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☆ Italy's Enel to build solar pv cell & panel factory in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Enel SpA FollowMILAN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Italian utility Enel (ENEI.MI) said on Thursday it would build a solar photovoltaic (PV) cell & panel manufacturing facility in the United States. The factory is expected to initially produce at least 3 gigawatt (GW) and scale up to 6 GW of high-performance bifacial PV modules and cells annually, the group said in a statement. Construction of the factory is expected to begin in the first half of 2023 and the first panel will be produced and available to the market by the end of 2024. Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Gianluca SemeraroOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Antonio ParrinelloROME, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Italy's efforts to secure financing to keep an Italian oil refinery owned by Lukoil up and running despite new sanctions on Russia kicking in next month have hit obstacles, three people close to the matter said. Lukoil is not under sanctions, but ISAB suppliers and lenders had been wary of dealings with a Russian entity following the Ukraine conflict. A sale to non-Russian buyers would avert the closure of the ISAB plant, which directly employs some 1,000 workers. Lukoil could provide temporary funding for ISAB, based on the minutes of a ministerial meeting held on Oct. 17 to discuss ISAB financing. Rome is also considering buying a minority stake in the refinery to protect Italian interests, one of the sources said.

☆ TIM top investor Vivendi keen to discuss network plan with government, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's (TIM) (TLIT.MI) top investor Vivendi (VIV.PA) is keen to start talks with Italy's new right-wing government on a new plan to create a national broadband company, people close to the French media conglomerate said on Sunday. The potential sale was part of a plan sponsored by the previous government to combine TIM's fixed network assets with those of smaller broadband operator Open Fiber in order to create a national network champion under CDP control. However, regulatory and valuations issues have thwarted efforts so far and the project to create a single network company is now being reassessed by the new government, which was sworn in last month. Butti had previously called on CDP to pursue the single network project taking over TIM, under a plan dubbed "Minerva". Under the plan, TIM would retain the network while hiving off its services operations and its Brazil-listed unit to cut its debt pile.

☆ German-flagged charity vessel refuses to leave Italian port
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Francesca Landini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A German-flagged charity vessel refused to leave the Sicilian port of Catania on Sunday, after Italian authorities said not all the migrants it was carrying could disembark, the NGO responsible for the vessel said. Migrants wait to be rescued by crew members of NGO rescue ship 'Ocean Viking' in the Mediterranean Sea, October 26, 2022. Camille Martin Juan/Sos Mediterranee/Handout via REUTERSThe German NGO said that 35 migrants left onboard were in poor health and had fled "inhuman conditions" in Libya. A second charity vessel that had asked Rome for a safe port to disembark 572 migrants has just docked in Catania, the press officer for the Geo Barents ship told Reuters. "Selective and partial disembark, as proposed by the Italian authorities, is not to be considered legal under maritime law conventions," said international NGO Medicins sans Frontieres, which runs Geo Barents ship.

☆ Italy to scrutinise sale of Lukoil-owned refinery, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The ISAB refinery accounts for around 20% of Italy's refinery capacity and directly employs 1,000 workers in one of Italy's poorer regions. Rome has special anti-takeover regulations or so-called "golden powers" to shield companies deemed of strategic importance from foreign interest. Marking a break with previous administrations, Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government has used golden powers to set conditions on scores of deals. Urso has recently said that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration would continue to use such a rules to preserve the country's national interest. Last month Italian authorities provided Lukoil with a "comfort letter" to help ISAB refinery get bank financing to buy non-Russian oil but lenders have not yet unlocked the much-needed funds.

☆ Seven feared dead in helicopter crash in southern Italy, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A helicopter flying from Italy's Tremiti islands to the mainland crashed on Saturday some 50 kilometres from the city of Foggia, in the southern-east region of Apulia, police said, adding seven people were feared dead in the accident. A spokeswoman for the police's office in Foggia told Reuters that weather conditions were bad but added that the cause of the accident was still unknown. Police were working to reach the site, the spokeswoman said, adding that the nationalities of the victims were not clear at the moment. "On board the helicopter were seven people who all lost their lives. Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gas business helps Italy's Eni to beat expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Francesca Landini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Adjusted net profit in the period came in at 3.73 billion euros ($3.72 billion), soaring from 1.43 billion euros a year ago, and beating a 3.21 billion euro consensus. The state-controlled group raised its full-year expectations for the gas & LNG division and for the downstream business. "Eni has reported strong numbers this morning, with adjusted EBIT and net income coming in ahead of consensus," analysts from RBC Europe said. REPLACING RUSSIAEni will replace at least 50% of its Russian gas supply this winter, leveraging its broad and diversified reserve base, its long-standing relationships with producing countries and a growing presence in liquefied natural gas (LNG), it said. Looking at the different businesses of the group, the gas and LNG division stands out.

☆ Global oil giants rake in massive profits in third quarter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oil companies booked billions of dollars in profits as prices for crude, natural gas and fuels like gasoline hovered near record levels during the quarter. The soaring profits are feeding criticism from consumer groups in the United States and Europe as inflation climbs. Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. major, reported nearly $20 billion in revenue, exceeding expectations and surpassing its previous record set in the second quarter. Chevron earned $11.2 billion, nearly doubling the $6.1 billion from the same period last year. The strong results out of Europe followed Shell's $9.5 billion profit reported Thursday, putting it on track to surpass its record set in 2008.

Lukoil's ISAB refinery in Sicily stands to be hit by an embargo on seaborne Russian oil that comes into force on Dec. 5, putting at risk jobs in Italy's poorer south and the country's refining capacity. Although Lukoil is not affected by the sanctions, the ISAB plant has been forced to rely solely on Russian oil after creditor banks halted financing and stopped providing guarantees the refinery needs to buy oil from alternative suppliers. The sources said the government was trying to find ways to ensure the plant can receive financing from lenders and remain operational. The goal is to allow ISAB to buy elsewhere the oil it needs, two of the sources said. A sale to non-Russian buyers would avert the closure of the ISAB plant, which accounts for around 20% of Italian refining capacity and directly employs some 1,000 workers.

The spot where a floating storage and regasification unit will be set up is seen in front of the port city of Piombino, Italy, October 20, 2022. Such a big-scale project will help Italy avert a supply crunch it could otherwise face next winter, but keep it hooked on gas for longer, slowing down its transition to renewable energy. A new rightist government, widely expected to be led by Giorgia Meloni, could be sworn in as soon as next week, with no sign that Rome's line on Piombino project - endorsed by Italy's industrial lobby Confindustria - could be changed. With little domestic gas production and a ban on nuclear power generation, Italy heavily relies on imports for its energy needs. Some local and environmental grassroots associations and unions gathered in Piombino on Thursday for a rally against the project.

☆ Bank of Italy clears Benetton-Blackstone's bid for Atlantia
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Italian infrastructure group Atlantia is seen outside its headquarters in Rome, Italy, October 5, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoMILAN, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The Bank of Italy has cleared a multi-billion euro buyout bid for infrastructure group Atlantia (ATL.MI) proposed by the Benetton family and U.S. fund Blackstone , the two bidders said in a statement on Wednesday. read moreThe bid heralds a new phase for Atlantia which sold its domestic motorway unit earlier this year to draw a line under a political dispute sparked by a deadly bridge collapse in 2018. The Benetton family, which already owns 33% of Atlantia, and Blackstone need to get the final go ahead from Italy's market watchdog Consob before they can launch the bid on the stock market. The proposed bid needed Bank of Italy's greenlight because the central bank oversees some activities of Atlantia's digital toll payment unit Telepass.

The logo of German energy utility company Uniper SE is pictured in the company's headquarters in Duesseldorf, Germany, March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Thilo SchmuelgenLONDON/FRANKFURT, Sept 19 (Reuters) - German utilities RWE (RWEG.DE) and Uniper (UN01.DE) are close to striking long-term deals to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar's North Field Expansion project to help replace Russian gas, three sources familiar with the matter said. Qatar Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Uniper told Reuters on Monday that it remained in talks with Qatar but had not reached a deal. read moreGULF TRIPAt the moment, the two utilities buy LNG from Qatar on the spot market.

☆ Factbox: Europe's efforts to shield households from soaring energy costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Without the measure, average home energy bills were tipped to reach over 3,500 pounds a year in October with forecasts of much higher bills to come. CZECH REPUBLICThe Czech government has agreed to cap electricity and gas prices next year to shield households from soaring prices. ITALYItaly approved an aid package worth some 14 billion euros ($14 billion) in September to shield firms and families from surging energy costs. The measures came on top of some 52 billion euros already budgeted since January to soften the energy crisis in Italy. NORWAYNorway has been subsidising household electricity bills since December and now covers 80% of the portion of power bills above a certain rate.

One of the sources said the bid could be announced before Saturday, as the two partners rush for taking the Italian infrastructure group private after an unsolicited approach by a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Brookfield. Benettons' holding company Edizione, which controls Atlantia with a 33% stake, and Blackstone are expected to set up a new company that will launch the offer for the infrastructure group, the sources said. In March, GIP, Brookfield and Spain's ACS (ACS.MC) approached the Benettons with a proposal to buy the infrastructure group, they said last week. "Edizione and Blackstone are not currently discussing any plan to involve GIP and Brookfield in their bid," one of the sources said. CRT declined to comment; GIC, Global Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield was not immediately available to comment.

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