TODAY: Agility to sell Tristar at a USD 1.5 bn valuation + Kuwait is in talks to join Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea pipeline

Good morning, ladies and gents. Half of today’s issue is about getting oil out of the Gulf. The other half is about getting paid for having done it for years.

Agility is selling its 65.12% stake in Tristar to India’s Aegis Logistics for up to USD 581 mn, in an agreement that values the Dubai-based fuel logistics player at USD 1.5 bn including debt. Agility bought the business for about USD 7 mn 23 years ago. It expects the investment to return more than USD 1 bn over that period, an internal rate of return of 16%.

Kuwait, meanwhile, is looking at new ways to move its crude. It is in talks to join a Saudi pipeline to the Red Sea and is studying a second route through the UAE to Fujairah. Its output has fallen to 2 mn bbl/d from 2.6 mn bbl/d since the crisis began.

China features in a few of today’s stories. Aramco’s new refinery in Liaoning has taken its first cargo of Saudi crude. Chinese banks are among the arrangers of DAE’s USD 2.1 bn loan, the second big Gulf financing with Chinese lenders this month. And a Chinese firm has signed an MoU to develop a dirty bulk terminal in Alexandria.

PLUS-The Houthis have told shipping companies, workers, and civilians to clear Saudi airports and oil facilities, saying they will keep striking both in the coming days. The group claimed responsibility for recent attacks on Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery and Dhahran facilities and King Khalid International Airport.

Loan ranger

DAE taps Asian banks for USD 2.1 bn: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) is seeking a seven-year, USD 2.1 bn loan, mostly from Asian banks, to fund working capital, Bloomberg reports. Emirates NBD, Bank of China, OCBC, and China Construction Bank Asia are arranging the facility. The greenback tranche could price at 110 basis points over SOFR, and the dirham tranche at 95 basis points over the Emirates Interbank Offered Rate (EIBOR).

The loan follows a big jump in DAE’s fleet: Less than three months ago, DAE closed its USD 9 bn acquisition of Macquarie AirFinance. The agreement made it the world’s third-largest aircraft lessor and added commitments for nearly 150 aircraft, with deliveries running into the 2030s. The new money adds to the USD 4.4 bn in available liquidity DAE had at the end of June, according to its 1H results.

It’s the second big Gulf financing with Chinese lenders on board this month, after QatarEnergy’s USD 3 bn agreement with four Chinese lenders earlier this month. Chinese lenders appeal to Gulf companies because they offer large commitments, competitive borrowing costs, and longer repayment periods, even amid regional disruptions, Natixis’ Alicia Garcia Herrero tells EnterpriseAM.

Elevated ambitions

Adnoc L&S is in talks to buy a stake in Abu Dhabi offshore services firm HEA Energy at a valuation of up to USD 3 bn, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. The stake could be a minority or a controlling one, and the talks could still fall through, the sources said.

HEA would add a different kind of asset. Founded in 2022, it operates self-elevating barges for offshore wind and oil and gas maintenance. Its revenue more than doubled this year to about USD 100 mn, according to the Journal.

It would extend a buying pattern. Adnoc L&S’ acquisition of Zakher Marine in 2022 added 24 jack-up barges and 38 offshore support vessels on undisclosed terms. In January 2025, it completed a USD 1.04 bn acquisition of an 80% stake in Navig8, adding 32 tankers and expanding its international footprint.

The talks follow a blowout half for Adnoc L&S’ shipping business. The company’s net income rose 179% to USD 1.2 bn in 1H on higher charter rates and chartering activity as Adnoc moved crude through Hormuz.

A stake in HEA could take Adnoc L&S into the North Sea and the US, adding to a business that supports offshore drilling and operates more than 100 ships transporting crude, LNG, and refined products. The company’s order commitments this year reached roughly USD 2.7 bn by late August for vessel acquisitions and newbuild orders, including VLCCs, VLGCs, and LNG carriers.

Market watch

Oil prices fell this morning as investors weighed Hormuz supply risks against eased US shipping sanctions, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures dipped USD 1.64 to USD 104.42 / bbl by 03.37 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped USD 0.98 to USD 94.11 / bbl.

The Baltic Index extends its decline:The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was down 4.8% to 2,667 points on Wednesday. The capesize index eased 9.1% to 3,630 points, while the panamax eased nearly 1% to 2,409 points. The smaller supramax rose 0.7% to 1,845 points.

Data point

25.3 mn tons — that’s how much freight Syria moved in the first nine months of 2026, and only 2.5 mn tons of it crossed a border. The remaining 22.8 mn tons stayed domestic. Cross-border runs also made up just 83.5k of the 1.26 mn loaded freight vehicles the Transport Ministry logged between January and September, state news agency Sana reports. July was the busiest month for domestic freight, at 3.55 mn tons.

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