Good morning, nice people. We have yet another brisk read this morning — led by news that Egypt is earmarking EGP 8 bn to upgrade Damietta Port to make it tender-ready for international investors and that Khalifa Port is getting a petroleum products storage terminal. Let’s dive in.

Watch this space

M&A — Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s aircraft lessor DAE Capital is close to acquiring leasing platform Macquarie AirFinance, Reuters reports, citing two industry sources. The company has reportedly been competing with other regional bidders, namely KSA’s AviLease and Qatar’s Lesha Bank.

DAE is showing no signs of slowing down: DAE onboarded some 280 jets while shedding 111, with its fleet of owned and managed aircraft rising some 38% y-o-y to 604 planes. The firm finalized its full acquisition of Ireland-based Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for an enterprise value of USD 2 bn in May. NAC’s fleet comprised 252 assets as of September 2024, leased to about 60 airlines in 40 countries.

PIPELINES — Renewed pipeline talk is back — as is the North African rivalry: Algeria has recently dusted off the 30 bcm per year Trans-Saharan gas pipeline, pitching a straight shot for Nigerian gas to Europe via Niger and its own export system. Algerian major Sonatrach was directed by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to start “immediately” by late March, with no financing plan for the USD 13 bn project, Mees reported.

Morocco is playing the same game: The country is still marketing the 7k km African Atlantic gas pipeline along 14 West African coastlines, with a USD 25 bn price tag and “signed up” host countries whose commitments remain undefined, Mees said. Officials at state hydrocarbons firm Onhym told Mees in October that feasibility, FEED, and surveys are complete and that financing will come via regional SPVs.

Strip away the maps and the rhetoric, and both projects hit the same wall: Security exposure, massive capital needs, and timelines that clash with Europe’s energy demands and the decarbonization clock, Mees added. Long-dated, high-risk transit projects face shrinking windows of relevance. The takeaway could be that these pipelines are becoming more of a leverage tool than purely infrastructure.

TRADE — Iraq is preparing to receive its first LNG cargo by mid-June as it looks to offset unreliable Iranian gas flows — after US LNG infrastructure firm Excelerate Energy secured berthing for its Hull 3407 floating storage and regasification unit at jetties two, three, and four at Basra’s Khor Al Zubair Port. Under a five-year agreement signed last October, Excelerate will invest some USD 450 mn, covering the FSRU, terminal buildout, LNG supply, and regasification — but port constraints will shape how much gas actually flows.

Berth selection wasn’t random: Excelerate opted for jetties operated by Dubai’s SKA International to avoid privately run berths linked to fuel smuggling by Iran-backed militias and exposure to US sanctions.

Cargo sourcing will start close to home: Excelerate is expected to lift initial volumes from Qatar and Oman, with Shell and Hartree also in the mix as potential suppliers.

Khor Al Zubair’s narrow, shallow channel forces slow ramp-up: For at least the first six months, imports will be capped at 250 mcf/d while dredging continues, well below Iraq’s peak summer needs of 750 mcf/d and the vessel’s 500 mcf/d advertised capacity — even 500 mcf/d may be hard to reach at Khor Al Zubair, sources told Mees. A 40-km pipeline tying the port to the grid has been completed — but not yet tested.

Market watch

Oil prices rose to a seven-month peak as markets weighed US-Iran talks and trade risks, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures gained USD 0.59 to trade at USD 72.08 / bbl as of 04:24 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased USD 0.57 to USD 66.88 / bbl.

The Baltic Index inches up again: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was up 3.4% to 2,112 points on Monday. The capesize increased 5.2% to 3,210 points, and the panamax index rose 0.8% to 1,853. The smaller supramax index gained 20 points to 1,179.

Data point

26.4 mn tons — that’s how much general cargo Oman’s Salalah Port handled in 2025, rising 17% y-o-y as gypsum and limestone exports did the heavy lifting. Container throughput rose to 4.3 mn TEUs from about 3.3 mn, while the port’s net income surged 217.4% to OMR 7.3 mn.

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