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A growing number of buyers and importers seeking to secure liquefied natural gas have turned to the United States on Thursday after the latest attack on Qatar’s massive LNG complex further disrupted global fuel supplies, Bloomberg reports.

Companies in need of fuel have begun approaching U.S. producers directly.

This involves reserving volumes both from existing American plants and from projects that are still under construction. Negotiations are at an early stage, as agreeing on the terms of long-term LNG contracts traditionally takes considerable time, sources say.

The United States is already the world’s largest LNG exporter and plans further large-scale expansion. A number of new gas liquefaction plants are in the design or construction phase. Shares of several U.S. LNG producers reacted to the news with solid gains.

The war in Iran and the shutdown of the Qatari complex triggered a surge in gas prices in Europe and Asia. At the same time, prices in the U.S. rose only slightly: existing American LNG terminals are already operating at near full capacity, while domestic shale gas production remains abundant. U.S. plants physically cannot export more than they currently do to immediately meet global demand.

Iran carried out a direct strike on the Ras Laffan complex—the largest LNG facility in the world. Repairs and restoration of capacity could take up to five years. The emirate’s expected financial losses are estimated at around $20 billion in lost revenue annually.

For the global market, this means that a huge volume of supply has been removed from the balance for years, and the only reliable alternative capable of covering this deficit in the medium term will be new U.S. projects.

The Ministry of Finance has published a major tax bill that предусматривает mandatory VAT registration for simplified-tax system entrepreneurs with annual revenues starting from 4 million UAH, taxation of parcels valued up to €150, continuation of the 5% military levy after the war, and the introduction of international automatic exchange of information on income earned via digital platforms (Uklon, OLX, and others).

As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the adoption of the document will allow the state budget to attract an additional approximately 60 billion UAH per year and ensure continued military levy revenues after the end of martial law. The bill complies with Ukraine’s tax obligations under the IMF program.

Simplified-tax entrepreneurs will be required to become VAT payers starting January 1, 2027. For those paying the single tax, it is proposed to set the reporting period as a calendar quarter, as well as to introduce penalty sanctions of 1 UAH for the first five violations during 2027. The bill also allows the issuance of consolidated tax invoices for the supply of goods and services, as well as for receiving advance payments, even if the person is not a VAT payer.

Regarding the military levy, it is proposed that it be paid until a decision by the Verkhovna Rada on the completion of the Armed Forces reform comes into force. For sole proprietors in the first, second, and fourth groups, a rate of 10% of the minimum wage is proposed, while for third-group taxpayers it would be 1% of income.

Income from digital platforms is currently taxed at 18%, but it is proposed to reduce this rate to 5%, and to exempt income up to €2,000 per year from taxation.

For parcels, the bill предусматривает taxation of дистанционно sold goods valued up to €150 that are delivered to individuals via electronic interfaces. Parcels valued up to €45 intended for personal or family use are exempt from VAT.

The bill must be adopted by the end of March in accordance with the terms of the new $8.1 billion EFF program.

The United States Department of the Treasury has updated its license governing transactions involving Russian oil and petroleum products. The new rules prohibit dealings involving Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, according to the official statement.

“This general license does not authorize any transactions involving persons located in or organized under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba, regions of Ukraine subject to Executive Order 14065, the Crimea region of Ukraine as defined in Executive Order 13685, or any entity owned or controlled by such persons or operating as their joint venture,” the document states.

The new License No. 134A replaces the previous one that was in effect from March 12 to April 11, 2026, and introduces additional restrictions.

At the same time, the license allows transactions involving Russian oil and petroleum products that were loaded onto vessels before March 12, 2026.

The general license also permits related operations necessary for the sale and delivery of oil, including safe docking, crew support, emergency repairs, environmental protection measures, as well as vessel management, insurance, and pilotage services.

The Deposit Guarantee Fund of Ukraine announced that the deadlines for open tenders to attract investors for the resolution of insolvent First Investment Bank and Motor-Bank have been extended until March 24.

The decision was made “due to significant market interest.”

The final deadline for reviewing submitted proposals and selecting winners of the open tenders has been moved to March 31.

As of March 17, the deadlines for submitting applications to access the virtual data rooms of the two banks were automatically extended.

“Interest in these banks is very high. Eleven potential buyers have applied for access to review the assets in the virtual data room, and we expect competitive bids at the next stage,” said Deputy Managing Director of the Fund, Viktoriia Stepanets.

According to her, the interested parties include both Ukrainian and international investors seeking to expand their businesses and enter new markets. At the same time, investors must confirm their actual capacity to acquire a bank through pre-qualification and/or approval for acquiring a significant stake from the National Bank of Ukraine.

The number of satellites in the orbital constellation of the global internet coverage system Starlink has exceeded 10,000 units, according to data from developer SpaceX.

Following the launch of another batch of satellites on March 17, the total number reached approximately 10,200 spacecraft.

Since the start of the project in May 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 11,500 internet satellites under the Starlink program. Some of them have failed or deorbited.

Since the beginning of this year alone, SpaceX has deployed 728 Starlink satellites into orbit using Falcon 9 rockets across 27 launches.

In the future, SpaceX plans to expand the constellation to 12,000 satellites to create a full-scale network capable of providing broadband internet access anywhere on Earth. The total investment in the project is estimated at $10 billion.

Currently, the Starlink network covers 160 countries and territories worldwide, providing high-speed internet to more than 10 million active users.

Norway will provide $200 million to Ukraine through the World Bank’s PEACE Project. This was announced by Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko on Telegram.

“We welcome Norway’s decision to provide $200 million in budget support to Ukraine through the World Bank’s PEACE project. We are sincerely grateful for this timely contribution to maintaining macro-financial stability and the uninterrupted functioning of key public services — this is an example of Norway’s leadership and its consistent support for Ukraine during a period of major challenges,” she wrote.

Svyrydenko added that since its launch in 2022, the PEACE project in Ukraine has already mobilized nearly $52 billion, of which $13.4 billion has been allocated for pension payments.

The United States Department of the Treasury has eased oil sanctions against Venezuela amid efforts by the administration of Donald Trump to increase global oil supply due to the war with Iran, according to Associated Press.

The Treasury issued a broad license allowing Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) to sell Venezuelan oil directly to U.S. companies and on global markets.

The White House also announced that Trump would temporarily waive the Jones Act for 60 days, allowing foreign-flagged vessels to transport goods between U.S. ports — a move often linked to efforts to reduce fuel costs.

According to a Treasury official, the license is intended to stimulate new investment in Venezuela’s energy sector and increase global oil supply.

The measure represents a targeted easing rather than a full removal of sanctions. It allows companies that existed before January 29, 2025, to purchase Venezuelan oil and conduct transactions that were previously prohibited under U.S. sanctions, effectively restoring the country’s oil trade on global markets.

The Iraqi state-owned North Oil Company has announced the resumption of oil shipments from fields in Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan after nearly a three-year pause.

“The company stated that operations have resumed via the Saralu pumping station with an initial capacity of 250,000 barrels per day,” the statement said.

A day earlier, the government of Iraq and the authorities of the autonomous Kurdistan Region reached an agreement to restart the pipeline that runs through the region in northern Iraq.

According to Al Jazeera, U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack held talks with Iraqi authorities, which helped facilitate the agreement.

Earlier, oil production in Iraq had dropped from around 4.2 million barrels per day to 1 million barrels per day due to disruptions in supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.