Author: Rigs & Barge World

Oil tankers have been clustering offshore Fujairah ever since the US and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran on 28 February. Tankers that had planned to sail through the Strait of Hormuz to load oil from the Gulf states are stuck outside, as owners and operators are unwilling to sail into the active war zone. Fujairah is a vital component in the region’s energy sector, as the terminus for Adnoc’s Adcop crude oil pipeline that can deliver up to 1.8mn b/d of Murban crude to the port (MEES, 20 June 2025). This can then be exported on tankers to…

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi to review efforts to increase oil and natural gas production, according to Presidential Spokesperson Mohamed El-Shennawy. The discussions focused on adopting hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies to enhance output. Badawi said the petroleum sector is accelerating the use of these technologies to access resources that are difficult to extract using conventional methods, helping increase crude oil and natural gas output. During the meeting, El-Sisi stressed the importance of localizing advanced technologies and ensuring their economic implementation in cooperation with major…

US President Donald Trump revealed plans to build a new oil refinery on the southern US border, backed by India’s Reliance Industries, the operator of the world’s largest refining complex, Reuters reported. The announcement comes as US drivers face rising gasoline prices since the start of the US -Israeli war with Iran, and as Republicans and Democrats prepare for midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress during the final two years of Trump’s presidency. According to a statement from startup America First Refining, the 168,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) refinery will be built at the Port of Brownsville.…

Israel has entered a state of emergency. Not for the first time and likely not the last. As many analysts have predicted for months (MEES, 2 January), another wave of attacks on Iran was launched on 28 February that has sent shockwaves throughout the region and roiled energy markets (MEES, 6 March). While the previous Israel-Iran conflict in June last year lasted just twelve days, the messaging from Washington suggests that the joint Israeli-US war against Iran will be a much longer affair (MEES, 6 March). Israel has been here before and is seemingly well prepared for the long haul.…

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has urged countries to coordinate a release of emergency oil reserves during an online meeting with finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7), according to Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama. G7 is an informal intergovernmental forum composed of seven of the world’s most advanced economies: the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. While it is not a formal international organization, it exerts significant global influence by coordinating policies on international security, trade, and economic stability. Katayama said the agency had called on member countries to undertake a…

Iraq’s oil sector is the first domino to fall in the Middle East amid the escalating regional conflict sparked by US-Israeli military strikes against Iran on 28 February. The country’s oil sector is the most vulnerable to disruption as successive governments have failed to invest in resilience and flexibility. Faced with the effective closure of its primary oil export route via the Strait of Hormuz (MEES, 6 March), Iraq has become the first state in the region to begin large scale production shut-ins. It probably won’t be the last. The closure of Hormuz leaves Baghdad facing a multi-layered crisis that…

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco has begun reducing production at two of its oilfields, sources said Monday, as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz escalate due to the US -Israeli conflict with Iran. The company did not specify which fields or the scale of the cuts. The move highlights the growing logistical challenges facing the world’s top oil exporter since February 28, when US and Israeli strikes on Iran prompted Tehran to retaliate with hundreds of missile and drone attacks, including strikes on Gulf states hosting US military bases. The crisis has pushed several neighboring producers to scale back output and declare…

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the recent fuel price increases were a preemptive step to safeguard economic activity and ensure the continued availability of energy supplies, as global oil prices have risen sharply. Speaking during a Cabinet meeting, Madbouly explained that the decision came after a significant jump in global crude prices, noting that the government still bears a substantial portion of the increased costs of petroleum products. Oil prices climbed above $119 per barrel on March 9, the highest level since mid‑2022, as supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and other producers fueled concerns over major disruptions to global markets.…

Algeria’s important role as an energy supplier to Europe is in focus this week as Gulf oil and gas supplies are being blocked from export markets by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Algeria is already a top energy supplier to Europe, and markets itself as a reliable, short-haul supplier. With hydrocarbons exports a cornerstone of the Algerian economy (MEES, 26 September 2025), the country will benefit from the soaring oil and gas prices in the near term. Longer term, it will be looking to capitalize on the chaos in the Middle East (MEES, 6 March) as a reliable…

In light of the rapidly evolving military developments in the region and the subsequent sharp spikes in energy prices and global market fluctuations, the Egyptian government is closely and continuously monitoring the situation through full coordination between the Central Bank, various ministries, and relevant authorities, noted a statement by the cabinet. The government is securing national energy requirements through daily monitoring of supply schedules and ongoing contracts of petroleum products, in addition to leveraging previously concluded contractual arrangements and price hedging mechanisms that cover a significant portion of imports, to mitigate the impact of global price increases. Oil prices climbed…