The UK and European nations may experience a GDP contraction for the year if the Strait of Hormuz does not resume full operations by October, due to anticipated surges in oil and gas prices amid the US-Iran conflict.
QatarEnergy has extended a force majeure notice, withholding four additional LNG cargoes for Italy's Adriatic LNG terminal until early September. This brings the total affected cargoes to 21, impacting approximately 2.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
The finance ministry has said the West Asia conflict should be treated as a 'war' to invoke the force majeure clause in public contracts, allowing 2-4 month extensions without penalties. The department of expenditure issued an office memorandum enabling relief for companies whose contractual obligations were affected by supply chain disruptions from Feb 27 onwards. Sectors including defence, drone manufacturing, fertiliser and chemicals will benefit.
Kuwait's declaration of force majeure on crude oil shipments will have limited impact on South Korea as the country has already secured alternative supplies amounting to 70 million barrels for May, representing about 80% of usual monthly imports, amid the ongoing Middle East crisis affecting the Strait of Hormuz.
The ongoing ISL season has seen significant imbalances, with bottom-placed Mohammedan Sporting playing far fewer home games than rivals such as East Bengal. Many other clubs have also been displaced from their home venues. With relegation now in effect, these inequalities could have serious consequences for affected clubs, raising questions about fairness despite no formal force majeure ruling.
