DP World buys Topaz Energy for $1 bln
Port operator DP World Plc will buy Topaz Energy and Marine Limited for $1 billion from Standard Chartered and Renaissance Services, DP World said on Monday.Topaz is a provider of marine logistics to the global energy industry. The deal is the latest in Asia-focused lender StanChart's efforts to sell its private equity business as part of a broader shift away from direct investing.Reporting By Lawrence White
Djibouti Breaks Ground on Massive FTZ
The president of Djibouti on Monday formally launched the construction of a project touted as Africa's largest free trade zone, to be built in the tiny Horn of African nation with Chinese backing. The agreement to build the 48 sq km (19 sq mile) free trade zone was signed in March 2016 as part of China's bid to expand trade routes, a series of infrastructure initiatives stretching across 60 countries that the Chinese have dubbed "One Belt, One Road". Tiny Djibouti, population 876,000, has long punched above its weight. It hosts large U.S.
Largest UASC Ship Calls at Khorfakkan Terminal
United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), a leading container shipping line and emerging global carrier, and Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent port operator based in the UAE, marked the maiden call of UASC’s 15,000 TEU M.V. Linah into Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT), at an event today. The M.V. Linah is the largest UASC vessel to call at Khorfakkan Port to date, and is one of the ships built as part of UASC’s advanced newbuilding program…
US Oilfield Firms Hesitate over Post-sanctions Iran
For U.S. oilfield services companies suffering the worst revenue slump in decades it would at first seem like a lifeline: The lifting of sanctions on Iran by six world powers reopened the door for their foreign units to return to the OPEC member that needs help to develop its oil reserves. Iran, home to the world's fourth largest crude reserves, is embarking on a $185 billion effort to revive oil and gas projects by 2020 after sanctions halved the country's oil exports and led to neglect of its energy infrastructure.
Prumo Sells 20% of Brazil Acu Oil Terminal to Oiltanking
Prumo Logistica SA , the Brazilian port operator controlled by U.S.-based EIG Global Energy Partners, agreed to sell 20 percent of its oil terminal at Brazil's Port of Açu to Germany's Oiltanking for $200 million, Prumo said on Thursday. Under the agreement Oiltanking will also manage the Port of Açu Oil Terminal, which has the capacity to transfer 1.2 million barrels a day of petroleum and can handle the largest oil tankers, known as very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, Prumo said in a statement.
India Seeks Private Cash for Intermodal Bridge
Rail system needs more tracks and wagons; Not enough coal gets from port to power stations. India is targeting up to $1 billion of private investment by 2017 to build rail lines linking ports and national networks to ease growing congestion, which has delayed coal imports for power plants and contributed to a power supply crisis. Such investment would more than double the $400 million that India's state-owned railways have attracted in the decade since they allowed limited private participation and help fund crucial "last mile" links to ports.
Tanzania: China-Funded Port Work Starts in 2015
Construction of a Chinese-funded port and special economic zone in Tanzania worth at least $10 billion will start in July 2015, the president's office said in a statement on Monday, for the first time setting a start date for the delayed initiative. Tanzania aims to build a huge port at Bagamoyo, 75 km (47 miles) north of commercial capital Dar es Salaam, the site of the country's main port, where shippers complain of congestion and inefficiencies.
Protesters Threaten to Close Another Libyan Oilfield
Protesters blocking Libya's Abu Attifel oilfield threatened to close another field to force a state oil company to hire hundreds of local people, a spokesman for the protesters said on Tuesday. The oilfield, a joint venture between Italian oil major Eni and Libya's state oil company, has been closed for a year by locals who demand jobs, part of a wave of strikes at oil facilities that began in July 2013. Protests have ended at other oilfields, but the shutdown continues at Abu Attifel in Jalu, in Libya's volatile east.
Fallen Brazilian Tycoon Batista Faces the Law
A year after the epic collapse of his industrial empire, Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista's financial and legal troubles appear far from over. Once worth more than $30 billion and listed as the world's eighth-richest man by Forbes Magazine, Batista says his debts now exceed his assets by $1 billion and the value of his remaining stakes in the oil, shipbuilding, mining and transportation companies he founded continues to shrink. Batista also faces criminal and regulatory investigations into suspected insider trading and fraud.
Protesters in Eastern Libya Close Second Oilfield
Protesters blocking Libya's Abu Attifel oilfield closed another field, blocked a road and seized a company plane, a security official and activist said on Tuesday. The oilfield, a joint venture between Italy's ENI and Libya's state oil company, has been closed for a year by local people who demand jobs, part of a wave of strikes at oil facilities that began in July 2013. Protests at other oil ports and fields have ended, but the shutdown continues at Abu Attifelt in Jalu, in Libya's volatile east, where the field lies.
CITIC Starts Court Proceedings Against Qingdao Port Operator
China's CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd has begun court proceedings against the operator of a bonded warehouse at Quindao port as legal action ramps up following an investigation into metals financing fraud at the world's seventh busiest port. CITIC Resources said last month it had been unable to secure around 120,000 tonnes of alumina, more than half of the alumina stocks it had title to that were stored at the port pending payment by buyers and delivery.
Oil Flat after Easing Supply Worries Drove Big Drop
Brent crude oil was little changed in choppy trading on Friday as investors moved to square positions following one of the international benchmark's biggest weekly falls this year due to reduced concerns over exports from strife-torn Iraq. Prices have dropped more than $2 from a nine-month high of $115.71 hit on June 19 as output from Iraq's southern oilfields, which produce most of the nation's 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd), remained unaffected by fighting in the north and west.
Med Crude-Urals Stronger in Surgut Baltic Tenders
Russian Urals prices strengthened following a tender by oil firm Surgut in the Baltic, underpinned by a tighter July loading programme, traders said. Surgut was believed to have sold two cargoes to Eni and Total for July 12-13 loading at around dated Brent minus $2.90 per barrel, more than 50 cents stronger than previous price estimates. In the Platts window, Vitol offered an Aframax cargo in the Mediterranean for July 7-11 delivery at dated Brent minus $1.45, some 40 cents stronger than previous price estimates, but found no buyers.
Batista Seeks Mubadala Refinancing
The successful restructuring of bankrupt oil producer Óleo e Gás Participações SA will allow Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista to move forward with plans to cut his own debt, three sources with direct knowledge of the situation said. Batista and his EBX holding company have been in talks to renegotiate about $2 billion owed to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Co PJSC, the sources said. Batista may offer assets, including stakes in firms he either controls or has a stake in, to speed up the process, they said.
