10/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | APR 10, 2026

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Glencore, Taiwan CPC book tankers to load Mideast oil

Clean power cushions UK as gas prices surge LONDON: Britain has been cushioned from surging gas prices since the start of the Middle East war due to its growing use of renewable energy, according to a new report Thursday. Clean energies cut national gas purchases by £7 million (RM37 million) a day compared to the last energy crisis in 2021-2023, think-tank Ember said in its report. Energy prices in the UK are among the highest in Europe, notably because more than a quarter of its electricity still comes from natural gas, whose price has often risen in recent years, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. However, thanks to both onshore and offshore wind, Britain is among Europe’s leaders in adopting renewable energies. Wind alone generated nearly 30% of the country’s power in 2025, according to the National Energy System Operator. The UK government has pledged that low-carbon sources will meet 100% of the country’s electricity demand by 2030. Ember noted that Britain has added more than a quarter of its current wind and solar capacity since the start of the last energy crisis. “Strong renewables generation reduced the need for gas purchases when prices spiked,“ said report co-author Josie Murdoch, quoted in the press release. According to the report, had gas output stayed at 2021 levels, the cost of gas used for power generation in the first weeks of the war “would have been 52 percent higher.” “It shows that even before deployment targets are achieved, wind and solar are already cutting the dependence on gas and delivering real savings,“ said Murdoch. – AFP India hikes fertiliser subsidy as costs soar MUMBAI: India has hiked subsidies for farming fertilisers by 11% from last year to support its vast agriculture sector from surging prices sparked by the Middle East war. The agricultural sector helps sustain over 45% of people in India, the world’s most populous nation, making it an influential voting bloc. “The subsidy would be provided to the fertiliser companies as per approved and notified rates, so that fertilisers are made available to farmers at affordable prices,“ a cabinet statement on Wednesday read. Individual farms are small and often unproductive, and successive Indian governments have regularly intervened to protect them from foreign competition. “In view of the recent trends in the international prices of fertilisers and inputs like urea... government has decided to approve the NBS (Nutrient Based Subsidy) rates,“ it added. The 415 billion rupees (RM17.8 billion) scheme will run for six months for the summer crops, beginning this month. Disruptions to fertiliser supplies caused by the Middle East war pose a double threat to global food security through scarcity and high prices, the World Trade Organization warned last month. Iran’s restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict choked a vital transit route for oil and gas – as well as fertilisers. A third of the world’s fertilisers normally transit the strait. – AFP

A Singapore-based trader said tanker rates are expected to stay elevated due to a surge in demand and war risk premiums for ships entering the Gulf, while fewer vessels were available, as many were ballasting to the Americas to load cargoes. Tankers inside the Gulf are preparing to exit. Two China-flagged VLCCs He Rong Hai and Cospearl Lake headed closer to the Strait yesterday, shipping data on LSEG showed. They were among vessels such as the China-flagged Yuan Hua Hu , the India-flagged Desh Vibhor , Desh Suraksha , Desh Vaibhav, and Sanmar Herald , carrying crude for state energy majors, which have updated AIS data on respective nations and native crews. Several tankers also called at the United Arab Emirates’ port of Zirku late on Wednesday and early yesterday to top up with Upper Zakum crude, the data showed. Still, some shippers voiced concern on Wednesday, calling for greater clarity on the terms of the US-Iran ceasefire before resuming transit through the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran said it remained closed to vessels sailing without a permit. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy posted a map of alternative shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz to help transiting ships avoid naval mines, the semi-official news agency ISNA said yesterday. – Reuters

o Two Chinese vessels heading to Strait of Hormuz for exit

SINGAPORE: Commodities trader Glencore and Taiwan’s state refiner CPC have chartered a tanker each to load Middle Eastern crude for Asia, while vessels in the Gulf are preparing to exit via the Strait of Hormuz, a day after the ceasefire in the US-Iran war. The two-week truce hinges on letting ships pass through the strait, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments brought to a near standstill by the six-week conflict, sharply driving up global energy prices. Asian refiners rely on the Middle East for more than half their supply of crude and naphtha, feedstocks for fuel and petrochemical production. Countries have released strategic crude stockpiles, beefed up subsidies and banned fuel exports to make good the loss of supply from the war. Taiwan Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin told reporters yesterday that state-owned refiner CPC had booked one tanker in the Gulf to bring some 2 million barrels of oil. “If passage is possible within the next two weeks or so, it can come over,” he said. “With these 2 million barrels, given that we The war, beginning with the Feb 28 US-Israeli attack on Iran, lifted oil prices to more than US$100 a barrel in recent weeks and prompted a surge in natural gas prices in some markets. While crude prices fell sharply Wednesday after the two sides announced a ceasefire, the surge in commodity prices is expected to boost oil company earnings overall. As for ExxonMobil’s first-quarter profit outlook, a sudden surge in commodity prices typically results in a “negative” impact to oil earnings because of the way oil inventories are valued according to US accounting rules, it said in the filing. The oil giant described the impact as “unfavourable timing effects that will reverse over time.” Excluding these accounting effects, it expects earnings per share to be higher than in the fourth quarter of 2025. Impacts at Qatar and United Arab Emirates facilities will “lower global oil-equivalent production by approximately 6% in first quarter compared with fourth-quarter 2025,“ the oil giant said in the filing. The attacks hit two liquefied natural gas trains in Qatar in which ExxonMobil has a stake. “Public reports indicate the damage will take a prolonged period to repair,“ ExxonMobil said. “Pending an on-site evaluation, we are unable to comment on the length of time before the two trains return to normal operations.” ExxonMobil said it also expects its global energy products output to be down about 2% due to Middle East disruptions. The securities filing said the company plans to boost production in the Permian Basin, a shale-rich play in Texas and New Mexico, to 1.8 million oil-equivalent barrels per day in 2026, up from 1.6 million barrels a day in 2025. The company has also achieved first

use an average of about 150,000 barrels per day, this can provide an additional half month or more of usage. So this will help ease ... the situation.” Refiners, energy majors and trading firms rushed on Wednesday to book tankers to load Middle Eastern crude for Asia, hours after news of the ceasefire. Glencore chartered the Asian Lion , a very large crude carrier (VLCC) capable of holding 2 million barrels of oil, at W580 on the Worldscale industry measure used to calculate freight rates, according to a shipping source and LSEG data. Glencore declined to comment. The ship’s demurrage fee is US$580,000 a day, the source said. Demurrage is a charge paid to the ship owner if a vessel exceeds the time agreed for loading and unloading a cargo. The tanker is heading to the Middle East, LSEG data showed. Middle East oil producers such as Iraq are ready to restore crude exports once the Strait reopens. Spot VLCC shipping rates on the route, more commonly known as TD3C, have more than doubled from W230 on Feb 27, before the war started, LSEG data showed.

ExxonMobil reports 6% output hit from war outages NEW YORK: ExxonMobil on Wednesday disclosed a 6% drop in first-quarter petroleum production due to Middle East war-related outages, according to a securities filing.

Gas prices are seen at an Exxon station in Washington. – REUTERSPIC

production at Golden Pass LNG, a joint project with QatarEnergy in Port Arthur, Texas. “This marks a significant milestone in our partnership with QatarEnergy, underscoring the strong foundation we have built together and

our shared commitment to long-term value creation and increased global supply,“ ExxonMobil said. Its shares dropped 4.7% amid declines in other petroleum producers. – AFP