23/03/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | MAR 23, 2026

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India, other Asia refiners look to buy oil from Iran

Sri Lanka raises petrol prices by 25% COLOMBO: Sri Lanka raised fuel prices by 25% yesterday, the second increase in two weeks, as the country prepared for more impact from the war in the Middle East. Regular petrol was increased to 398 rupees (RM5.12) per litre, up from 317 rupees, while diesel, the fuel commonly used for public transport, rose by 79 rupees to 382. Last week, the government ordered an 8% increase in retail fuel prices and introduced rationing to limit consumption. “We hope to achieve a 15% to 20% reduction in fuel consumption with the latest increase,“ an official at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said. He said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told them last week that the country must prepare for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East that could affect the island’s energy supplies. The president ordered a four-day working week from last Wednesday and asked employers to reintroduce work-from-home arrangements where possible. The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which some 20% of global oil exports pass in peacetime, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against it, now entering its fourth week. Sri Lanka imports all of its oil and also buys coal for electricity generation. Sri Lanka buys refined petroleum products from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, while crude oil for its Iran-built refinery is sourced from the Middle East. The government has warned that the fighting in the Middle East, and a prolonged war, could seriously undermine its efforts to emerge from the economic meltdown of 2022. Sri Lanka defaulted on its US$46 billion foreign debt in 2022 after the country ran out of foreign exchange. Since then, Colombo has secured a US$2.9 billion IMF bailout. – AFP New Delhi withdraws domestic airfare caps NEW DELHI: India will revoke temporary fare caps it had imposed on domestic air tickets in December, according to a government order reviewed by Reuters, a move to ease the financial burden on airlines facing higher costs from disruptions due to the Iran war. The caps, set to be lifted from today, were introduced in December due to mass flight cancellations by market leader IndiGo that led to a jump in airfares at other carriers. “The prevailing situation has since stabilised, with restoration of capacity and normalisation of operations across the sector,“ the Indian civil aviation ministry said in its order. The order, which was dated Friday and reviewed by Reuters on Saturday, has not been made public. Indian airlines had urged the government to lift the price caps, arguing they were causing “huge” revenue losses amid higher operational costs in part because of a jump in jet fuel prices due to the war, Reuters reported on Friday. Though airlines have not revealed the extent of losses suffered, HSBC analysts have said a US$1 per barrel change in fuel prices could impact IndiGo’s full-year fuel bill by about 3 billion rupees. Under the caps, a one-way fare for a journey up to 500km cannot be more than 7,500 rupees (RM315). Journeys between 1,000km and 1,500km – such as the New Delhi-Mumbai route – were capped at 15,000 rupees. The government’s order instructs airlines to ensure fares remain “reasonable, transparent and commensurate with market conditions, and that passenger interests are not adversely impacted”. – Reuters

Trump re-imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 over its nuclear programme. Since then, China has become Iran’s main client with its independent refiners buying 1.38 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, Kpler data showed, attracted by deep discounts as most countries shunned the crude due to the sanctions. Potential complications for buying Iranian oil include uncertainty over how to pay for it and the fact that a large share of it is aboard aging shadow fleet ships, traders said. Also, some former purchasers of Iranian oil were contractually obligated to buy from National Iranian Oil Co., two refining sources said. However, since the US re-imposed sanctions in late 2018, Iranian oil has been sold in significant part by third-party traders. “It usually takes some time to work through compliance, administration and banking, etc., but I guess people will try to work ASAP,” a Singapore-based trader said. The sources declined to be named. Other than China, major buyers of Iranian crude before sanctions were re-imposed included India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Turkiye. – Reuters

see if they can purchase the oil, several people with knowledge of the matter said. Donald Trump’s administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil already at sea, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The waiver applies to oil loaded on any vessel, including sanctioned tankers, on or before March 20 and discharged by April 19, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. It is the third time the US has temporarily waived sanctions on oil since the start of the war. About 170 million barrels of Iranian crude are at sea, said Emmanuel Belostrino, Kpler’s senior manager for crude oil market data, on ships scattered from the Middle East Gulf to the waters near China. Consultancy Energy Aspects on March 19 estimated 130 million to 140 million barrels of Iranian oil on water, equivalent to less than 14 days of current Middle East production losses. Asia relies on the Middle East for 60% of its crude supply and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz this month is forcing refineries across the region to run at lower rates and cut fuel exports.

o US waives sanctions for 30 days to alleviate energy crunch

NEW DELHI: Indian refiners plan to resume buying Iranian oil while refiners elsewhere in Asia are examining such a move after Washington temporarily removed sanctions to alleviate an energy crunch caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, traders said on Saturday. Three Indian refining sources said they will buy Iranian oil and are awaiting government directions and clarity from Washington on details such as payment terms. Refiners in India, which has much smaller crude stockpiles than other big Asian oil importers, rushed to book Russian oil after the US recently lifted sanctions temporarily. The Indian government could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours. Other Asian refiners are making checks to

United Airlines planes land and prepare to take off at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. – REUTERSPIC

United Airlines cuts more flights, braces for fuel shock CHICAGO: United Airlines is cutting more unprofitable flights over the next two quarters as it prepares for a prolonged period of high jet fuel prices due to the Iran war, even as strong travel demand has allowed US carriers to raise fares. travel demand and tighter capacity. “There’s a good chance it won’t be that bad,“ Kirby wrote of the airline’s fuel assumptions. “But...there isn’t much downside for us to preparing for that outcome.” The latest cuts build on Kirby’s comments earlier this week that the airline would rather leave some demand unmet than keep flying routes that lose money if fuel stays high. Big US airlines have said strong demand is giving them room to raise fares, helping soften the impact of higher fuel costs.

United had already begun trimming less profitable flights, including some midweek, Saturday and overnight service. In the staff memo, shared by the company, Kirby said the airline would cancel about three percentage points of off-peak flying in the second and third quarters, targeting routes and periods with weaker demand. It will also pull about one percentage point of capacity from Chicago O’Hare and keep service to Tel Aviv and Dubai suspended, bringing the total reduction to about five percentage points of this year’s planned capacity. Kirby said United currently expects to restore the full schedule in the fall.

Chief Executive Scott Kirby said in a staff memo on Friday the airline is preparing for oil to rise as high as US$175 a barrel and remain above US$100 until the end of 2027. At those levels, United’s annual fuel bill would rise by about US$11 billion, more than twice the profit it earned in its “best year ever,“ he said. The war in Iran has pushed airlines into a fresh fuel shock. Jet fuel prices have nearly doubled since late February, raising costs across the industry and disrupting global flying patterns through reroutings and airspace restrictions. Still, US carriers have so far been able to push through fare increases, helped by resilient

Capacity cuts such as United’s are also expected to support the industry’s pricing power. Rival Delta Air Lines, which raised its first-quarter revenue forecast this week, has also said it has flexibility to trim capacity if fuel prices remain elevated. US carriers are particularly exposed because most do not hedge fuel costs, unlike some European and Asian airlines that use hedging to cushion price shocks. Instead, they have been relying on fare increases and capacity discipline to recover part of the added expense. – Reuters