natural gas price at a 12 week high, US commercial oil inventories at a 50 week low

US oil prices rose for a 2nd straight week after falling to a 14 month low over the prior 4 weeks on increasing bloodshed in the Middle East, a larger than expected Fed rate cut, and on the ninth withdrawal from oil stores in ten weeks…after rising 1.5% to $68.65 a barrel last week on the disruption to production from Hurricane Francine in the Gulf of Mexico, the contract price for the benchmark US light sweet crude for October delivery moved higher after opening ​unchanged Monday morning, as crude oil supply outages in Libya and Hurricane production disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico together had removed more than a million bpd of crude oil supply from the market, then traded higher as it retraced its Friday losses, as traders awaited a likely cut to U.S. interest rates by the Federal Reserve, and settled up $1.44, or 2.1% higher at $70.09 a barrel, as the ongoing impact of Hurricane Francine on Gulf of Mexico output offset persistent Chinese demand concerns ahead of this week's Fed interest rate decision…oil traded higher again on Tuesday as the market’s focus turned to the Fed policy meeting​, after the latest U.S. retail sales data pointed to a resilient economy amid concerns over U.S. production that was still re​covering in the aftermath Hurricane Francine, and settled $1.10 higher at $71.19 a barrel after thousands of pagers in Lebanon exploded at the same time in an apparent attack, raising fears of a broader Middle East conflict that could threaten crude flows from the region….oil prices rose on global commodities markets Wednesday, even as refineries throughout the world began to cut their run rates, then continued the rally in early New York trading as a big draw from the Cushing OK oil depot​ left stockpiles near 'tank bottom’ levels, but gave up those gains in afternoon trading to settle 28 cents lower at $70.91 a barrel, as a bigger than expected rate cut from the Fed raised worries about the health of the U.S. economy, while traders shrugged off the crude oil inventory decline as the impact of a short-lived Gulf storm…oil prices held steady morning trading in Asian on Thursday, despite the big Fed rate cut, as traders' attention turned back to demand worries, but then advanced as risk-on sentiment swept across wider financial markets following the steep interest-rate cut by the Fed​, and settled the New York session $1.04 higher at $71.95 a barrel after Israeli warplanes and artillery carried out strikes targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, declaring a "new phase" of the war had begun...oil prices fell slightly in Asian trade on Friday​ due to weak demand expectation in China and falling crude oil imports in the United States​, and as traders locked-in recent profits, but mostly recovered during US trading and settled 3 cents lower at $71.92 a barrel, as economic readings from China, the world’s biggest oil importer, showed little signs of improvement, which still left prices up 4.8% for the week…

meanwhile, natural gas prices rose for a third consecutive week, following a long price slide through June & July, as production was slow to recover after last week’s hurricane impacts and supply balances tightened…..after rising 1.3% to $2.305 per mmBTU last week on a smaller than expected inventory increase, as hurricane impacts seen as bullish barely outweighed those seen as bearish, the price of the contract for natural gas for October delivery mounted a staggered ascent after early weakness on Monday, as healthy LNG demand and interrupted Gulf coast production outweighed forecasts for waning cooling demand, and settled 6.8 cents, or 3% higher at $2.373 per mmBTU, buoyed by forecasts for higher demand over the next week and production cuts following last week's storm. natural gas prices opened five cents higher on Tuesday and rose to a two-month high of $2.434 by 9:45AM, before trending lower amidst shrinking fundamental support and settled the session down 4.9 cents at $2.324 per mmBTU as Gulf of Mexico producers slowly ramped up production after Hurricane Francine, easing concerns over supply and prompting some profit taking…natural gas prices opened higher on Wednesday, but lacking any bullish catalysts, withdrew to trade near the $2.305 level for the balance of the session, before settling 4.0 cents lower at $2.284 per mmBTU on fewer warmer-than-normal weather forecasts than previously expected, even as production was slow to ramp up to match demand after Hurricane Francine…natural gas prices opened four cents lower on Thursday and fell to as low as $2.228 after the  EIA storage report landed on the bearish side of expectations, but then rallied into the afternoon to settle 6.4 cents higher at $2.348 per mmBTU as the injection​ into storage was lighter than seasonal norms, underscoring a tighter path for supply …natural gas prices rocketed through midday trading in a volatile session ​on Friday​, that saw the contract sink as low as $2.314 and rise as high as $2.440 amid tighter supply balances and a disturbance in Gulf of Mexico ​t​hat could develo​p into a storm​, and settled 8.6 cents or nearly 4% higher at ​a​ twelve week high of $2.434 per mmBTU, as prices at the Waha hub in West Texas jumped $1.285 on the week to average 54.0 cents, their first time above zero since late July, which left the October benchmark ​gas price 5.6% higher for the week..

The EIA’s natural gas storage report for the week ending September 13th indicated that the amount of working natural gas held in underground storage rose by 58 billion cubic feet to 3,445 billion cubic feet by the end of the week, which left our natural gas supplies 194 billion cubic feet, or 6.0% above the 3,251 billion cubic feet that were in storage on September 13th of last year, and 274 billion cubic feet, or 8.6% more than the five-year average of 3,171 billion cubic feet of natural gas that had typically been in working storage as of the 13th of September over the most recent five years…the 58 billion cubic foot injection into US natural gas working storage for the cited week was more than​ the 53  billion cubic foot addition to storage that the market was expecting ahead of the report, but a bit less than the 62 billion cubic feet that were added to natural gas storage during the corresponding ​w​eek in September of 2023, and far less the average 80 billion cubic foot injection into natural gas storage that had been typical for the same late summer week over the past 5 years…

The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA

US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending September 13th indicated that due to a big increase in our oil exports and a decrease in our oil imports, we need to pull oil out of our stored commercial crude supplies for the ninth time in ten weeks, and for the 23rd time in the past 40 weeks, despite an increase in supplies of oil that the EIA could not account for...Our imports of crude oil fell by an average of 545,000 barrels per day to 6,322,000 barrels per day, after rising by an average of 1,075,000 barrels per day over the prior week, while our exports of crude oil rose by 1,284,000 barrels per day to 4,589,000 barrels per day, which, when used to offset our imports, meant that the net of our trade of oil worked out to a net import average of 1,733,000 barrels of oil per day during the week ending September 13th, 1,829,000 fewer barrels per day than the net of our imports minus our exports during the prior week. At the same time, transfers to our oil supply from Alaskan gas liquids, from natural gasoline, from condensate, and from unfinished oils averaged 578,000 barrels per day, while during the same week, production of crude from US wells was 100,000 barrels per day lower at 13,200,000 barrels per day. Hence our daily supply of oil from the net of our international trade in oil, from transfers, and from domestic well production appears to have averaged a total of 15,511,000 barrels per day during the September 13th reporting week…

Meanwhile, US oil refineries reported they were processing an average of 16,477,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending September 13th, an average of 283,000 fewer barrels per day than the amount of oil that our refineries reported they were processing during the prior week, while over the same period the EIA’s surveys indicated that a net average of 139,000 barrels of oil per day were being pulled out of the supplies of oil stored in the US… So, based on that reported & estimated data, the crude oil figures provided by the EIA appear to indicate that our total working supply of oil from storage, from net imports, from transfers, and from oilfield production during the week ending September 13th averaged a rounded 827,000 barrels per day less than what our oil refineries reported they used during the week. To account for that difference between the apparent supply of oil and the apparent disposition of it, the EIA just plugged a [ +827,000 ] barrel per day figure onto line 16 of the weekly U.S. Petroleum Balance Sheet, in order to make the reported data for the supply of oil and for the consumption of it balance out, a fudge factor that they label in their footnotes as “unaccounted for crude oil”, thus indicating there must have been an error or omission of that magnitude in the week’s oil supply & demand figures that we have just transcribed… Moreover, since 467,000 barrels per day of demand for oil could not be accounted for in the prior week’s EIA data, that means there was a 1,294,000 barrel per day difference between this week’s oil balance sheet error and the EIA’s crude oil balance sheet error from a week ago, and hence the changes to supply and demand from that week to this one that are indicated by this week’s report are off by that much, making the week over week changes we have just cited nonsense….However, since most oil traders react to these weekly EIA reports as if they were accurate, and since these weekly figures therefore often drive oil pricing and hence decisions to drill or complete oil wells, we’ll continue to report this data just as it’s published, and just as it’s watched & believed to be reasonably reliable by most everyone in the industry…(for more on how this weekly oil data is gathered, and the possible reasons for that “unaccounted for” demand, see this EIA explainer….there is also an aging twitter thread from an EIA administrator addressing these ongoing weekly errors, and what they had hoped to do about it)

This week’s net average 139,000 barrel per day decrease in our overall crude oil inventories came as an average of 233,000 barrels per day were being pulled out of our commercially available stocks of crude oil, while an average of 94,000 barrels per day were being added to our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the forty-first SPR increase in the past forty-eight weeks, following nearly continuous SPR withdrawals over the prior 39 months… Further details from the weekly Petroleum Status Report (pdf) indicate that the 4 week average of our oil imports fell to 6,385,000 barrels per day last week, which was  7.1% less than the 6,872,000 barrel per day average that we were importing over the same four-week period last year. This week’s crude oil production was reported to be 100,000 barrels per day lower at 13,200,000 barrels per day because the EIA’s rounded estimate of the output from wells in the lower 48 states was 100,000 barrels per day lower at 12,800,000 barrels per day, while Alaska’s oil production was 57,000 barrels per day higher at 354,000 barrels per day, but still added the same 400,000 barrels per day to the EIA’s rounded national total as it did every week this year….US crude oil production had reached a pre-pandemic high of 13,100,000 barrels per day during the week ending March 13th 2020, so this week’s reported oil production figure was still 0.8% higher than that of our pre-pandemic production peak, and was also 36.1% above the pandemic low of 9,700,000 barrels per day that US oil production had fallen to during the third week of February of 2021.

US oil refineries were operating at 92.1% of their capacity while processing those 16,477,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending September 13th, down from from their 92.8% utilization rate of a week earlier, but not an unusual decrease during the weeks following Labor Day…the 16,477,000 barrels of oil per day that were refined this week were 1.1% more than the 16,304,000 barrels of crude that were being processed daily during week ending September 15th of 2023, but 1.4% less than the 16,707,000 barrels that were being refined during the prepandemic week ending September 13th, 2019, when our refinery utilization rate was at a prepandemic below normal 91.2% for ​mid September…

Even with the decrease in the amount of oil being refined this week, gasoline output from our refineries was higher, increasing by 284,000 barrels per day to 9,661,000 barrels per day during the week ending September 13th, after our refineries’ gasoline output had decreased by 371,000 barrels per day during the prior week.. This week’s gasoline production was 0.5% less than the 9,711,000 barrels of gasoline that were being produced daily over week ending September 15th of last year, but was 2.2% more than the gasoline production of 9,451,000 barrels per day during the prepandemic week ending September 13th, 2019….on the other hand, our refineries’ production of distillate fuels (diesel fuel and heat oil) decreased by 153,000 barrels per day to 5,056,000 barrels per day, after our distillates output had increased by 40,000 barrels per day during the prior week. But after twenty production increases in the past twenty-nine weeks, our distillates output was 5.7% more than the 4,782,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending September 15th of 2023, while 1.0% less than the 5,109,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the pre-pandemic week ending September 13th, 2019…

With this week’s increase in our gasoline production, our supplies of gasoline in storage at the end of the week rose for the 13th time in thirty-three weeks, increasing by 69,000 barrels to 221,621,000 barrels during the week ending September 13th, after our gasoline inventories had increased by 2,310,000 barrels during the prior week. Our gasoline supplies rose by less this week because the amount of gasoline supplied to US users rose by 298,000 barrels per day to 8,776,000 barrels per day, and because our imports of gasoline fell by 176,000 barrels per day to 467,000 barrels per day, while our exports of gasoline fell by 199,000 barrels per day to 737,000 barrels per day.…Even after twenty gasoline inventory withdrawals over the past thirty-three weeks, our gasoline supplies were still 1.0% above last September 15th's gasoline inventories of 219,476,000 barrels, but were also slightly below the five year average of our gasoline supplies for this time of the year…

Even with this week’s decrease in our distillates production, our supplies of distillate fuels rose for the 16th time in thirty-five weeks, increasing by 125,000 barrels to 125,148,000 barrels over the week ending September 13th, after our distillates supplies had increased by 2,308,000 barrels during the prior week. Our distillates supplies rose by less this week because the amount of distillates supplied to US markets, an indicator of domestic demand, rose by 240,000 barrels per day to 3,798,000 barrels per day, and ​b​ecause our imports of distillates fell by 63,000 barrels per day to 138,000 barrels per day​, and even as our exports of distillates fell by 145,000 barrels per day to 1,378,000 barrels per day​....Even after 19 inventory withdrawals over the past 3​5 weeks, our distillates supplies at the end of the week were 4.6% above the 119,666,000 barrels of distillates that we had in storage on September 15th of 2023, but they are still about 11% below the five year average of our distillates inventories for this time of the year…

Finally, after the jump in our oil exports and the increase in our exports, our commercial supplies of crude oil in storage fell for the 15th time in twenty-six weeks, and for the 28th time in the past year, decreasing by 1,630,000 barrels over the week, from 419,143,000 barrels on September 6th to a 50 week low of 417,513,000 barrels on Sept 13th, after our commercial crude supplies had increased by 833,000 barrels over the prior week… With this week’s decrease, our commercial crude oil inventories remained about 4% below the most recent five-year average of commercial oil supplies for this time of year, while they were still about 26% above the average of our available crude oil stocks as of the second week of September over the 5 years at the beginning of the past decade, with the big difference between those comparisons arising because it wasn’t until early 2015 that our oil inventories had first topped 400 million barrels. After our commercial crude oil inventories had jumped to record highs during the Covid lockdowns in the Spring of 2020, then jumped again after February 2021’s winter storm Uri froze off US Gulf Coast refining, but then fell sharply due to higher exports relating to the onset of the Ukraine war, only to jump again following the Christmas 2022 refinery freeze offs, our commercial crude supplies as of this September 13th were 0.2% less than the 418,456,000 barrels of oil left in commercial storage on September 15th of 2023, and 3.1% less than the 430,774,000 barrels of oil that we had in storage on September 16th of 2022, while barely changed from the 417,445,000 barrels of oil we had left in commercial storage on September 10th of 2021…

This Week’s Rig Count

In lieu of a detailed report on the rig count, we are again just including a screenshot of the rig count summary from Baker Hughes…in the table below, the first column shows the active rig count as of September 20th, the second column shows the change in the number of working rigs between last week’s count (September 13th) and this week’s (September 20th) count, the third column shows last Friday’s September 13th active rig count, the 4th column shows the change between the number of rigs running on Friday and the number running on the Friday before the same weekend of a year ago, and the 5th column shows the number of rigs that were drilling at the end of that reporting period a year ago, which in this week’s case was the 22nd of September, 2023…

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For the sixth and seventh times: No fracking Salt Fork! – Save Ohio ParksThey simply won’t leave Salt Fork State Park alone. An unnamed gas and oil company has nominated Salt Fork for fracking for thesixth and seventh times since this process began.That’s right, there are TWO new nominations to frack Salt Fork State Park:

• 24-DNR-0007, covering 371.42 acres
• 24-DNR-0008, covering 513.11 acres

We know it’s tedious, but it’s important that the citizens of Ohio weigh in to tell the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to DENY these nominations for Salt Fork State Park.Our resistance has contributed to four previous nominations for Salt Fork being withdrawn, one being denied, and one whose bid was not awarded. We need to keep up the fight! Please go to the commission’s Comment Portal and leave a comment using Nomination #24-DNR-0007. Then go back to the commission’s Comment Portal and leave the same comment using Nomination #24-DNR-0008.***Because these are two separate nominations, you need to leave two separate comments for your comment to count for both nominations.***Tell the Commission: No fracking Salt Fork!Salt Fork State Park is Ohio’s largest and most iconic state park with more than 20,000 acres in Guernsey County. At Salt Fork, you can visit the iconic Hosak’s Cave and historic Kennedy Stone House, swim in Salt Fork Lake from the longest inland beach in Ohio, explore miles of hiking trails, camp, boat, fish, birdwatch, ride horses, and stay in the expansive state park lodge. None of these activities are compatible with fracking! Need some ideas for what to say in your comment? You can find the comments so far by your fellow Ohioans here:

• Comments so far on 24-DNR-0007
• Comments so far on 24-DNR-0008

You can also use our sample comment below, but please personalize this to explain what fracking in Salt Fork State Park means to you:

For the sixth and seventh times: No fracking Salt Fork! – Save Ohio ParksThey simply won’t leave Salt Fork State Park alone. An unnamed gas and oil company has nominated Salt Fork for fracking for thesixth and seventh times since this process began.That’s right, there are TWO new nominations to frack Salt Fork State Park:

• 24-DNR-0007, covering 371.42 acres
• 24-DNR-0008, covering 513.11 acres

We know it’s tedious, but it’s important that the citizens of Ohio weigh in to tell the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to DENY these nominations for Salt Fork State Park.Our resistance has contributed to four previous nominations for Salt Fork being withdrawn, one being denied, and one whose bid was not awarded. We need to keep up the fight! Please go to the commission’s Comment Portal and leave a comment using Nomination #24-DNR-0007. Then go back to the commission’s Comment Portal and leave the same comment using Nomination #24-DNR-0008.***Because these are two separate nominations, you need to leave two separate comments for your comment to count for both nominations.***Tell the Commission: No fracking Salt Fork!Salt Fork State Park is Ohio’s largest and most iconic state park with more than 20,000 acres in Guernsey County. At Salt Fork, you can visit the iconic Hosak’s Cave and historic Kennedy Stone House, swim in Salt Fork Lake from the longest inland beach in Ohio, explore miles of hiking trails, camp, boat, fish, birdwatch, ride horses, and stay in the expansive state park lodge. None of these activities are compatible with fracking! Need some ideas for what to say in your comment? You can find the comments so far by your fellow Ohioans here:

• Comments so far on 24-DNR-0007
• Comments so far on 24-DNR-0008

You can also use our sample comment below, but please personalize this to explain what fracking in Salt Fork State Park means to you:

DEP Finds Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline Sprayed & Leaked 12,600+ Gallons For Nearly 3 Hours In Gilmore Twp., Greene County -- On September 11, 2024, DEP did an inspection of the NITMH023 shale gas wastewater pipeline in Gilmore Township, Greene County in response to a notification by EQM Gathering OPCO LLC of a spill from the pipeline at the Trust Well Site owned by EQT Production Company.The inspection found the pipeline still leaking at the time of arrival. The pipeline had been leaking and spraying shale gas wastewater for nearly three hours before being stopped.An estimated 12,600 gallons of wastewater was released from the leak in the pipeline. This estimate is based on the fact that three vac tank trucks were able to recover 12,600 gallons of wastewater from the start of the spill.DEP’s inspector said it wasn’t clear what caused the pipeline to leak and spray wastewater.The owner said the pipeline was new, having only been installed at the site for the past month and a half without issues.A follow-up contact from the owner to DEP later in the day said ontamination has also been found below the pipeline on the Trust Well Site.There was no indication in the inspection report where the 12,600 gallons of wastewater went or whether it posed a threat to any drinking water wells nearby.The Trust Well Pad, owned by EQT Production Company, is located at 212 Hoy Hill Road, Holbrook-- Latitude: 39.76133 Longitude: -80.28292, according to DEP’s Oil & Gas Mapping Tool.Typically neither DEP nor the site owner notifies neighboring well owners of spills that could impact their private water supplies.If you live near this location and could be affected, contact DEP’s Southwest District Oil and Gas Office in Pittsburgh at 412-442-4000 or New Stanton Office 724-925-5500. DEP’s inspection report included multiple violations related to the release and requested the owner to submit a plan by October 3, 2024 on how the site will be cleaned up and brought into compliance.To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Wastewater Spill at EQT Well Pad in Greene County, PA -- Marcellus Drilling News -- We spotted a report about an aboveground pipeline that flows shale wastewater that sprung a leak and released an estimated 12,600 gallons of brine (salty water from deep below the surface) on the ground in Gilmore Township, Greene County, PA. The pipeline is owned by EQM Gathering, another name for Equitrans Midstream, which is now owned by EQT. The leaking pipeline connects to the Trust Well Site owned by EQT. It sure sounds like a serious spill (12,600 gallons) with the potential to contaminate local water supplies—until you dig into the state Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) report on the incident. Read

WhiteHawk Energy Adds Marcellus Shale Mineral, Royalty Assets -- WhiteHawk Energy LLC said on Sept. 18 it had acquired Marcellus Shale natural gas mineral and royalty interests covering 435,000 gross unit acres across southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. In November 2023, WhiteHawk said it had acquired 475,000 gross acres for a total purchase price of $54 million.The new acquisition adds to WhiteHawk’s Marcellus position, with assets operated by Antero Resources, EQT Corp., Range Resources and CNX Resources. With the acquisition, the company’s fifth in the Marcellus, WhiteHawk said its owns natural gas mineral and royalty interests across more than 1 million unit acres and 3,400 producing wells. The company also holds mineral and royalty interests in the Haynesville Shale.“This acquisition further adds additional diversity and cash flow to WhiteHawk’s portfolio of core mineral and royalty assets. Increasing our asset base to include core positions in West Virginia is an exciting next step for WhiteHawk,” said CEO Daniel C. Herz. “These assets are directly in-line with our Company’s thesis – diversified acreage positions in the core of well-established basins, operated by best-in-class companies, generating significant cash flow with no additional capital expenditures.”With the acquisition, WhiteHawk’s Marcellus assets cover approximately 700,000 gross unit acres, with production from approximately 2,029 horizontal shale wells, the company said. WhiteHawk also owns mineral and royalty interests in 135 wells-in-progress, 76 permitted wells and 1,267 undeveloped Marcellus locations, with additional potential from the underlying Utica Shale.WhiteHawk’s position in the Haynesville covers approximately 375,000 gross unit acres and approximately 1,371 producing horizontal shale wells.WhiteHawk’s Marcellus deal was financed by EIG.

GOP Senators Propose Law to Protect Pipelines from Protesters -- Marcellus Drilling News -- A group of 10 Republican U.S. Senators, led by the great Ted Cruz (from Texas), have introduced a new bill titled “The Safe and Secure Transportation of American Energy Act.” The proposed law expands criminal penalties to cover vandalizing, tampering with, or disrupting the operations or construction of a pipeline. The Senators say current laws criminalize eco-terrorism and the destruction of infrastructure but don’t go far enough and don’t have “enough teeth” when it comes to acts disrupting the operation or construction of a pipeline. Like the situations we saw with protesters constantly delaying the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia.

With MVP Now Flowing, Roanoke Gas Looks to Add New Customers - Marcellus Drilling News - On Friday, June 14, Equitrans Midstream, the builder and majority owner of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that runs from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, announced the pipeline had, after a decade of planning and building, finally begun to flow Marcellus/Utica molecules (see Confirmed: M-U Gas Now Flowing Through Mountain Valley Pipeline). Who is buying the molecules flowing through MVP? We know of at least one company. In a separate announcement, Roanoke Gas Company (a large local utility) said it had begun to purchase M-U molecules from MVP on June 14. Roanoke Gas said for the first time since 1965, the Roanoke Valley now has access to a new interstate natural gas pipeline via two interconnections Roanoke Gas has with MVP. Roanoke Gas wants to expand its footprint and add new customers now that more gas supply is flowing via MVP.

Radicals Pressure Mass. Gov. Healey to Block Algonquin Pipe Project - Marcellus Drilling News - The Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Enbridge) transports up to 3.09 Bcf/d of natural gas through 1,131 miles of pipeline. Algonquin connects to Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO), Millennium Pipeline, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and supplies New England with critically needed natural gas supplies for power generation and consumer use. As we told you in September 2023, Enbridge conducted an open season to gauge interest in expanding Algonquin’s capacity to flow more gas into New England — mainly from the Marcellus/Utica — called Project Maple (see Enbridge Open Season to Expand Algonquin Pipe in New England). A coalition of “90 environmental organizations” (many of them one- or two-person operations) sent letters to the governors of the New England states and New York State in January demanding (they always demand) that the governors publicly oppose Project Maple (seeRadicals DEMAND Northeast Governors Oppose Enbridge Pipe Project). That effort didn’t work because now 45 nutball “state and local elected officials” in Massachusetts are demanding Gov. Maura Healey deny any permits requested to build the project. Read More

FERC Chairman Says Court “Erred” in Vacating Transco REAE Cert -- Marcellus Drilling News -- The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in late July vacating (nullifying) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Transco’s Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project to bring gas from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and Maryland (see DC Circuit Libs Reverse FERC Approval of Transco Northeast Expansion). At a FERC open meeting yesterday, FERC Chairman Willie Phillips (a Democrat!) said, “I want to make clear that I think the court erred in vacating our authorization.” However, Phillips said that decision and one other will force FERC to rethink how it reviews gas infrastructure projects moving forward.

EQT Joins MiQ, Uniper in Pilot to Demonstrate LNG Supply Chain Emissions Reporting--EQT Corp. said Wednesday it would supply Germany’s Uniper SE with 4 Bcf/d of independently certified natural gas in a pilot transaction with MiQ aimed at better verifying and differentiating the emissions profile of U.S. LNG cargoes. Chart of the destination for U.S. LNG by major portfolio players. The collaboration, which was announced at Gastech 2024 in Houston, has been designed to demonstrate the potential for full liquefied natural gas supply chain emissions reporting using MiQ’s Supply Chain Protocol. EQT, the nation’s largest gas producer, has most of its natural gas production operations certified by MiQ’s methane standard. MiQ’s protocol integrates information from its certification of EQT’s production sites with the best available data for other supply chain segments, the company said. The 4 Bcf/d that EQT is providing to Uniper, which has U.S. LNG offtake capacity, is about the equivalent of one cargo of the super-chilled fuel.

Biden Administration’s LNG Pause ‘Elevates Politics over Progress,’ Says Chevron Chief -Chevron Corp. CEO Mike Wirth is calling out the Biden administration for taking cheap shots on the natural gas industry, urging that a directive be lifted that has deferred approvals of some U.S. LNG projects. Commercially advanced LNG project affected by the DOE pause. "The case for natural gas is so strong that only politics can get in the way," Wirth said Tuesday before a standing-room-only audience at Gastech 2024 in Houston. The administration's “attacks” on industry, including a decision to pause liquefied natural gas exports pending a review, "elevates politics over progress." Wirth, who helms one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world, said the moratorium on project approvals would increase costs and threaten global supplies. Without natural gas, many overseas customers would depend on coal, he said, which has higher emissions.

Is Newly Permitted New Fortress LNG Facility Signaling Green Light for More? -- When a federal judge in Louisiana ruled in July that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) pause on new worldwide export permits for LNG projects was unlawful, it sparked a series of questions. North American LNG Projects Impacted by DOE Review.Energy investors and natural gas infrastructure developers were left asking whether this meant DOE would have to immediately restart considerations for non-free trade agreement (FTA) permits. They also questioned how soon until the next liquefied natural gas project is authorized, and which one could it be?DOE answered at least two of those questions in a stealthy Labor Day weekend order. The agency authorized New Fortress Energy Inc. to export up to 1.4 million metric tons/year to non-FTA countries from its Fast LNG facility offshore Altamira, Mexico.

Woodside Hones in on Driftwood LNG Equity Partners to Boost Global Portfolio -- As it awaits the closure on its acquisition of Tellurian Inc., Woodside Energy Group Ltd. is forging ahead landing equity partners and customers that can help it optimize the Driftwood LNG project and its new North American foothold, CEO Meg O’Neill said. The Australian oil and gas giant disclosed in July that it planned to acquire the 27.6 million metric tons/year (mmty) proposed Driftwood export project in Louisiana. That deal is expected to close by the end of the year, pending approval by shareholders in October and positive regulatory reviews. In the roughly two months since then, O’Neill said the firm has moved from searching for ways to build its North American portfolio at scale to gathering the right partners, both in the U.S. upstream and abroad. This would be a precursor to the liquefied natural gas project.

Glencore signs offtake deal with KTG and Commonwealth LNG - Kimmeridge Texas Gas (KTG) and Commonwealth LNG have entered into a Heads of Terms agreement with Glencore LTD, one of the world's largest globally diversified natural resource companies, forming a strategic natural gas and LNG partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will purchase 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG for 20 years from Commonwealth, as well as equivalent natural gas supply from KTG under a netback agreement at international prices. The definitive agreements are expected to be finalized among the parties in Q4 2024. Commonwealth anticipates a final investment decision on its LNG export facility in Cameron, Louisiana in 1H 2025, with the first LNG production expected in 2028. David Lawler, KTG CEO and President, said: "Our partnership with Glencore represents another tangible step forward for the KTG platform in becoming a fully integrated provider of reliable, secure and clean energy from wellhead to water. With Commonwealth by our side, we look forward to reaching critical international markets in partnership with Glencore, who shares our vision of responsible LNG production and usage." Maxim Kolupaev, Glencore Global Head of LNG, Gas and Power, commented: "We are excited to partner with Kimmeridge Texas Gas and Commonwealth, two leading companies in the natural gas space, under a novel framework that leverages Glencore's premier LNG marketing platform and investment grade credit rating to facilitate access to international pricing. This agreement is the result of a strong relationship between Glencore and Kimmeridge, building upon our common vision of helping economies accelerate their energy transition ambitions."

Chevron not looking to invest in building US LNG plants - Chevron does not want to invest in the construction of U.S. LNG plants, as it is not the best use of the company's capital and it can easily sell its U.S. gas, said a top official on Thursday. The head of Chevron's midstream, Colin Parfitt, also ruled out taking an equity stake in Woodside Energy's impending purchase of Louisiana-based Driftwood LNG. "We chose not to do the owning and operating but we do deals that allow us to have production of gas in the U.S. and translate it into liquefied natural gas (LNG) for our customers," Parfitt said in an interview. Woodside has said it is prepared to sell up to 50% stake in the proposed 27.6-MMtpy Driftwood project. The U.S. is unique in that Chevron can monetize its gas production without having to convert it to LNG since the country has a large midstream market. One of the ways that Chevron plans to benefit from LNG output in the U.S is through sales and purchase agreements with LNG developers. It has separate agreements with Cheniere Energy and Venture Global LNG, the latter of which has been in contract disputes with big customers. "I have sat with Venture Global in the past and I am very well aware of the noise that's out there. Our view is if we have an issue with a supplier then we talk to them and we do talk to Venture Global very directly," Parfitt said. Large projects are prone to delays and the Biden pause on export reviews that held up LNG export approvals to non FTA countries will also slow down the next phase of projects, Parfitt said.

US natgas rises 3% on higher demand outlook, output cut (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures rose 3% on Monday, buoyed by forecasts for higher demand over the next week, while the market also factored in production cuts due to last week's storm. Front-month gas futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 6.8 cents or 3% to settle at $2.373 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). "We believe that the market is really going to be focused on the inventory this week as well as the weather going forward. If this market is going to find support, it's gonna need help from Mother Nature and you usually don't get a lot of that support in the shoulder season," Last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said utilities added 40 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended Sept. 6. That was lower compared with an injection of 50 bcf during the same week a year ago and a five-year average (2019-2023) increase of 67 bcf for this time of year. "After Hurricane Francine, the productions been off for a while, but because it's shoulder season the market isn't as concerned, but it definitely should cut into our supply surplus," More than 12% of crude production and 16% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were still offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Monday. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 15% of all domestic oil production and 2% of natural gas output, according to federal data. Dutch and British wholesale gas prices declined on higher forecast temperatures this week and supply outages easing. Meanwhile, the fifth cargo of liquefied natural gas from Russia's Arctic LNG 2 was picked up by a vessel managed by a company under U.S. sanctions, according to ship tracking data. Financial firm LSEG said gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states slid to an average of 102.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in September, down from 103.2 bcfd in August. Meanwhile, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, rose from 99.6 bcfd last week to 100.2 bcfd this week and is seen rising to 100.9 bcfd next week. LSEG forecast average gas supply in the Lower 48, including exports, unchanged this and next week at 101.9 bcfd.

US natgas slips 2% as output rises after Hurricane Francine — U.S. natural gas futures fell 2% on Tuesday after hitting a more than two-month high earlier in the session, as Gulf of Mexico producers slowly ramp up production after Hurricane Francine, easing concerns over supply and prompting some profit taking. Front-month gas futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 4.9 cents or 2% to settle at $2.324 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). "Now with the production coming online, the market is less concerned about tightening supply and that's been weighing the prices," About 10% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was offline in the aftermath of Francine, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Tuesday. That is compared with 53% of natural gas output shut after the tropical storm barreled across the U.S. South last week. Meanwhile, a natural gas liquid (NGL) pipeline owned by Energy Transfer ET caught fire in La Porte, Texas, on Monday morning, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses and prompting a widespread evacuation. The fire continues to burn itself out. "The explosion in Houston/Deer Park was on a line carrying NGLs and although there is other gas infrastructure in the immediate area which are under force majeure or pressure reductions, we do not see it as impactful to forward markets," Financial firm LSEG estimated 134 cooling degree days (CDDs) over the next two weeks. The normal for this time of year is 94 CDDs. Meanwhile, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48, including exports, to rise from 100.0 bcfd this week to 100.5 bcfd next week. LSEG forecast average gas supply in the Lower 48, including exports, at 101.9 bcfd this week to 102.2 bcfd next week. LSEG said gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states slid to an average of 102.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in September, down from 103.2 bcfd in August. "Nearby futures are bumping up against resistance at the $2.42 level and are likely to push higher during the next couple of sessions as speculative shorts continue to exit or roll positions forward into the deferred contracts amid production slippage, steady LNG export activity, coal to gas switching and warmer than normal temperature forecasts into month’s end," Elsewhere, Dutch and British wholesale gas prices on Tuesday morning traded slightly higher after hitting seven week lows the previous day when milder weather curbed demand. U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Venture Global LNG signed a five-year deal with Gastrade SA to regasify up to 1 million metric tons of LNG in Greece for a five-year period beginning next year from two of its Louisiana export facilities, the company said on Tuesday.

EIA Reports Natural Gas Storage Jumped 58 Bcf --With much of the nation enjoying mild weather, the U.S. grew its natural gas storage levels to 3.445 Tcf during the week ending Sept. 13, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The weekly storage report, released Sept. 19, showed a 58 Bcf increase from the week before, missing consensus market expectations of 53 Bcf, according to East Daley Analytics. While slightly higher expected, the surplus to the five-year average shrunk by 22 Bcf to 274 Bcf. East Daley predicted that Hurricane Francine, which swept through the Gulf of Mexico during the same week the storage report was released, may have caused demand destruction that will result in a higher storage addition in next week’s EIA report. The Henry Hub Front Month Futures Price was unaffected by the news. After a drop off in the morning, prices had rallied by noon on Sept. 19, rising to $2.33/MMbtu, a 2% increase from the day before.

Pipeline explodes in Houston suburb, forcing evacuations (AP) — A pipeline explosion near Houston erupted in a towering flame over neighborhoods for hours on Monday, forcing evacuations and shelter orders and melting playground equipment as firefighters struggled to keep nearby homes from burning.Operators shut off the flow of natural gas liquids, but so much remained in the 20-inch (51-centimeter) pipeline that firefighters could do nothing but watch and hose down adjacent homes until it burns itself out. That could take hours, perhaps into Tuesday, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jr. said.“The fire, it’s very hot, so a lot of the house structures that are adjacent to that are still catching on fire even though we’re putting a lot of water on them,” Mouton said. Local authorities would not speculate about the cause of the fire and what role a burned car near the source of the flame may have had. The pipeline’s owner, Dallas-based Energy Transfer, said in a statement that it was “aware of early reports” that a car had struck some valve equipment but did not offer more details, including the origin of those reports.Firefighters were dispatched at 9:55 a.m., after an explosion at a valve station in Deer Park and right next to La Porte rattled adjacent homes and businesses. Nearly 1,000 homes are in the evacuation area, said Lee Woodward, a spokesperson for La Porte. Geselle Melina Guerra said she and her boyfriend heard the explosion as they were having breakfast in their mobile home. “All of a sudden we hear this loud bang and then I see something bright, like orange, coming from our back door that’s outside,” said Guerra, who lives within the evacuation area. Her boyfriend woke up his brother and they ran to their car. Students at several public schools were told to shelter in place as law enforcement blocked off a wide area. Some evacuees gathered at nearby San Jacinto College, which closed its campus after the explosion. Letting the fire burn out is better, from an environmental perspective, than trying to attack the flames with some kind of suppressing foam or liquid, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a petroleum engineering professor at the University of Houston. “Otherwise it’s going to release a lot of volatile organics into the environment,” he said. Still, there will undoubtedly be negative environmental consequences, including a release of soot, carbons and organic material, he said. Energy Transfer said air monitoring equipment was being set up near the plume of fire and smoke, which could be seen from at least 10 miles (16 kilometers) away. A statement from Harris County Pollution Control on Monday afternoon said no volatile organic compounds had been detected. The statement said particulate matter from the smoke was moderate and not an immediate risk to healthy people, although “sensitive populations may want to take precautions.” Natural gas liquids are used primarily in the manufacturing of plastics and basic and intermediate chemicals, Krishnamoorti said. Houston, Texas’ largest city, is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight in the area, including some that have been deadly, raising recurring questions about the adequacy of industry efforts to protect the public and the environment.

LIVE: La Porte pipeline fire near Spencer Highway causes road closures, evacuations, 4 total injuries reported | FOX 26 Houston - A pipeline fire near Spencer Highway and Summerton has caused major disruptions in La Porte. The incident, affecting a 20-inch natural gas liquids pipeline, was reported this morning. Energy Transfer, the pipeline operator, has isolated the line to allow the chemical Y Grade NGL (liquid natural gas) to safely burn off. A timeline for this process is not yet available.Preliminary reports suggest that an unknown passenger car may have entered the right-of-way and struck the valve location, potentially causing the fire. Air monitoring equipment is being set up to further assess the situation. The Fire Department is advising residents to evacuate the area between Luella and Canada. Emergency crews are actively working to control the fire. Harris County Hazmat and other HCFMO resources are also responding to the scene. Unified Command is in place, with Deer Park managing the west side and La Porte handling the east. A mobile command post is located at East Blvd. and Spencer Hwy., and HC Pollution Control is on site. Currently, a strike team is responding, and CenterPoint is evaluating infrastructure damage. Officials released the latest update on the pipeline fire in La Porte saying, "The pipeline fire is still burning off remanence, but it is reducing. With the information that Energy Transfer has provided, they have estimated that the burn off will carry on into the early morning of Tuesday, September 17th. Energy Transfer and Harris County Pollution Control are continuing to conduct air monitoring. No air monitoring issues have been reported at this time. Harris County Hazmat and Resources will be conducting an investigation once the fire diminishes. CenterPoint is currently staged at Walmart and will begin power restoration once the grounds have cooled down. Energy Transfer is taking steps to reduce product in the line by adding additional flares. For anyone displaced and/or impacted by the Energy Transfer Pipeline Fire, Energy Transfer has created a help line: (855) 430-4491. Those impacted are encouraged to call. The San Jacinto College Central Campus will re-open on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, for scheduled classes, operations, and activities. There is no fire on campus and the campus is safe for employees and students to return. College Administration and the Office of Emergency Management continue to closely monitor the pipeline fire. Air quality monitoring will be conducted by Energy Transfer at the Central Campus on Tuesday. Employees and students affected by this incident should work with their leader and faculty, respectively, for any arrangements they may need for missed work and class coursework. La Porte ISD also released a statement saying that all La Porte ISD schools will be open on Tuesday. They added, "We understand that some families may face challenges in light of the fire today. As always, we encourage you to do what is best for your family."Evacuated residents may contact the pipeline owner, Energy Transfer, at 855-430-4491for claims related to the event. Evacuees with animals should contact the City of La Porte's Animal Shelter at 10901 Spencer Highway or 281-842-3700.The line has been isolated so that the residual product in it can safely burn itself out. Responders continue to work with Energy Transfer and will remain onsite. Increased LPPD patrols will be present in impacted areas. There may also be an increased number of governmental and responding agencies in the community. Follow the direction of law enforcement and do not attempt to drive around barricades. Follow official sources on social media for further information.The City of Deer Park has released some updated information regarding the pipeline fire. Here is their full statement:At approximately 10 a.m. on September 16th, 2024, a white sport utility vehicle drove through a fence on the west side of Wal-Mart's parking lot located at 9025 Spencer Highway, Deer Park, TX 77536. The vehicle entered the adjacent pipeline right-of-way and struck an above-ground pipeline valve. The Deer Park Police Department (DPPD) and local FBI agents conducted the initial investigation, with preliminary reports suggesting no terroristic activity. The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the DPPD, and supports that this appears to be an isolated incident. The investigation is ongoing, including the positive identification of the vehicle and driver. No other information about the investigation is available as of the time of this press release.

La Porte pipeline fire: blaze could last hours longer, evacuation orders still in place – Houston Public Media -- Evacuation orders were issued in La Porte after a large natural gas pipeline fire erupted Monday morning. The fire continued blazing more than three hours after initial reports, and could take hours longer to diminish, officials said. “The Railroad Commission of Texas pipeline safety inspectors are investigating the fire that occurred at an Energy Transfer natural gas liquid pipeline in La Porte Monday morning,” according to the commission. Energy Transfer has shut down the portion of the pipeline that caught fire. RRC inspectors will work with state and local emergency responders at the scene.” The fire occurred in a pipeline corridor, and the commission is notifying other pipeline operators in the corridor of the incident and getting information on measures they are taking to ensure safety, according to the commission. Cassidy Lamb, a spokesperson for Energy Transfer said the line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. “We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities,” Lamb said. “We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the valve location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available.” The fire that has blazed since around 10 a.m. Monday could take several hours longer to diminish, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said during a press conference. “The cause is under investigation,” he said. “It’s way too early to speculate.” One fireman is being treated for minor injuries. No other injuries have been reported in connection with the pipeline fire. Grass fires caused by residual heat have been contained, Mouton said. “Once it is safe, we will let people back in,” he said. The La Porte Fire Department was dispatched to a fire in the 8700 block of Spencer Highway around 9:55 a.m. Several houses and a burned vehicle could be seen from helicopter footage at the scene. The fire was not contained and continued burning nearly two hours after alerts were first issued. A spokesperson for the La Porte Office of Emergency Management said residents between Luella and Canada roads evacuated and those on Spencer and Freemont were urged to go west. Residents near the area are likely to be evacuated because of power loss. An area surrounding Wal-Mart and H-E-B is blocked off to traffic, according to the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management. Anna Ritter-Lewis, a La Porte resident said she had taken a friend to the eye doctor at Walmart. They were standing by the door because they had just walked in when the explosion happened. “They immediately escorted everyone to the back and out through the back of Walmart and then had us walk across East Street to the HEB,” Ritter-Lewis said. “They evacuated us all to the Jimmy Burke center in Deer Park,” she said. “They would not allow us to get our vehicles or anything.” San Jacinto College students were urged to shelter in place until an all-clear is provided. There is no fire currently on campus, according to the San Jacinto College Office of Emergency Management. The college’s central campus is closed for the rest of the day. Classes and activities are expected to resume Tuesday morning. A La Porte Independent School District campus near the fire was under a modified shelter-in-place order Monday. The more than 500 students at Heritage Elementary School are being kept inside and outdoor activities are being cancelled. “We’re taking all precautions, safety and security are our top priority,” Adam Holland, a spokesperson for La Porte ISD said. “Our kiddos are safe, and we’re trying the best we can to proceed as we normally would.” Several students from other campuses live in the area affected by the evacuation. “Therefore, we are unable to transport those children home by bus,” according to the school district. “The district is in the process of contacting parents who will need to arrange for pickup of their students.”

Cause of Houston pipeline explosion and fire identified as authorities rule out terroristic activity | Fox News -- A massive pipeline explosion that shot a pillar of flame toward the sky after a vehicle drove through a fence and struck an above-ground valve on Monday was not terror-related, authorities said. Police and local FBI agents investigated and found no preliminary reports that would suggest a coordinated or "terrorist" attack on the liquefied natural gas pipeline, saying "this appears to be an isolated incident," according to officials in Deer Park. Sherry and Chad Richard told KTRK-TV that the SUV caught their attention "because the car was moving so slow" before it "just veered off." The vehicle went through a fence before striking the valve, leading to a "boom" and "fire everywhere," Sherry Richard told the station. Chad Richard told KTRK that he initially thought the driver suffered a medical emergency because the SUV "drifted" and "really wasn’t going that fast" until getting past the fence.The explosion incinerated the vehicle and the flames scorched a wide radius, severing adjacent power transmission lines and igniting homes at a distance. Nearly 1,000 homes were evacuated and residents sheltered in schools.Police did not immediately provide any information about the driver’s identity or condition.The tower of flame lit up the sky for more than 12 hours. Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton Jr. said the ladder trucks showered houses within its radius from above due to the intense heat."A lot of the house structures that are adjacent to that are still catching on fire even though we’re putting a lot of water on them," Mouton said at an afternoon news conference.On Tuesday morning, the city of Deer Park said in a statement that the spouting flame had subsided, but the fire continued to burn."Progress has been made as first responder crews worked through the night. The fire is significantly smaller," the statement said.No volatile organic compounds had been detected, Harris County Pollution Control said in a statement Monday afternoon. The statement said particulate matter from the smoke was moderate and not an immediate risk to healthy people, although "sensitive populations may want to take precautions." The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said it was also monitoring the air.The pipeline’s owner, Dallas-based Energy Transfer, said air monitoring equipment was being set up near the plume of fire and smoke, which could be seen from at least 10 miles away at one point.

Deer Park pipeline burnoff estimated to last through early Tuesday morning, company says - ABC13 Houston (KTRK) -- The company that owns the pipeline that exploded and ignited in a daylong fire in Deer Park estimated a burnoff lasting until early Tuesday morning. Energy Transfer gave an update late Monday evening, hours after the blast off in the 9000 block of Spencer Highway. As of 10 p.m., the company said flames were still burning but reduced. It added that no air monitoring issues were reported. The update comes after Deer Park police said that an SUV hit an above-ground pipeline valve. Preliminary reports also suggests no terroristic activity and that it was an isolated incident, police added. According to police, the SUV drove through a fence on the west side of a nearby Walmart parking lot in the 9000 block of Spencer Highway. The vehicle entered the adjacent pipeline right-of-way and hit the valve. Police are working to identify the vehicle and the driver. The resultant explosion started in Deer Park and then spread south under Spencer Highway to La Porte, as the highway separates Deer Park to the north and La Porte to the south. Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management, which handled the west side of the fire, and La Porte, which handled the east side. Energy Transfer, the company that owns the pipeline, said liquid natural gas is burning, and it will be hours before the fire burns off. Energy Transfer sent Eyewitness News the following statement: "We experienced an incident this morning in La Porte, Texas, at a valve station along Spencer Highway for a 20" natural gas liquids line that resulted in a fire. There are no reports of injuries at this time. The LaPorte Fire Department is on the scene and has evacuated all homes and businesses within a half mile of the incident site. The line has been isolated so that the residual product in the line can safely burn itself out. We have no timeline at this point on how long that process will take, but we are working closely with local authorities. We are aware of early reports indicating that an unknown passenger car entered our right-of-way and struck the value location. Air monitoring equipment is in the process of being set up in the area. We will continue to release details as they become available." Aerial views show firefighters spraying homes right behind the fire with water. The front of the houses appeared to have smoke and fire damage. A Deer Park official told ABC13's Daniela Hurtado that four people were injured from the event, including a firefighter for minor injuries. The four also includes two hospitalizations and two heat-related injuries. The flames grew at one point, creating smaller grass fires that crews are working to keep under control. City officials said the impact zone is about 1/2 mile from the fire itself. During a press conference, Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said the fire is in a contained area, but local authorities have implemented evacuations and shelter-in-place orders for nearby areas, including HEB, Walmart, Heritage Elementary, College Park Elementary, James H. Baker, San Jacinto College. Energy Transfer said in part of a public statement that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.

Roaring pipeline fire near Houston subsides but still burns - (AP) — A flame that towered over a southeast Houston suburb subsided Tuesday but was still burning following a pipeline explosion that happened when a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an above-ground valve, officials said. “Progress has been made as first responder crews worked through the night. The fire is significantly smaller,” according to a statement from Deer Park. The city said Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based owner of the pipeline, expects the fire to burn itself out later Tuesday. City officials said police and FBI agents found no preliminary evidence to suggest a coordinated or terrorist attack, and said it “appears to be an isolated incident,” but they haven’t offered any details on how they came to that conclusion. Investigators were trying to learn more about the driver of the sport utility vehicle. The car was incinerated by the explosion, which scorched the ground across a wide radius, severed nearby power transmission lines, melted playground equipment and ignited nearby homes. Over 24 hours after the explosion, the driver still had not been publicly identified. The valve, which appears to have been protected by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, is located within a long grassy corridor where high-voltage power lines run. Below the ground run several pipelines. On one side of the corridor is a neighborhood of homes; on the other is a Walmart. Officials say the driver went through a fence alongside the Walmart parking lot and across the grassy right-of-way before striking the valve. Officials have not given any information on the condition of the driver. Deer Park spokesperson Kaitlyn Bluejacket said four people were injured, but provided no details about the seriousness of the injuries. Authorities said one firefighter sustained minor injuries. The roaring fire shot orange flame and then black smoke hundreds of feet into the air, prompting authorities to evacuate nearly 1,000 homes and order people in nearby schools to shelter in place. By Tuesday, the City of La Porte said it slightly reduced the evacuation area south of the fire, but did not say how many people were affected. Operators shut off the flow of natural gas liquids after the explosion rattled homes and businesses in Deer Park and the adjacent suburb of La Porte shortly before 10 a.m. on Monday. But Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 20 miles (32 kilometers) of pipeline stretched between the two closed valves, and all the chemicals inside had to burn off before the fire would stop. Robert Hall, a senior advisor at the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust, said it’s not surprising that it’s taken more than a day for the material to stop burning. “You’re talking about 20-inch pipelines and miles between valves, so it takes a long time to burn down,” Hall said. The fire was burning so hot that all firefighters could do is use ladder trucks to hose down nearby houses that began smoking in the radiant heat. Houston, Texas’ largest city, is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight, and some have been deadly, raising recurring questions about industry efforts to protect the public and the environment. Hall, who previously oversaw pipeline and hazardous materials investigations for the National Transportation Safety Board, said there are few regulations that govern the location of pipelines near homes and businesses. “That becomes a very local issue, community by community,” said Hall, who added that some jurisdictions require bollards — sturdy pipes filled with concrete — to prevent vehicles from crashing into sensitive infrastructure. Energy Transfer did not immediately respond Tuesday to a question about what safety precautions were in place near their valve.

What to know about the pipeline fire burning for a third day in Houston's suburbs - NBC4 (AP) — A pipeline fire that forced hundreds of people to flee their homes in the Houston suburbs burned for a third day Wednesday, with officials saying they don’t expect it to be extinguished until sometime Thursday evening. Officials said residents who had to evacuate would be allowed to return to their homes starting Wednesday evening. Authorities have offered few details about what prompted the driver of an SUV to hit an aboveground valve on the pipeline on Monday, sparking the blaze. Officials say the underground pipeline, which runs under high-voltage power lines in a grassy corridor between a Walmart and a residential neighborhood in Deer Park, was damaged when the SUV driver left the store’s parking lot, entered the wide grassy area and went through a fence surrounding the valve equipment. Authorities have offered few details on what caused the vehicle to hit the pipeline valve, the identity of the driver or what happened to them. The pipeline company on Wednesday called it an accident. Deer Park officials said preliminary investigations by police and FBI agents found no evidence of a terrorist attack. Deer Park police won’t be able to reach the burned-out vehicle until the flame has been extinguished. Once the area is safe, the department will be able to continue its investigation and confirm specifics, city spokesperson Kaitlyn Bluejacket said in an email Wednesday. The valve equipment appears to have been protected by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. The pipeline’s operator has not responded to questions about any other safety protections that were in place. Energy Transfer is the Dallas-based owner of the pipeline, a 20-inch-wide (50-centemeter-wide) conduit that runs for miles through the Houston area. It carries natural gas liquids through the suburbs of Deer Park and La Porte, both of which are southeast of Houston. Energy Transfer said the fire had diminished overnight and was continuing to “safely burn itself out” on Wednesday. Energy Transfer also built the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been at the center of protests and legal battles. The company’s executive chairman, Kelcy Warren, has given millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. What’s being done to extinguish the fire? Energy Transfer said its crews were working Wednesday to install specialized isolation equipment on both sides of the damaged section that will help extinguish the fire. Once the equipment is installed, which could take several hours of welding, the isolated section of the pipeline will be purged with nitrogen, which will extinguish the fire, company and local officials said. After that, damaged components can be repaired. “The safest way to manage this process is to let the products burn off,” Energy Transfer said. Late Wednesday afternoon, Deer Park officials said repair work on the pipeline to help speed up the process to put out the fire wasn’t expected to be completed until 6 p.m. on Thursday. Once finished, the fire was anticipated to be extinguished within two to three hours. Authorities evacuated nearly 1,000 homes at one point and ordered people in nearby schools to shelter in place. Officials said that starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, residents in Deer Park and La Porte who had to evacuate would be allowed to return to their homes. A portion of a highway near the pipeline would remain closed, officials said. Hundreds of customers lost power. Officials said Wednesday afternoon that only two customers remained without electricity in the Deer Park and La Porte area. Repairs to all of the power distribution lines affected by the fire had been completed. Deer Park’s statement said Energy Transfer was “prioritizing the safety of the community and environment as it implements its emergency response plan.” “We appreciate the patience and understanding of all residents during this ongoing situation,” Deer Park officials said. By late Tuesday, about 400 evacuees remained, and some expressed frustration over being forced to quickly flee and not being given any timeline for when they will be able to return. “We literally walked out with the clothes on our backs, the pets, and just left the neighborhood with no idea where we were going,” said Kristina Reff, who lives near the fire. “That was frustrating.” What about pollution from the fire? Energy Transfer and Harris County officials have said that air quality monitoring shows no immediate risk to individuals, despite the huge tower of billowing flame that shot hundreds of feet into the air, creating thick black smoke that hovered over the area. Houston is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight, and some have been deadly, raising recurring questions about industry efforts to protect the public and the environment.

Deer Park pipeline fire a criminal investigation after body found — The pipeline fire in Deer Park is finally out around 80 hours after it started Monday morning. The fire was caused by an SUV that crashed through a fence and into the pipeline valve above ground, setting off an explosive fire. On Thursday morning, human remains were recovered from the white SUV and Deer Park officials said this has developed into a criminal investigation. According to the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management, the Harris County medical examiner was able to process the vehicle and recover the human remains. They are now working through their identification process, which will take time.This comes after crews brought a flatbed truck to tow the charred and melted white car that was still near the above-ground valve along Spencer Highway where the fire was burning.Views from Air 11 showed Deer Park police setting up a command center along Spencer Highway near the scene of the fire. We could also see a gurney and canopy set up near the command center. On Tuesday, dashcam video provided a closer look at the moment the vehicle hit the above-ground valve that sparked the massive pipeline fire. RELATED: Only on KHOU 11: Video shows moment SUV crashed through fence, hitting valve and sparking Deer Park pipeline fire. The fire started just before 10 a.m. Monday at Spencer Highway near East Boulevard near the Brookglen neighborhood. Monday evening, the City of Deer Park confirmed the fire was caused by an SUV crashing through the fence of a nearby Walmart and hitting an above-ground valve.At a news conference Thursday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the incident stressed the need for more protection around pipelines that are above ground.“One of the things that we want to look at going forward is what can we do so that elsewhere in the county these pipelines and valves that are above the earth can be protected by concrete as opposed to these fences that, obviously, we saw you can ram through," Hidalgo said.She said state law might limit the extent of regulations imposed on a county or city level.Hundreds of residents who were evacuated when the pipeline burst into flames were allowed to return on Wednesday but a lot of them have major damage to their homes and vehicles. One family said they haven't been able to find one of their missing cats.

Shallow M5.1 earthquake hits near Ackerly, Texas -A shallow M5.1 earthquake struck near Ackerly, Texas, at 00:49 UTC on September 17, 2024 (19:49 CDT on September 16), shaking the Midland-Odessa region and prompting over 1 700 reports of tremors. The USGS is reporting a depth of 8.2 km (5.1 miles) and epicenter approximately 34 km (21 miles) west-southwest of Ackerly. Location of M5.1 earthquake in Texas at 00:49 UTC on September 17, 2024. Credit: TW/SAM, ESRI The epicenter was located 34.7 km (21.5 miles) WSW of Ackerly (population 231), and 46 km (28.6 miles) N of Midland (population 132 950), Texas, United States. 1 000 people are estimated to have felt moderate shaking, 500 000 light and 741 000 weak. The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage. Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are unreinforced brick masonry and reinforced masonry construction. The quake was preceded by an M1.5 tremor at 16:10 UTC on September 16, at a depth of 7.9 km (4.9 miles), and followed by an M2.8 at 05:46 UTC on September 17. Moderate shaking was reported in the vicinity of the epicenter, but there are no reports of significant damage or injuries at this time. USGS forecasts a 45% chance of aftershocks with magnitudes of 3.0 or greater in the week following the event. The region where the earthquake occurred lies within the Permian Basin, a major oil-producing area. The Midland-Odessa region is not frequently subject to significant seismic activity, making this earthquake notable. This is the 6th strongest earthquake in Texas history – sharing this place with the M5.1 quake 17 km (10 miles) NNE of Hermleigh on July 26, 2024.

US seeks up to 6 million barrels of oil for strategic reserve (Reuters) - The U.S. is seeking to buy up to 6 million barrels of oil to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after a historic sale from the facility in 2022, the Energy Department said on Wednesday. Reuters reported exclusively this week that the solicitation would take place on Wednesday as the administration of President Joe Biden buys oil for the SPR while prices are relatively low.

With Mexico LNG Facility Permitted, Could More Approvals Follow? - When a federal judge in Louisiana ruled in July that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) pause on new worldwide export permits for LNG projects was unlawful, it sparked a series of questions. Commercially advanced LNG Projects impacted by DOE review chart. Energy investors and natural gas infrastructure developers were left asking whether this meant DOE would have to immediately restart considerations for non-free trade agreement (FTA) permits. They also questioned how soon until the next liquefied natural gas project is authorized, and which one could it be? DOE answered at least two of those questions in a stealthy Labor Day weekend order. The agency authorized New Fortress Energy Inc. to export up to 1.4 million metric tons/year to non-FTA countries from its Fast LNG facility offshore Altamira, Mexico.

What Could the Natural Gas Market Look Like Under Mexico’s Sheinbaum? — Column -- Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following column by Eduardo Prud’homme as part of a regular series on understanding this process. On Oct. 1, Claudia Sheinbaum will assume the presidency of Mexico with questions lingering over her potential energy policy. Her academic credentials have raised positive expectations regarding the type of projects that could be a priority under her leadership. Her progressive vision on environmental policies has promised an electric generation matrix more oriented towards clean energy and emphasized its efficient use. This would create important investment opportunities. However, her nationalist profile and apparent ideological baggage could stifle the development of new energy infrastructure. Among her most conspicuous challenges could be the excessive dependence on U.S. natural gas imports for generation and the deficiencies in the electrical transmission network.

LNG Canada Carefully Weighing Second Phase FID as Project Startup Nears, CEO Says -- There is no timeframe for LNG Canada to sanction its second phase as the project’s partners remain focused on getting the first two trains online after more than a decade of development. NGI's chart of North American LNG Projects. “The kind of prerequisites are there. We put in a lot of pre-investment into the facility to tie in Phase 2,” CEO Jason Klein told NGI this week on the sidelines of Gastech 2024 in Houston. “It really comes down to it’s a globally competitive business and our partners are going to look at the capital costs, the delivery costs, the investment climate and their markets, and when they want to make investments in Canada versus other opportunities in the world.”

ConocoPhillips Chief Says ‘Substantial’ Growth Ahead for Global LNG Business --All signs point to North America becoming the worldwide price setter for natural gas, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said Tuesday. ConocoPhillips U.S. E&P assets. Lance, who helms the world’s largest independent, spoke before a global audience at Gastech 2024 in Houston. U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies have led the world in unearthing reserves through unconventional drilling, technology they now are sharing – along with LNG exports – with allies overseas. “The gas reserves here in North America are substantial,” Lance said. He estimated more than “a century of gas” is likely available, ensuring energy security like never before.

Call for Low-Carbon Shipping Continues to Drive Global LNG Vessel Fleet, Bunkering Demand Growth --As international natural gas shippers look to lower their overall carbon footprints, LNG is increasingly becoming the maritime fuel of choice to meet emissions regulations. NGI's Spot LNG Vessel Rates Chart. There are currently 830 liquefied natural gas vessels, about 250 of which are still under construction or on order, according to shipbroker Poten & Partners Inc. By 2029, the global fleet of LNG carriers is forecast to grow by 40% and exceed more than 1,000 vessels, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest gas market report. Despite a rise in orders for ships that can utilize alternative fuels like methanol and ammonia, Rystad Energy reported LNG is still the most popular choice for dual-fuel vessels. Half of the operational LNG-fueled vessels are carriers capable of using boil-off gas as fuel, reducing their reliance on external LNG bunkering.

Germany: Habeck expects a gas surplus and falling prices in 2025 -Handelsblatt Germany’s economy and climate minister, Robert Habeck, has emphasised that the country’s gas storage facilities are full ahead of winter, with gas distribution “functioning well”, reports Handelsblatt. As a result, Habeck expects “natural” gas prices to decrease next year, adds the outlet. Die Zeit says that, more than two years ago, Germany declared “the alarm level” of its gas emergency plan in response to a significant reduction in Russian gas supplies. Since then, the country has successfully reduced its dependence on Russian gas. In light of this, the environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe has called on the government to “immediately downgrade the alarm level of gas supply emergency” to the early warning level because the current level of emergency justifies and simplifies the construction of new liquified “natural” gas terminals in Germany, says Die Zeit. Meanwhile, Der Spiegel reports on a new study on Germany’s preparedness for extreme weather events, as parts of central Europe face widespread flooding. Analysis by 73 researchers from the University of Hamburg calls for more efforts to protect people from such events, the outlet says. It quotes co-author Prof Beate Ratter, who warns that Germany is responding “too slowly” to the increasing likelihood of more frequent heavy rainfall, heatwaves, and droughts. Deutsche Welle reports that Dresden, in eastern Germany, has already put up barriers to guard against extreme flooding. Further north, Brandenburg “is looking anxiously at the Oder river, which is expected to bring more water in the coming days”, notes the Local. Finally, Reuters reports that Germany’s power grid battery capacity, used to stabilise electricity networks, has risen by nearly a third this year, reflecting the country’s efforts to support the grid as it integrates more renewable energy sources.

Apollo Paying $1B for Stake in Azerbaijan-to-Europe Trans Adriatic Natural Gas System -- The BP plc-led Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP), a leg of the Southern Gas Corridor system that moves natural gas from Azerbaijan to European markets, has gained a new partner. Pipeline route map for TAP. Private equity giant Apollo Global Management agreed to pay $1 billion to purchase a stake in BP subsidiary TAP Ltd. BP owns a 20% share in the system and would continue as the controlling shareholder. TAP, which began commercial operations in 2020, extends 547 miles, transporting supply from the BP-operated Shah Deniz field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe, including Greece and Italy. TAP had initial capacity of 10 billion cubic meters, and an expansion is underway to double capacity. Related Tags

TotalEnergies signs LNG supply agreements with BOTAŞ and CNOOC -In line with its strategy to grow its long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales, TotalEnergies has announced the signing of a heads of agreement (HoA) with BOTAŞ for the delivery of 1.1 MMtpy of LNG for ten years starting from 2027, and a 5-year extension of its sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with CNOOC for the delivery of 1.25 MMtpy of LNG to China until 2034. BOTAŞ. This agreement allows TotalEnergies to strengthen a long-term presence in the Turkish LNG market. Natural gas plays a crucial role as a transition energy, addressing the intermittency of renewable energy sources and reducing emissions by replacing coal in electricity generation. CNOOC. Thanks to this agreement, TotalEnergies strengthens its long-term positions in the growing Chinese market. In China, natural gas serves as a crucial transition energy, mitigating the intermittency of renewable energy sources and reducing emissions when used as a substitute for coal in electricity generation. “We are pleased to initiate and continue long-term collaborations with BOTAŞ and CNOOC, key partners for the company in Türkiye and China, respectively. These agreements enable us to secure long-term sales and reduce our exposure to spot market gas price fluctuations,” said Gregory Joffroy, Senior Vice President, LNG at TotalEnergies.

Egypt Forecast to Draw More Winter LNG Cargoes, Adding to Global Spot Competition == Egypt’s growing appetite for LNG to balance its domestic natural gas market is making a wild card for international buyers, putting upward pressure on Europe as it navigates winter supply. Chart of Egyptian LNG imports3 European natural gas prices jumped last week after state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC) bought 20 liquefied natural gas cargoes for delivery from October to December at a reported premium over Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) prices. “The 20 cargoes of LNG recently bought reflects the depth of Egypt’s energy woes since it is the first time the country has issued a tender to buy to cover winter demand since 2018,” Middle East Institute’s Li-Chen Sim, a non-resident scholar, said.

Iraq to start exporting gas by 2030 - Iraqi News– The Deputy Oil Minister for Extraction Affairs, Basim Khudair, revealed on Wednesday that Iraq will have enough gas to meet its needs and will start exporting gas by 2030. Khudair told the state news agency (INA) that the government has achieved, through the Ministry of Oil, a major change in the gas sector as many projects aiming to utilize flared gas are underway. The Iraqi official said in May that the state-owned Midland Oil Company signed a contract with a consortium of Jereh Group, a Chinese oil field services company and manufacturer of oilfield equipment, and Petro Iraq to develop the Mansouriya gas field. The contract is part of the Oil Ministry’s efforts to utilize Iraq’s gas resources following a contract signed to develop the Akkas gas field, a natural gas field in western Iraq. Mohammed Yassin Al-Obaidi, the director general of the Midland Oil Company, confirmed that the production of the Mansouriya gas field in the northeastern governorate of Diyala will reach 100 million cubic feet within 18 months. Al-Obaidi explained that the highest production will be 300 million cubic feet within four to five years. Earlier in September, during a meeting with US officials and representatives of oil firms in Houston, the United States, the Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, stated that gas flaring in Iraq will completely stop by the end of 2028. Abdul-Ghani explained that Iraq will be one of the countries that contribute greatly to reducing gas emissions and utilizing this energy to generate electricity. The percentage of associated gas utilized in Iraq was 51 percent in 2022 and rose to more than 65 percent in 2024, according to Abdul-Ghani. The increased percentage of associated gas utilization in Iraq followed several projects carried out by local and international companies. The World Bank released its Global Gas Flaring Tracker report in mid-June, naming Iraq, Russia, Iran, the United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, and Mexico as the countries with the most gas flares in 2023. The report explained that these nine countries account for 75 percent of gas flaring globally and only 46 percent of global oil output. The analysis also revealed that Iraq’s flaring intensity has grown, with approximately 17 billion cubic meters of gas burned. When crude oil is produced from oil wells, raw natural gas linked to the oil also rises to the surface. Large volumes of such related gas are frequently flared as waste or useless gas, particularly in parts of the world without pipelines or other gas transportation infrastructure. The natural gas not combusted by a flare is released into the atmosphere as methane. Methane’s global warming potential is projected to be around 32 times greater than that of CO2 over a century. Iraq is largely burning surplus gas from oil wells. The practice significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, resulting in serious environmental harm and climate change. It also endangers the lives of those who live near flaring locations.

Saudi Aramco wants to be a major LNG gas player, gas chief says The world's largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, wants to become a major LNG player, the head of its natural gas business said on Tuesday. Saudi Aramco has taken the first steps to reach a goal of becoming a major LNG player, said Abdulkarim Al-Ghamdi, an Aramco executive vice president, at the GasTech energy conference in Houston. The Saudi oil giant last year acquired from EIG Global Energy Partners LLC a minority stake in MidOcean Energy for $500 million, its first foray into LNG abroad. This month, it increased its stake to 49%. In June, Aramco and NextDecade struck a non-binding agreement for a 20-year liquefied natural gas offtake from NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG project at the Port of Brownsville, Texas.

Russia deepens African foray with new oil pipeline in Congo - Russia has approved plans to construct a massive oil pipeline in rich oil Republic of Congo sendinf a strong signal that the country means business in Africa. The project will be undertaken by ZNGS Prometey, a contruction behemoth in Russia with enormous construction fleet. The company will own 90% of the venture, while the National Petroleum Company of Congo will own the reminder. The project will adopt a build-own-operate-transfer model with Congo expected to offer tax relieve opportunities in the deal set to be signed in the coming months. The oil pipeline will connect the country’s port city of Pointe-Noire to the settlement of Makoulou Pichot, about 40 kilometers (29 miles) northeast of the capital Brazzaville. The pipeline will also pass through the town of Loutete, about 155 kilometers (96 miles) west of Brazzaville.

Blaze-hit major Greek refinery taking 30 tankers a month forced to slash production - A big Greek refinery called at by more than 30 tankers per month has driven down production after a fire caused serious damage to some of its facilities on the night to Wednesday. Motor Oil, which operates a tanker terminal alongside its distillation units about 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Athens, said in a stock exchange filing that it managed to put out the blaze but operates “at reduced capacity for the time being”. The company, which is part of Greece’s sprawling Vardinoyiannis business empire, did not elaborate on how big the disruption to its operations is and how long it will continue. Market sources are telling TradeWinds that one of the company’s two crude distillation units was damaged as a result of the fire and that it will be offline for repairs for several weeks, perhaps even a few months. As a result, the company is expected to reduce its seaborne crude oil imports in the short to medium term. On the other hand, it will probably increase purchases of alternative feedstocks to use in its upgrading units. One market source said that Motor Oil was relatively fortunate that the damage took place just shortly before the beginning of its scheduled periodical maintenance. According to Signal Ocean platform data, Motor Oil’s Agioi Theodoroi terminal is serving an average of 31 vessels per month. About 180 port calls have been registered there over the past six months. MR tankers made of 60% of those calls, with MR2s and suezmaxes accounting for 13% each. Vessels wait an average of 2.2 days there. Βurning Greek tanker towed to safety in the Red Sea without oil spill Read more The cause of the fire, which broke out Tuesday afternoon at the southern part of the refinery and has been extinguished, remains unclear. Three subcontractor workers suffered minor injuries from the fire and are currently in good health, the company said.

Chinese Refineries Go Bankrupt Amid Plummeting Margins | OilPrice.com - Slumping refining margins amid tepid fuel demand in China have already claimed victims among the refineries in the Shandong province, where two plants operated by chemicals giant Sinochem were declared bankrupt in recent days.Zhenghe Group Co and Shandong Huaxing Petrochemical Group Co were declared bankrupt after creditors failed to agree on restructuring plans for the refineries, local court statements showed on Tuesday, as carried by Bloomberg.A third refinery operated by Sinochem in the Shandong province, home to China’s independent refiners, is expected to begin meetings with creditors later this month. This is Shandong Changyi Petrochemical Co, per a separate local court statement cited by Bloomberg.Most of the processing units at all three plants have been idled for months, due to the plummeting refining margins that have hit the refineries in Shandong especially hard. The three refineries have a combined nameplate capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude.China has seen weaker-than-expected road fuel demand this year, which has prompted a decline in refining margins, leaving many plants in debt.Underwhelming demand this year has lowered oil refining output as independent Chinese refiners are particularly sensitive to low margins and prefer to reduce refinery throughput when margins and demand are weak.Refining margins across Asia fell in the first week of September to their lowest level for this time of year since 2020, which could lead to more curbs on run rates at Asian refiners, including in China.In August, Chinese refiners were estimated to have processed around 12.6 million bpd of crude oil, down by nearly 10% compared to July and 17.5% lower compared to August last year, ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a Monday note.The numbers suggest that apparent oil demand fell below 12.5 million bpd, down by more than 15% year-over-year and to its weakest level since August 2022.“The numbers also indicate that crude oil inventories in China built at a pace of around 3.2m b/d in August, the largest monthly build in Chinese crude oil inventories going as far back as 2015,” ING’s analysts noted.

India will still buy cheap Russian oil despite sanctions - India is ready to continue purchasing relatively cheap oil from Russian companies authorised to do so, with the Asian nation ready to simply buy from the cheapest seller. During an interview with a US media organisation at Houston’s GasTech conference, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed that India is willing to procure oil and gas at the most competitive prices from any source. Sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia due to its conflict with Ukraine have limited not only the price Russia can demand for its crude oil but also the markets it can sell to. Russia has since pivoted its exports to India and China, and away from Europe. In late August, it was reported that Russia’s oil exports to India surpassed those going to China, although Chinese refiners backing away from Russian oil may have spurred the move. Russian crude oil accounted for 44% of India’s overall imports in July, according to market data compiled by several US news outlets. This equates to just over two million barrels a day (mbbl/d), more than 4% higher than the previous month and 12% above the year-ago figure. China’s oil imports from Russia in July were 1.76mbbl/d.

Why No Major Oil Company Is Rushing To Drill Pakistan's Huge Oil Reserves -A long exploration effort has led to the reportedly massive discovery of oil and gas reserves in Pakistan’s territorial waters, a cache so large that it is said it could change the economic trajectory of the beleaguered country. But no one is rushing to drill in Pakistan, and experts are concerned about jumping the gun. According to DawnNewsTV, the three-year survey was undertaken to verify the presence of the oil and gas reserves. “If this is a gas reserve, it can replace LNG imports and if these are oil reserves, we can substitute imported oil,’’ former Ogra (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) member Muhammad Arif told DawnTv. However, Arif has cautioned that it would take years before the country could be able to exploit its newfound fossil fuel resources, adding that exploration alone required a hefty investment of around $5 billion and it might take four to five years to extract reserves from an offshore location. Pakistan covers 29% of gas, 85% of oil, 50% of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 20% of coal requirements through imports, according to the Economic Times. Pakistan's total energy import bill in 2023 clocked in at $17.5 billion, a figure projected to rise to $31 billion in seven years, as per an Express Tribune report. The new discovery is no doubt a big boon for the struggling economy. Since 2021, Pakistan has been hit with mounting debt and skyrocketing inflation, with inflation hitting nearly 30%. Meanwhile, the economy only expanded 2.4% in 2023, missing the 3.5% target. This has forced the country to rely heavily on foreign aid, which is often elusive. In January this year, Pakistan sought $30 billion for gas production to cut its fuel import bill. According to Pakistan’s Energy Minister Mohammad Ali, Pakistan has 235 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves, and an investment of $25 billion to $30 billion would be enough to extract 10% of those reserves over the next decade to reverse the current declining gas production and replace the import of energy. The persistently high inflation could push Pakistan over the edge, "There is no precedent in Pakistan’s history of such a long and intense spell of inflation gripping the country," columnist Khurram Husain has written in Dawn. Although Pakistan's hydrocarbon resources are yet to be quantified, some estimates suggest that this discovery constitutes the fourth-largest oil and gas reserves in the world. This could be a potential game-changer in the region’s energy flows. Back in July, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported that four largely unexplored sedimentary basins in India could hold up to 22 billion barrels of oil. In effect, lesser-known Category-II and III basins namely Mahanadi, Andaman Sea, Bengal, and Kerala-Konkan contain more oil than the Permian Basin which has already produced 14 billion of its 34 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves. Currently, only 10% of India’s 3.36 million sq km wide sedimentary basin is under exploration. However, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says that that figure will jump to 16% in 2024 following the award of blocks under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) rounds. According to Puri, India’s Exploration and Production (E&P) activities in the oil and gas sector offer investment opportunities worth $100 billion by 2030.So why is no one rushing to Pakistan to drill? Shell announced it was selling its Pakistan business stake to Saudi Aramco in June last year, and an auction for 18 oil and gas blocks at the same time last year got a muted response from international bidders, at best. No international companies even bid on 15 of the blocks, according to The Nation. In July, the country’s Petroleum Minister, Musadik Malik, told a parliamentary committee that no international companies were interested in offshore oil and gas exploration in Pakistan,and those in the country largely had the exit door in view. It comes down to security, and risk versus reward with Malik explaining to the committee that the cost of security is a major deal-breaker because “in areas where companies search for oil and gas, they have to spend a significant amount to maintain security for their employees and assets”. And security is provided by Pakistan, which has not been up to the task. In March this year, five Chinese engineers were killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan’s northest, when a vehicle rigged with explosives rammed into a bus transporting staff from Islamabad to the giant Dasu dam project in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The project is part of the $62-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This incident sparked a series of temporary shut-downs across other projects, as well. Earlier that same month, insurgents attacked Chinese assets in Pakistan’s southwest, storming the Gwadar Port Authority complex, which is run by China. The attacks were perpetrated by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), separatists fighting for an independent Balochistan, as reported by the Lowy Institute. Essentially, what this means is that it will be China or bust for Pakistan, as state-owned or state-controlled Chinese explorers have a vastly different appetite for risk. And these massive reserves are not likely to get out of the ground without Aramco showing more desire or the Chinese stepping in, for which discussions are already underway, according to Malik. In the meantime, Iran is said to be smuggling a billion dollars in fuel into Pakistan every year, as the country’s oil and gas crisis emboldens the black market trade.

Nigeria’s oil output rises as OPEC struggles to meet targets - TV360 Nigeria -- The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) experienced its lowest oil output since January 2024, according to a Reuters survey released on Monday. The survey revealed that OPEC’s production fell to 26.36 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, a decrease of 340,000 bpd from July. The decline in output was largely attributed to unrest in Libya, which disrupted oil supplies and contributed to the overall drop. Libyan production, significantly impacted by political tensions over the central bank, fell by 290,000 bpd, bringing output to an average of 900,000 bpd for the month. This disruption, alongside voluntary supply cuts by OPEC and the broader OPEC+ alliance, has played a role in boosting global oil prices. Other contributing factors include reduced exports from Iraq, which has been working to align its output with OPEC targets, and the ongoing increase in exports from Iran. Nigeria, however, saw a slight increase in its oil output, which helped elevate its exports. The survey also noted that OPEC’s production exceeded the implied target for nine member countries covered by supply cut agreements by about 220,000 bpd, with Iraq being the primary contributor to this excess. The findings suggest that the disruption in Libyan supply and ongoing cuts might influence OPEC+ decisions, potentially supporting a planned output increase starting in October.

Oil spill in Abu Dhabi channel under control: Police - Khaleej Times -- An oil spill in the northern channel of the Mussaffah area in Abu Dhabi is under control, the police have said. The force's Crisis and Disaster Management section praised a joint operation undertaken by the police, Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Ports and the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities to control the spill. "The UAE takes great pride in protecting the environment and preserving its natural resources. Such practices are a prerequisite for sustainable, balanced and comprehensive growth," the police said. "Federal law No 24 of 1999 issued by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is one of the most prominent laws in the field of environmental protection." The law focuses on protecting the environment, fighting pollution, and mitigating short- or long-term environmental damage resulting from economic, agricultural, industrial or urban plans.

Saudi Arabia cuts oil exports to 5741 million b/d - Saudi Arabian crude oil exports reached their lowest level in almost a year in July, according to data provided by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative. The decline comes as the country, as the world’s largest crude exporter, adjusts its strategy in the face of fluctuating market dynamics. Exports fell to 5.741 million barrels per day, down 5.1% on the 6.047 million barrels per day recorded in June. This situation raises questions about the impact of OPEC+ decisions and global demand trends.. Despite this drop in exports, Saudi production rose slightly to 8.941 million barrels per day, compared with 8.830 million barrels per day the previous month. This paradox between rising production and falling exports can be attributed to a number of factors, not least an increase in domestic consumption. Indeed, the volume of crude processed by Saudi refineries decreased to 2.397 million barrels per day, while direct crude combustion increased by 211,000 barrels per day to 769,000 barrels per day. These figures indicate a reorientation of resources towards the domestic market, which could be a response to growing energy needs. Price adjustments on the oil market are also indicative of concerns about demand. Saudi Arabia cut the price of its flagship crude, Arab Light, destined for Asia, reaching its lowest level in almost three years. The decision was prompted by growing concerns about demand in the region, exacerbated by downwardly revised forecasts from OPEC and the International Energy Agency for oil demand growth in 2024. The outlook for Chinese demand, in particular, is weighing on the market, with Chinese refinery output down 6.2% year-on-year in August. OPEC+’s recent decisions to delay a production increase scheduled for October and November underline producers’ caution in the face of an uncertain market. OPEC members, including Saudi Arabia, have expressed their willingness to suspend or reverse production increases if necessary. This strategy is aimed at stabilizing oil prices and responding to fluctuations in global demand. Market players are keeping a close eye on these developments, as they could influence supply and demand trends in the short to medium term.

Saudi Arabia’s Crude Oil Exports Slumped to an 11-Month Low in July Saudi Arabia exported 5.74 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in July, down by 306,000 bpd from June, and the lowest export level since August 2023, the latest data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil exporter, typically lowers its crude oil exports in the summer as it uses more crude domestically for direct burn at power plants. Electricity demand in the desert in the summer months is soaring amid scorching temperatures. Saudi Arabia saw its direct use of crude rise by 211,000 bpd in July, to 770,000 bpd, a 7-month high, according to the JODI data which compiles self-reported figures from individual countries.Crude oil production in Saudi Arabiaincreased in July, by 111,000 bpd to 8.94 million bpd. Despite the rise in production, exports fell, suggesting that the increase was used up by direct crude use for power generation.Even with the July rise in crude oil production, Saudi Arabia fulfilled its pledge to keep output “at around 9 million bpd” as it said when it announced its voluntary 1-million-bpd cut on top of its share of reduction as part of the OPEC+ deal.Going forward, Saudi Arabia is looking to attract more customers in Asia, where demand has underwhelmed so far this year.Earlier in September, the Kingdomslashed its official selling prices (OSPs) for October to Asia, amid worsening refining margins in China and the wider Asian region and weaker Dubai benchmark prices. The price of Saudi Arabia’s flagship grade, Arab Light, to Asia for October was cut by $0.70 per barrel compared to the September pricing. As a result, demand from the largest refiners in China has increased, while nominations from major private refiners with allocated import quotas have held stable for the next month.

Oil Net Short For First Time in History | OilPrice.com - Brent crude oil is currently priced at $72.14 per barrel, showing a slight increase of $0.17 (+0.24%) for the day. However, behind this small rise is a much larger story unfolding in the oil markets.According to energy investor and market commentator Eric Nuttall, the financial demand for oil, known as "net length," has dropped to its lowest point in history. Essentially, "net length" refers to the difference between the number of investors betting oil prices will rise (long positions) versus those betting they will fall (short positions). When net length is low, it means there is a reduced belief that prices will increase.What's even more striking is that, for the first time ever, the paper market for Brent crude is "net short." This means there are now more investors betting that oil prices will fall than those expecting them to rise. This is significant because it's rare to see such pessimism in the market, especially when physical global oil inventories are falling at a rate of about a million barrels per day.Why does this matter? Typically, when oil supply is low, prices tend to rise due to scarcity. However, the current setup is unusual—while physical oil barrels are declining, the financial market appears to be betting on lower prices. For contrarians who thrive on going against the crowd, this could signal an opportunity. They may believe the market is underestimating the potential for future price increases, given the tight supply situation. This tension between the financial and physical sides of the oil market suggests that volatility and price swings may be on the horizon. Keep an eye on these dynamics as they unfold.

The Market Awaits a Likely Cut to U.S. Interest Rates by the Federal Reserve -- The oil market on Monday traded higher as it retraced some of its losses seen on Friday, as the market awaits a likely cut to U.S. interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The market traded mostly sideways in overnight trading and posted a low of $68.65 before it retraced its previous losses. The market breached its previous high as it rallied to a high of $70.70 by mid-morning. The oil market remained supported by some supply worries as some capacity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico still remains offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine. The market later gave up some of its gains and traded mostly sideways ahead of the close. The October WTI contract settled up $1.44 at $70.09 and the November Brent contract settled up $1.14 at $72.75. The product markets ended the session in positive territory, with the heating oil market settling up 1.25 cents at $2.0968 and the RB market settling up 3.8 cents at $1.9682. The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said more than 12% of crude production and 16% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were offline on Monday in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine. There were 213,204 barrels per day of oil and 298 million cubic feet of natural gas still offline after Francine hit the coast last week. Exxon Mobil said it is working to safely restart operations at its Hoover offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Last week, Exxon shut operations at its Hoover offshore platform due to tropical storm Francine. IIR Energy said U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 805,000 bpd of capacity in the week ending September 20th, cutting available refining capacity by 71,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to increase to 878,000 bpd in the week ending September 27th. Exxon Mobil Corp reported operations requiring flaring at its 609,024 bpd Beaumont, Texas refinery. Marathon Petroleum Corp reported flaring at its 363,000 bpd Wilmington, California refinery. Separately, Marathon’s Galveston Bay, Texas refinery reported emissions. UBS cut its fourth quarter Brent crude price forecast to $75/barrel from a previous forecast of $83/barrel. It cut its 2024 Brent price forecast by $4/barrel to $80/barrel and its 2025/26 price by $5/barrel to $75/barrel. S&P Global Commodity Insights is reporting that Europe is expected to receive at least four more diesel-laden VLCCs during September and October originating in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Shipping data is estimating that over 1 million mt of diesel will be delivered from these four cargoes.

Oil prices climb on hurricane impact ahead of US rate decision | Reuters (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday as the ongoing impact of Hurricane Francine on output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico offset persistent Chinese demand concerns ahead of this week's U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut decision. Brent crude futures for November settled at $72.75 a barrel, up $1.14, or 1.59%. U.S. crude futures for October settled at $70.09, up $1.44, or 2.1%. "We've still got the remnants of the storm," "The impact is more on the production side than on refining. Therefore, it leans a little bit bullish." More than 12% of crude production and 16% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remained offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Monday. Overall, however, the market remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday. Traders are increasingly betting on a Fed rate cut of 50 basis points (bps) rather than 25 bps, as shown by the CME FedWatch, opens new tab tool that tracks Fed fund futures. Lower interest rates typically reduce the cost of borrowing, which can boost economic activity and lift demand for oil. "A quarter-percent Fed rate cut could heighten traders' concerns about the pace of oil demand growth," The market may see conflicting trends if the Fed delivers a more aggressive rate cut, Seigle said. "Bulls will feel more confident about resilient oil demand with a soft landing, while bears pushing spreads into contango will welcome reduced physical carrying costs," Seigle said. Contango is when front-month contracts are cheaper than future months. Weaker Chinese economic data over the weekend dampened market sentiment, with the low-for-longer growth outlook in the world's second-largest economy reinforcing doubts over oil demand, Industrial output growth in China, the world's top oil importer, slowed to a five-month low in August while retail sales and new home prices weakened further. China's oil refinery output also fell for a fifth month as weak fuel demand and export margins curbed production. Brent and WTI each gained about 1% last week but remain comfortably below their August averages of $78.88 and $75.43 a barrel, respectively, after a price slide around the start of this month driven in part by demand concerns.

The Latest U.S. Retail Sales Data Pointed to a Resilient Economy The oil market on Tuesday traded higher as the market’s focus turned to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting that ends on Wednesday after the latest U.S. retail sales data pointed to a resilient economy. The crude market was also supported by the expectations of lower U.S. crude stocks, with the weekly inventory reports expected to show a small draw of about 200,000 barrels in the week ending September 13th and concerns over U.S. production that was still resuming in the aftermath Hurricane Francine. The market traded sideways in overnight trading and posted a low of $69.61. However, the market bounced off its low and extended its gains to over $1.80 as it posted a high of $71.92 in afternoon trading. It retraced more than 50% of its move from a high of $77.60 to a low of $65.27. The October WTI contract later erased some of its gains ahead of the close and settled up $1.10 at $71.19 and the November Brent contract settled up 95 cents at $73.70. The product markets also ended the session higher, with the heating oil market settling up 3.99 cents at $2.1367 and the RB market settling up 3.37 cents at $2.0019. Marathon Petroleum reported it experienced an emergency flaring event at its 365,000 b/d Carson, California refinery on Monday morning. PBF Energy Inc reported unplanned flaring due to a malfunction at its 160,000 bpd Torrance, California refinery. Platts is reporting that according to secondary sources, Iraq produced 4.228 million b/d in August down 50,000 b/d from July levels, but well above its OPEC+ commitments. Platts estimated Kurdish production has been at 250,000 b/d. Iraq’s state oil marketer reportedly warned Kurdish officials that Kurdish output will be restricted to 46,000 b/d, with any additional volumes going forward would result in the withholding of budget payments to the Kurdish Regional Government. Alberta’s premier warned late last week that the planned Canadian government legislation to impose a cap on greenhouse gas emissions will potentially force Alberta’s heavy oil producers to reduce output by 1.2 million b/d by 2030. Production at U.S. factories increased in August amid a rebound in motor vehicle output, but data for the previous month was revised lower, suggesting that manufacturing continued to tread water. The Federal Reserve said factory output increased 0.9% in August after a downwardly revised 0.7% decline in July. Production at factories increased 0.2% on a year-on-year basis in August. Overall industrial production increased 0.8% in August after decreasing 0.9% in July. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector increased to 78.0% from 77.4% in July. The operating rate for the manufacturing sector increased to 77.2% in August from 76.6% in July. U.S. retail sales unexpectedly increased in August, suggesting that the economy remained on a solid footing through much of the third quarter. The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said retail sales increased 0.1% in August after an upwardly revised 1.1% increase in July.

Oil prices end higher after exploding-pagers attack on Hezbollah members in Lebanon Rising Middle East tensions help restore war risk premium: analyst - Oil futures finished higher Tuesday, appearing to get a lift after pagers carried by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon exploded around the same time in an apparent attack - raising fears of a broader Middle East conflict that could threaten crude flows from the region. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery rose $1.10, or 1.6%, to close at $71.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.November Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled with a gain of 95 cents, or 1.3%, at $73.70 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Back on Nymex, October gasoline rose 1.7% to finish at $2.0019 a gallon, while October heating oil advanced 1.9% to $2.1367 a gallon. October natural gas fell 2.1% to $2.324 per million British thermal units. The blasts left more than 2,700 injured and eight dead, according to the Wall Street Journal. Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack, the report said, and Hezbollah threatened to retaliate, while the Israeli military declined to comment. Oil futures have retreated sharply from summer highs as fears of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran ebbed after earlier flare-ups. Crude appeared to take a cue from headlines surrounding the incident, adding to gains in morning trade, The incident may serve to "put war risk premium back into the market that was taken out," Crude rose Monday, with support tied to lingering effects on U.S. production after Hurricane Francine last week forced the shut-in of offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Concerns remain on the demand front, however, after lackluster economic data and oil consumption figures from China over the weekend. Investors are also awaiting a Wednesday decision by the Federal Reserve, with fed-funds-futures traders pricing in a roughly 65% probability that policymakers will opt to cut the central bank's key rate by 50 basis points, or half a percentage point, rather than 25 basis points, or a quarter percentage point. Oil futures have bounced somewhat after both front-month Brent and WTI saw their lowest close since December 2021, with WTI rising more than 8% from last week's intraday low to Monday's session high. But the rebound "must be put into perspective as crude lost 23% between early July and last week's low. Crude was exceptionally oversold ahead of this rally, and even with the latest pickup, it remains oversold," "But even with the bullish trigger of supply disruptions due to Hurricane Francine, and the prospect of lower interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve, crude hasn't bounced sharply enough to set off a serious bout of short-covering which should have driven prices much higher,"

WTI Holds Gains As 'Tank Bottoms' Loom After Big Draw At Cushing Hub -- Oil prices continued their recent rally off three-year lows this morning (rebounding from weakness overnight following the unexpected crude build reported by API) ahead of today's FOMC decision and pushed higher by re-awoken geopolitical risk premium after Israel's pager-op on Hezbollah prompted the start of retaliations.The weak preliminary inventory data from API and recent trends in product spreads are adding to concerns about demand in the US, said Robert Yawger, director of the energy futures division at Mizuho Securities USA. “If you don’t need the product, you don’t need the crude oil to make the product,”“That is the most important math in energy — everything else is noise.”The big question is will the official US crude stockpile data confirm API's.

Crude Oil Price Increases As Refineries Reduce Run Rates - Oil prices soared in the global commodities market as refineries throughout the world began to cut run rates. Brent crude is trading 0.3% higher at $72.93 a barrel, while WTI, the US benchmark, is up 0.5% to $70.44. Oil prices have risen and fallen due to imbalances in the global commodities market. There is also sentiment, or rather expectation, that a US rate cut will lower energy costs in the face of an uninspiring Chinese crude demand picture. China data implies that demand will stay weak in the short term until GDP catches up. Analysts projected that demand would rise after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates at its meeting from September 17 to 18. Brent settled 1.59% higher yesterday, possibly as shorts in the market cover their positions ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting, ING said in a Tuesday note. Analysts maintained that the global commodities market is still torn between a 25 basis point or 50 basis points cut from the US Fed. There are also lingering concerns over Libyan oil supply, which continues to be disrupted due to political fighting over the central bank’s control, according to ING. In addition, in the US, a little more than 12% of US Gulf of Mexico oil production remains shut-in following Hurricane Francine. Refinery margins around the globe remain under pressure. Unsurprisingly, this weakness is leading refiners to reduce their run rates. In Spain, it is reported that Repsol will be cutting run rates by around 5%. While in Italy, ENI will reportedly reduce run rates by as much as 10% at some of its refineries. ING commodities strategists said a reduction in run rates is obviously not great for crude oil demand. European natural gas prices came under further pressure yesterday. TTF settled 4.4% lower on the day and finished at its lowest level since late July. Warmer weather weighed on prices. EU storage continues to tick higher despite reduced flows from Norway, where heavy scheduled maintenance is ongoing. Undeniably, storage builds have slowed significantly due to these reduced flows, but EU storage still stands at more than 93% full.

The Latest Oil Price Crash Appears to Have Come to an End - Oil prices have fallen dramatically in recent weeks, but supply disruptions and optimism around a potential U.S. interest rate cut appear to have halted that downward momentum.

• - The marked shift in oil sentiment recently has been to a great deal prompted by a widespread concern of Chinese demand peaking this or next year as LNG displaces diesel in long-haul trucking, EV sales overtaking conventional cars since July and rail expansion eating into jet fuel recovery.
• - Chinese refinery runs have been declining for five straight months, with the National Bureau of Statistics reporting throughput rates at 13.91 million b/d in August amidst a widespread decline in Shandong teapot runs, as low as 55% last month.
• - Meanwhile, Asian refiners’ margins slumped to the lowest seasonal levels since 2020 as high inventories of diesel and gasoline become an increasingly worrying factor as peak summer demand tapers off.
• - China’s clampdown on tax evasion is aggravating the pressure on refiners after a Shandong court ruled two refiners run by state-owned firm Sinochem, the Huaxing and Zhenghe plants totalling 220,000 b/d in capacity, fully bankrupt.
• - US upstream firm APA said it would sell non-core assets in the Permian basin to an undisclosed buyer for some $950 million, reducing its debt after the $6.7 billion acquisition of Callon Petroleum.
• - Japan’s largest trading company Mitsubishisigned a framework agreement with ExxonMobil to join the Baytown blue ammonia and hydrogen project, right after ADNOC signed on, too.
• - China’s national oil company PetroChina has signed two petroleum sharing contracts with Suriname’s state oil firm Staatsolie for two shallow-water blocks, saying they’ve missed the Guyana bonanza and do not want to miss Suriname.

After several tumultuous weeks, the downhill slide seems to have ended for crude oil futures, with ICE Brent trading relatively rangebound at $72.50 per barrel. Supply disruptions in Libya and the US Gulf of Mexico prevented concerns over China's economy from triggering an even bigger slide and the US Federal Reserve’s much-anticipated interest rate cut could lift the market mood slightly higher. Short positions held by hedge funds and other money managers in the ICE Brent futures contract surpassed long ones for the first time on record, with a net short of 12,680 contracts reflecting widespread concerns over Chinese demand and the US economy.. The new top financial officer of Brazil’s state oil firm Petrobras Fernando Melgarejo said the company’s new 2025-2029 strategic plan would have a more upstream-focused vision to prevent a decline in oil and gas reserves around 2030. Oil and gas producers are resuming production in the US Gulf of Mexico with only 12% of output (and 24 platforms) shut in as of Monday, some 213,000 b/d, as peak closures reached 732,000 b/d last week or 42% of total offshore output.

WTI Holds Gains As 'Tank Bottoms' Loom After Big Draw At Cushing Hub -- Oil prices continued their recent rally off three-year lows this morning (rebounding from weakness overnight following the unexpected crude build reported by API) ahead of today's FOMC decision and pushed higher by re-awoken geopolitical risk premium after Israel's pager-op on Hezbollah prompted the start of retaliations.The weak preliminary inventory data from API and recent trends in product spreads are adding to concerns about demand in the US, said Robert Yawger, director of the energy futures division at Mizuho Securities USA. “If you don’t need the product, you don’t need the crude oil to make the product,”“That is the most important math in energy — everything else is noise.”The big question is will the official US crude stockpile data confirm API's:

• Crude +1.96MM (Exp. -0.5MM)
• Cushing -1.4MM
• Gasoline +2.34MM
• Distillates +2.3MM

DOE

• Crude -1.63MM (Exp. -0.5MM)
• Cushing -1.979MM - biggest draw since Jan
• Gasoline +69k
• Distillates +125k

The official data contradicted API with a 1.63mm barrel draw and Cushing saw stockpiles tumble 1.979mm barrels - the biggest draw since January... The big draw at Cushing pushed stockpiles near 'tank bottoms'...Total crude stocks (ex-SPR) dropped to their lowest in a year as the battle between physical-demand and paper-punting continues...

Oil prices fall as Fed rate cut stirs economic worries, storage report mixed (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped lower on Wednesday as a rate cut announcement from the Federal Reserve raised worries about the health of the U.S. economy, while investors largely shrugged off a crude oil inventory decline that they attributed to the impact of short-lived weather. Brent crude futures for November settled at $73.65 a barrel, losing 5 cents, while WTI crude futures for October settled at $70.91 a barrel, falling 28 cents. The U.S. central bank cut interest rates by half a percentage point, a larger decrease in borrowing costs than many expected, stoking concern the central bank may see a slowing job market. Interest rate cuts typically boost economic activity and energy demand, yet a weaker labor market can slow the economy. Meanwhile, crude inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels to 417.5 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 13, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 500,000-barrel draw. The crude draw, which resulted in inventories dropping to the lowest in a year, helped limit price declines. While the EIA's report was more supportive of oil prices than Tuesday's American Petroleum Institute figures, investors likely linked the drawdown to Hurricane Francine, a short-lived event, "The problem with a 'Hurricane” report is that the numbers have a tendency to boomerang back in the opposite direction in the next week's report, after oil infrastructure comes back online," Gasoline and distillate inventories, meanwhile, rose slightly last week. Brent had staged a recovery since Sept. 10 when it fell below $70 to its lowest since December 2021. It faces resistance at around $75 due to weak global refinery margins that signal sluggish demand, he added. Earlier in the session, oil found support from risks of increased violence in the Middle East disrupting supply after Hezbollah accused Israel of attacking the militant group with explosive-laden pagers in Lebanon. Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel, whose military declined to comment on the blasts. "The end of peak summer demand and a negative shift in traders' sentiment have contributed to the price drop, though potential conflicts in the Middle East still pose a risk of supply disruptions,"

Crude oil futures trade flat despite US interest rate hike - The Hindu Business Line - At 9.57 am on Thursday, November Brent oil futures were at $73.67, up by 0.03 per cent, and November crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $69.85, down by 0.04 per cent. September crude oil futures were trading at ₹5924 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹5913, up by 0.19 per cent, and October futures were trading at ₹5866 against the previous close of ₹5840, up by 0.45 per cent. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.75-5 per cent per cent. This was the first reduction in interest rates since March 2020. While the market was expecting an interest rate cut, there was speculation whether it would be a 25 basis points cut or 50 basis points cut. In their Commodities Feed, ING Think’s Warren Patterson, Head of Commodities Strategy, and Ewa Manthey, Commodities Strategist, said while oil prices saw a brief spike following the Fed’s 50 basis points rate cut, the market settled marginally lower on Wednesday. Expectations for a 50 basis points cut had grown in recent weeks, so the move was largely priced in, they said. “For oil, that means attention will likely turn back to demand worries. China has obviously been the key concern when it comes to demand, but there have also been reports of refiners in Europe cutting run rates due to poor margins,” they said. Meanwhile, the data released by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) for the week ending September 13 showed a decline in crude oil inventories in the US. According to the US EIA, commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 1.6 million barrels from the previous week. At 417.5 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 4 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.1 million barrels from last week and were slightly below the five-year average for this time of year. Total products supplied over the last four-week period averaged 20.3 million barrels a day, down by 2.7 per cent from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.9 million barrels a day, up by 1.1 per cent from the same period last year. ING Think’s Commodities Feed also said that the US administration is looking to buy 6 million barrels of crude oil for the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) for delivery February-May 2025. Given the recent weakness in oil prices, it makes sense for the Department of Energy (DoE) to increase purchases to refill the SPR. The DoE’s target price is below $79.99 a barrel, while WTI early 2025 forwards are trading sub-$69 a barrel currently, the Feed said. September aluminium futures were trading at ₹232 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹230.75, up by 0.54 per cent. On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), September guargum contracts were trading at ₹10798 in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹10599, up by 1.88 per cent. September cottonseed oilcake futures were trading at ₹3860 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹3792, up by 1.79 per cent.

Oil Market Rises on Fed's Interest Rate Cut - The oil market traded higher on Thursday as the market focused on the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to cut interest rates by half a percentage point. The market was also well supported by the increased tensions in the Middle East. In overnight trading, the market opened lower as demand concerns seemed to initially outweigh supply risk. The crude market opened at a low of $70.13. However, the market bounced off its low and retraced its earlier losses. The market breached its previous high of $71.92 and extended its gains to over $1.50 as it rallied to a high of $72.49 in afternoon trading. The market traded higher following the news that the Israeli military launched attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday and Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attacks on its members amounted to a declaration of war. The October WTI later retraced some of its gains and settled up $1.04 at $71.95. The November Brent contract settled up $1.23 at $74.88. The product markets ended the session in positive territory, with the heating oil market settling up 2.45 cents at $2.1720 and the RB market settling up 4.93 cents at $2.06. Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, as Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said two days of attacks on its members amounted to a declaration of war. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami told Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah that Israel will face “a crushing response from the axis of resistance following attacks on Lebanese Hezbollah’s communication devices. The axis of resistance refers to Iran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces. Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, although Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency.The EPA reported that the U.S. generated 639 million biodiesel blending credits in August, down from 828 million blending credits in July. It also reported that the U.S. generated 1.32 billion ethanol blending credits in August, up from 1.33 billion in July.Exxon Mobil reported a process unit upset at its 609,024 bpd Beaumont, Texas refinery.The Joint Organizations Data Initiative reported that Saudi Arabia’s crude output in July increased by 111,000 bpd to 8.941 million bpd. Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in July fell to 5.741 million bpd, the lowest level since August 2023 from 6.047 million bpd in June.The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week. The U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 in the week ending September 14^th. The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.829 million during the week ending September 7^th. Traders added to bets the U.S. Federal Reserve’s next rate cut will be smaller than the one it delivered on Wednesday, after economic data showed an unexpected decline in unemployment insurance claims.

U.S. crude oil rises more than 1% after Fed cuts rates, Israel-Hezbollah tensions escalate - U.S. crude oil rose more than 1% on Thursday, one day after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates for the first time in more than four years and as tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate.The Fed surprised the market on Wednesday with a bigger-than-expected cut of a half percentage point. Oil prices, however, closed slightly lower as rate reductions had largely already been priced in.The U.S. benchmark has now clawed back its losses this year, though it is still down more than 11% in the third quarter.Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group, said the Fed cut appears to be "shaking out some hedge fund shorts from their bearish oil obsession." Here are Thursday's closing energy prices:

• West Texas Intermediate October contract: $71.95 per barrel, up $1.04, or 1.47%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is up less than 1%.
• Brent November contract: $74.88 per barrel, up $1.23, or 1.67%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down nearly 3%.
• RBOB Gasoline October contract: $2.06 per gallon, up 2.45%. Year to date, gasoline is down roughly 2%.
• Natural Gas October contract: $2.348 per thousand cubic feet, up 2.8%. Year to date, gas is down more than 6%.

Crude futures are on the rebound again as tensions soar between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Prices are also finding support after U.S. oil stockpiles fell by 1.6 million barrels last week.Israeli warplanes and artillery carried out strikes targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Thursday. The strikes come after pagers and walkie-talkies used by the militia exploded this week, killing dozens and wounding thousands across Lebanon. U.S. officials told NBC News that Israel was behind the pager attack. Israel has not taken responsibility for the attacks.Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that his country's focus is shifting from Gaza to the northern border with Lebanon, where some 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated, as a "new phase" of the war begins.Oil market analysts have warned for months that an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which until now have traded rocket fire, could force OPEC member Iran to directly intervene, raising the risk of disruptions to Middle East crude oil supplies."We continue to highlight Lebanon as the main pathway to oil disruption through direct Iranian involvement in a wider regional war," Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told clients in a Thursday note.

Oil prices cut losses to remain on track for weekly gains after hefty Fed cut -- Oil prices cut losses Friday, to remain on track for a weekly gain as a bumper U.S. interest rate cut helped quell some fears of slowing demand. At 1:43 p.m. ET (1743 GMT), Brent oil futures rose 0.01% to $74.89 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 0.3% to $71.39 a barrel. Crude prices have staged a strong recovery from near three-year lows hit earlier in September, with a bulk of their rebound coming this week as the dollar retreated on a 50 basis point rate cutby the Federal Reserve.Brent and WTI futures were trading up around 4% for the week. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East intensified, aiding crude as Israel struck Beirut and claimed to have killed a senior Hezbollah commander. Earlier this week, Israel allegedly exploded pagers and walkie talkies belonging to Hezbollah members, sparking vows of retaliation. Fighting in and around Gaza also continued. A softer dollar also helped prices after the Fed cut interest rates by the top end of market expectations and announced an easing cycle, which traders bet will help spur economic growth in the coming quarters.Lower rates usually bode well for economic activity, which in turn is expected to buoy crude demand. The number of oil rigs operating in the U.S. was unchanged at 488 from a week earlier, according to data Friday from energy services firm Baker Hughes. The unchanged rig count comes as production was disrupted recently in the wake of the impact from Hurricane Francine. But China remained a key point of contention for crude markets, as economic readings from the world’s biggest oil importer showed little signs of improvement. The People’s Bank of China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged on Friday, despite mounting calls on Beijing to unlock more stimulus for the economy.Data released earlier in September showed Chinese refinery output slowed for a fifth straight month in August, while the country’s oil imports also remained mostly weak. Concerns over China dragged oil prices to a near three-year low earlier this month, and have limited any major recovery in crude."China has obviously been the key concern when it comes to demand, but there have also been reports of refiners in Europe cutting run rates due to poor margins," said analysts at ING, in a note.

Oil prices log weekly gains after Fed rate cut, rising Middle East tensions -Oil futures fell Friday but booked solid weekly gains, boosted by the Federal Reserve's decision to deliver a large interest-rate cut as well as a renewed rise in tensions in the Middle East after a series of pager and walkie-talkie explosions aimed at Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery CL00 fell 3 cents, or less than 0.1%, to close at $71.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The more actively traded November contract fell 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $71 a barrel.November Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropped 39 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $74.49 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.October gasoline fell 1.2% to close at $2.036 a gallon, while October heating oil declined 0.5% to $2.162 a gallon.October natural gas NGV24 gained 3.7% to $2.434 per million British thermal units. Brent rose 4% for the week and WTI advanced 4.8%, lifted by the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday to cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points, or half a percentage point. Crude jumped in Thursday's session, alongside global equities, as worries over an economic hard landing abated. Meanwhile, fears of a broader Middle East conflict that could threaten oil flows from the region also contributed to gains. Iran-backed Hezbollah blamed Israel for pager explosions across Lebanon on Tuesday that injured 2,800, including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, and killed 12. That was followed Wednesday by explosions of walkie-talkies and other devices used by the group. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate. Israel on Friday said it killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior military officials in a strike on Beirut. Lebanon's health ministry said the attack left at least 14 dead and 66 wounded, according to a Wall Street Journal report. "Oil prices were boosted from two sides this week: On the one hand, the Fed cut its key interest rate more than many had expected, raising hopes that a sharp drop in oil demand in the largest market would be avoided," . "On the other hand, the situation in the Middle East has continued to escalate, causing the geopolitical risk premium to rise. No doubt, a further deterioration of the situation could push prices even higher," she said. Iran remains the wild card, Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note. Iran so far hasn't shown a desire to move the conflict out of its current "gray zone," she said, with the country benefiting financially from elevated oil sales and slack enforcement of energy sanctions. "Tehran may indeed judge that it is in its best interest to bide its time and avoid a repeat of the April rocket attacks. Of course, the policy of strategic patience may not survive an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon. We continue to highlight Lebanon as the main pathway to oil disruption through direct Iranian involvement in a wider regional war," Croft wrote. Oil-field services firm Baker Hughes Co. (BKR) on Friday reported the U.S. oil-rig count was unchanged this week at 488.

Red Sea operation to tow stricken tanker and avert oil spill – Middle East Monitor -The operation has started to tow a Greek-registered oil tanker stranded in the Red Sea after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement last month, a shipping source told Reuters on Saturday. Towing the 900-foot MV Sounion to safety is the first step in a risky operation to salvage the vessel that caught fire after it was attacked repeatedly on 21 August. The second step will be the transfer of its cargo of about one million barrels of crude oil. Saudi Arabia, a key player in the region, will offer its assistance with that project, sources have said. Any oil spill could be one of the largest from a ship, risking catastrophic environmental damage in an area that is particularly dangerous to enter. An initial effort to salvage the vessel was paused earlier this month due to safety reasons. At least two tugs owned by a Greece-based salvage company are involved in the latest towing attempt, Reuters reported on Thursday. Aspides, the European Union’s naval mission in the Red Sea, said on Saturday that its assets were in the area to protect the vessels involved in the operation. It described the operation as a “complex endeavour”, adding on Facebook that, “Creating a secure environment is necessary for the tugboats to conduct the towing operation.” The salvage operation of the MV Sounion is essential in order to avert a potential environmental disaster in the region, added Aspides. “To achieve this, several public and private actors are working together.” The Houthis announced on 23 August that they had “targeted the ship Sounion in the Red Sea, due to its violation of the ban on access to the ports of occupied Palestine.” The Houthis have been targeting Israeli and Israeli-linked vessels in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip has so far killed more than 41,200 Palestinians, wounded at least 95,337 others, and caused the displacement of 90 per cent of the Strip’s population, according to UN data. Another 11,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israel.

Burning oil tanker towed to safety to avert Red Sea spill - A burning oil tanker that was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi movement has been towed to a safe area in the Red Sea without any spill, an EU naval mission says. The Greek-owned and flagged MV Sounion, carrying about a million barrels of crude, was abandoned by its crew after being hit by missiles on 21 August. Houthi fighters later detonated explosives on board, sparking several fires. A photo released on Monday night showed three vessels belonging to what the EU mission described as “private stakeholders” carrying out the salvage operation, protected by a warship. The Sounion’s destination was not given, but Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered to help the salvagers offload its oil. “The completion of this phase of the salvage operation is the result of a comprehensive approach and close co-operation between all stakeholders committed to prevent an environmental disaster affecting the whole region,” the EU’s Operation Aspides said on X. A potential spill from the Sounion could be almost four times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, which saw 2,100km (1,300 miles) of coastline contaminated after a tanker ran aground off Alaska, according to the US. The Iran-backed Houthis said at the end of August that they had agreed to allow the Sounion to be towed away from Yemen after being contacted by “several international parties”. They also stressed that the attack on the tanker showed their “seriousness in targeting any ship that violates the Yemeni embargo”. The Houthis have repeatedly targeted commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, sinking two vessels, seizing another and causing the deaths of at least four crew members. They say they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have claimed - often falsely - that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK. They have not been deterred by the deployment of Western warships to protect merchant vessels, nor by US and British air strikes on territory they control in north-western Yemen. Israel also bombed Yemen in retaliation for a deadly drone strike on Tel Aviv, and it has vowed to make the Houthis pay a “heavy price” for a missile attack on Sunday. In a separate development on Monday, the Houthis said they had shot down a US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen’s Dhamar province and released videos which they said showed the charred wreckage on the ground. The US military said it was aware of the claim.

Βurning Greek tanker towed to safety in the Red Sea without oil spill | TradeWinds -- European Union warships and salvage vessels have successfully towed a stricken Greek tanker to safe waters in the Red Sea. The move puts the 163,800-dwt Sounion (built 2006) further north from where it had been anchored while burning and abandoned after repeated Houthi attacks for nearly a month. The European Union Naval Force’s EUNAVFOR Aspides operation said in a social media post on Monday that the Sounion is now in a “safe area”. No oil has leaked from the Iraqi crude cargo the ship was carrying when the Yemen-based militant group attacked it several times in the second half of August. “The completion of this phase of the salvage operation is the result of a comprehensive approach and close cooperation between all stakeholders committed to prevent an environmental disaster affecting the whole region,” EUNAVFOR Aspides said in its statement. TradeWinds has reported since Thursday that the salvage operation, involving at least two vessels from Piraeus company Megatugs, was under way. Sources had told TradeWinds that the vessel would be towed to a position safe from the Houthis further north, where the flames still raging on and below its deck would be put out. At a later stage, the Sounion’s cargo is to be reloaded in a ship-to-ship transfer. The ship continues to pose a serious environmental threat, even though sources have been telling TradeWinds for quite some time now that there is no imminent structural reason for the fire to cause it to sink. Some spillage that was observed from the Sounion since it was attacked last month concerned fuel that leaked out after its engine was hit by a Houthi missile on 21 August. About a week later, Houthi militants boarded the abandoned ship and used explosives to set its deck vents alight. The flames and smoke still visible on the Sounion on Monday are the result of gases that continue burning in the vents. This is the second attempt undertaken by salvors to rescue the Sounion. Salvage armada starts towing stricken Delta Tankers vessel in Red Sea Read more An initial attempt that involved different tugs was abandoned about two weeks ago, with the salvors involved at the time citing safety concerns. The Houthis have made no statements about the ship’s rescue. However, they are not known to have made any attempts to prevent salvors from approaching the Sounion. According to some reports, the Houthis even signalled they would not attack salvors, to avoid an environmental disaster on their own shores as a result of their own actions.

Blazing oil tanker disaster averted by salvors | News | Maritime Journal --A million barrels of crude oil have been saved from going into the sea after salvors successfully towed the blazing tanker Sounion to safety. Protection forces have confirmed that the difficult and risky operation to rescue Sounion after being attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea is progressing well, so far avoiding any oil spill.

Research Study: Red Sea Attacks Cause 85 Percent Drop in Ship Traffic -A research study showed that traffic at ports in the Red Sea has decreased by 85% since the beginning of Houthi attacks on commercial ships, while traffic in the Suez Canal has decreased by about 66% during the same period. Data from the US company Lloyd's List showed that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group carried out more than 85 attempted attacks on oil tankers, bulk carriers and container ships since November last year, mostly through missile strikes. As a result, shipping companies largely preferred to avoid the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, including taking a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. This disruption had a significant impact on trade flows in the Middle East, including a drop in Suez Canal transit revenues in Egypt by up to 50% in the first months of the conflict. Research by Sea Intelligence, a Denmark-based analytics and consulting firm, indicates that the number of visits to deep-sea ports in the Red Sea has fallen from an average of more than 200 visits per month last year to less than 40 in the first six months of this year. That number rose to 60 in July, although CEO Alan Murphy says it “remains to be seen whether this will continue, or whether this is a temporary spike.” Jeddah Islamic Port and King Abdullah Port, both in Saudi Arabia, have been the hardest hit. Sea Intelligence says Jeddah Port is now seeing an average of 37 visits per month, compared with 135 before the crisis. He added that port visits in the Gulf of Aden and the eastern Mediterranean remain about a third lower than they were before the crisis. Shipping giant Maersk, which says it will only return to sailing through the Red Sea when the safety of ships can be guaranteed, said in an advisory issued on September 5 that the impact of the conflict on Channel Programs LIVE AR shipping and supply chains “continues to increase.” “With ships being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, we are seeing significant increases in transit times and operating costs,” Maersk says. “These disruptions have led to service reconfigurations and volume shifts, straining infrastructure and resulting in port congestion, delays, and shortages of capacity and equipment,” she added. The number of ships transiting the Suez Canal is believed to have fallen by two-thirds since the Houthi attacks began.

Suez Canal revenue drops by almost half due to Red Sea crisis -- The revenue of Egypt's Suez Canal has declined by almost half this year following attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by the Houthi which have seen many vessels divert via the Cape of Good Hope.According to Egypt’s Al-Mal News, data released this week for last month shows that revenues of the Suez Canal dropped by 64.3% to approximately $337.8 million, compared to $648 million recorded in May 2023.The number of vessels transiting the canal in May also dropped to 1,111, which is lower than 2,396 ships that crossed during a similar period last year. As a result of reduced ship traffic, the cargo volume passing through the Suez Canal dropped by 68.5% last month to about 44.9 million tonnes. In May 2023, the total cargo tonnage was 142.9 million tonnes.The Suez Canal Authority Chief Osama Rabie said in media statements last week that the canal's income decreased to $428 million in January compared to $804 million in the same period in the previous year. According to the head of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie, the traffic of ships in the waterway witnessed a 30% decline compared to the same period of 2023.During the fiscal year 2022/2023, the returns from the Suez Canal hit a record-breaking $9.4 billion.The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has extended fee discounts for a range of vessels on selected long-distance trades. Initially, SCA had introduced the fee reductions back in January, with some discounts as high as 75% for product tankers and crude carriers on voyages between Americas and Asia.

Western governments powerless to stop Houthi attacks and end Red Sea crisis, insurers told - Western governments have few tools to end the crisis in the Red Sea as the attacks have proved so successful in promoting the Houthi cause, a meeting of marine insurance underwriters was told on Monday. The dwindling power of the US and the potent propaganda harvested by the Houthis from burning vessels in the Red Sea have left major government and shipping interests with limited options after 10 months of constant attacks, according to analyst Elisabeth Braw. “In terms of the West, there is nothing that anyone can do or say that will convince the Houthis to change their tactics,” Braw, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, told a meeting of the International Union of Marine Insurers. The meeting in Berlin warned of a looming era of uncertainty, protectionism, global disputes and the potential of other rebel groups to follow the Houthis’ lead, all threatening to destabilise shipping markets. A victory for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential elections could lead to further upheaval, with a failure to back Ukraine forcing Kyiv into peace with Russia and renewed support for an Israeli offensive in the Middle East as the US concentrates on confronting Iran, the conference was told. The limited impact of sanctions has highlighted how countries opposed to US policy have been able to join forces to counter them, the conference was told in a gloomy assessment of the future of frictionless trade. . A wave of interlinked geopolitical disputes — dubbed polycrises — with the ability to damage international trade is a key focus of discussions of IUMI’s conference, marking 150 years since the formation of the lobbying group. The Red Sea crisis has led to ships rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope, adding distance and emissions to voyages with Suez Canal transits down sharply in 2024. The attack on the 163,800-dwt Sounion (built 2006) has further focused attention on the potential costs of geopolitical upheaval for insurers and coastal states that could be affected by oil spills. The Sounion has war risk cover with Brit’s Keel Consortium, which is leading the clean-up. The Delta Tankers-owned ship has protection and indemnity cover with Norwegian insurer Gard, but the policy excludes losses caused by war or terrorism. The war risks insurer has primary responsibility for the casualty and the first $172m of any claim, including third-party clear-up costs. The Sounion, loaded with nearly 1m barrels of oil, is now being towed under military escort in an operation that started nearly four weeks after the initial attacks last month. But senior figures in the insurance industry have questioned whether commercial insurers are best placed to run salvage operations, with the experience and financial heft to deal with third-party claims normally resting with P&I clubs.

Houthis Launch Long-Range Missile Into Central Israel - The Israeli military said Sunday that a long-range missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis struck central Israel.The missile traveled over 1,200 miles from Yemen, demonstrating a significant long-range capability from the Houthis. The Israeli military initially said the missile landed in an uninhabited area and that it exploded in the air but was not destroyed by Israel’s air defense systems.The missile sparked a fire near the Ben Gurion International Airport. No casualties were reported in the strike, but an Israeli official said nine people were injured as they were moving toward shelters after alarms sounded.Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, fired a “new hypersonic missile” that traveled to central Israel in less than 12 minutes.The Israeli military denied that the missile was hypersonic and said it’s currently examining the debris to determine its type and capability. The military insisted that none of its adversaries, including Iran, possess hypersonic missiles.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Yemen would pay a “heavy price” for the missile attack. In July, a Houthi drone hit Tel Aviv, killing one civilian, and Israel responded by launching major airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, which killed seven civilians and caused $20 million worth of damage to fuel infrastructure.Last year, the Houthis began targeting Israeli-linked shipping with drone and missile attacks in response to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. The US launched a new bombing campaign against the Houthis back in January and continues to bomb Yemen frequently. But the US strikes have only escalated the situation and have done nothing to deter the Houthis, who have said they will stop if there’s a ceasefire in Gaza.

US Says Four ISIS Leaders Were Killed in Iraq Raid Last Month - US Central Command claimed on Friday that a raid it conducted with Iraqi forces in Western Iraq last month killed four ISIS leaders. Seven US troops were wounded in the raid, which was carried out on August 29. CENTCOM initially said 15 ISIS “operatives” were killed in the operation but revised the death toll to 14. CENTCOM said in a press release that it “can confirm that four ISIS leaders were killed including: Ahmad Hamid Husayn Abd-al-Jalil al-Ithawi, responsible for all operations in Iraq, Abu Hammam, responsible for overseeing all operations in Western Iraq, Abu-‘Ali al-Tunisi, responsible for overseeing technical development, and Shakir Abud Ahmad al-Issawi, responsible for overseeing military operations in Western Iraq.”Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has been calling for an end to the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and has repeatedly said that Iraqi security forces can handle ISIS remnants without the US. He reiterated this point in a meeting with the head of the US-led coalition just a few days after the August 29 raid.“The remnants of ISIS no longer pose a threat to the Iraqi state, as they have become isolated groups hiding in remote areas to avoid capture,” al-Sudani said on September 1. Despite al-Sudani’s position, US military forces continue to be involved in operations against ISIS. The continued US presence in Iraq and the occupation of Syria put US troops in danger of attacks from elements in both countries who want the US to leave. American soldiers werewounded in rocket and drone attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria in two separate incidents last month.Back in January, three US troops were killed in a drone attack on Tower 22, a secretive base in Jordan on the Syrian border, the culmination of hundreds of attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria that started in response to US support for the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. While American troops have been killed and wounded in combat this year, Vice President Kamala Harris falsely claimed in her debate with former President Trump that no US soldiers were deployed in a war zone. “As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,” she said. \Region ‘closest to war since 1973’: Saudi envoy to UK | Arab News -The Middle East is facing its greatest threat of regional war since 1973, the Saudi ambassador to the UK has warned. On the Sky News program “The World with Yalda Hakim,” Prince Khalid bin Bandar said “renewed efforts” are required to end the bloodshed. “I’d like to say I was optimistic, but it’s difficult to see where that optimism would come from,” he added. “The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse ... I think this is the closest we’ve been to a regional war since 1973.” The Israel-Palestine conflict is at the heart of the tensions, and both sides have a responsibility to avoid escalation, Prince Khalid added. “The Israeli-Palestinian problem affects people all around the world in a way that very few conflicts have,” he said. “You see in protests (around the world), everyone is affected and motivated by what’s happening on the ground. “So Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility — whether they like it or not — to the world.” The conflict could have global consequences, requiring the international community to “push harder” in a bid to end the fighting, he said. “A conflict that spreads beyond where it is, spreads to the region. If it spreads to the region, it spreads to the world, and that’s not a scenario that anybody wants to see,” he added. “It’s time we put renewed efforts in to stop the fighting … We need more of the international community to push harder.” His comments come as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “new phase” in fighting against Hezbollah following the detonation of the Lebanese group’s communication devices this week. Senior international figures, including the UN secretary-general, have warned that the Israeli attacks could precede a larger operation in Lebanon. Hezbollah has vowed to respond to the attacks, which killed more than 30 people and injured thousands.

Lebanon: 12 Killed, 2,800 Wounded By Israeli Sabotage Attack That Exploded Hezbollah Pagers - At least 12 people have been killed, and 2,750 have been wounded in Lebanon after pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded at the same time in a coordinated Israeli attack. Pagers also exploded in Syria, where unconfirmed reports say at least 14 people were wounded. At least two children were killed in the attack in Lebanon: a nine-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. Among the wounded was Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, who suffered a “superficial injury,” according to Iranian media. At least 300 of those injured are in critical condition. “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” Hezbollah said. CCTV captured the moment a man’s bag exploded in a supermarket in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday, September 17 (video via Reuters Connect) The Lebanese government has also pointed the finger at Israel, calling the indiscriminate attack an act of “Israeli aggression.” Israel has not taken credit, but according to Axios, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Israel was responsible in a now-deleted tweet.US officials later told The New York Times that Israel was responsible for the attack and planted explosives and a detonator switch in the pagers.The Axios report said that Netanyahu’s office had cautioned government ministers not to speak publicly about the situation for the time being. The attack came as Israeli officials were threatening to escalate in Lebanon.According to The Associated Press, the pagers that exploded had been recently acquired by Hezbollah as the group’s leaders warned against using cell phones that could be easily tracked by Israeli intelligence.A Hezbollah official told AP that the pagers were a brand that they hadn’t used before. The US officials speaking to the Times said the pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, a company in Taiwan. The pagers began heating up and exploding around 3:30 pm local time. Blasts were reported in homes, crowded streets, markets, and other areas where civilians would be located.

Israel Blamed as Pager Explosions in Lebanon Kill 12 & Injure 2,800; Hezbollah Vows to Respond | Democracy Now! At least 12 people were killed and over 2,800 people were injured Tuesday in Lebanon when electronic pagers used by many members of Hezbollah — who had switched to the older technology over concerns of mobile phones’ vulnerability to security breaches — exploded simultaneously across the country in a coordinated attack on the group. Individual explosions occurred in supermarkets, cafes, houses and in other public places. Many of the injuries were sustained by civilians who were not carrying the pagers themselves, including at least two children who died from their wounds. According to a Reuters report, Israel’s Mossad spy agency had managed to plant explosive material in a batch of pagers bought in recent months by Hezbollah, which has vowed to retaliate, deepening the risks of a broader regional war. We discuss the attack with three guests: Beirut-based journalist Mohamad Kleit, Human Rights Watch’s Ramzi Kaiss and Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri. Kaiss says the “indiscriminate attack” on the Lebanese population — which Kleit additionally describes as “terrorist” — is “unlawful under the rules of war.” “What the Israeli attack using the pagers did was completely throw out the rulebook,” says Khouri, as eyes are on the region in preparation for another possible Israeli escalation. Transcript: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.In Lebanon, at least 12 people were killed, over 2,800 injured Tuesday when electronic pagers used by members of Hezbollah exploded at the same time. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack. Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel, as fears grow of a broader regional war.According to a report by Reuters, Israel’s Mossad spy agency had managed to plant explosive material in a batch of pagers bought in recent months by Hezbollah. The pagers were sold under the name of the Taiwanese brand Gold Apollo, but the company said the pagers were actually made by a firm in Budapest that had a license to use the Gold Apollo name.Victims of the attack included a 10-year-old girl who died when her father’s pager exploded. The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured by an exploding pager. The New York Times reports he lost an eye in the blast.The nature of the simultaneous attack shocked many in Lebanon. [translated] What happened yesterday shocked us. It was unimaginable. No one could have thought that pagers could explode like that. The scene was shocking, how people were torn apart right in front of you. Hezbollah relied on pagers in part to avoid Israel’s surveillance of other communication networks, like cellphones. Lebanese lawmaker Tony Frangieh Jr. condemned the attack as an act of terrorism. [translated] Catastrophic repercussions for the crisis today, but this, as I have previously explained with several stations, is terrorism being practiced against Lebanon. And we — and, I believe, the majority of the Lebanese people — do not submit to the language of terrorism.Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the U.S. did not know about nor was involved in what he called, quote, “these incidents.” Blinken made the comments in Cairo, Egypt, where he held a joint news conference with the Egyptian foreign minister and met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Axios reports Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shortly before the operation began.

Israel Detonates Thousands of Hezbollah Walkie-Talkies, Killing at Least 20 - On Wednesday, Israel blew up thousands of two-way radios used by Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing at least 20 people and wounding 450. Lebanon’s official news agency also reported that solar energy systems blew up in Beirut and in the south, wounding one girl. The walkie-talkie attack came after Israel blew up Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon, killing at least 12, including two children and four healthcare workers. The pager attack also wounded around 2,800, and about two-thirds of them require surgery to their face, hands, or eyes, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad. At least one of the walkie-talkie blasts on Wednesday occurred during a funeral in Beirut organized by Hezbollah for a person who died the day before. An eyewitness told CNN that the man whose device blew up at the funeral was covered in blood and had his hands blown off. People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon September 18, 2024. A funeral was also held on Wednesday for Fatima Abdullah, a nine-year-old girl who was killed in the pager attack on Tuesday. Fatima’s aunt told The New York Times that she picked up her father’s pager as it beeped to bring it to him, but then it exploded, mangling the fourth grader’s face and covering the room in blood. A security source told Reuters that the walkie-talkies that exploded on Wednesday were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers. Images of the exploded walkie-talkies show a label that says “ICOM,” a company based in Japan. Axios reported that the walkie-talkies were booby-trapped by Israeli intelligence before they reached Hezbollah.The pagers that exploded on Tuesday were reportedly packed with explosives and a detonator before they reached Lebanon. US officials said the pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, a company based in Taiwan. But Gold Apollo said they were manufactured by another company, BAC Consulting, which has a license to use the Gold Apollo brand and has an address in Hungary.

Israel’s war on Gaza live: Lebanon on edge after walkie-talkie blasts | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

• More communication devices exploded in coordinated attacks across Lebanon, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 450, a day after simultaneous explosions of pagers killed 12 people and wounded thousands.
• Israel’s Defence declared the start of a “new phase” of war, saying forces and resources will be diverted from Gaza to the northern border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah's Nasrallah Says Israel Has 'Crossed All Red Lines' - Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Thursday and said Israel “crossed all red lines” by exploding pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon over the past two days.“With this operation, the enemy crossed all laws and red lines. It didn’t care about anything at all. Not humanity, not morality, not legality,” the Hezbollah leader said. During the speech, Israeli warplanes flew over Beirut and appeared to drop flares.Nasrallah said the Israeli operation “could be considered war crimes or a declaration of war.” He called the attack “unprecedented” and said it dealt a “blow” to Hezbollah. “We cannot be broken by this blow, no matter how big or strong it is. And I can assure you faithfully and with confidence, this hard, unprecedented blow did not bring us to our knees – and it will not,” he saidNasrallah said that senior Hezbollah officials did not carry the electronic devices that were blown up and added that “what happened did not impact our command, control or infrastructure.”Israel blew up pagers purchased by Hezbollah on Tuesday, killing 12 people, including two children and four medical workers, and wounding thousands. The following day, Israel detonated walkie-talkies, killing 25 and wounding over 600.Nasrallah said civilians were targeted in the attack since explosions occurred in private homes and public places, including hospitals, supermarkets, pharmacies, and crowded streets. A source close to Hezbollah told Middle East Eye that the pagers were used by a “wide network of people, including administrators, medical workers, paramedics, media workers, and other civilian members.”Nasrallah vowed Hezbollah would respond to the Israeli attack and that attacks on Israel would continue until there was a ceasefire in Gaza. “It will be met with tough retribution, just retribution, and just punishment where they expect it and where they do not,” he said.Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel on Lebanon, killing at least two Israeli soldiers, and Israeli fighter jets struck Lebanon. The two sides have been trading fire across the border since October 7. According to a count from Al Jazeera, as of September 6, Israel has launched 7,845 attacks on Lebanon since October 7, 2023, killing 646 people. In that time, Hezbollah launched 1,768 attacks on Israel, killing 32 Israelis.

Turning People Into Involuntary Suicide Bombers To Fight Terrorism - Caitlin Johnstone - Israel just turned thousands of Lebanese people into involuntary suicide bombers in the name of fighting terrorism. At least nine people have been killed and thousands injured in an attack in Lebanon which reportedly involved pagers packed with explosives being remotely detonated around the country, often in civilian areas. An eight year-old girl is reportedly among the dead.According to The New York Times, unnamed officials from the US and elsewhere are saying that Israel planted the explosive materials in the pagers before they reached Lebanon after Hezbollah ordered them from a Taiwanese manufacturer. The US is denying any foreknowledge of the attack, but that’s what they always do. We’re always asked to believe that the US never knew anything about attacks conducted by nations like Israel and Ukraine until they read about it in the news, and that their massive intelligence cartel and sprawling surveillance networks never pick up any information and exist for no reason. This was a terror attack by any possible definition. If Hezbollah had detonated a bunch of devices held by Israeli forces in public spaces without knowing who was near them when they went off, every paper in the western world would have called it a terror attack. But because it was Israelis targeting Hezbollah (apolitical party which is part of the Lebanese government and has many civilian members), it’s only being called “explosions”. “Hezbollah blames Israel after deadly pager explosions in Lebanon,” reads the headline from the BBC. “Thousands injured in Lebanon as pagers used by Hezbollah explode,” says The Washington Post.“Exploding pagers belonging to Hezbollah kill at least 8 and injure more than 2,700 in Lebanon,” says NBC News.No condemnations from western officials. No thoughts and prayers for the victims. No pledges to bring the terrorists to justice. Just the news media going oh wow, some pagers exploded.Got that, kids? It’s only terrorism when the Official Bad Guys do it. When the Official Good Guys do it, it’s just giving those Bad Guys a sorely needed exploding.Do Lebanon explosions violate the laws of war? | Hezbollah News | Al Jazeera -- The explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon this week in a series of attacks widely believed to have been carried out by Israel likely constitute a breach of the laws of war, experts say.That includes the possible violation of prohibitions on indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, as the blasts have killed dozens of people and injured thousands more. “You’re not supposed to booby-trap objects that civilians are likely to pick up and use, or objects generally associated with normal civilian use,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, a lawyer and director of the US-based rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).“And this is exactly why we’ve seen the devastation that we’re seeing in Lebanon,” she told Al Jazeera. “Anybody could pick up one of these pagers. We also have no idea who had the pagers, or whether or not they’re legitimate military targets.” Pagers, walkie-talkies, cellphones and other devices that were apparently associated with members of the Lebanese group Hezbollah exploded in two waves of attacks across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hezbollah immediately blamed Israel for the attacks, but the Israeli military has yet to comment.While many details of the blasts remain unclear, they caused devastation across Lebanon: At least 32 people have been killed, including two children and one medic, and more than 3,000 others have been injured.The series of simultaneous explosions also prompted scenes of panic in the country of more than five million people, with medical centres facing a flood of wounded patients and residents running out into the streets, terrified and confused. While Israel has not confirmed its involvement in the attacks this week, it typically argues that its military operations are justified as part of a fight against “terrorism”. Israel’s supporters have celebrated the explosions in Lebanon, describing them as “precise”, but the blasts went off around civilians – at funerals and in residential buildings, grocery stores, and barber shops, among other places. International humanitarian law (IHL) – a set of rules spelled out in global treaties meant to protect non-combatants during armed conflict – prohibits attacks that “are not directed at a specific military objective”. Whitson said the high casualties of the attacks demonstrate that booby-trapped devices are “inherently indiscriminate”.“They’re incapable of being directed at a specific military target, and it’s very obvious from what we’ve seen and what was completely predictable that it would injure military targets and civilians without distinction,” she told Al Jazeera. Whitson added that the explosions were a “deliberate decision on the part of Israel” to create chaos in Lebanon. “This is exactly why booby traps of ordinary civilian objects are illegal – because not only do they cause physical harm and injury, they cause psychological and emotional harm.”

Hezbollah Begins First Cross-Border Attacks Since Pager Blasts; EU Condemns 'Indiscriminate' Israeli Op --Hezbollah is vowing retaliation against Israel, which it holds "fully responsible" for the pager explosion attacks that left at least 300 people in critical condition. The death toll has risen to 12, with two among these children who were in the vicinity of exploding pagers. Some blasts went off inside homes. The Lebanese government is concerned about 'all-out war' breaking out with Israel. After about 4pm Beirut time on Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that it has begun its first cross-border attacks on Israeli military border posts since the pager explosions. This could be the beginning of major retaliatory operations which slide into a third Lebanese war. At least 2,750 people total were injured in the Tuesday pager attacks, including some civilians, while some reports claimed as many as 4,000 were wounded when on Tuesday pager devices widely used by the Lebanese paramilitary group blew up after apparently being triggered by an external signal sent by Israeli intelligence. It is being widely assumed that most of the dead and injured are Hezbollah operatives who rely on low-tech telecoms to evade Israeli intelligence from sweeping up cell communications. The Lebanese health ministry in fresh Wednesday statements put the actual number of wounded between 2,750 and 2,800. The number in critical condition has been revised upward to at least 300 - many of these in intensive care. The wounded are being treated across one hundred hospitals. Lebanon’s Minister of Health Firass Abiad has in a press conference identified that among the dozen killed were four medical staff, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. In a press briefing in Beirut, Abiad also weighed on the conflicts in Gaza and in southern Lebanon, accusing Israel of "steering away from a diplomatic solution." He added: "We have to be ready and alert." This has prompted EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to condemn the "indiscriminate" nature of the covert operation. "Even if the attacks seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages among civilians, including children among the victims." Borrell said.

Gaza Health Ministry Releases Names of 710 Infants Under 1-Year-Old Killed By Israeli Forces -Gaza’s Health Ministry has released a 649-page document that lists the names of 34,344 Palestinians who have been killed by Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.The document lists 11,355 children, including 710 infants under the age of one, as Palestinian babies have been killed throughout the genocidal campaign. The infants are listed on the first 14 pages of the document. Last month, after three-day-old twins were killed by Israeli forces, the Health Ministry said the number of newborns killed since October 7 reached 115. Newborn babies have also starved to death, and Israeli troops left four premature babies to die at the al-Nasr hospital last year.Gaza’s Media Office says more than 16,700 children have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. The list released by the Health Ministry includes the names of only those who have been fully identified. The ministry is working to identify the remaining over 7,000 bodies it has counted and said Monday that the death toll is currently at 41,226. Infographic released by Gaza’s Health Ministry.Out of the 34,344 people who have been identified, 60% are children, women, and elderly. The remaining 40% are men ranging in age from 18 to 59.The numbers from Gaza’s Health Ministry are considered an undercount since it doesn’t include the Palestinians who are missing and presumed dead under the rubble, which was previously estimated to be 10,000 people. It’s also unclear how many indirect deaths have been caused by the US-backed Israeli siege.A letter written by a group of experts recently published in the British medical journal The Lancet estimated the total number of deaths in Gaza, including those killed by the Israeli military and indirect causes, could reach 186,000. They reached the numbers by using the death toll from the end of June, which was 37,396.

Video shows Israeli soldiers throwing the bodies of Palestinian men off buildings | Middle East Eye --A shocking video has surfaced showing Israeli soldiers throwing the bodies of Palestinian men from buildings during an assault on the town of Qabatiya, north of the West Bank, on Thursday.Palestinians shared the footage on social media, showing Israeli occupation soldiers mutilating the bodies of three Palestinians killed in Qabatiya before throwing them from the roof of a house that morning.The video captures three Israeli soldiers climbing onto the roof, holding the bodies, and throwing them one by one from the top.Earlier that day, the Israeli army launched a military operation in Qabatiya, besieging a house and killing three Palestinians inside. In total, at least seven Palestinians were killed throughout the day.The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that at least five others were wounded by Israeli fire, though they remain in stable condition.Reacting to the footage, Hamas released a statement saying: “The brutal scenes committed by the Zionist occupation army in the town of Qabatiya, west of Jenin, confirm once again the barbarity and brutality of this occupation, which has been committing massacres and genocide against our people in Gaza for a year amid international silence and American political and military cover.”

Israel’s war of annihilation against Palestinians puts King Abdullah’s regime in Jordan on a knife edge -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of erasing Hamas, with the full backing of US imperialism and its European allies, is the prelude to a far broader, regional war against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen that puts Jordan firmly in the line of fire. It is destabilising King Abdullah’s autocratic rule that has little or no popular legitimacy. Jordan was carved out of the former Syrian province of the Ottoman empire by British imperialism in the aftermath of World War I as a frontline state to defend Britain’s strategic interests in the oil-rich region. It would be ruled by the Hashemite family from the Hejaz in what is now Saudi Arabia. Always unviable, the Hashemite monarchy was from the very beginning dependent on aid from first Britain and since 1957 from the United States. Washington currently provides about $1.5 billion a year in economic and military aid, an amount equal to almost half the state budget. Abdullah, who inherited the throne from his father 25 years ago, rules as an absolute monarch. He has maintained his corrupt and venal rule—amassing untold riches at the expense of the Jordanian people—by pitting the local Arab population, or “East Bankers”, against Palestinian refugees. Driven out or fleeing Israel’s wars of 1948 and 1967, Palestinians make up just over half of the country’s nearly 11 million population. While a few have become exceedingly rich, the vast majority are brutally exploited and largely deprived of political rights. Palestinians who left the occupied territories after 1988 when Jordan relinquished claim to the West Bank do not qualify for Jordanian citizenship. Parliamentary elections earlier this month were fraudulent, with just 32 percent of the 5.1 million eligible voters turning up to cast their vote. Playing no role in determining the government, the parliament serves only as a talking shop and cover for Abdullah, who appoints and dismisses prime ministers at will to deflect criticism away from his corrupt rule that depends on censorship, surveillance and a system of military patronage drawn largely from the East Bankers. To criticise him in casual conversation is to court arrest amid a powerful security apparatus that works closely with Israeli and western intelligence services and the United Arab Emirates. Nevertheless, the elections were held under new rules whereby 41 out of the 138-seat parliament, which has long been dominated by tribal and pro-government factions, could be contested by political parties. And they saw support for Palestinian Hamas surge, with the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood to which Hamas is affiliated, winning 31 seats. Though led by upper-class Jordanians from East Bank families, the championing of Palestinian issues means that much of the IAF’s rank-and-file consists of Jordanians of Palestinian origin in refugee camps. While it is the largest vote for the bourgeois clerical group since 1989, when the Muslim Brotherhood gained 22 out of 80 seats in parliament, the parliament remains largely in the hands of tribal and pro-government members.

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel: Report --Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to the Reuters news agency. A source close to the Ministry of Economy cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.The ministry has not responded to requests for comment. However, the German government did issue a statement after the Reuters story was published.“There is no German arms export boycott against Israel,” government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said.Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth 326.5 million euros ($363.5m), including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase from 2022, according to data from the Economy Ministry, which approves export licences.However, approvals have dropped this year, with only 14.5 million euros worth ($16.1m) granted from January to August 21, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry in response to a parliamentary question.Of this, the weapons of war category accounted for only 32,449 euros ($36,016).In its defence of two cases, one before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and one in Berlin brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, the government has said no weapons of war have been exported under any licence issued since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, apart from spares for long-term contracts, the source added.Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since October 7, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. It has also displaced most of the population of 2.3 million, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court, which Israel denies.No case challenging German arms exports to Israel has yet succeeded, including a case brought by Nicaragua at the ICJ.But the issue has created friction within the government as the Chancellery maintains its support for Israel while the Greens-led economy and foreign ministries, sensitive to criticism from party members, have increasingly criticised the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Legal challenges across Europe have also led other allies of Israel to pause or suspend arms exports.The United Kingdom this month suspended 30 out of 350 licences for arms exports to Israel due to concerns that Israel could be violating international humanitarian law.In February, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to halt all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns about their use in attacks on civilian targets in Gaza.President Joe Biden’s administration this year paused – but then resumed – shipments of some bombs to Israel after US concerns about their use in densely populated areas in Gaza.Approvals and shipments of other types of weapons, in more precise systems, continued as US officials maintained that Israel needed the capacity to defend itself.Alexander Schwarz, a lawyer at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, which has filed five lawsuits against Berlin, suggested that the significant decline in approvals for 2024 indicated a genuine, though possibly temporary, reluctance to supply weapons to Israel.“However, I would not interpret this as a conscious change in policy,” Schwarz added.