Higher interest rates are unlikely to cause a major systemic risk but anxious investors should be wary of the continued AI-fuelled exuberance in the US stock market. In a note published yesterday, Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said it was “too early” to be sure that higher rates would not cause further fractures in the financial system. Nevertheless, “the chances of a systemic financial event are diminishing,” he argued. Interest rates were near zero for over a decade following... Читать дальше...
The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a “national emergency” following a large offshore oil spill in the eastern Caribbean. “This is a national emergency and therefore it will have to be funded as an extraordinary expense,” Rowley said. “We don’t know the full scope and scale of what is going to be required,” the prime minister added. The oil spill was caused when a vessel overturned near Tobago last week, with the cause of the accident still under investigation, with…
Authored by James Marks via RealClear Wire, Normally a new year brings a renewed focus on getting things done in Washington. But with Congress accomplishing little in 2023 and attentions now shifting to the November elections, it is more prudent than ever that the policy agenda of our nation’s leaders reflect what’s best for our collective future, not politics. Take this administration’s campaign to spread electric-vehicle (EV) technologies. There is no doubt that EVs will be part of America’s future. Читать дальше...
Shareholders in Saudi Aramco will decide whether the world’s largest oil firm will proceed with a new share offering this year, Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said on Monday, as carried by Reuters. Currently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia owns just over 98% of Aramco after selling 1.7% in the initial public offering (IPO) in December 2019. Of the 98% held by the Kingdom, the Saudi government owns 90% of Aramco, while the sovereign wealth fund owns the other 8%. Reports emerged last month that... Читать дальше...
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis fired two missiles at a Greek-operated vessel reportedly carrying corn to Iran through the Red Sea on Monday, causing damage to the vessel but no casualties. The vessel, the Star Iris, failed to escape Houthi attacks near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea despite the fact that its cargo was bound for Iran, with the Houthis describing the vessel as American-owned. The ultimate owner of the vessel is Greek-based Star Bulk Carriers Corp, which is traded on the New York-based NASDAQ stock market. Читать дальше...
UK banking giant Barclays is looking to avoid claims of greenwashing with a new set of guidelines about what ‘transition finance’ is and how its new transition finance team should apply it. The bank, which has just published its ‘Barclays Transition Finance Framework’, says in the document that “As there is no universal consensus as to how to define "transition" activities, for purposes of financings included in our Target, Barclays has developed its own definition of transition finance.” Per Barclays’…
Russian gas giant Gazprom has been awarded the development contract for the supergiant Nasiriyah oil field in Iraq’s strategic southern eastern region close to the main export terminal of Al Fao in Basra. At around the same time, it was announced that China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corp (CPECC) and PetroChina will complete the critically important Halfaya gas project by the end of Q1 this year. The Halfaya field lies 175 kilometres to the northeast of the Nasiriyah oil field and, together with Basra to the south... Читать дальше...
In late January, NATO began what it has called its “largest military exercise since the Cold War.” Steadfast Defender 24 involves 90,000 troops from all 31 alliance members as well as NATO invitee Sweden for four months of maneuvers by land, sea, and air. You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last NATO exercise that involved more troops: Reforger with 125,000. In between, the Trident Juncture exercise in 2018 included 50,000 personnel. While official NATO documents don’t say outright that... Читать дальше...
OPEC’s second-largest producer, Iraq, is committed to its voluntary cut in the OPEC+ agreement and will produce no more than 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on Monday. Iraq, which pumped 4.292 million bpd in December, per OPEC’s secondary sources, is one of several OPEC+ producers who pledged at the end of November to make voluntary cuts to their crude oil production in the first quarter of 2024. Iraq announced a production cut of 223,000 bpd... Читать дальше...
Austria, one of the few EU countries still receiving Russian natural gas by pipeline, is looking to reduce its dependence on Moscow, including by seeking to end a long-term deal that Austria-based energy giant OMV has with Gazprom, Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said on Monday. “Austria has become massively dependent on Russian gas in recent decades. Despite government efforts, the share of Russian natural gas in Austria’s gas import mix remains too high,” said Gewessler, who is part of the Green party... Читать дальше...
The decision of Saudi Arabia to abandon plans to expand its crude oil production capacity is a result of the energy transition, Saudi Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said on Monday. At the end of last month, Saudi Arabia surprised the oil market by announcing a shift in production capacity strategy. State oil giant Aramco said it was ordered by the Kingdom’s leadership to stop work on expanding its maximum sustainable capacity to 13 million barrels per day, instead keeping it at 12 million bpd. Читать дальше...
Governments need to admit that the transition to low-carbon solutions would raise the price of energy globally, TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday. “We think that fundamentally this energy transition will mean a higher price of energy,” Pouyanné told FT, noting that policy makers would be essentially mis-selling the transition if they fail to admit it would entail higher costs for consumers. According to TotalEnergies’s CEO... Читать дальше...
Venezuela has accused neighboring Guyana of issuing illegal exploration licenses to oil companies for the Essequibo region which is under dispute between the two countries. According to Caracas, Georgetown had been issuing “illegal oil concessions ... in a maritime area that is indisputably Venezuelan.” At the end of last week, Caracas made news when it ordered troops to the border with Guyana, which sounded the alarm on the buildup. Venezuela did not deny it but said it had the right to shore up... Читать дальше...
Crude oil began trade this week with a loss after Israel said it was done with bombing southern Gaza for the time being, suggesting a decline in supply disruption risk. Both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were modestly down after trade opened in Asia, with the decline possibly moderated by news of another Houthi attack on a vessel in the Red Sea. However, a recent statement from the Iranian foreign minister added to the downside potential in oil, after the official said “Developments in... Читать дальше...
