Latest news on the Middle East conflict
Read the latest news stories as they are published.
Attacks shut Saudi Satorp refinery units: TotalEnergies
Attacks shut Saudi Satorp refinery units: TotalEnergies
Dubai, 10 April (Argus) — TotalEnergies said on Friday that one of two processing trains at the 460,000 b/d Satorp refinery in Saudi Arabia was damaged in an "overnight incident" on April 7-8, prompting a precautionary shutdown of units at the site. TotalEnergies, which operates Satorp in a 37.5-62.5 venture with Saudi state-controlled Aramco, disclosed the damage a day after Riyadh said Iranian attacks had hit key energy facilities in the country including the refinery. The Saudi statement did not specify when the incident at Satorp occurred or how extensive the damage was. The details have emerged after a ceasefire between the US and Iran that should end nearly six weeks of attacks on energy facilities across the Mideast Gulf region. Elsewhere in the region, TotalEnergies said its production in Qatar, Iraq and offshore UAE had been shut or was in the process of being shut down, representing around 15pc of the company's total output. Those disrupted volumes are tied to some of the company's key partnerships in the region, including LNG and upstream ventures with state-owned QatarEnergy, Iraq's Basra Oil (BOC) and oil concessions with state-owned Adnoc in the UAE. TotalEnergies' onshore UAE production, equivalent to about 210,000 b/d net to the company, is unaffected, it said. The company said the disrupted Middle East output accounts for around 10pc of its global upstream cash flow, but said higher prices would cushion the effects of the disruptions. TotalEnergies said an $8/bl rise in Brent from its base-case assumption of $60/bl would be enough to offset the expected 2026 cash-flow loss from its Iraq, offshore UAE and Qatar assets. It also said the effect of LNG production shutdowns in Qatar on its trading business would be limited to around 2mn t in 2026, because most Qatari LNG is marketed by QatarEnergy. By Rithika Krishna Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Trump showing signs of frustration over Hormuz stasis
Trump showing signs of frustration over Hormuz stasis
London, 10 April (Argus) — US president Donald Trump is beginning to show signs of frustration over a lack of tangible progress with respect to reopening the strait of Hormuz ꟷ a key condition of the ceasefire that the US agreed with Iran earlier this week. The agreement announced on 7 April ostensibly called for an end to strikes by the US and Israel on Iran for two weeks, in return for Iran agreeing to provide safe passage for commercial vessels through the key waterway through co-ordination with the Iranian armed forces. But less than three days in, not only have transits through the strait not increased, they have actually fallen from the already low levels of the past few weeks. Less than eight vessels transited the strait on average in the two days since the ceasefire was agreed, according to Kpler data, down from more than 12 in the first week of April. This compares with more than 100 per day before the start of the war. "Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonourable some would say, of allowing oil to go through the strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform overnight. The slowdown has come, at least in part, due to infractions that Iran said its counterparts have made since the ceasefire was agreed. Tehran, specifically, objected to a massive bombing campaign that Israel carried out across Lebanon on 8 April, as it considered Lebanon to be part of the ceasefire agreement. Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said as much in his announcement of the ceasefire. But Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since insisted that the agreement did not include a ceasefire in Lebanon. The US has said the same. Iran's Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), cited an informed source shortly after Israel's bombing campaign on 8 April that the strait would "remain closed" until a full ceasefire was established in Lebanon. Kpler data showed just five vessels transited the strait on 8 April, down from 13 the day before. Iran also appeared to carry out strikes against several of its Arab Gulf neighbours in retaliation for the Israeli campaign, and strikes on oil infrastructure on the two islands of Lavan and Sirri, with both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reporting significant damage to key energy installations, after the ceasefire agreement. In an earlier post on Truth Social, Trump hit out at "reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz strait". Iran had "better not be, and if they are, they better stop now!" he said. Trump was referring to a system that Iran has been employing in recent weeks whereby vessels have paid Tehran a fee to transit the waterway safely ꟷ a system first revealed by Iranian parliament member Alaeddin Boroujerdi in mid-March . Hamid Hosseini, the spokesman for Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical products exporters' union, told Argus this week that the system continues, with the fee charged directly linked to the volume of oil on board. "Shipowners are being asked to pay $1 per barrel, and that can be done in the local currency, rials, or cryptocurrency, but only after the vessel has received a permit from the IRGC," Hosseini said. Iranian lawmakers are also preparing to bring a bill formalising Iran's role as the guardian and guarantor of the waterway to the parliament for a vote. But others are pushing back against the idea of Iran taking control of the strait, or setting up a toll there. "Open the strait unconditionally," said Sultan al-Jaber, chief executive of Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc on 8 April. "Iran has made clear… that passage is subject to permission, conditions and political leverage. That is not freedom of navigation. That is coercion." The European Commission, also on 8 April, said under international law, freedom of navigation must be insured, meaning "no payment or toll whatsoever". By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Riyadh discloses damage to Aramco facilities: Update
Riyadh discloses damage to Aramco facilities: Update
Updates with details of timing of the attacks Washington, 9 April (Argus) — Saudi Aramco's East-West pipeline, its Manifa oil field and other key facilities have suffered significant damage from Iranian attacks that took place shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire between the US and Iran on 7 April. An attack on a pumping station on the East-West pipeline cut capacity by 700,000 b/d, while another attack cut production capacity at Manifa by 300,000 b/d, the Saudi oil ministry said on Thursday, according to state news agency Spa. The East-West pipeline has become Saudi Arabia's primary export outlet after Iran shut down navigation through the strait of Hormuz, and reached its full 7mn b/d capacity in late March. Iranian attacks have also targeted Aramco's Satorp, Ras Tanura, Samref and Riyadh refineries, the ministry said, while an attack on the Juaymah facility has curbed exports of LPG and NGLs. An Aramco security staff member was killed and seven members of facilities' staff were injured during those attacks, the ministry added. The Saudi oil ministry did not disclose the timing of the attacks, but Argus understands that nearly every reported attack took place in the past 48 hours, placing them after the announcement of the US-Iran ceasefire. One further attack reported by the ministry, on Aramco's Khurais field, took place earlier in March, Argus understands. This attack reduced the field's production capacity by 300,000 b/d, the ministry said. Iran and other Mideast Gulf countries reported attacks on their energy facilities in the initial hours after the announcement of the 7 April ceasefire. The US has halted hostilities against Iran, but vessel traffic through the strait of Hormuz remains extremely constrained, despite Tehran's pledge to reopen it once the ceasefire took effect. "Let's be clear: The strait of Hormuz is not open," Abu-Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc chief executive Sultan al-Jaber said on Thursday. "Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled." President Donald Trump in a social media post on Thursday pushed back against criticism of his ceasefire deal, writing that "very quickly, you'll see Oil start flowing, with or without the help of Iran and, to me, it makes no difference, either way." By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Iran war to cut global growth: IMF
Iran war to cut global growth: IMF
Washington, 9 April (Argus) — The IMF will reduce its forecast for global economic growth in its World Economic Outlook due out next week because of the severe energy supply shock caused by the war in Iran, executive director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. Uncertainty over the course of the war — currently on hold until 21 April under a fragile truce — means that the IMF will have to outline a range of scenarios for global growth forecasts. But "even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade", Georgieva said in a speech at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations that previewed next week's report. The IMF's most recent forecast, released in January , pegged global growth at 3.3pc for 2026 and 3.2pc next year. IMF forecasts are used by many economists to model oil demand projections. The expected downgrade to growth forecast reflects Mideast Gulf infrastructure damage, supply disruptions and loss of confidence for investors, Georgieva said. She cited damage to Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG export facility and other key regional infrastructure, noting that "even in a best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the status quo ante." The strait of Hormuz remains largely unpassable despite a ceasefire the US and Iran announced on 7 April that nominally called for it fully reopening. The terms of transit through Hormuz are a topic of negotiations between the US and Iran. "The fact is, we don't truly know what the future holds for transits through the strait of Hormuz or, for that matter, for the recovery of regional air traffic," Georgieva said. She referenced the lack of full recovery for commercial traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea, even though large scale attacks by Yemen's Houthis there ceased for more than a year. By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
