NewsBase speaks exclusively to Samuel O. Nwanze, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Nigerian indigenous integrated oil and gas company Heirs Energies.

Britain is set to expand sanctions against Iran’s energy, financial and transport sectors from September 29, the government said in an announcement on September 8, seen by Newsbase. The latest British package restores sectoral restrictions lifted under the 2015 nuclear agreement otherwise known as the JCPOA, following Britain’s reinstatement of UN sanctions in October 2025. It extends pressure beyond individual designations to industries and services that the government says support Iran’s nuclear programme. The Iran (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 amend the country’s existing nuclear and wider Iran sanctions regimes, adding restrictions on trade, financing and access to British ports and services in line with European and following US sanctions. Trade controls cover energy equipment and technology, oil and petroleum products, natural gas, petrochemicals, maritime equipment, precious metals, diamonds and sectoral software. The prohibitions extend beyond exports to supply through third countries, technology transfers and related services. In addition, nine new schedules define the controlled goods and technology, including graphite, metals and additional dual-use items. Financial measures restrict loans, credit and investment involving persons connected with Iran, alongside banking relationships, insurance and dealings in Iranian sovereign bonds. Further, the released information says the transport provisions expand powers to designate ships, restrict their operations and associated services, deny port access and detain vessels. Iranian cargo aircraft will also be prohibited from landing in Britain, subject to limited exceptions. British nuclear controls will be updated to match International Atomic Energy Agency lists, with restrictions covering related technical assistance, financial services and brokering. Businesses have been told to review the new schedules, assess their exposure and establish whether transactions are prohibited or require a licence. Subject to parliamentary approval, exemptions will permit certain activities supporting Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field, which supplies European markets. The government said the arrangements maintain longstanding policy and align with similar US and EU exemptions. Iran’s Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO) holds a 10% stake in Shah Deniz, the gas project in Azerbaijan, with that ownership continuing despite increased sanctions by the UK. Azerbaijani authorities have yet to comment on the announcement regarding its stake in the Shah Deniz field. A new Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation general licence is due to take effect on September 29 in London, with an amended Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation licence covering related financial activities to be published and take effect on the same date.

Iran's newly minted Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said transit through the Strait of Hormuz was not currently possible, citing recent US military activity in the region, in a notice seen by Newsbase on July 12. The closure followed a sharp escalation on July 12. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had stopped a ship in the strait for ignoring instructions to use an approved route, describing the fire as warning shots, while US Central Command said the vessel had been disabled by fire and damage to its engine room. India said 10 of its nationals had been rescued and one remained missing after the strike off Oman, which the US blamed on Iran. Transit through the strait was not possible at present due to recent illegal movements by US military forces in the region, the authority said. All requests would be reviewed and the necessary permits issued according to a schedule once stability and calm were restored. The only channel for obtaining a transit permit was the authority's website, it added. The PGSA is the body Iran established to administer traffic through the strait under the arrangements following the ceasefire, which require vessels to register and take an approved route close to the Iranian coast rather than the southern route near Oman. The closure came as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the strait closed until further notice on July 12, after stopping two vessels it said had violated transit rules. US Central Command said the US had struck approximately 140 targets in Iran, prompting Iranian missile and drone strikes on US bases and Gulf states including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan. The strike claims could not be independently verified. Tanker movements have repeatedly collapsed since the US-Iran war began on February 28, with Iran retaining operational control over transits through the post-ceasefire period and linking the strait's future status to wider negotiations with Washington and Oman. US Central Command said the US military had struck approximately 140 targets in Iran on July 11 in retaliation for an earlier Iranian attack on a commercial ship, hitting missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage, communication networks and coastal surveillance locations. Gulf states came under attack as Iran retaliated. Jordan's army said three Iranian missiles had fallen across the kingdom without casualties, Kuwait's military said its air defences were intercepting an ongoing attack, air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, and the UAE said its defences were engaging threats. Qatar reported intercepting attacks and said three people had been injured. Explosions were also reported in Kuwait and Bahrain, with drone strikes on Oman's Musandam province overlooking the strait. The Guards said they had attacked a US base in Qatar and destroyed logistical and refuelling facilities for US aircraft carriers at the port of Duqm in Oman. Oman condemned the attack, which came hours after it hosted Iran's foreign minister for talks on securing shipping through the strait. Iran and Oman, the two states bordering the waterway, had discussed arrangements for securing shipping through Hormuz in Muscat on July 11, agreeing to continue talks at political and technical-legal levels, with a Qatari delegation attending part of the discussions.

Oil rose for a second session as renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran fed fears that energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz would stay disrupted for a prolonged period on September 1. Brent traded above $91.74 a barrel after the US struck an island in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran responded with attacks on the UAE and Jordan, according to Newsbase analytical data. In recent hours, President Donald Trump played down concerns that the conflict was draining American firepower, calling it a "small war"; however, Iran has vowed to continue fighting if the US fails to return to negotiations as part of the Islamabad process. The number of visible commercial cargo vessels crossing the strait fell to five a day early in the week, shipping data showed, and mediators' efforts to reach a deal to reopen the passage have made no progress. Crude still moves through the waterway, often on tankers that switch off their transponders to avoid detection, allowing Gulf producers to get some barrels out. Ships face a persistent threat of attack. One tanker reported being hit by three unidentified projectiles as it moved out of Hormuz, highlighting the risks to regional shipping. "Traders cut their net crude positions last week as uncertainty persists over the next phase of the conflict with Iran," said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. "We still expect crude prices to rise, as there are no signs of a resumption of normal transit through the Strait of Hormuz in the near term." Separately, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) restored full capacity at its Ruwais refinery after damage sustained earlier in the war, according to people familiar with the matter. The plant, one of the world's largest refineries, has run at full capacity for a month, boosting diesel and jet fuel exports.

Dozens of tankers are anchored off the UAE's east coast and Oman rather than transiting the Strait of Hormuz, MarineTraffic ship-tracking data showed on July 14 seen by Newsbase. The vessel positions reveal dense clusters of stationary tankers at the Fujairah and Khor Fakkan anchorages on the UAE's Gulf of Oman coast, with a further concentration off the Omani port of Sohar, while transit traffic inside the strait itself appears comparatively thin. The pattern is consistent with owners and charterers holding vessels outside the waterway until the insurance and interdiction picture clarifies. The congestion follows 24 hours in which the strait acquired two rival transit regimes. US President Donald Trump on July 13 declared the waterway open "with or without Iran", reinstated a blockade on Iranian shipping and announced a 20% levy on all other transiting cargo. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded within hours, saying two supertankers had been struck and disabled after entering a mined corridor, and Iran's parliament has tabled a bill asserting Tehran's authority over the strait, adding to the rial-denominated toll regime introduced in April. Individual vessel records illustrate both continuing flows and wartime disruption. The LPG tanker Monarch departed Qatar's Ras Laffan, the world's largest liquefied gas export complex, on July 11 bound for Quanzhou in China with an estimated arrival of August 1, indicating Qatari gas exports to Asia were still moving eastbound through the strait on the eve of the latest escalation. The tanker Libra left Iran's Shahid Rajaei, the container and cargo port complex at Bandar Abbas, on July 13 bound for Kandla in India with an estimated arrival of July 17. A vessel departing Iran's principal port hours after Washington declared Iranian shipping subject to interdiction makes the ship an early test of whether and how the blockade will be enforced. Other records point to prolonged idling. The LPG tanker Danuta I departed Dubai anchorage on February 27, at the outbreak of the war, yet reports an arrival at Khor Fakkan, a short coastal hop away, of July 15, suggesting the vessel has spent much of the conflict at anchor, although stale voyage data cannot be excluded. The products tanker Ostria was meanwhile underway from Iraq's Khor Al Zubair towards an offshore holding position, indicating Iraqi refined product exports continue. The tracking data cannot corroborate the IRGC's claim of strikes on two supertankers. The Guards said the vessels had switched off their navigation systems before entering the mined corridor, meaning they would not appear in AIS feeds, and transponder manipulation is in any case widespread in sanctioned Gulf trades. AIS positions are self-reported by vessels and the picture they give is indicative rather than comprehensive. The strait carries roughly a fifth of global oil consumption and around a third of seaborne LNG trade. With Washington demanding a 20% levy and Tehran operating tolls under threat of mines and interdiction, shipowners, charterers and war-risk underwriters face pricing passage through a waterway claimed by two hostile authorities at once, and the anchorages filling up off Fujairah suggest many are declining to price it at all.

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Iran has begun charging shipping companies for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, establishing a "safe corridor" for pre-approved vessels through its territorial waters, Newsbase reported, citing Lloyd's List on March 20. The ransom move represents the most concrete step yet towards the new Hormuz regime that senior Iranian official Mohammad Mokhber signalled earlier this week in a previous IntelliNews report, when he said Iran would shift from being sanctioned to imposing sanctions on the West through control of the waterway. At least one operator has paid approximately $2mn for a tanker to transit the strait. A total of nine vessels have passed through the corridor so far, though it is unclear how many paid directly, with some passages reportedly arranged through diplomatic channels. The corridor runs through Iranian territorial waters near Larak Island, where vessels undergo visual inspection by IRGC naval forces and port authorities. Access is granted only with Tehran's prior approval. Carriers must submit detailed information about vessel ownership and cargo destination through intermediaries linked to Iran based abroad. The system is designed to exclude ships with US or Israeli connections. The IRGC plans to formalise the arrangement with a registration and transit permit system in the coming days. India, Pakistan, Iraq, Malaysia and China are already negotiating with Tehran and coordinating vessel movements through the mechanism, Lloyd's List reported. Despite the corridor's operation, traffic remains minimal. Between March 15 and 17, only 15 transits were recorded, with roughly 90% linked to Iran through ownership or trade. Analysts warned that an IRGC transit permit does not guarantee safety, noting that individual IRGC units could still detain or seize vessels regardless of approvals. Industry sources said the system bore similarities to the permit regime operated by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea. The permits-for-passage system described relies on direct coordination with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. There is no central control as the Strait is currently controlled by one of the IRGC’s 31 autonomous cells acting under standing orders issued ahead of the war as part of its Decentralised Mosaic Defence doctrine (DMD), Financial Times previously reported. “A tanker operator contacts intermediaries. The intermediaries negotiate with the IRGC. A fee is agreed, reportedly up to $2mn per voyage. Payment is made in cash, cryptocurrency, or barter. The vessel receives clearance. The IRGC hails the tanker on VHF radio, verifies its Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder data, and grants passage,” the report said. “Roughly 89 to 90 vessels, including 16 oil tankers, have successfully made the journey between March 1 and March 15 under some form of IRGC clearance,” according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Not all ships were required to pay. Iranian-linked ship passes for free and other ships given permission via government-to-government negotiations, such as ships belonging to India, have also been given permits gratis, according to reports. On March 18 one ship that tried to traverse the strait without permission and with its AIS off was struck by an Iranian missile and turned back, according to reports.

European gas prices have surged once more as a result of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that has knocked out around a fifth of global LNG supply. The TTF front month contract ended trading on March 6 at almost €69 per MWh ($850 per 1,000 cubic metres), its highest point in three years. But it lost some of that steep gain on March 9, and as of 07:30 GMT was priced at €62.6 per MWh. As NewsBase has reported, Europe was already facing supply security risks before the Iran crisis began, as its storage facilities were significantly depleted following an unusually cold winter. That was before Qatar last week halted LNG production, removing around 20% of the world’s global LNG supply. Much of that volume went to Asia, but it has also had a seriously adverse effect on pricing in Europe. The continent now faces intense competition with Asia for LNG cargoes. Prices in Europe rose much higher during the 2022 energy crisis, with the TTF front-month contract peaking at €340 per MWh in August 2022 when Russia closed the Nord Stream pipelines. Back then, though, Europe was able to outcompete Asia for LNG shipments, and still had larger volumes of Russian pipeline gas flowing than it does today. Exacerbating the crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off remaining Russian gas to the EU, linking it to the bloc’s decision to phase out those supplies over the next two years. Looking ahead, Europe will struggle to restock gas before next winter. Its facilities are currently less than 30% full with high prices triggering further withdrawals. The market is now in a state of backwardation, with prices next winter lower than the present ones. Unless the situation changes, this means there is no incentive for traders to stockpile gas during the warmer months in preparation for winter, as doing so would lose them money. Structurally, Europe’s gas system is weaker than it was before the war in Ukraine. The loss of Russian pipeline gas has removed a key swing supply, while widespread coal plant closures have eliminated another stabilising mechanism during periods of high prices. Inventories now carry a greater share of the burden of balancing the system. Other risks include potential disruption in US LNG or Norwegian pipeline supply, or weak performance from renewable sources, which the bloc now relies on more than ever to cover its electricity needs, as well as outages at France’s vast nuclear power fleet.

Oil prices surged to over $100 per barrel in early trading on March 9, as the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for nearly a week now has led to production shut-ins across the Gulf as storage space for unexported oil runs out. Brent was trading at over $108 per barrel as of 06:30 GMT, up from the early $90s at the close of trading on March 6 and the early $70s prior to the US and Israel launch of strikes against Iran on February 28. As NewsBase warned, Gulf producers are now having to shut down wells because of limited oil storage capacity and limited alternative oil export routes to Hormuz, which typically handles 20mn barrels per day (bpd) of oil flow – equivalent to around a fifth of global supply. Tehran claims it is only restricting passage through Hormuz for Western nations and Israel rather than completely closing the maritime chokepoint. But many other oil tankers are reluctant to pass through the Strait because of the risk of Iranian strikes – intentional or accidental. Iranian forces already targeted two tankers in the early days of the war. Iraq has cut production from its southern fields that export via Hormuz by 70% to only 1.3mn bpd, Reuters reported on March 8, after the country’s storage facilities reached maximum capacity. Its exports also fell sharply to 800,000 bpd, from 3.33mn bpd in February, according to the news agency. Kuwait and the UAE were next to announce production cuts over the weekend, with even larger producers like Saudi Arabia expected to take similar steps if the crisis is not resolved soon. JPMorgan estimated on March 2 that onshore crude storage capacity across Gulf producers amounts to roughly 343mn barrels, equivalent to around 22 days of output that could become stranded if exports are unable to leave the region. In addition, about 60 empty tankers currently in the Gulf could provide temporary floating storage capacity of roughly 50mn barrels “The market is shifting from pricing pure geopolitical risk to grappling with tangible operational disruption,” Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, told clients on March 6. The bank estimates that production cuts could surpass 4mn bpd by the end of this week if Hormuz remains closed. The oil price surge may therefore have only just begun. “Every additional day of disruption adds pressure, and in that scenario there is effectively no ceiling to prices in the short term,” Stefano Grasso, senior portfolio manager at Singapore-based fund 8VantEdge, told Bloomberg. Depending on how it lasts, this may prove to be the biggest disruption in oil markets in history. In comparison to the 20mn bpd of exports affected by the Hormuz blockade, the Iranian Revolution of 1978 only disrupted 5.6mn bpd of supply, while the Yom Kipper war of 1973 hit 4.4mn bpd of exports, the 1990 Iraq-Kuwait war 4.3mn bpd and the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 some 4.0mn bpd. As noted, the alternative export routes for Saudi Arabia and other producers is limited. As NewsBase has reported, Saudi Arabia possesses the greatest logistical flexibility. Its primary contingency relies on the East-West pipeline, which has around 2mn bpd of spare capacity to deliver oil to the Red Sea. But that would still leave 4mn bpd of Saudi exports trapped. Other major producers face significantly shorter timelines. Kuwait lacks any bypass infrastructure, meaning all its exports must transit Hormuz. With limited storage headroom, Wood Mackenzie estimates the country has roughly two weeks of cover before it must slash production. Southern Iraq is similarly exposed; its 3.5mn bpd of exports are entirely dependent on the strait, with storage cover measured in “days, not weeks,” according to Araman. The UAE maintains partial flexibility through the Abu Dhabi oil pipeline, which can move 1.8mn bpd to Fujairah, a terminal located outside the strait. Nevertheless, with total exports exceeding 3.4mn bpd, a substantial volume remains bottlenecked. Araman wrote that ADNOC’s Fujairah storage provides a buffer of roughly two to three weeks, after which Murban crude output must adjust. The $100-per-barrel oil price is perceived as a psychologically significant threshold that when surpassed, could trigger problems for the global economy as well as inflationary pressure. Depending on the duration of Hormuz’s closure, the crisis could erase completely the surplus of global oil supply this year that was anticipated prior to the war. In February, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that global oil production would rise by 2.4mn bpd in 2026, while demand would only grow by 850,000-930,000 bpd, creating a surplus of 1.47-1.55mn bpd.