was not translated into the safety and passage (of the vessels)," Jotaro Tamura, chief executive of Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, told Reuters…

Oil prices pared gains on Tuesday after briefly climbing above $100 a barrel following an announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump that he was extending a ceasefire with Iran until Tehran submits a proposal.Brent crude futures were volatile, settling up about 3% on Tuesday and then climbing further to rise more than 5% to a session high of $101.15 after reports that U.S. Vice President JD Vance had called off his trip to Islamabad for peace talks with Iran.Prices later retreated…

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained broadly halted on Tuesday with only three ships passing the waterway in the past 24 hours, shipping data showed.A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has infuriated Tehran, prompting it to maintain its own restrictions on the strait, which had been typically handling roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.The Ean Spir products tanker, which had no known flag or known ownership, sailed through Hormuz on Tuesday after previously calling at an Iraqi port…

Ships were largely avoiding the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after an escalation at the weekend in which Iran fired what appeared to be warning shots at vessels and the U.S. military seized an Iranian cargo ship.Just one ship exited the Gulf through the strait while two entered in the space of 12 hours, ship-tracking data showed on Monday, a fraction of what is usually about 130 vessels per day.The oil products tanker Nero, which is under British sanctions for Russia-related activities…

The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, which was boarded and seized by U.S. forces on Sunday, is likely to have what Washington deems dual-use items that could be used by the military onboard, maritime security sources said on Monday.The small container ship, which is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) group that has been hit with U.S. sanctions, was boarded on Sunday off the coast of Iran's Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman and last reported its position at 1308 GMT, according to ship-tracking data on the Marine Traffic platform.The U.S.

All ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz but this needs to be coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary GuardCorps (IRGC), a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that unfreezing Iranian funds was part of the deal.Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that the strait was open after a ceasefire accord was agreed in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come "soon", although the timing remains unclear.The Iranian official said transits would be restricted to lanes that Iran deemed safe…

Total oil product stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub were down 4% on the week to their lowest since 2014, as the war in the Middle East disrupts imports, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed on Thursday.Total stocks stood at 4.72 million metric tons, dropping on declines in naphtha and middle distillate inventories, the data showed. Jet kerosene stocks were down 7.6%, continuing their downward trend from recent weeks, to 597,000 tons, to a four-year low, Insight Global's Lars van Wageningen said.

As the United States embarks on clearing mines from the Strait of Hormuz, it could draw on an arsenal of drones, explosive‑laden robots and helicopters to reduce risks, though de‑mining crews could still be vulnerable to Iranian attacks.The U.S. is trying to secure the strait from mines as part of efforts to end Iran's disruption of shipping, which has severely curbed global energy supplies since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran at the end of February.But while the U.S.

Germany is in principle ready to help secure transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities end, provided there is a mandate, preferably from the United Nations, and German parliamentary approval, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said."We are still a long way from all of that," Merz told reporters a day before talks in Paris that, he said, would also cover whether U.S. armed forces could participate in a mission.The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has caused unprecedented disruption of global oil and gas.

U.S. import prices increased less than expected in March, though the trend still pointed to firming imported inflationary pressures as the Middle East conflict boosts oil prices and snarls supply chains.Economists shrugged off the report from the Labor Department on Wednesday and said they expected the oil price surge from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran to show in April's import price data."The less-than-expected increase in import prices most likely reflects timing differences between when the oil that entered U.S.