Government Update News

Oil rose about 2% on Thursday, clawing back losses from the previous session on concerns that protracted fighting in the Middle East will further disrupt energy flows.Brent futures LCOc1 rose $2.08, or 2.03%, to $104.30 a barrel by 0638 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were up $1.93, or 2.14%, at $92.25 a barrel.Both benchmarks slumped more than 2% on Wednesday.Iran is still reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war, but has no intention of holding talks to end the Middle East conflict, Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday.U.S.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday he has given the military permission to board and detain Russian ships his government alleges are part of a network of vessels that enables Moscow to export oil despite Western sanctions.The decision comes as other European nations have stepped up efforts to disrupt Russia's so-called shadow fleet of tankers used by Moscow to fund its four-year war against Ukraine.Starmer said he approved more aggressive action against the…

Italy hopes to receive more gas from Algeria after agreeing to strengthen energy cooperation with the north African nation, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on a visit to Algiers.Meloni met President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as Rome faces prolonged disruptions in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar, which previously covered around 10% of Italy's annual gas consumption."We have decided to strengthen our cooperation — which involves our champions Eni and Sonatrach — also working on new fronts such as shale gas and offshore exploration.

A Thai oil tanker has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz following diplomatic coordination between Thailand and Iran, and was not required to pay to escape the blockade, a Thai official and the oil major that owns the vessel said on Wednesday.The Bangchak Corporation BCP.BK-owned tanker crossed the strategic waterway on Monday after successful talks between Thai foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Iran's ambassador to Thailand."I requested that if Thai ships need to pass through the strait…

Iran has told the United Nations Security Council and the International Maritime Organization that "non-hostile vessels" may transit the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Iranian authorities, according to a note seen by Reuters on Tuesday.The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has all but halted shipments of about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas through the strait, causing oil supply disruption.The note from Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sent to the 15-member Security Council and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday.

China is conducting a vast undersea mapping and monitoring operation across the Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans, building detailed knowledge of marine conditions that naval experts say would be crucial for waging submarine warfare against the United States and its allies.In one example, the Dong Fang Hong 3, a research vessel operated by Ocean University of China, spent 2024 and 2025 sailing back and forth in the seas near Taiwan and the U.S. stronghold of Guam, and around strategic stretches of the Indian Ocean, ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters shows.

At first glance, the Iran war appears to be hitting oil and gas with equal force, as missiles, drone strikes and shipping disruptions choke flows through the Strait of Hormuz.But beneath that surface symmetry lies a critical imbalance. The global gas supply chain has fewer rerouting options and less storage capacity than the oil market - making the fallout for gas consumers considerably more acute.Key gas infrastructure - liquefaction plants in particular - is more complex and expensive to build and repair than the oil equivalent.

Cuba on Tuesday received a shipment of humanitarian aid from the Nuestra America Convoy, an international effort organized by global activists seeking to circumvent U.S. sanctions that severely restrict shipments of fuel and other goods to the island.The aid arrived in a small ship that departed last week from the port of Progreso in Mexico and entered Havana Harbor early on Tuesday, delivering 14 tons of food, medicine, solar panels and bicycles to Cuban authorities. It was one of three ships in a flotilla of aid to depart from Progresso…

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday and discussed the situation in the Middle East, including the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, U.S. envoy to India Sergio Gor and Modi said in separate posts on X.This was the first call between the two leaders since the U.S. and Israel launched co-ordinated attacks against Iran on February 28."India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest.

Bahrain has put forward a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorise countries to use "all necessary means" - diplomatic language for force - to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to a text seen by Reuters on Monday.Diplomats said the draft text was backed by other Gulf Arab states and the United States, although they said it was unlikely to get through the council, where Russia and China had veto power.France circulated a more conciliatory alternative draft resolution…

Oil prices rose on Tuesday on supply fear, as Iran denied it had talks with the United States to end the war in the Gulf, contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump who said a deal could be reached soon.Brent futures LCOc1 rose $2.89, or 2.9%, to $102.83 a barrel at 0710 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 climbed $2.49, or 2.8%, to $90.62.Crude futures dropped more than 10% on Monday, after Trump ordered a five-day delay to attacks on Iran's power plants, saying the U.S.

Ship-refuelling companies along Africa's coast are seeing a surge in business as more vessels divert around the Cape of Good Hope, with war in the Middle East reshaping global shipping routes and boosting the continent's role as a bunkering hub.Carriers have been avoiding the Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait since late 2023, when Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping began. U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have reinforced the shift,…

Two tankers bound for India sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran’s power plants unless Tehran drops threats that have effectively closed the Gulf.Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have seen exports blocked since the war in Iran began on February 28 and Tehran launched attacks on ships and threatened any passing through the Gulf’s southern strait.The two India-flagged tankers were carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used mostly for cooking in India.

Bahrain has put forward a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would authorise countries to use "all necessary means" - diplomatic language for force - to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to a text seen by Reuters on Monday.Diplomats said the draft text was backed by other Gulf Arab states and the United States, although they said it was unlikely to succeed.The move underscores mounting concern in the region that Iran could continue to threaten the Strait of Hormuz…

Two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers on Monday sailed through the Strait of Hormuz although overall traffic through the critical waterway remained blocked, according to data and sources.The Pine Gas tanker sailed through the Strait with the Jag Vasant following close by, shiptracking data on the MarineTraffic platform showed.The Pine Gas tanker broadcast a message of "India ship and crew", according to separate LSEG ship tracking data.Hundreds of ships remain stuck inside the Gulf with thousands of seafarers stranded due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.(Reuters - Reporting

An unknown projectile struck a vessel 15 nautical miles north of the United Arab Emirates' Sharjah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said early on Sunday.It said that all crew were reported safe.The UKMTO said in a later statement that the target of the incident could not be conclusively identified and authorities were investigating.(Reuters - Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Nia Williams)

Iran said on Sunday it would strike the energy and water systems of its Gulf neighbours in retaliation if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to hit Iran's electricity grid in 48 hours, escalating the three-week-old war.The prospect of tit-for-tat strikes on civilian infrastructure could deepen the regional crisis and further rattle global markets when they reopen on Monday morning.Air raid sirens sounded across Israel from the early hours of Sunday, warning of incoming missiles from Iran…

The U.S. military is deploying a large amphibious assault ship with thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, as Iran's new supreme leader hailed Iran's "unity" and "resistance".Reuters had reported that Washington, desperate to reopen the Gulf oil bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz, shut by Iran since the U.S. and Israel attacked almost three weeks ago, was considering deployments up to and including landings.Oil…

Asian refiners are increasingly sending medium-sized crude cargoes from the U.S. Gulf Coast to Asia through the Panama Canal as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupts trade flows, raises shipping costs and forces Asian refiners to hunt for alternative supplies.The use of medium-sized tankers that typically cost more per barrel to transport crude, coupled with Asian companies' willingness to pay additional fees to move oil through the Panama Canal, underscores their urgent need…

The IMO Council condemned attacks on merchant ships and the purported closure of the Strait of Hormuz during an extraordinary session in London and called for an internationally coordinated approach to security.The Council directed IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez to establish a safe maritime framework, as a provisional and urgent measure, to facilitate the safe evacuation of merchant ships currently confined within the Gulf region.“I am ready to start working immediately in negotiations to establish a humanitarian framework to evacuate all vessels and seafarers trapped…

Leading European nations and Japan issued a joint statement on Thursday saying they were ready to join appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and would take steps to stabilise energy markets.This is the full text of the statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan:We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations…

China called for an end to conflict in the Gulf and said the safety of waterways should not be disturbed on Thursday, adding that it was ready to work with Southeast Asia to address energy shortages as oil markets reel from supply shocks.While the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has allowed China to cast itself as the more reliable superpower, analysts say it is wary of global energy market uncertainty, not least because it needs the resources it has been stockpiling since the late 2000s…

A new analysis from WinGD and Envision Energy suggests something the maritime industry has been debating for years ... and likely will be debating for many years to come: the changing economics of zero-emission fuels.For shipowners, the significance is straightforward. The conversation is shifting from if green fuels can compete to when — and in some cases, that answer may already be “now.”On a pure fuel-cost basis, green ammonia still carries a premium, as today, it can run close to three times the cost of very low sulphur fuel oil.