{"applied_filters":{"end_date":"","lang":"","language":"","network":"","page":1,"per_page":20,"search":"","source":"alhurra","start_date":"","topic":"Economy & Trade","type":""},"available_filters":{"language_choices":[{"label":"Choose Language","value":""},{"label":"Arabic","value":"Arabic"}],"network_choices":[{"label":"All networks","value":""},{"label":"Alhurra","value":"Alhurra"}],"source_choices":[{"label":"All sources","value":""},{"label":"Alhurra","value":"alhurra"}],"sources":["alhurra"],"topics":["Economy & Trade","Iran","Iran Briefing","MBN Agenda","Magazine","Politics & Policy","Security & Conflict","Syria","\u0623\u0645\u0646 \u0648\u0635\u0631\u0627\u0639","\u0625\u064a\u0631\u0627\u0646","\u0627\u0644\u0633\u0639\u0648\u062f\u064a\u0629","\u0627\u0644\u0634\u0631\u0642 \u0627\u0644\u0623\u0648\u0633\u0637","\u0627\u0644\u0635\u064a\u0646","\u0627\u0644\u0648\u0644\u0627\u064a\u0627\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0645\u062a\u062d\u062f\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0623\u0645\u064a\u0631\u0643\u064a\u0629","\u0627\u0646\u062a\u062e\u0627\u0628\u0627\u062a","\u062a\u062c\u0627\u0631\u0629 \u0648\u0627\u0642\u062a\u0635\u0627\u062f","\u062a\u0631\u0643\u064a\u0627","\u0633\u0648\u0631\u064a\u0627","\u0633\u064a\u0627\u0633\u0629 \u0648\u0633\u064a\u0627\u0633\u0627\u062a","\u0644\u0628\u0646\u0627\u0646","\u0645\u0627\u063a\u0627\u0632\u064a\u0646","\u0645\u0635\u0631","\u0646\u064a\u0648\u0632\u0644\u062a\u0631"],"types":[["","All types"],["article","Articles"],["media","Media"]]},"has_next":false,"has_prev":false,"items":[{"article_body_paragraphs":["Monday\u2019s attack on the Saudi oil tanker\u00a0Sidr\u00a0as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz underscored the dangers of traveling one of the world\u2019s most critical waterways, six months into the Iran war.","Two Filipino sailors were killed in the attack. Riyadh issued a statement condemning the targeting of the tanker.","The attack on\u00a0Sidr,\u00a0operated\u00a0by Saudi shipping company Bahri, was not an isolated incident. A supertanker belonging to the same company was struck in July while crossing the strait near the coast of Oman.","Before that, two other Bahri vessels were attacked in the Red Sea in July and August.","Few companies are now willing to risk operating in the region as Tehran continues to threaten tankers\u00a0attempting\u00a0to navigate the narrow waterway without its permission, disrupting energy exports from Gulf states.","With no end to the conflict in sight, another economic problem has been worsening for months: Insurers have raised premiums and restricted the scope of coverage available for ships and cargo.","In response, Saudi Arabia is planning to\u00a0establish\u00a0a government-backed insurance program covering vessels and cargo, according to the\u00a0Financial Times.","The newspaper said Riyadh had already held talks with insurance brokers in London and was considering mechanisms that could provide up to 700 million Saudi riyals, or about $186 million, in coverage per incident, including the seizure or attack of a vessel.","The Saudi program is intended to provide coverage at a lower cost than ships currently face in high-risk areas, helping keep maritime traffic moving.","Eid al-Eid, a former economic adviser to the Saudi Fund for Development, said some insurers had taken advantage of wartime conditions to raise prices while reducing the amount of risk they were willing to assume. That, he said, helped prompt Saudi Arabia to look for a new mechanism to provide essential insurance coverage.","The marine insurance market has undergone major changes since the war began.","On March 2, just hours after the U.S.-Israeli strike began, major marine insurers, including Gard, Skuld,\u00a0NorthStandard, the London P&I Club and the American Club, announced they were canceling coverage related to Iran, the Gulf and surrounding waters.","Japan\u2019s MS&AD Insurance Group also suspended underwriting for a range of war-risk policies in the region.","The decisions coincided with a decline in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the suspension of voyages by shipping and trading companies, while insurance costs climbed sharply for vessels that continued to sail.","Insurance coverage did not disappear entirely, however. A survey conducted by the Lloyd\u2019s Market Association in March found that most insurers remained willing to cover ships and cargo, albeit at higher prices and under revised terms.","Lloyd\u2019s is one of the world\u2019s largest insurance marketplaces, bringing together insurers and brokers that provide coverage against a range of risks, including war.","As Risks Rise, so Do Insurance Costs","Shipping companies rely on several types of insurance, including coverage provided by protection and indemnity clubs, known as P&I clubs, which cover liabilities not typically included in conventional insurance policies.","Insurers themselves also turn to reinsurance companies to spread risk and distribute potentially enormous losses.","As war risks have intensified, reinsurers have pulled back from covering certain exposures, prompting marine clubs to cancel portions of their war-risk coverage or revise their terms.","At the same time, some insurers have continued offering coverage in high-risk areas, but at higher prices and under terms that vary depending on the voyage and the areas a vessel must cross.","Higher premiums typically make a voyage more expensive. But the absence of insurance can have far more\u00a0serious consequences, potentially forcing shipping companies to suspend voyages altogether.","In June, Lloyd\u2019s announced the creation of a new war-risk insurance facility to provide\u00a0additional\u00a0coverage for ships and cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, with each case assessed according to its level of risk and the conditions of the voyage.","The cost of insuring ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz reached between 7.5% and 10% of a vessel\u2019s hull value in July, up from between 1% and 3% just weeks earlier, according to S&P Global.","Shipping Pressure Spreads","The pressure has recently spread to the Red Sea as attacks by the Houthis, who are on U.S. terrorism lists, have intensified.","Al-Eid said the program being developed by Saudi Arabia could reduce insurance costs. But he stressed that government involvement in the insurance sector would not mean the state assuming all costs. Instead, the government could absorb part of the risks that insurers are reluctant to take on, while the private sector continues to provide a\u00a0portion\u00a0of the coverage.","Under normal conditions, about 20 million barrels a day of crude oil and petroleum products pass through the Strait of Hormuz, making it one of the world\u2019s most important energy corridors.","Oil traffic through the strait has fallen sharply since the war began, forcing Gulf countries to cut production as shipping has been\u00a0disrupted\u00a0and alternative export routes remain limited.","The International Energy Agency says adequate insurance mechanisms, alongside protection for ships, are essential to restoring normal oil flows through Hormuz \u2014 a development that would, in practice, help bring oil prices down. An increase in insurance costs, however, does not necessarily translate into an equivalent rise in oil prices.","Ali al-Riyami, a former director general at Oman\u2019s Ministry of Energy and Minerals, told MBN that higher insurance premiums add to the cost of transporting oil to markets, while market conditions\u00a0determine\u00a0who\u00a0ultimately bears\u00a0the\u00a0additional\u00a0expense.","When supplies are tight, producers can pass a larger share of the\u00a0increase on\u00a0to buyers. When supplies are plentiful, producers may have to absorb part of the added cost themselves.","At the same time, higher insurance costs do not necessarily make voyages economically unviable, particularly when oil prices are elevated.","In most cases, accepting some of the\u00a0additional\u00a0shipping risk is less costly than losing export opportunities or seeing supplies halted altogether.","Saudi Plan May Offer Needed Safety Net","Al-Riyami said Gulf government intervention under such circumstances should be viewed as part of the cost of keeping trade flowing and preventing exports from being disrupted because insurance has become prohibitively expensive or unavailable.","Khalid al-Awadhi, an energy adviser at Hawk Energy, said the value of government-backed insurance goes beyond reducing costs. Providing coverage for high-risk areas, he said, can reassure shipping companies,\u00a0investors\u00a0and ports, many of which require vessels to carry insurance before doing business with them.","Al-Awadhi suggested that government coverage should focus on the highest-risk sections of a voyage, such as passages through the Strait of Hormuz or Bab al-Mandab, while conventional commercial insurance would remain in place for the rest of the journey.","Gulf states have different options for getting their oil to market under current conditions in the Strait of Hormuz.","Saudi Arabia can transport some of its oil through the East-West pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea. The United Arab Emirates can export part of its production through Fujairah without passing through the strait.","Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, by contrast, remain heavily dependent on Hormuz for their energy exports.","Awad al-Nasafi, a consultant on financial strategy and decision-making, said a joint Gulf fund could, in theory, distribute the risks among the region\u2019s states.\u00a0But he said separate national programs were more likely because each country has different needs and faces different levels of risk.","Al-Riyami said government intervention could provide a safety net in exceptional\u00a0circumstances but\u00a0should not replace private insurers. Instead, he said, it should serve as a mechanism to keep ships moving and prevent insurance costs from rising to levels that obstruct trade.","Adapted and translated from the original Arabic."],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Sakina Abdallah","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14125,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-08-26T093908Z_406655616_RC276NANBF0H_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-CRISIS-HORMUZ.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Sakina Abdallah","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-09-03T04:45:00","published_at_display":"3 Sep 2026, 04:45 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"Monday\u2019s attack on the Saudi oil tanker Sidr as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz underscored the dangers of traveling one of the world\u2019s most critical waterways, six months into the Iran war. Two Filipino sailors were killed in the attack. Riyadh issued a statement condemning the targeting of the tanker. The attack on Sidr, operated by Saudi shipping company [\u2026]","title":"Saudi Arabia Proposes Shipping Insurance Plan. How Would It Work?","topic":"Economy & Trade","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/37476","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""},{"article_body_paragraphs":["The Trump administration is casting its new Venezuela oil agreement as a long-term effort to secure U.S. energy supplies against disruptions from the Iran war in the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts warn Venezuelan production will take years to affect global prices.","\u201cThis is first and foremost about geopolitics,\u201d a senior U.S. official said Tuesday on a White House press call about the deal, adding that Washington saw it as a way to secure \u201ca reliable and stable supply of energy for the future.\u201d","\u201cThere are challenges throughout the world, irrespective of and even predating the conflict with Iran in the Middle East,\u201d the administration official said, \u201cand there is clearly a defined U.S. interest in ensuring that one of the largest energy suppliers in our hemisphere is aligned with us and not with an adversary.\u201d","Under the deal announced Friday by President Donald Trump, the U.S. government will receive a 35% equity stake in the corporate parent of North American Blue Energy Partners, which has been granted concessions to operate 17 Venezuelan oilfields containing some 65 billion barrels of proven reserves.","The State Department will also have the right to buy 20% of all current and future production from those fields at production cost, with the White House saying the oil could be used to replenish the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The United States will also have first refusal on the remaining 80% during \u201cemergencies,\u201d according to the agreement.","The arrangement is also aimed at reducing Chinese and Russian influence over Venezuela\u2019s energy sector, the U.S. official said, describing the deal as \u201ca geopolitical opportunity\u201d to bring fields that had largely been under the influence of Chinese and Russian companies into alignment with Washington instead.","The six-month war with Iran, meanwhile, has demonstrated Tehran\u2019s ability to disrupt the global economy by limiting access to the Strait of Hormuz.","The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that crude oil and other petroleum liquids moving through Hormuz averaged just 4.9 million barrels per day in the second quarter of this year, down from 21.6 million barrels per day in the final quarter of 2025, before the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.","The conflict has also placed growing pressure on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The latest EIA figures show the reserve contained about 289.7 million barrels on Aug. 21, its lowest level in decades. Trump said over the weekend that the oil obtained under the Venezuela deal would help replenish the reserve.","Venezuela\u2019s vast oil stocks, however, may be years away from reaching the market.","The country currently produces only about 1.1 million barrels a day, far less than even its neighbor, Brazil, despite holding the world\u2019s largest proven reserves. Years of underinvestment and deteriorating infrastructure mean that any expanded production could require tens of billions of dollars of investment and years of work, according to energy experts.","In an analysis released Monday, Swiss investment bank UBS called the deal \u201cstrategically significant\u201d but noted that \u201cHormuz disruption remains the dominant driver\u201d of global oil prices, while \u201cVenezuelan production gains will take years.\u201d","\u201cSo, while the U.S.-Venezuela announcement reinforces the longer-term potential of the country\u2019s energy sector, we anticipate little immediate impact on crude oil or U.S. gasoline prices,\u201d it said, calling the U.S.-Iran conflict a larger factor.","Tracy Shuchart, a senior economist at NinjaTrader, made a similar point in a post on X . \u201cThe easy [Venezuelan] barrels are already back,\u201d Shuchart wrote, arguing that the full reserves will take a long time to convert into actual oil production.","\u201cIt is a 100 year deal because it takes decades,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe barrels that could actually move a U.S. pump price are 5 to 15 years out.\u201d","The administration official acknowledged that developing the reserves would take time, but argued their scale still made the deal valuable to the United States.","\u201cObviously, this will require sustained engagement,\u201d the official said. \u201cSixty-five billion barrels of proven reserves is not a small number.\u201d"],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Alex Willemyns","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14139,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-09-01T031637Z_1685349391_RC2R1JAT14C8_RTRMADP_3_USA-VENEZUELA-OIL-COMPANIES.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Alex Willemyns","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-09-01T18:57:02","published_at_display":"1 Sep 2026, 18:57 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"The Trump administration is casting its new Venezuela oil agreement as a long-term effort to secure U.S. energy supplies against disruptions from the Iran war in the Strait of Hormuz, though analysts warn Venezuelan production will take years to affect global prices. \u201cThis is first and foremost about geopolitics,\u201d a senior U.S. official said Tuesday [\u2026]","title":"Trump Looks to Venezuela as Long-Term Hedge Against Hormuz Shocks","topic":"Economy & Trade","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/37078","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""}],"next_num":null,"page":1,"pages":1,"per_page":20,"prev_num":null,"total":2}