DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ EU Commission allocates $1.3 bln to tackle mental health 'silent epidemic'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 7 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it would allocate 1.23 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to mental health initiatives across the 27-member European Union and make mental health a pillar of health policy. "Today marks a new beginning for a comprehensive, prevention-oriented and multi-stakeholder approach to mental health at EU level," Stella Kyriakides, EU Commissioner for health and food safety, said in a statement. "We need to break down stigma and discrimination so that those in need can reach out and receive the support they need. The Commission said mental health problems already impacted around 84 million people before the COVID-19 pandemic with an economic cost of about 600 billion euro a year, or 4% of the bloc's GDP. At a press conference, Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas called it a "silent epidemic" and said the topic was the last piece in the European Health Union "puzzle".

Persons: Stella Kyriakides, Margaritis Schinas, Julia Payne, Mark Potter Organizations: European, European Union, EU, European Health Union, Mental Health, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Ukraine, EU

Saudi's energy ministry said the country's output would drop to 9 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from around 10 million bpd in May, the biggest reduction in years. "This is a Saudi lollipop," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz told a news conference. EXTENSION TO END OF 2024OPEC+ has in place cuts of 3.66 million bpd, amounting to 3.6% of global demand, including 2 million bpd agreed last year and voluntary cuts of 1.66 million bpd agreed in April. In addition to extending the existing OPEC+ cuts of 3.66 million bpd, the group also agreed on Sunday to reduce overall production targets from January 2024 by a further 1.4 million bpd versus current targets to a combined of 40.46 million bpd. By contrast, the United Arab Emirates was allowed to raise output targets by around 0.2 million bpd to 3.22 million bpd.

Persons: Prince Abdulaziz, Brent, Amrita Sen, Gary Ross, Giovanni Staunovo, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, David Holmes, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Saudi, UAE, Saudi Energy, Organization of, Petroleum, Brent, OPEC, Analysts, Energy, Veteran OPEC, Black Gold, UBS, United Arab, Thomson Locations: Russian, Angolan, VIENNA, Saudi Arabia, OPEC, Saudi, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Angola, United Arab Emirates

ABUJA, June 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC Ltd is winding down crude swap contracts with traders and will pay cash for gasoline imports, its chief executive told Reuters, adding that private companies could begin importing petrol as soon as this month. And we now have an arm's-length process where we can pay cash for the imports," Kyari told Reuters in an interview late on Saturday. This is the first time NNPC has said it is terminating crude swap contracts. In its report detailing March crude oil loadings, NNPC also allocated crude to the swap contracts held by the consortiums. Nigeria has struggled to meet its OPEC oil quota of 1.742 million bpd due to grand oil theft and illegal refining.

Persons: Bola Tinubu's, Tinubu, NNPC, Kyari, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Camillus Eboh, Julia Payne, Susan Fenton Organizations: NNPC, Reuters, Dangote Refinery, Thomson Locations: ABUJA, Nigeria, Ukraine, Dangote, NNPC, Vienna

Four sources familiar with OPEC+ discussions have told Reuters that additional production cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday's session. Three out of four sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd, announced in a surprise move in April and which took effect in May. If approved, the new cut would take the total volume of reductions to 4.66 million bpd, or around 4.5% of global demand. Typically, production cuts take effect the month after they are agreed but ministers could also agree a later implementation. Three OPEC+ sources also said the group will address the issue of baselines for 2023 and 2024, from which each member performs cuts.

Persons: Prince Abdulaziz, Sunday's, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Hugh Lawson, Emelia Organizations: OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, Thomson Locations: VIENNA, Nigeria, Angola, OPEC, Russia, West, UAE, Ukraine, China, India

Three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday's session, when OPEC+ ministers gather at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Vienna. The sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd, announced in a surprise move in April and which took effect in May. If approved, this would take the total volume of reductions to 4.66 million bpd, or around 4.5% of global demand. The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to rise further in the second half of 2023, potentially boosting oil prices. "There is simply too much supply," the JPMorgan analysts said in a note, noting extra cuts could amount to around 1 million bpd.

Persons: Leonhard, Russia's Novak, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Suhail Al Mazroui, Prince Abdulaziz, Alexander Novak, Novak, Edward Moya, OANDA, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, David Holmes Organizations: Austrian, REUTERS, LONDON, OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, UAE's Energy, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, International Energy Agency, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Austria, Saudi, OPEC, Russia, Ukraine, China, India, Russian

Three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday that cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday's session. The three sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd, announced in a surprise move in April and which took effect in May. If approved, this would take the total volume of reductions to 4.66 million bpd, or around 4.5% of global demand. Typically production cuts take effect the month after they are agreed, but ministers could also agree a later implementation. Two OPEC sources said the ministers could also discuss new production baselines from which each member performs cuts.

Persons: Leonhard, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Suhail Al Mazroui, Prince Abdulaziz, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, David Holmes, Frances Kerry, Christina Fincher Organizations: Austrian, REUTERS, OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, UAE's Energy, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, International Energy Agency, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Austria, Saudi, OPEC, VIENNA, Russia, Ukraine, China, India, West, Nigeria, Angola, UAE

☆ OPEC denies media access to Reuters, Bloomberg, WSJ for weekend policy meets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerVIENNA, June 2 (Reuters) - OPEC has denied media access to reporters from Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal to report on oil policy meetings in Vienna this weekend, reporters, Bloomberg and people familiar with the matter said on Friday. OPEC staff declined on Friday to give media accreditation to Reuters journalists to cover the event. The staff handling media accreditation at one of Vienna's luxury hotels said they could not issue accreditation without an invite. A Bloomberg spokesperson confirmed on Friday the company has not been given accreditation to cover the OPEC meeting. Reporters from the three outlets, many of whom have been covering OPEC meetings for years, did not receive invitations from OPEC ahead of the meeting.

Persons: Leonhard Foeger VIENNA, Platts, Alex Lawler, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Ahmad Ghaddar, Julia Payne, Maha El, Simon Webb, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Organization of, Petroleum, REUTERS, OPEC, Reuters, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, of, Thomson Reuters Corp, Thomson, Street, Argus Locations: Vienna, Austria, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, Russia

Three OPEC+ sources said cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday, when OPEC+ ministers gather at 2 p.m. in Vienna (1200 GMT). The sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd that was announced in a surprise move in April. Earlier, two OPEC+ sources said they did not expect the group to agree further cuts. "We will never hesitate to take any decision to achieve more balance and stability (on) the global oil market," Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on arriving in Vienna. The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to rise further in the second half of 2023, potentially boosting oil prices.

Persons: JP Morgan, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Prince Abdulaziz, Alexander Novak, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Kirsten Donovan, Barbara Lewis, Marguerita Choy Organizations: OPEC, Reuters, Organization of, Petroleum, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, International Energy Agency, JP, Rapidan Energy Group, Thomson Locations: Saudi, VIENNA, Russia, OPEC, Vienna, Russian

April 24 (Reuters) - Iraq's northern oil exports showed few concrete signs of an imminent restart after a month of standstill, as aspects of an agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have yet to be resolved, according to four sources. Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, signed a temporary agreement on April 4 to restart northern oil exports. The KRG and Iraq's oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Iraq's lack of willingness to discuss these issues has frustrated Turkey, according to one source. Fields which are still running include Khurmala, which has reduced output from around 135,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd, according to a source familiar with field operations.

☆ UK, Netherlands plan cross-border power link to boost energy security
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 24 (Reuters) - The Netherlands and Britain plan to build what would be Europe's biggest cross-border electricity link connected to an offshore wind farm, their energy ministers said on Monday, part of efforts to boost energy security. "This new connection further boosts energy security and energy independence in Europe," Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten said in a statement. Britain and the Netherlands currently have one power interconnector, the 1GW BritNed link. The countries' leaders will commit to rapidly building wind farms and developing energy "islands", or connected offshore green power generation sites, according to a draft of their summit declaration seen by Reuters. The countries, which also include Germany, France and Norway, aim to develop a combined 120 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, the draft said.

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - A suspension of Kurdistan's oil exports has halted repayments via crude cargoes of $6 billion owed to energy traders including Vitol and Petraco by the semi-autonomous Iraqi region, trading sources told Reuters. The suspension means Kurdistan cannot repay debts with crude oil supplies and alternative schemes have not been put in place. "Let's work out a breakthrough to the oil exports issue and then other issues could be addressed under less pressure," he said. An Iraqi oil ministry legal adviser familiar with the discussions with Kurdistan said Baghdad wants to run oil exports via its state marketing firm SOMO and wants oil sales revenues to be deposited in an independent bank account. Another Iraqi oil ministry official said no progress has been yet made on the debt issue.

☆ Exclusive: Gunvor to expand in United States after strong profits - CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Gunvor on hiring kick, to expand in U.S. power, oil and LNGCEO says Europe only covered half of missing Russian gasCEO has been in dialogue with ADNOCLAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 21 (Reuters) - Energy trader Gunvor made strong profits last year and is looking to expand its oil trading and develop a significant power trading arm in the United States, its CEO told Reuters. Gunvor, traditionally focused on oil and gas, metals and bulk commodities, has in recent years also begun trading power in Europe. Tornqvist said the firm's traded oil and LNG volumes are more than 3 million barrels per day of oil equivalent. "We are looking at whether to take a provision on our books for 2022," Tornqvist said. As co-founder of Gunvor, Tornqvist remains the majority owner of the company but his stake slipped to 85.7% at the end of 2022, down from 88.4% year-on-year.

☆ Goldman Sachs expects commodities supercycle
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 21 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs expects a commodities supercycle driven by China and the capital flight from energy markets and investment this month after concerns triggered by the banking sector, the U.S. bank's head of commodities said. "As losses mounted, it spilled into commodities," Jeff Currie, global head of commodities for Goldman Sachs, told the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit on Tuesday. Currie emphasised the hit was to the supply side rather than demand and he remains very bullish on copper. We have peak supply occuring in 2024...Near term we put (the copper price) at $10,500 and longer term our price target is $15,000 a tonne." Copper hit a record high $10,845 in March 2022.

☆ Citadel sees limited impact on energy demand from banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. hedge fund Citadel expects a tighter credit environment following the latest banking crisis but so far the economic decline is not enough to plunge commodities into the abyss, its head of commodities told Reuters. The hedge fund giant, which was based in Chicago but recently moved to Miami, manages roughly $60 billion in assets. We need to have a 5-6% global GDP cut to have a major impact on commodities," he said. Citadel, run by billionaire Ken Griffin, ended 2022 with a $16 billion gain last year, the biggest profit ever earned by a hedge fund. "The macro backdrop remains an unanswered question as OPEC assesses impact on demand.

☆ G7 to hold off revising Russian oil price cap this week - EU officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - Group of Seven Nations are not likely to revise a price cap on Russian oil this week, two European Union officials told Reuters on Monday. The G7 measure bans companies from providing transportation, insurance and financing services for Russian crude oil and oil products if they are sold at a price above the cap. In addition, the 27-country European Union halted its own imports of Russian crude oil delivered by sea from Dec. 5. The United States and Britain have also imposed restrictions on Russian oil imports. Some EU countries including Poland have sought to lower the G7 price cap level to further restrict the revenue Moscow can use to fund the war in Ukraine.

☆ Exclusive: State-backed Chinese fund buys stake in energy trader Mercuria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Julia Payne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A subsidiary of China's CNIC Corp has bought a minority stake in Swiss-based global energy trader Mercuria, sources familiar with the matter said. China's top oil producer CNOOC was in 2022 preparing to sell its stakes in assets in Britain, Canada and the United States. The CNIC subsidiary bought the stake of just under 5% in Mercuria last year, the sources said. The unit that bought into Mercuria is focused on China's energy transition and provides a foothold for Mercuria in the country as the Geneva-based trader seeks to expand its presence in clean energy sources. Founded in 2004, Mercuria is among the top five global oil traders, moving around two million barrels per day of crude oil and refined products.

[1/2] The main deck of the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) "Neptune" is seen during the official commissioning of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal "Deutsche Ostsee" at the harbour in Lubmin, Germany, January 14, 2023. John Macdougall/Pool via REUTERSLONDON/FRANKFURT, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Germany and Oman are in advanced talks to sign a long-term deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) lasting at least 10 years as Berlin continues its search for alternatives to Russian fuel supplies, three sources familiar with the matter said. Europe has been scrambling to replace Russian gas since last year against a backdrop of war in Ukraine, with state-run Gazprom (GAZP.MM) progressively reducing and then suspending the lion's share of pipeline supplies to Europe. Germany has been holding talks for months with the world's biggest LNG producer Qatar for additional supplies, but negotiations have been lengthy. While supply deals with Qatar would be positive for Germany, they would not offer an immediate solution to Berlin's energy crisis.

Companies Bp Azerbaijan FollowBp Plc FollowLONDON/BAKU, Feb 8 (Reuters) - BP Azerbaijan has declared force majeure on loadings of Azeri crude from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, after a series of earthquakes on Monday, the company said on Wednesday. The notice was issued to oil shippers following a temporary suspension of loading operations from the Ceyhan Marine Terminal (CMT), BP Azerbaijan spokeswoman Tamam Bayatly told Reuters by email. BP Azerbaijan operates the Azerbaijan and Georgia sections of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Azerbaijan uses the Turkish port of Ceyhan as its main crude export hub, with a flow of about 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Iraqi crude pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan oil export hub resumed flows on Tuesday evening and a tanker docked to load Iraqi crude at Ceyhan earlier in the day.

A massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria early on Monday had halted operations at Ceyhan and stopped key crude oil flows from Iraq and Azerbaijan. A trading source said the vessel was given the all clear to load Iraqi oil from storage. While Iraqi crude flows and exports have resumed, exports of Azeri crude were still stopped. The Azeri BTC pipeline was however still working and sending oil to storage in Ceyhan, two sources said. The Alfa Baltica and the Nordlotus tankers were waiting in the area for the Azeri crude BTC terminal at Ceyhan to reopen.

☆ Western tankers ramp up Russian oil shipments under price cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Group of Seven nations (G7), Australia and the 27 European Union countries placed a price limit on Russian crude oil of $60 per barrel on Dec. 5. The cap allows non-EU countries to import seaborne Russian crude oil, but prohibits Western shipping and insurance companies from handling cargoes of the crude unless it is sold at or below that price. Russia has said it will not accept an oil price cap. GREEK RELIEFGreek-owned ships run by Greek management firms handled at least 21 voyages of Russian crude in January to a range of destinations. NGM said its tanker, the Ace, had discharged crude oil in Bulgaria.

Brent <LCOc1> futures fell 94 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $84.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 70 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at 79.48. Markets at first reacted positively to U.S. data, which showed retail sales and manufacturing production declined more than forecast in December, on hopes the Fed would now ease up on interest rate hikes. Supporting oil prices early in the session, China reported economic data that beat forecasts after the country started rolling back its zero-COVID policy in early December. Rystad said the losses were at about 500,000 barrels per day and that India and China remain key buyers of Russian crude.

Summary China's reopening set to drive record 2023 oil demand -IEAChinese oil demand to rebound in 2023 -OPECRecord U.S. shale oil output seen in Feb -EIAAPI reports due at 4.30 p.m. ET (2130 GMT)LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday to their highest since early December on optimism that the lifting of China's strict COVID-19 curbs will lead to a fuel demand recovery in the world's top oil importer. China's economic growth slowed sharply to 3% in 2022, missing the official target of "around 5.5%" and marking its second-worst performance since 1976. Analysts polled by Reuters see 2023 growth rebounding to 4.9%. But OPEC kept its 2023 global demand growth forecast unchanged.

Brent futures rose 72 cents, or 0.8%, to $86.64 a barrel by 11:46 a.m. EST (1646 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 94 cents, or 1.2%, to $81.12. But the data still beat analysts' forecasts after China started rolling back its zero-COVID policy in early December. The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in China is set to boost global oil demand to a record high this year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), while price cap sanctions on Russia could dent supply. A report showing U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in December provided some counterintuitive support for oil prices. A weaker dollar can boost demand for oil, as dollar-denominated commodities become cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Montfort has emerged as the top bidder for Uniper Energy's oil refinery in the UAE that produces low-sulphur fuel oil for the shipping industry, multiple sources familiar with the matter said this week. The companies are finalising the deal, some of the sources said, although one source said the deal has been closed. Other companies that were also in the running were Vitol and BB Energy, the sources said. The Fujairah plant processes mainly African sweet, or low-sulphur, crude oil, producing about 5 million tonnes per year of very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), according to Uniper and Refinitiv data. Montfort has a bunker supplier licence in Fujairah under the entity of Montfort Trading FZE.

The sale of the plant to a consortium, led by Cypriot private equity firm G.O.I. The sale process is in contrast to Germany's confiscation of Rosneft's Schwedt refinery and Gazprom Germania, or Russia's takeover of Sakhalin 1 from Exxon Mobil (XOM.N). Energy is run by Michael Bobrov, who is also CEO of Israeli firm Green Oil that holds a major stake in Israel's biggest refiner Bazan Group. The deal marks an expansion into the refining sector for Trafigura that concluded a similar deal with Prax in 2021 for a refinery in Britain. Trafigura also holds a 3% stake in Italian refiner Saras, an indirect stake in India's major Nayara refinery and runs two small refineries via its subsidiary Puma Energy.

Search resuls for: "Julia Payne"

25 mentions found