India Proposes Stricter Vehicle Emission Rules To Cut Oil Consumption
Baghdad is assembling a westward export system capable of carrying southern Iraqi crude to the Mediterranean through Syria or Turkey. Iraq has brought Chevron, U.S. investment firm Capital TI, and Qatar’s UCC into technical and financial studies for two oil export pipelines built around a common Basra-Haditha trunk. One route would continue through Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan; the other would cross Syria to Baniyas. KBR is conducting a separate study of the Basra-Haditha section, where construction began in May on a pipeline designed to carry 2.5 million barrels per day. This week, Washington endorsed the restoration of the Kirkuk-Baniyas line, which has been largely inoperative since 2003, and Chevron is preparing agreements covering the West Qurna 2 and Nassiriya oilfields alongside its work on export routes outside Hormuz. Iraq has also begun shipping limited crude and naphtha volumes through Syrian ports and intends to keep doing so even after Hormuz stabilizes (if it stabilizes).
A drone struck a vessel near Iraq’s Basra Oil Terminal on Thursday, the second drone incident involving Basra province’s port infrastructure in two days. Iraq’s Oil Ministry said crude loading continued normally and that exports from southern terminals had not been disrupted. No damage has been reported to the tanker or port facilities. Basra handles more than 3 million bpd of crude exports.
Baghdad is assembling a westward export system capable of carrying southern Iraqi crude to the Mediterranean through Syria or Turkey. Iraq has brought Chevron, U.S. investment firm Capital TI, and Qatar’s UCC into technical and financial studies for two oil export pipelines built around a common Basra-Haditha trunk. One route would continue through Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan; the other would cross Syria to Baniyas. KBR is conducting a separate study of the Basra-Haditha section, where construction began in May on a pipeline designed to carry 2.5 million barrels per day. This week, Washington endorsed the restoration of the Kirkuk-Baniyas line, which has been largely inoperative since 2003, and Chevron is preparing agreements covering the West Qurna 2 and Nassiriya oilfields alongside its work on export routes outside Hormuz. Iraq has also begun shipping limited crude and naphtha volumes through Syrian ports and intends to keep doing so even after Hormuz stabilizes (if it stabilizes).
A drone struck a vessel near Iraq’s Basra Oil Terminal on Thursday, the second drone incident involving Basra province’s port infrastructure in two days. Iraq’s Oil Ministry said crude loading continued normally and that exports from southern terminals had not been disrupted. No damage has been reported to the tanker or port facilities. Basra handles more than 3 million bpd of crude exports.
Venezuela’s June 24 earthquakes have now killed 4,829 people, injured 16,740 and caused an estimated $6.7 billion in direct physical damage, with independent estimates placing total economic losses above $10 billion. Caracas faces up to $15 billion in estimated reconstruction costs, but has only limited access to revenue to pull it off. The only possible silver lining is that the disaster did little damage to the country’s oil fields. With the oil still pumping amid disaster, theoretically, there should be revenues to fund the rebuild; however, questions remain over who is controlling these proceeds and where they are going. The New York Times has reported that the Trump administration has taken roughly $8 billion in revenue from Venezuelan oil exports since Maduro’s removal, while committing only $300 million in earthquake assistance.
Israel will hold a national election on October 27 after the Knesset voted to dissolve itself, sending the country to the polls for the first time since the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. The vote will determine whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retains power after nearly three years of conflict that have completely changed Israel’s security environment, severely disrupted domestic politics and seen changes in relations with the United States that would have been unthinkable a year ago (watch Vance using Israeli intelligence ties to Epstein as a way to gain some political capital in the current environment). The election is essentially a nationwide referendum on Israel’s wartime strategy, and Netanyahu’s Likud party enters the campaign from a position of weakness. Polls suggest Netanyahu’s governing bloc won’t come close to earning the 61-seat majority required to form a coalition, with former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot’s newly formed Yashar party emerging as the principal challenger.
Armenia has approved legislation to ratify the U.S.-backed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), with the agreement now heading to the Constitutional Court before a parliamentary vote. TRIPP would establish a road, railway, energy, and communications corridor linking mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave through southern Armenia under a U.S.-Armenian joint venture. This is the last missing segment of the Middle Corridor connecting Europe with Central Asia and China (and importantly bypassing Russia and Iran). Moscow’s view is that the route will dangerously change the regional balance of power. Tehran’s view is that it doesn’t want to see a U.S.-managed transport corridor along its northern border. The project also faces legal challenges after Armenia’s Justice Ministry concluded that parts of the agreement actually violated Armenian law.
BP has signed an MoU with Venezuela covering exploration in the offshore Loran gas field, a cross-border discovery estimated to contain roughly 7.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Because Loran borders Trinidad and Tobago’s producing gas province, any future development could be connected to existing gas processing plants and LNG export facilities instead of requiring an entirely new export system.
Shell has effectively removed another independent Canadian gas producer from the public market, securing one of the largest acreage positions in the Montney (shale) formation, which is expected to supply much of Canada’s future LNG export growth. ARC Resources shareholders approved Shell’s ~$16.4B acquisition with 99.54% support after the transaction cleared Canadian and U.S. competition reviews, leaving only a final Alberta court hearing before closing later this year. This move bolsters Shell’s long-term access to some of North America’s lowest-cost natural gas. Separately, Shell said it will resume the portion of its $3B share repurchase program that was suspended during the acquisition process.
Turkey’s state-owned TPAO is now drilling the Curad-1 exploration well offshore Somalia. This is Turkey’s first overseas ultra-deepwater drilling campaign and Somalia’s best effort yet at uncovering a commercial petroleum industry. The well, located roughly 370 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu in about 3,500 meters of water, will test one of the world’s least explored offshore basins after TPAO completed nearly 4,500 square kilometers of 3D seismic surveys. Success would essentially create a new East African offshore oil province, with the add-on effect of making Turkey more strategically influential in the Horn of Africa (Ankara already has its largest overseas military base here).
São Tomé and Príncipe has rejected all bids submitted in its latest offshore licensing round after only Petrobras and Nigeria’s Oranto Petroleum applied for the three available blocks, with the island nation offering investors stakes of up to 85%. The government determined that two bidders were insufficient to support a competitive licensing process. For decades, the country has been searching for a commercial offshore oil discovery. In 2022, Galp’s Jaca-1 well turned up dry, as did Shell’s Falcão-1 well three years later. Despite the lack of interest elsewhere, Petrobras expanded its position last week by completing the acquisition of a 75% operating interest in Block 3.
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