Shell is being ‘very careful' with shipping in the Middle East: CEO

[TOKYO] Shell CEO Wael Sawan said on Thursday the oil and gas major was being 'very careful' with its shipping through the Middle East given the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
The Iran-Israel air war entered a seventh day on Thursday with President Donald Trump keeping the world guessing on whether the United States will join the fighting.
'The escalation in tensions over the last few days, in essence, has added to what has already been significant uncertainty in the region,' he told an industry conference in Tokyo.
'We're being very careful with, for example, our shipping in the region, just to make sure that we do not take any unnecessary risks.'
About 20 per cent of the world's oil and fuel flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway in the Middle East, and Sawan said what was particularly challenging was electronic interference disrupting commercial ship navigation systems.
'The Strait of Hormuz is, at the end of the day, the artery through which the world's energy flows, and if that artery is blocked, for whatever reason, it'll have a huge impact on global trade,' he said.
Sawan said the rise in oil and gas prices in recent days has been 'moderate' as investors wait to see whether physical infrastructure might be damaged. Oil prices have risen to their highest levels in more than two months this week.
Shell is closely monitoring the possibility of US military action and has plans in place should things deteriorate, he said. REUTERS

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Straits Times

23 minutes ago

• Straits Times

Israel says its attacks have delayed Iran's presumed nuclear programme by 2-3 years

Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on the IRIB building, the country's state broadcaster, in Tehran, on June 16. PHOTO: REUTERS A view of the damaged building of Iranian state TV after an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on June 19. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Smoke rises during an Israeli air strike in Tehran, on June 18. PHOTO: ARASH KHAMOOSHI/NYTIMES Iran has not updated its tolls since June 15, when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people. PHOTO: AFP Israel says its attacks have delayed Iran's presumed nuclear programme by 2-3 years JERUSALEM - Israel claimed on June 21 that it has already set back Iran's presumed nuclear programme by at least two years, a day after US President Donald Trump warned that Tehran has a 'maximum' of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes. Mr Trump has been mulling whether to involve the United States in Israel's bombing campaign, indicating in his latest comments that he could take a decision before the two week deadline he set this week. Israel said on June 21 that its air force had launched fresh airstrikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, as it kept up a wave of attacks it says are aimed at preventing their rival from developing nuclear weapons – an ambition Tehran has denied. 'According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,' Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar said in an interview published on June 21 . Mr Saar said Israel's week-long onslaught will continue. 'We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,' he told German newspaper Bild. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on June 20 and urged him to resume talks with the United States that had been derailed by Israel's attacks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: 'We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for.' But Mr Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that 'we're not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues'. Mr Trump was dismissive of European diplomacy efforts, telling reporters: 'Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this.' Mr Trump also said he is unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table. 'If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do,' he said. Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo. On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally bustling markets largely abandoned on June 20 . 450 missiles A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on June 20 that based on its sources and media reports that at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Iran has not updated its tolls since June 15 , when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people. A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 wounded, including one person in a serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo. Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases. Madness Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of Iran's nuclear programme, questioning in particular the country's accelerated uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 per cent. However, it added that there was no evidence it had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead. The agency's chief Rafael Grossi told CNN it was 'pure speculation' to say how long it would take Iran to develop weapons. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the conflict was at a 'perilous moment' and it was 'hugely important that we don't see regional escalation'. Arab League foreign ministers gathered in Istanbul late on June 20 to discuss the war, Turkish state news agency Anadolu said, on the eve of a weekend gathering of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Switzerland announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

AsiaOne

31 minutes ago

• AsiaOne

Thailand's economy teeters as political turmoil threatens recovery efforts, Asia News

BANGKOK - Thailand's economy is already on the ropes. Consumption has remained tepid despite a government stimulus programme, few of its economic engines are firing, and uncertainty wrought by US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs means that the Thai economy could grow just over 1 per cent this year. Now, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy faces a fresh challenge: a new round of political chaos that can bring down Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra or her ruling Pheu Thai party. "We are currently in a period of economic downturn, with many issues affecting us," Visit Limlurcha, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters. "This could make things even more complicated." The most significant short-term concern is the passage of a 3.78 trillion baht (S$148 billion)budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which starts on Oct 1, that must pass through parliament over the next few months. That process could get stalled if Paetongtarn, who is under siege for her handling of a festering border row with neighbouring Cambodia, dissolves parliament and triggers fresh elections. "If parliament is dissolved before the budget is passed, the process will be delayed significantly," said Prakit Siriwattanaket, managing director of Merchant Partners Asset Management. Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told reporters on Friday that he was optimistic the budget would be approved by parliament by October. "I'm confident that those who are in charge of this matter know that the budget is very important for Thailand," he said. Thailand's economy has lagged regional peers as it struggles under high household debt and borrowing costs, and sluggish demand from China, which is also a key tourism market. It expanded 2.5 per cent last year, and growth could be further halved this year due to US tariffs, Pichai said last month. Thailand's stock market has been the worst performing bourse in Asia so far this year, down 23.4 per cent. Industrial sentiment also hit its lowest in eight months in May, even as consumer confidence dropped to a 27-month low. There is a clear need to press ahead with government spending, which has dropped by over 38 per cent annually during April-May 2025, OCBC economists Lavanya Venkateswaran and Jonathan Ng said in a report on Thursday, warning of a "double whammy" for the economy if both government expenditure and exports weaken. Protests and tariffs Amid the ongoing tumult, Paetongtarn may be able to hang on to her premiership and a coalition led by her Pheu Thai party could retain its majority, albeit in a weaker position compared to its previous grip on the parliament. [[nid:718615]] Such an arrangement will prolong political instability and raise the spectre of street protests, which have been part of previous crises and could hit one of Thailand's key remaining economic engines: tourism. "I'm worried. I don't want the situation to cause people to take to the streets," Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, President of Thai Hotels Association, which represents around 1,000 hospitality establishments, told Reuters. "If they take to the streets, it will hit tourism." Activists - including those who have in the past agitated against Paetongtarn's father, the divisive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra - met on Friday to plan a major protest next week, and demanded the prime minister's resignation. A government lacking full authority may also struggle in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States, which has threatened to impose a 36 per cent tariff rate on imports from Thailand, said Natapon Khamthakrue, an analyst at Yuanta Securities. "The United States certainly would not want to talk to a government without full power or with few votes," he said. Trade negotiations with Washington will not be concluded in a short period, Finance Minister Pichai said. "Negotiations are never simple for any country, and countries that have begun talks still haven't reached a conclusion," he told reporters. Some business chambers and analysts are, nonetheless, holding out hope that a political resolution can be found quickly, minimising damage to the Thai economy, which has been rattled by multiple coups in the last eight decades, including two against governments led by the Shinawatra family. "Although the economy is no stranger to political uncertainty," OCBC's economists said, "the timing could not be more inconvenient considering external headwinds."

Business Times

33 minutes ago

• Business Times

Malaysia keeps anti-dumping duties on some Chinese, Japanese iron, steel

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia said on Saturday (Jun 21) it would maintain anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese and Japanese cold rolled coils of iron and non-alloy steel more than 1,300 mm wide. But the trade ministry said in a statement it would terminate anti-dumping duties on imports from South Korea and Vietnam on Monday. The duties, to be in effect for five years, will exclude imports from all four countries of tin mill black plate and merchandise imported for automotive purposes, and finwall for transformer use. Three Chinese producers face duty rates of 4.82 per cent, 4.76 per cent and 8.74 per cent while other Chinese producers and exporters face 26.38 per cent duties. Japanese exporters will be subjected to a 26.39 per cent duty. REUTERS