Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to another really brisk newsday.

PSA- Drive safely this morning: We’re in for thick fog at times on the roads leading in and out of Cairo today, with more foggy mornings ahead as we wrap up the week, the national weather service forecasts. Keep an eye out for weekend weather updates: We could see “unstable” conditions including rainfall and a drop in temperatures across most parts of the country. Until then, though, we’re looking at daytime highs of 20°C and nighttime lows of 9-10°C.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

Expect news from the oil and gas sector to ramp up today and tomorrow as the Egypt Petroleum Show (Egyps) continues at the Egypt International Exhibition Center. Here’s the SparkNotes / Cliff Notes / Coles Notes (take your pick, based on geographical location and age…) from Day 1:

The Russia-Ukraine conflict was the elephant in the room at yesterday’s kick-off. Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said Egyptian-Russian relations in the energy sector are “excellent,” and he hopes that “cooperation and the Russian presence will only intensify,” in comments to Russian state news agency Tass. BP CEO Bernard Looney said events in Russia would not impact the oil and gas giant’s operations in the country. Meanwhile, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei pinned spiraling oil prices on “geopolitical tensions” rather than a fundamental supply / demand imbalance that would justify accelerated output increases from OPEC+.

Israel’s reception also made headlines: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi made a point of personally greeting Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar at the conference —- spurring Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet to tweet that the gesture “touched us all.” This is the first time Israel has been invited to the major regional gas conference, which has met four times before. The Times of Israel and The Algemeiner took note of the gesture.

Also worth noting: Apache is aiming to raise its output in Egypt to 15%, up from 10% currently, CEO and President John Christmann told Sky News Arabia, according to Reuters.

Steel license bidding today: Companies will place their final bids for six new steel manufacturing licenses from the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) today, according to Amwal Al Ghad, which also quoted sources as saying that 12 companies approached the IDA in November to get terms booklets for the licenses.

Probably: The deadline could be extended after the IDA came under pressure from a number of potential bidders to review the license prices, Amwal Al Ghad reports, citing unnamed industry insiders. Steel manufacturers called on the IDA to slash license prices in an inquiry session in December.

ALSO- It’s the final day of the Arab sustainable development week. Some 400 participants including the EU, World Bank and other institutions are chewing over how to tackle in a sustainable way the development challenges of the Arab world.

AND- Orange Ventures’ deadline to receive applications from seed-stage fintech startups for its seed challenge is also today.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- Ukraine is remaining stoic in the face of a potential Russian invasion that Western officials continue to say could be imminent. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukrainians to wave the country's flags from buildings and sing the national anthem to mark a “day of unity” tomorrow, Reuters reports. Some Western media had reported US intelligence claims that Russia would be ready to attack by tomorrow, a claim about which Zelenskiy is skeptical and which he has characterized as fear mongering.

The US, on the other hand, still thinks the threat is very real: The US has moved its embassy in Kyiv to Liviv, near the Polish border, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, citing a "dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces."

While Russia insists it wants to talk: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat said negotiations were “far from exhausted” during a series of televised meetings held by Putin in which he appeared to suggest that Russia is still aiming for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

And the markets don’t know what to think: US stocks took a nosedive before regaining some of their losses yesterday, with the S&P 500 sinking as much as 1.2% before ending the session down 0.4%, as contradicting news on Ukraine spurred volatility. European markets took the brunt of the losses, with the German and French bourses dropping by more than 2%, the Financial Times reports.

Oil prices surged on the news: International benchmark Brent crude settled up 2.2% at USD 96.48, after hitting an eight-year high during trading, Reuters reports. Oil is looking ever more likely to breach the USD 100-per-barrel mark — and if it does so by the end of February, that could add another half-percentage point to inflation across the US and Europe in the second half of the year, Bloomberg reports.

ACROSS THE POND- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergency Act for the first time since the old “war measures act” was rebranded and redrafted a generation ago, Canada’s CBC reports. Trudeau’s government will use the powers in a limited manner to keep open border crossings closed by a motley crew of protesters out to picket pandemic restrictions (and spout QAnon and other nonsense). Officials are also expected to use the new, temporary powers to clear some streets in Ottawa, the nation’s capital, presently occupied by demonstrators.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

A call for tech startups: The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and US-based VC firm Plug and Play have launched an incubator and accelerator program for digital transformation-focused startups in partnership with our friends at USAID. The newly launched “Smart Cities” innovation hub will select 20-30 Egypt-based companies for its inaugural three-month program, which starts in March. Startups can apply here before applications close on 28 February.

PSA- Your commute is about to get worse. Public universities begin the second term of their 2021-2022 academic year this Saturday, 19 February.

The Nebu Expo for Gold and Jewelry 2022 kicks off this Saturday, 19 February and wraps on Monday, 21 February.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We break down the new electricity tariffs for electric vehicles announced by the government last week, and get the industry’s reaction.