Iraq, UAE's Crescent Activate Energy Deals to Develop Three Oil and Gas Fields

Iraq has activated three energy contracts with UAE firm Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq. (Getty Images)
Iraq has activated three energy contracts with UAE firm Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq. (Getty Images)
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Iraq, UAE's Crescent Activate Energy Deals to Develop Three Oil and Gas Fields

Iraq has activated three energy contracts with UAE firm Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq. (Getty Images)
Iraq has activated three energy contracts with UAE firm Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq. (Getty Images)

Iraq has launched three energy contracts with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq, the oil ministry said on Sunday.

United Arab Emirates-based Crescent Petroleum signed in February three 20-year contracts to develop oil and natural gas fields in Iraq's Basra and Diyala provinces in northeastern Baghdad.

The Crescent Petroleum contracts are expected to begin producing 400 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas within 18 months, the oil ministry statement quoted Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani as saying.

Abdel-Ghani, who attended the launch at the oil ministry headquarters in Baghdad, said starting operations by Crescent Petroleum will help Iraq to stop gas flaring and use the processed gas to generate electricity.

The OPEC producer relies heavily on Iranian gas imports to feed its power grid. But the United States has pushed Iraq to reduce its reliance on Iranian gas.

Iraq continues to flare some of the gas extracted alongside crude oil because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel for local consumption or exports.



Transatlantic Airfares Slump as Western Europeans Skip US Travel 

A view of Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy, September 23, 2024. (Reuters) 
A view of Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy, September 23, 2024. (Reuters) 
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Transatlantic Airfares Slump as Western Europeans Skip US Travel 

A view of Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy, September 23, 2024. (Reuters) 
A view of Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, near Rome, Italy, September 23, 2024. (Reuters) 

Airfares from Europe to the United States have dropped to rates not seen since before the pandemic, as travelers from Western Europe lead a pullback in travel to the US that is expected to continue through at least July.

Overseas arrivals to the United States fell 2.8% in May from a year ago, according to preliminary data from the US National Travel and Tourism Office within the US Department of Commerce.

Travel from Western Europe fell 4.4% in May although travel from Eastern Europe rose 4.6% in the same period.

Forward bookings suggest sustained declines are on the horizon, with total inbound bookings to the US in July down 13% year-over-year, according to OAG Aviation, an analytics firm.

Transatlantic airfare has been declining since the first quarter when Europeans started reconsidering travel to the US after President Donald Trump suggested annexing Greenland, launched a global trade war, and issued orders that focus on stricter border policy. A stronger dollar has also deterred some trips.

In March, travel from Western Europe fell 17% year-over-year, according to the NTTO.

Average round-trip economy airfares for over 50 routes from the US to Europe in the first quarter were down an average of 7% year-over-year, with rates to fly between Atlanta, Georgia, and London, down 55%, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.

As American consumers have been bargain-hunting and waiting closer to their departure dates to finalize travel plans, the decline in demand from Europe is another factor contributing to cheaper travel.

"Fewer seats filled by European travelers to the US, and a slower pace of growth in US outbound to Europe than last year, will tend to cast 2025 as a tougher year to make money on transatlantic routes," said Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics, a subsidiary of Oxford Economics.

This summer, the price of round-trip tickets from the US to Europe is down 10% compared with a year ago, travel booking app Hopper said. Average fares of $817 per ticket are in line with prices to Europe in the summer of 2019 before the pandemic.

Major carriers, including Air France KLM and Germany-based Lufthansa, expect slowing activity.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said the company expects weaker demand in the third quarter, while Air France KLM CEO Ben Smith said the company is seeing a "slight pullback" in transatlantic traffic and will slash prices to keep cabins on its transatlantic flights full.

Airlines including Lufthansa and US air carrier United Airlines say higher demand from US travelers flying to Europe is offsetting the decline of Europeans flying the opposite direction.

United said international bookings from Europe fell 6% in the first quarter, but added that US-originating demand made up for the pullback. Rival Delta Air Lines said 80% of its long-haul international demand originates from the US, and fares in the region are "significantly higher" than in the rest of the world.

Lufthansa said it plans to market its transatlantic flights to more Americans given the higher demand, despite travel from Western Europe showing moments of recovery. Travel from the region to the US increased 12.1% in April before falling again in May, according to data from the NTTO.

As of mid-May, there are 4.3% more international flights scheduled to depart from US airports for international destinations this summer, said Hopper.

"We feel really good about the transatlantic market," American Airlines CFO Devon May said at a Wolfe Research transportation and industrials conference in May.