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Airlines are navigating empty skies over much of the Middle East as Israeli attacks on Iranian sites force thousands of flight cancellations and diversions

Middle East airspace shut after Israel strikes Iran

Airlines steered clear of much of the Middle East on Friday after Israeli attacks on Iranian sites forced carriers to cancel or divert thousands of flights in the latest upheaval to travel in the region. Proliferating conflict zones around the world are becoming an increasing burden on airline operations and profitability and more of a safety concern. Detours add to […]

An worker at the Soroush oil field. Iranian oil capacity is the third largest in Opec

Saudi and UAE oil may offset any Iran disruption, analysts say

Saudi Arabia and the UAE can potentially replace lost Iranian oil supply, but heightened military activity in the Persian Gulf will make it difficult to plug any shortages during Iran-Israel tensions, analysts say. Israel attacked Iranian nuclear and military sites on Friday, pushing oil prices to an intra-day high of $78 per barrel – the […]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (centre) visits the Iran Oil Exhibition in Tehran in May

Strong Chinese demand keeps Iranian oil flowing

Iran’s refining facilities and oil storage did not sustain any damage from Israel’s strikes on Friday, according to the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company. Israel targeted its nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building a […]

Firefighters at a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran

Dubai shares slide nearly 2% on Israel and Iran tensions

Dubai’s benchmark stock index fell sharply on Friday, as heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East triggered a sell-off in heavyweight property shares. The DFM General Index dropped 1.87 percent after Israel launched strikes on Iranian military targets.  Israel said it had hit nuclear and missile sites as well as targeting senior commanders, calling it […]

A rescuer looks out from a damaged building in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Tehran

Oil hits $78 and stocks rattle as Middle East tensions flare

Oil prices rose more than 9 percent and the Asian stock market dived on Friday morning after Israel launched attacks on Iran. Brent surged to $78 a barrel in the biggest intraday gain since March 2022, before settling lower at $74 by 05:56 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 9.3 percent to $74.36 a […]

Construction, Oilfield, Outdoors

Oil jumps over 7% amid rising Middle East tensions

Oil prices jumped more than 7 percent on Friday, hitting their highest in months after Israel said it struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies. Brent crude futures rose $5.29, or 7.63 percent, to $74.65 a barrel by 01:42 GMT after hitting an intraday high of $75.32, […]

A gas facility in Basra. Iraq is under pressure from the US to reduce gas imports from Iran

Iranian gas supplies to Iraq fall in May

Iranian gas exports to Iraq have fallen by more than half this month, causing a shortfall of nearly 3,500 megawatts (MW), sufficient to power about two and a half million homes, according to local media. Supplies so far in May have plunged from 45 million cubic metres per day (mcmd) contracted by Baghdad to 20 […]

An oil tanker docks at Qingdao Port in China's Shandong province, where most of the crude imported from Iran is delivered

Seaborne oil exports from Iran to China hit record levels

Chinese imports of oil by sea rose in March to their highest in 17 months, with imports from Iran hitting a record, according to tanker tracking consultancy Vortexa. Seaborne crude arrivals – which account for about 85 percent of total Chinese oil imports – rose to 10.6 million barrels per day in March, up from […]

Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, gives a media briefing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

US and Saudi Arabia agree ‘pathway’ to nuclear power deal

The US and Saudi Arabia – the world’s second-largest oil producer – are on a “pathway” towards co-developing a civilian nuclear programme for the kingdom, visiting US energy secretary Chris Wright has told reporters. This is the firmest US public statement yet of support for a Saudi nuclear power generating initiative, a topic of long-running […]

Iran's oil minister Mohsen Paknejad (left). Analysts expect tighter US sanctions to reduce Iranian crude exports by one million bpd

Iran sanctions help push oil prices to second weekly gain

Oil prices rose on Friday and were heading for a second consecutive weekly gain as fresh US sanctions on Iran and the latest output plan from the Opec+ producer group raised expectations of tighter supply. Brent crude futures were up 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $72.12 a barrel by 08:50 GMT. US West Texas […]

Ships at dock in Ras Laffan, Qatar. Iraq has sought more LNG from the country as supplies from Iran reduced

Iraq ramps up LNG import projects after US ends Iran waiver

Iraq is ramping up development of an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal and a 40km pipeline, as Baghdad seeks to import more gas following a US decision to end the country’s exemption on purchases from Iran, according to local media. Ali Shaddad, a member of the parliament’s oil and gas committee, said work on the […]

A mother and baby in Karaj, Iran, one of several Gulf states that are falling below the fertility replacement rate

Gulf fertility: falling short of replacement rates

Your starter for 10. The demographics of Tehran most closely resemble those of which city? a) Damascus b) Riyadh or c) Zurich. The answer of course, as any fule kno, is c). True, Zurich lacks a prison with the reputation and commodiousness of Evin, but in terms of population growth –  or lack of it […]

Iraq gas, Iraq LNG

Two new LNG terminals in Iraq to replace Iran gas

Iraq is planning to build two offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to tackle a persistent electricity supply shortage, its oil minister said on Monday. One facility to receive imported LNG needed to run its power stations will be located in the Faw port under construction in southern Iraq. The other will be at the […]

Workers at a gas facility north of Basra, Iraq. The country's huge gas reserves remain largely untapped due to underinvestment and conflict

Iraq-Turkmenistan gas deal unlikely to happen

A gas supply agreement signed by Iraq and Turkmenistan in 2023 may never begin because of challenges with transiting the gas through neighbouring Iran, Iraqi analysts say. The deal was for nearly 20 million cubic metres of natural gas per day to supply Iraq’s power facilities, but Iraq and Turkmenistan do not share a border. […]

Mohammed Al-Sudani, the Iraqi prime minister, says he is under no pressure to end Iran's supply of gas

Iraq to stop taking Iranian gas by 2028

Iraq will phase out gas imports from neighboring Iran within three years because of persistent supply disruptions. It will instead increasingly rely on more domestic production to fuel its power stations, and electricity from other neighbours including Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Mohammed Al-Sudani, the Iraqi prime minister, said Iraq’s decision to end Iranian imports in […]

Shoppers at a market in Iran. Vegetables and legumes recorded inflation of 12.5 percent

Iran inflation rises as fuel price and rents surge

Inflation in Iran rose month on month in January, driven by a surge in housing rents and fuel prices, official data showed. Annual inflation reached 32 percent this month, a rise of 2.9 percent month on month, local media outlets said, citing data released by the Statistical Center of Iran. The annual inflation rate was […]

Iraq Iran gas Hayan Abdel Ghani

‘It’s costing huge sums’ – Iraq may stop buying Iranian gas

Iraq may stop importing natural gas from its neighbour Iran when projects to develop the country’s unexploited gas resources are complete, the country’s oil minister has hinted.  Hayan Abdel Ghani told the official Iraqi news agency that the bill for Iranian gas imports was sapping Iraq’s coffers, and the Iranian supplies were no longer secure, […]