Good morning, wonderful people. We wrap up the week with capital doing what it does best — moving. Leading our issue is the landmark trade agreement between the Gulf and the UK, which is said to add bns to the UK economy annually. We’ve also got Qatari bn’aire brothers eyeing Ethiopia’s new airport and a major highway project in the DRC, and QNB Egypt lining up an EGP 11.98 bn syndicated loan for the East Port Said Port expansion.

Watch this space

SUPPLY CHAINS — Fujairah is tightening the links between its ports, freezones, and logistics ecosystem, with AD Ports subsidiary Fujairah Terminals signing three land agreements with Fujairah International Airport, Fujairah Freezone Authority, and Al Dahra Agriculture Trading, state news agency Wam reports.

The details: The combined 130k-sqm footprint is aimed at expanding logistics capacity and creating more integrated movement between port, industrial, and adjacent infrastructure.

Why now? The agreements are aimed at unlocking new trade windows with regional and international markets and come amid a wider drive to make use of Fujairah’s Hormuz-bypassing eastern corridor. Borouge and AD Ports are looking at exporting petrochemicals via Fujairah, and Adnoc is accelerating plans to develop its West-East pipeline.

SHIPPING — Russian barrels get another pass: The US Treasury extended a 30-day sanctions waiver allowing countries to access Russian crude and petroleum products already stranded at sea. This marks the second extension of a measure first introduced in March to help ease pressure in oil markets. The waiver applies only to Russian barrels already loaded onto vessels, not newly produced exports.

Why it matters: The extension is designed to support “energy-vulnerable” countries that have faced challenges securing Gulf supplies amid disruptions in Hormuz. It effectively acts as a pressure valve for the physical crude market, redirecting stranded cargoes toward countries most exposed to supply shortages.

STORAGE — US blockade drives surge in Iranian floating storage: The US naval blockade is forcing Iran to park increasing volumes of crude and petrochemicals on ageing tankers in the Gulf, with 39 laden vessels now anchored in the region, up from 29 before the restrictions took effect last month. A further 13 suspected tankers are moored off Chabahar, just inside the de facto blockade line, while the largest concentration remains around Kharg Island — where 20 vessels are now idling near Iran’s main export hub, up from six a month earlier.

The shift is effectively converting an export squeeze into a storage crisis. Iran’s floating stockpiles in the Middle East have risen to about 42 mn barrels, up roughly 65% since the conflict began, while onshore storage is estimated to be around 64% full after a further build-up.

Floating storage is providing only limited relief: Analysts estimate Iran still has spare tanker capacity that could absorb tens of mns of additional barrels, but onshore space is tightening, suggesting the buffer may only last weeks if disruptions persist.

Market watch

Oil prices rose this morning as supply concerns offset US-Iran peace talk optimism, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures increased USD 0.78 to trade at USD 105.80 / bbl by 03.41 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained USD 0.84 to USD 99.10 / bbl.

The Baltic Index extends downturn: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was down 1.6% to 3,005 points on Wednesday. The capesize dipped 1.4% to 4,880 points, while the panamax index declined 3.5% to 2,374. The smaller supramax shed 0.1% to 1,566 points.

Data point

5.5 mn barrels — that’s how much jet fuel Oman exported in 1Q 2026, up 7.6 y-o-y. The increase came as Oman’s aviation fuel production rose to nearly 6.7 mn barrels from 6.2 mn a year earlier, while domestic sales climbed to 1.1 mn barrels from 940.1k.

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