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Oil Prices Ease After Loadings Resume at Russian Export Hub

Oil pumpjacks and tanks are pictured in a farmer’s field near Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Todd Korol
Oil pumpjacks and tanks are pictured in a farmer’s field near Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Todd Korol
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Oil Prices Ease After Loadings Resume at Russian Export Hub

Oil pumpjacks and tanks are pictured in a farmer’s field near Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Todd Korol
Oil pumpjacks and tanks are pictured in a farmer’s field near Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Todd Korol

Oil prices dipped slightly on Monday as loadings resumed at Russia's Novorossiysk export hub after a two-day suspension at the Black Sea port that had been hit by a Ukrainian attack.

Brent crude was down 5 cents at $64.34 a barrel by 1254 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 8 cents to $60.01.

Both benchmarks rose more than 2% on Friday to end the week with a modest gain after exports were suspended at Novorossiysk and a neighbouring Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, affecting the equivalent of 2% of global supply, Reuters reported.

Novorossiysk resumed oil loadings on Sunday, according to two industry sources and LSEG data. However, Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil infrastructure remain in focus.

Ukraine's military said on Saturday that it hit Russia's Ryazan oil refinery, and Kyiv's General Staff said on Sunday that the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in Russia's Samara region had also been struck.

"Investors are trying to gauge how Ukraine's attacks will affect Russia's crude exports in the long term," said Fujitomi Securities analyst Toshitaka Tazawa.

Investors are also monitoring the impact of Western sanctions on Russian supply and trade flows. The United States imposed sanctions banning deals with Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft after November 21 to try to push Moscow towards peace talks over Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Republicans are working on legislation that will impose sanctions on any country doing business with Russia, adding that Iran could be added to that list.

OPEC+ this month agreed to increase December output targets by 137,000 barrels per day, the same as for October and November. It also agreed to a pause in increases in the first quarter of next year.

An ING report said that the oil market was expected to remain in a large surplus through 2026. But it warned of rising supply risks from Ukraine drone attacks on Russian energy facilities while also flagging Iran's seizure of a tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it transited the Strait of Hormuz, an important route for about 20 million bpd of global oil flows.

Latest positioning data shows that speculators increased net long positions in ICE Brent by 12,636 lots over the past reporting week to 164,867 lots as of last Tuesday.

ING said this was driven predominantly by short-covering and suggested that some participants were reluctant to be short amid supply risks related to sanctions uncertainty.

Meanwhile, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo expects oil prices to remain supported.

"Rising oil-on-water levels have not yet led to an increase in on-land inventories," Staunovo said in a note. "While we expect prices to dip to the lower part of the trading range over the coming months, we hold a more constructive outlook for the second half of 2026."

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Business

EU to Vote on Trump Tariff Deal -- but Eyes Rest of World

The European Parliament will vote on whether to cut EU tariffs on some US imports. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP/File
The European Parliament will vote on whether to cut EU tariffs on some US imports. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP/File
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EU to Vote on Trump Tariff Deal -- but Eyes Rest of World

The European Parliament will vote on whether to cut EU tariffs on some US imports. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP/File
The European Parliament will vote on whether to cut EU tariffs on some US imports. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP/File

European Union lawmakers are on track to give a green light -- with conditions -- Thursday to the bloc's tariff deal with US President Donald Trump, which Europe hopes to salvage while also racing to diversify its trade ties around the globe.

Brussels and Washington clinched the deal last summer that had set tariffs at 15 percent for most EU goods.

But Trump's 2025 tariff blitz, including hefty levies on steel, aluminium and car parts, has jolted the 27-country bloc into cultivating trade ties around the world.

From deals signed with South America to Australia, the EU has its eyes on many prizes.

But that doesn't mean the EU intends to walk away from the 1.6 trillion euro ($1.9 trillion) relationship with its main trade partner, the United States, AFP reported.

The European Parliament is voting Thursday on whether to cut EU tariffs on some US imports -- as a first step towards implementing the 2025 deal -- but with additional safeguards.

The potential green light comes after months of delay as lawmakers resisted approving the accord due to transatlantic tensions over Greenland -- and then put it on hold again following the US Supreme Court's ruling striking down Trump's levies.

The ball started rolling again after the European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, said it would stick to the pact despite the US ruling and called on lawmakers to do the same, having received reassurances from Washington.

Trump, however, retaliated after the ruling with a new tariff regime -- pushing EU lawmakers to tighten the existing agreement with numerous safeguards.

- Losing access to US energy? -

Lawmakers leading on trade have added several provisions: making an EU tariff reduction automatically lapse in March 2028, and tying tariff cuts on steel and aluminium goods to similar reductions by the US side.

Not all members of the parliament are convinced. French EU lawmakers from the centrist Renew group have said they will vote against the agreement.

"The only political value this agreement had to offer was stability and predictability, even if many say it's an unfair deal. If it no longer even provides predictability, there's no reason to support the deal, even if it has been improved," said MEP Pascal Canfin.

The United States has urged the bloc to implement the agreement.

Washington's ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder told the Financial Times that if the bloc delayed further, it risked losing "favorable" access to US liquefied natural gas at a time when the Middle East war has led to surging energy costs.

Before the US tariff deal is implemented by the bloc, it still needs to be negotiated with EU member states -- although Brussels hopes talks will go quickly.

- 'Trump factor' -

It is the EU's vulnerability to the consequences of wars and other shocks that has pushed Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to make diversifying trading partners a priority, to cut overdependence on the United States and China.

The frenzy began with a long-awaited accord signed with the South American Mercosur bloc in January. Weeks later, Brussels struck another pact with India and just this week clinched a stalled deal with Australia.

"The Trump factor sped up their conclusion, for us as well as for our partners," economist Andre Sapir said.

Spurred by Trump, Sapir said, the EU has been pushing to create the world's largest network of free trade areas -- a strategy with a "defensive dimension" allowing it to resist trade "coercion".

"This free trade network carries weight in our discussions with the two giants, the United States and China," he said.

"These agreements are part of our arsenal," Sapir, of the Bruegel think tank, added. "Our strategic weapons in the international order."

Business

China Shipping Giant Cosco Resumes Bookings to Some Gulf Countries

A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
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China Shipping Giant Cosco Resumes Bookings to Some Gulf Countries

A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
A cargo ship operated by Cosco Shipping is docked at the foreign trade container terminal of Qingdao Port, operated by Shandong Port Group, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)

Chinese shipping giant Cosco said on Wednesday that it was resuming new bookings for container shipments to some Gulf countries, after a three-week suspension in response to the Middle East war.

The state-owned, Shanghai-based firm was among several major shipping groups to pause operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas passes normally.

Tehran has said several times it was not targeting friendly nations, but transits through the Strait had nevertheless largely ground to a halt.

Iran said in a statement circulated by the International Maritime Organization on Tuesday that "non-hostile vessels" would be granted safe passage through the waterway.

Cosco "resumed new bookings for general cargo containers for shipments" from the "Far East" to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq "with immediate effect", according to a company statement.

It did not mention shipments travelling in the opposite direction, from the Gulf.

"New booking arrangements and the actual carriage are subject to change due to the volatile situation in the Middle East region," it added.

Cosco, which operates one of the world's largest oil tanker fleets, announced on March 4 that it would suspend new bookings for services for routes through the Strait of Hormuz owing to the "escalating conflicts in the Middle East region and resultant restrictions on maritime traffic".

Business

Qatar Emir Makes Minor Changes to QIA Board

People visit a mall in Doha on March 23, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
People visit a mall in Doha on March 23, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Qatar Emir Makes Minor Changes to QIA Board

People visit a mall in Doha on March 23, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
People visit a mall in Doha on March 23, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued a decree on Wednesday ⁠making minor changes to ⁠the board of the ⁠Qatar Investment Authority, while keeping Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani as chairman and Sheikh ⁠Mohammed ⁠bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as deputy chairman.

The decision stipulated that QIA’s Board of Directors would be restructured as follows: Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani as Chairman, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as Deputy Chairman, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari as a member, Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi as a member, Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al-Thani as a member, Nasser bin Ghanim Al Khelaifi as a member, and Hassan bin Abdullah Al Thawadi as a member.

The decision is effective starting from its date of issue and is to be published in the official gazette.