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☆ Europe’s A.I. ‘Champion’ Sets Sights on Tech Giants in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Liz Alderman | Adam Satariano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Arthur Mensch, tall and lean with a flop of unkempt hair, arrived for a speech last month at a sprawling tech hub in Paris wearing jeans and carrying a bicycle helmet. Mr. Mensch, 31, is the chief executive and a founder of Mistral, considered by many to be one of the most promising challengers to OpenAI and Google. revolution, the French government has singled out Mistral as its best hope to create a standard-bearer, and has lobbied European Union policymakers to help ensure the firm’s success. should not be dominated by tech giants, like Microsoft and Google, that might forge global standards at odds with the culture and politics of other countries. At stake is the bigger question of which artificial intelligence models will wind up influencing the world, and how they should be regulated.

Persons: Arthur Mensch, Mensch, ” Matt Clifford, Europe scrambles Organizations: Mistral, Google, European Union, Microsoft Locations: Paris, United States, China, France, British, Europe

☆ France's Macron seeks to show he's no lame duck as pension discontent rumbles on
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on in a meeting with JP Morgan CEO during the 5th edition of the "Choose France" Business Summit, in Versailles, southwest of Paris, on July 11, 2022. Around 8,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Toulouse, France, on June 06, 2023, protesting against the government. "They know Macron has no alternative than to rely on them, making it almost impossible to develop the centrist domestic project," he said. This is largely attributable to Macron's agenda," Schmieding said, adding France was replacing Germany was the most dynamic major European economy. French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at a Franco-Chinese business council meeting in Beijing, China April 6, 2023.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Morgan, Ludovic Marin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Macron, Renaud Foucart, Foucart, Les Republicains, Mujtaba Rahman, Rahman, Bruno Le Maire, Elon Musk, Holger Schmieding, Schmieding, Xi Jinping Organizations: Business, Afp, Getty, Nurphoto, Lancaster University, Eurasia Group, Macron, Finance, EU, U.S, Elon Locations: Versailles, Paris, Germany, Union, Toulouse, France, China, Ukraine, Europe, Beijing

☆ U.S. poised to become net exporter of crude oil in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The United States is also the leading liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, where growth is expected to soar in coming years. But the United States consumes 20 million barrels of crude a day, the most in the world, and its output has never exceeded 13 million bpd. Last month, U.S. government data showed net U.S. crude oil imports fell to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest since record keeping began in 2001. To become a net exporter of crude, the United States needs either to boost production or curtail consumption. The U.S. exported an average of 3.1 million bpd of fuels through September this year, EIA data showed, down from the 3.2 million bpd in the same period in 2019.

☆ Winter freeze tests French power grid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Temperatures dropping close to zero in coming days will pose the first real test of the resilience of France's electricity grid amid warnings over possible power cuts, though President Emmanuel Macron urged the French not to panic. "Consumption is set to peak at 80 GW (versus 73 GW on Dec. 5), while wind power is expected to be below normal. Should the nuclear availability remain at 37-38 GW the supply gap risk would be much more acute than today." Meanwhile, further delays on nuclear reactors were announced at the weekend. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsReporting by Ingrid Melander and Forrest Crellin, editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Macron says "no panic" about possible French power cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said there was no reason to panic about possible power cuts this winter, but he called on citizens to use less energy and on state utility EDF to restart nuclear reactors to prevent outages in case of cold weather. In an interview with French TV station TF1 recorded during his state visit to the United States this week, Macron denied that the risk of rolling blackouts was due to inadequate management of EDF's (EDF.PA) nuclear reactor restart programme. It is legitimate for the government to prepare for the extreme cases which would mean cutting off electricity for a few hours per day if we did not have enough power," Macron said. The head of French power grid operator RTE said on Thursday that France may face "some days" of power cuts this winter and the government has started briefing local authorities on how to handle any outages. Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SummarySummary Companies Coal miners struggling to fund expansion plansThermal coal costs more than coking coal after price surgeMost Western bankers pulling back from coal industryLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. At least when it comes to mining coal. With funding hard to come by from Western banks, coal miners outside China have turned more to equity markets this year. "With regard to thermal coal mining, any transaction in coal mining requires an enhanced environmental risk review," a Deutsche spokesperson said, adding that the bank was updating its coal policy. Bens Creek listed shares partly because of the lack of appetite from banks to support any expansion of coal mining, chief executive Wilson said.

☆ Oil-Shipping Costs Soar as Ukraine War Reshapes Global Trade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( David Uberti | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A surge in the cost of shipping oil between the world’s ports is buoying energy prices, even as a gloomy economic outlook has dragged down crude near its lowest levels of the year. Economic fallout from the war in Ukraine has severed many of the short oil- and petroleum-product trading routes across the Baltic and North seas. Now, as Europe scrambles to find new suppliers and Russia looks to send exports elsewhere, tankers are spending more time on water before reaching their destinations.

☆ US gas supplies won't be enough to fill the gaping hole Russia left in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US natural gas won't fill the gaping hole Russia left behind in Europe, according to BloombergNEF. "The year-on-year increase is not sufficient to offset a total cut in Russian piped supply," BNEF said. But that's set to tighten dramatically as US gas production starts to dry up: exports are expected to fall below expectations for the next two years, with just a 12% year-per-year increase. It means gas exports to Europe are expected to only be "a fraction" of what's consumed next summer, spelling even more trouble for skyrocketing energy prices. The European benchmark price for electricity, which is largely fueled by natural gas, has jumped over 1000% higher than what prices were a year ago.

PARIS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - EDF (EDF.PA) is expecting a hit of around 32 billion euros ($32.18 billion) to its full-year core earnings from lower nuclear production, a bigger loss than previously estimated and its sixth profit warning this year. The group, which is in the process of being fully nationalised, confirmed nuclear output would come in at the lower end of a previously announced 280-300 terawatt-hours range - a 30-year low. In September, EDF had forecast a hit to its earnings of 29 billion euros due to lower production. The combination of lower output and capped electricity prices means EDF is set to end the year with a big loss. The company's core earnings or EBITDA in 2021 came in at 18 billion euros.

A farmer spreads nitrogen fertilizer in his wheat field in Blecourt, France, May 27, 2021. Russia, under financial sanctions, is a major producer of fertilizer and natural gas, key in making nitrogen products to boost yields of corn and other crops. Since Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, Europe started weaning itself off Russian natural gas and a pipeline transporting ammonia from Russia to a Ukraine port shut down. European countries typically buy most of their imported urea, a form of nitrogen fertilizer, from North Africa, but are now purchasing it further afield, Wallace said. EU nitrogen prices eased in mid-October as some European plants resumed production due to softening natural gas prices, he said.

☆ Asia's energy supply looks secure — even as Europe scrambles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Tuesday, the EU steered away from a proposed price cap on Russian gas as it laid out new measures to tackle high energy prices. Overall LNG imports fell 7% year-on-year. Overall LNG imports fell 7% year-on-year. The decrease in LNG imports for Japan, Pakistan and India were 17%, 73% and 22% respectively, the IEA said. However, there is a clear increase month on month of coal power generation," IEEFA energy finance analyst Ghee Peh said.

☆ US stocks trade mixed as investors struggle to regain momentum ahead of earnings deluge and inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US stocks ended mixed Tuesday ahead of a slew of corporate earnings and key inflation data. The S&P 500 notched its fifth straight loss and the Nasdaq dropped more than 1%. Stocks could see another 5% sell-off Thursday if September inflation clocks in above 8.3%, JP Morgan warned. The S&P 500 saw its fifth-day of straight losses. Thursday's inflation report will be a key moment for US stocks, JPMorgan said Tuesday in a note.

☆ TotalEnergies to ramp up LNG production, pay special dividend
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) plans to increase net investments and ramp up production of liquefied natural gas as Europe scrambles to find alternative energy supplies to Russia. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIt said it would grow sales of LNG by 3% a year through 2027 and increase LNG production by 40% from 2021 to 2030. The group at the weekend announced a big investment in an LNG facility in Qatar as it seeks to diversify away from Russia. The company also said it would maintain its $7 billion share buy-back program for 2022 and pay a special interim dividend of 1 euro per share in December of this year. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Benjamin Mallet, writing by Silvia Aloisi, editing by Richard LoughOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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