Al Habtoor to sell its entire Lebanese portfolio

Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group is preparing to sell off its entire portfolio of Lebanese assets, taking its withdrawal from the country a step further after shutting down operations earlier this year, according to a company statement. The board-approved divestment covers the group’s hotels, commercial and residential properties, and other investments accumulated over more than two decades. Assets will be evaluated and sold individually according to market conditions, with no valuations, potential buyers, or sale timeline disclosed.

REMEMBER- This exit has been a long time coming: Al Habtoor announced plans to pursue arbitration against Lebanon in January, citing more than USD 1.7 bn in losses and restrictions that it said prevented access to funds held in Lebanese banks. The group subsequently shut down its Lebanese operations and terminated employees before formally initiating international arbitration in April under the UAE-Lebanon investment treaty.

Buying time

Egypt is back at the table with Brussels on the EU’s carbon border levy, seeking “preferential treatment that gives Egyptian exports a longer chance” as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) nears full application, a senior government official tells our Egypt desk. The government is also reviewing how countries in Asia and Latin America have handled the mechanism.

What Egypt wants: “A phased timetable aligned with a number of Egyptian environmental measures so that Egyptian goods in the designated sectors keep reaching the European Union more easily,” a second government official says — while acknowledging that “usually the European Union does not agree to grant exemptions.”

The alternative: One scenario under study has Egyptian exporters absorbing part of the cost in markets that apply the mechanism, rather than rushing a domestic carbon-pricing system into place. That route is hard to execute — it would require the technical and institutional capacity to measure and verify emissions, plus a domestic carbon-pricing framework.

US gas, via Qatar

India’s top LNG importer wants some of its Qatari gas to come from the US: Petronet LNG is in talks with QatarEnergy to source part of the 7.5 mn tons a year under their renewed contract from the US, group general manager Vivek Mittal told analysts, Reuters reports. Qatar is willing to consider offering a “certain portion of volume from other sources which they have tied up,” Mittal said, as India looks to diversify its supply after the Iran war disrupted imports.

QatarEnergy delivers cargoes to India under the new contract: The current contract expires in April 2028 and has been renewed for 20 years through 2048. Under the new agreement, QatarEnergy delivers the LNG ex-ship to terminals across India on its own fleet.

Qatar’s own US supply starts after the new contract does. QatarEnergy has recently agreed to buy 3 mn tons a year from Woodside’s Louisiana LNG project from 2030 and up to 4 mn tons a year from Cheniere’s US terminals starting in 2031. Both agreements kick in after Petronet’s renewal. If the Indian importer wants US cargoes from day one, QatarEnergy would have to source them elsewhere.