Good morning, folks. It is another packed issue this morning, with several natural gas trade updates from Egypt and a heap of economic and industrial zones news from across the region. Let’s dive right in.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is mulling investments in a Gulf rail connection project, AIIB President Jin Lee Chun told Asharq Business, adding that the bank was in talks with regional finance ministers. The bank is also looking to support the development of regional infrastructure projects and drive a transition to carbon neutrality in the Gulf, Chun added.

Sound familiar? A feasibility and traffic study for a 2.1kkm railway linking Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar was first completed back in 2023, with the project set to wrap up by December 2030. The initiative aims to link all Gulf states, enhance intra-regional trade, and improve movement.

UAE 💙 Oman: UAE’s Etihad Rail and Mubadala, and Oman’s Asyad Group launched a new entity — Hafeet Rail — to work on a railway connecting the UAE to Oman. The rail link is set to cut travel between Abu Dhabi and Sohar to 100 minutes, with freight trains moving at 120 km/h and passenger trains carrying up to 400 people at 200 km/h.

Kuwait’s also interested: Kuwait’s Central Agency for Public Tenders awarded Turkish engineering and consulting firm Proyapi the design contract for the first phase of Kuwait’s portion of the GCC railway project, after opening four bids for a 12-month design contract for a Kuwait-Saudi railway project in November. The 111 km railway will connect Kuwait City to the Saudi border and is part of the larger USD 200 bn GCC railway initiative.

#2- Saudia to snap up two London Heathrow slots in 2025: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is looking to lease two of its PIF-backed London Heathrow slots out to KSA flagship carrier Saudia this year, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Arab News. The lease would be effective from 5 April until 25 October. PIA — which has a total of 10 slots in the airport — has already filed a request for the slot transfer to global airport slot coordinator Airport Coordination Limited after they were returned from Vietnam Airlines.

BACKGROUND- Saudia is already leasing two slots from PIA under a revolving six-month contract, with PIA’s remaining eight slots on offer currently going to Turkish Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, Khan added. PIA began leasing out slots at European airports after the EU Aviation Safety Agency and restrictions by the UK blocked the PIA’s ability to operate in the zone in 2020 amid concerns over compliance with international aviation standards following a deadly plane crash. The ban was lifted in November.

IN OTHER REGIONAL AIRLINES UPDATES- FlyDubai eyes entry into India’s aviation market via Busy Bee bid for Go First: UAE’s budget airline FlyDubai is exploring a potential foray into India’s domestic aviation market through a JV with India’s Busy Bee Airways, which is seeking to acquire the intellectual property for the now-bankrupt airline Go First, Moneycontrol reports. The move would make way for the creation of a new low-cost carrier in India, leveraging Go First’s intangible assets — think trademarks, flying rights and airport slots — while excluding its physical assets, such as land holdings in Mumbai’s Thane District.

It’s still early: The total size of the transaction, post-collaboration ownership structure, and potential timeline for the move remain under wraps. Still, Busy Bee is reportedly offering roughly USD 115.1 mn for Go First’s licenses and digital assets in a bid that’s pending approval from the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) after Go First was ordered into liquidation by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last month.

#3- Iraq’s Kurdistan region expects oil exports to resume by the end of March 2025, Kurdish region President Nechirvan Bazarni told Asharq Business on Sunday. The amount of oil allocated for domestic consumption in Kurdistan requires further negotiations between the region and Baghdad, Bazarni added.

REFRESHER- Iraq is tidying up loose ends with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to resume the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline following a two-year shutdown that cost Iraq nearly USD 19 bn in lost revenues.

#4- ADQ appoints co-lead managers for Aramex takeover bid: ADQ appointed EFG Hermes UAE and International Securities as co-lead managers alongside Emirates NBD Capital for its voluntary conditional cash offer to acquire up to 100% of Aramex, according to a DFM disclosure (pdf).

ICYMI: Aramex is set to respond to ADQ’s subsidiary Q Logistics Holding offer to acquire allAramex shares by the end of this month. Shareholders have until 14 March to accept or reject the AED 3 per share offer, valuing the logistics firm at AED 4.4 bn. The transaction is expected to close in 3Q 2025.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Crude prices ticked up this morning on the back of disrupted oil supplies from Kazakhstan to Russia, but gains were slightly offset by speculations on rising future supplies, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures increased by USD 0.15 to USD 75.37 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged by USD 0.67 to USD 71.41 a barrel by 04.54 GMT.

BUT- Is Opec+ mulling another delay of supply hikes? Opec+ is mulling another delay of a series of monthly supply increases that are set to begin in April, with some fearing that global markets are too unstable to absorb a production increase, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed delegates.

Remember: A final decision is expected in the coming weeks. Another decision to postpone the 120k bbl / d production increase would mark the fourth time that the group has decided to put off rolling back production caps which first came into effect in 2022, the business news information service said.

Russia is denying: Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak insisted that Opec+’ plan to restore a total of 2.2 mn bbl / d through monthly increases extending into late 2026 “remains the same,” Bloomberg said.

It’s not just Russia: Three unnamed Opec+ delegates told Reuters that so far there have been no talks on delaying the increase, with one adding that oil markets will be braced to absorb extra supply starting April due to the tightening of sanctions and increasing demand from China. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley and other analysts expect Opec+ to increase output levels.

#2- Baltic index maintains upward trajectory: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — grew 14 points to 806 on Monday. The capesize rose by 9 points to 725, while the panamax index gained 17 points to 997. The smaller supramax index was up by 16 points to 781.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) freight operations were boosted by 15% y-o-y to 28.5 mn tons of goods and minerals, according to a statement released on X. The freight operations resulted in the diversion of over 2 mn truck trips from the Kingdom’s roads in 2024, conserving over 113 mn liters of fuel — down an estimated 48% y-o-y — and cutting down over 325k tons of carbon emissions.

#2- Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) saw an 11.2% y-o-y increase in cargo handling to 390k tonnes in FY 2024, according to a statement. The rise in cargo is driven by the launch of the first phase of its Express Cargo Village, which has a projection of reaching 1.3 mn tonnes of cargo per year, the statement adds

REMEMBER- BAC inked an undisclosed 15-year loan agreement with the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) earlier in January for the construction and development of the airport’s new Express Cargo Village last month. It also issued a tender in November for the second phase of the Express Cargo Village at Bahrain International Airport (BAH), which will be 3x larger than the first phase.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Kenya will host Air Cargo Africa from Wednesday, 19 February to Friday, 21 February in Nairobi. The trade fair, focused on aviation in the logistics sector, offers an inclusive platform to showcase multimodal transport solutions across the continent. The event , slated to gather over 2k visitors from over 50 countries, will host over 60 exhibitors and brands who will exhibit the latest developments in airfreight.

The UAE is holding AD Ports Group Capital Markets Day on Monday, 24 February in Abu Dhabi. The full-day, in-person event will see investors, analysts, corporate and investment bankers and other securities market professionals gather to evaluate AD Port’s financial performance and the group’s strategy going forward. Group and cluster senior management, as well as other guest speakers, will visit flagship assets in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE will host the WCA Worldwide Conference from Tuesday, 25 February to Saturday, 1 March in Dubai. The event — set to bring together over 4.5k freight forwarders from 179 countries — will host several workshops and courses over one week.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

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