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☆ Davos 2023-'Open for business' Labour slams PM Sunak no-show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Brenda Goh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19 (Reuters) - British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer set out his green growth plan in Davos on Thursday and criticised British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for not showing up at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. "Somebody has got to be an ambassador for Britain and the prime minister and the chancellor are not here," she told a separate audience referring to finance minister Jeremy Hunt. "We are here to send a message that at the next election ... the British economy will be open for business again." Although Sunak did not attend the event, the British government did send Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch and Business Minister Grant Shapps to Davos. And former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also made an appearance, which he used to urge Britain's allies to double down on sending military equipment to Ukraine.

☆ Davos 2023-Starmer says no new UK oil and gas investment under a Labour government
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Britain's opposition leader Keir Starmer said on Thursday there would be no new oil and gas investment in Britain under a Labour government if his party is elected to govern. Starmer said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos that his party wants to get to a new role for oil and gas in the energy transition. The opposition leader did not give further details, but when asked if this applied to the North Sea he said "yes". Britain under the Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has just held a new licensing round for oil and gas exploration licenses in the North Sea and has refrained from joining international clubs of countries that ban new oil and gas field developments. Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake has been trying to divest its entire South Texas operations to focus on natural gas-producing acreage in other parts of the United States. The deal it has clinched falls short of meeting the demands of activist investor Kimmeridge Energy Management, that is among the 15 largest Chesapeake shareholders, to exit South Texas entirely. Chesapeake is continuing with efforts to divest them, though it's unclear if it will do so until market conditions change, according to the sources. Chesapeake and WildFire did not respond to comment requests. Since then, it has built a position in the Eagle Ford producing upwards of 16,000 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to its website.

☆ Wintershall Dea to leave Russia, causing net loss at BASF
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"Wintershall Dea will end its Russian activities. Continuing to operate in Russia is not tenable," said Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall Dea, which is a 72.7%-27.3% joint venture between BASF and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's investment firm LetterOne. BASF said the impairment would cause a 1.4 billion euros net loss in 2022 according to preliminary results. Wintershall Dea intends to fully exit Russia, BASF said, citing "extensive loss of actual influence and economic expropriation" in the country. Earnings before interest and tax were 6.5 billion euros, slightly below analysts' estimates of 6.8 billion euros.

☆ Chevron, Exxon and Total keen to invest in India, says minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Global energy majors Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) are interested in investing in India's oil and gas exploration and production sector, the country's oil minister said in a speech on Friday. India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, buys more than 84% of its oil needs from overseas and wants to quickly monetise its hydrocarbon reserves to reduce its dependence on costly imports. "India is ready to explore opportunities for joint development production of oil and gas assets for mutual benefit and also invites investment in our domestic E&P (exploration and production) sector," Hardeep Singh Puri said. The minister added that India aims to double the area under oil and gas exploration to 500,000 sq km by 2025. Reporting by Nidhi Verma Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Philippines top court voids old South China Sea energy deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Philippines Oil FollowMANILA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court in the Philippines on Tuesday declared the country's 2005 energy exploration agreement with Chinese and Vietnamese firms was illegal, ruling the constitution does not allow foreign entities to exploit natural resources. The decision, on an agreement that expired in 2008, could complicate efforts by China to revive oil and gas exploration talks with the Philippines in areas of the South China Sea that are not in dispute. China and the Philippines have sparred for decades over sovereignty and natural resources in the South China Sea, which led to a landmark arbitration case in 2016 won by Manila. Efforts to find a legally viable way to work together on energy exploration have repeatedly hit walls. China claims jurisdiction over almost the entire South China Sea and the risk of energy activities being disrupted have made it tricky for the Philippines to find foreign partners, despite an arbitration court clarifying what Manila's entitlements were.

☆ China, Philippines agree to handle disputes 'peacefully', boost cooperation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Yew Lun Tian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING, Jan 5 (Reuters) - China and the Philippines said in a joint statement on Thursday they have agreed to set up a direct communications channel between their foreign ministries on the South China Sea to handle disputes peacefully. The Philippines has previously raised concerns over reported Chinese construction activities and the "swarming" of Beijing's vessels in disputed waters of the South China Sea, an area rich in oil, gas and fishery resources. Both sides also agreed to resume talks on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea and discuss cooperation on areas including solar, wind, electric vehicles and nuclear power. Coastguards from China and the Philippines would also meet "as soon as possible" to discuss "pragmatic cooperation". Last November, when debris from a Chinese rocket fell in the South China Sea, a Chinese coastguard ship had stopped a Philippine boat from trying to tow it away.

[1/3] Drivers push auto rickshaws in a line to buy petrol from a fuel station amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 29, 2022. India's foreign ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters on its plans and strategic aims in Sri Lanka. New Delhi has long been concerned about China's clout in its neighbourhood, including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. "And as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, we don't want to contribute to any escalation of tension between any countries." "Sri Lanka has clearly benefited from being the closest neighbour to the most powerful country in the region.

☆ Latin America's 'pink tide' may have hit its high-water mark
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Brad Haynes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Alessandro Cinque/File PhotoDec 22 (Reuters) - Dramatic elections in Brazil, Chile and Colombia brought leftist governments into power across much of Latin America in 2022, capping the region's second "pink tide" in two decades. Chilean President Gabriel Boric, 36, took office in March as his country's most progressive leader in half a century and its youngest ever. Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 77, who narrowly beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October, is a holdover from the region's first pink tide, when a commodity boom helped him finish his 2003-2010 presidency with record approval. WHAT IT MEANS FOR 2023The region's new pink tide has a distinct green tint, as progressive movements have embraced the fight against climate change. Castillo, ousted about a year and a half after his election, may not be the only leftist leader to face difficult times.

☆ Libyan oil production at 1.2 mln barrels per day, oil minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KUWAIT, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Libya is producing about 1.2 million barrels per day of oil, oil minister Mohamed Oun told reporters on the sidelines of an OAPEC meeting on Monday. "We hope to return to 2010 levels, which was 1.6 million bpd, within two or three years," he added. He added that he hoped that Libya's decision to lift force majeure on oil and gas exploration, which was announced last week, would encourage foreign oil companies to return to the country. Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy, writing by Ahmad Ghaddar in Dubai; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Abalone and Dugongs threatened with extinction, warns IUCN Red List
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The effects of human activity from climate change to pollution are “devastating” marine life, with nearly a tenth of underwater plants and animals assessed so far threatened with extinction, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Friday. “It shows that we are having quite a devastating impact on marine species,” Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List, said. Linda Lombardi/AP/FILEHilton-Taylor said the portion of marine species facing extinction was likely much higher than current data shows because those analyzed so far have tended to be widespread fish species, not currently under threat. The latest list reviews abalone species, a type of mollusc sold as a luxury seafood item, for the first time and found that around 44% of them face extinction. “The awful status of these species should shock us and engage us for urgent action,” said Amanda Vincent, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Marine Conservation Committee.

☆ Nearly 10% of marine life threatened with extinction -Red List
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary IUCN releases biodiversity barometer during U.N. talksClimate change, pollution 'devastating' marine speciesDugongs number in just the hundreds in some regionsGENEVA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The effects of human activity from climate change to pollution are "devastating" marine life, with nearly a tenth of underwater plants and animals assessed so far threatened with extinction, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Friday. "It shows that we are having quite a devastating impact on marine species," Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List, told Reuters. Hilton-Taylor said the portion of marine species facing extinction was likely much higher than current data shows because those analysed so far have tended to be widespread fish species, not currently under threat. The latest list reviews abalone species, a type of mollusc sold as a luxury seafood item, for the first time and found that around 44% of them face extinction. "The awful status of these species should shock us and engage us for urgent action," said Amanda Vincent, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Marine Conservation Committee.

☆ Qatar World Cup lays bare environmental cost of a desert tournament
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Armelle De Oliveira | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

But as it hosts the soccer World Cup, controversy is also descending on the tiny Gulf kingdom. “The tournament has been labeled as the first ‘fully carbon neutral FIFA World Cup tournament,’ meaning its overall impact on the planet should be zero,” the letter said. People gather around the official countdown clock showing remaining time until the kick-off of the World Cup on Nov. 11. After winning the right to host the tournament, Qatar pledged to become the first carbon neutral World Cup host. “Events like the World Cup, like the football World Cup or like the Olympics bring joy and happiness to millions of people, sometimes even billions of people, right?” he said.

☆ Philippines needs to find ways to exploit South China Sea resources, says Marcos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANILA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Philippines must find a way to explore for oil and gas in the South China Sea even without a deal with China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday, emphasising his country's right to exploit energy reserves in the contested waterway. Talks over joint energy exploration between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea had been terminated, the previous government said in June, citing constitutional constraints and issues of sovereignty. I think there might be other ways so it does not have to be G-to-G (government-to-government)," Marcos said. During a three-day visit last week, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris affirmed American defence commitments to the Philippines and reiterated support for a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing's expansive South China Sea claims. The ruling, which China refused to recognise, states that the Philippines has sovereign rights to exploit energy reserves inside its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

☆ Goldman Sachs' Currie says oil stocks are trading 'far below' their long-term trend
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of energy companies could surprise markets and continue to rise, according to Goldman Sachs' head of commodities research, despite a recent fall in crude prices. Jeff Currie told CNBC that historically, stocks in the sector have traded at a higher premium to crude oil prices compared to current price levels . "There is a catch-up game going on between oil prices and ... equities," Currie said Tuesday. Spot oil prices and energy stocks tend to move in tandem. OPEC+ has recently hinted it could impose deeper output cuts to spur a recovery in crude prices .

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☆ UK stocks track gains in Europe, Dr. Martens sinks on profit warning
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) rose 0.3% in thin trading as U.S. markets were shut for the Thanksgiving holiday. The domestically focused FTSE 250 midcaps (.FTMC) rose 0.7%, also reflecting the upbeat mood in equity markets. A weak spot was Dr. Martens (DOCS.L), which tumbled 20% and looked set for its biggest percentage drop ever, after warning that its annual core profit margin would be lower than last year. UK stock markets have recovered sharply since a botched mini-budget roiled sentiment in October, with investors hoping that measures by the new government will help instil confidence even as Britain faces what is expected to be a lengthy recession. Shares of Vodafone , Imperial Brands (IMB.L) and National Grid (NG.L) slid as they traded without entitlement for dividend payout.

U.S. marginal production (+14.5 million bpd) captured nearly all the increase in global consumption (+14.8 million bpd) between 2009 and 2019. FRACKING TECHNOLOGYIn a narrow sense, the shale revolution refers to the widespread application of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to increase output from shale and other tight rock formations. Like other technologies, however, shale production has eventually settled into a more mature and conservative phase, hastened by the traumatic shock to oil and gas markets during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2022, the Biden administration has tried to cajole domestic oil producers to increase their output, without much success. U.S. shale producers are expected to account for a much smaller share of global growth in petroleum production and consumption in the next few years.

☆ Kamala Harris’ visit to the Philippines sends China a message of US intent
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, the Philippines occupies nine features in the Spratly chain while China occupies seven. In 2016, a tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a maritime dispute, concluding China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea. “Philippine President Marcos appears open to the idea of pursuing pragmatic cooperation in the South China Sea, while not surrendering its long-standing position when it comes to the territorial issues in the South China Sea,” Banlaoi said. During her trip to the Philippines, Harris is expected to make a number of other announcements including tighter US cooperation with Manila on clean energy, cybersecurity, communication and agriculture. The deals show US intent in the Pacific region, but one South China Sea expert said Harris’ trip to the military base risks aggravating Beijing to the potential detriment of the Philippines.

At the same time, the pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was down 0.4% and an index of European oil and gas stocks was down 0.9%. (.SXEP)The IPO, which priced at the bottom of the expected price range, gave an initial valuation of 2.45 billion pounds ($2.83 billion) for the company. The London stock exchange has suffered the worst year on record for UK IPOs as market volatility persists amid the energy crisis and worsening economic forecasts. So far in 2022, global utility and energy IPOs valued at more than $100 million saw an average 19.9% return after one day, compared with negative returns for European utility and energy IPOs and UK IPOs across all sectors, according to Dealogic data. The last oil and gas producer to float on the main London stock exchange was eastern Mediterranean-focused Energean (ENOG.L) in 2018.

☆ Ithaca Energy breathes life into UK stock market as bookrunners eye $3.6 bln listing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Ithaca Energy's (IPO-IHEG.L) London listing will be priced at 250 to 310 pence, giving the North Sea oil and gas producer an implied market value of 2.5 billion to 3.1 billion pounds ($2.87 billion to $3.56 billion), bookrunners said on Wednesday. Ithaca, owned by Tel Aviv-listed Delek Group (DLEKG.TA), expects to be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices. The bookrunners said the listing is expected to have a free float of at least 10%, with the first day of trading on November 9. Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley are joint global co-ordinators on the deal while HSBC (HSBA.L), Jefferies (JEF.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) are joint bookrunners, with ING (INGA.AS) acting as co-lead manager. ($1 = 0.8702 pounds)Reporting by Huw Jones and Sinead Cruise; editing by Jason Neely and Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'We're not against profits,' White House presidential coordinator says after Biden's tax threats on energy companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The president on Monday tweeted: "The oil industry has a choice. But reports of animosity between the White House and America's energy giants are overhyped, says Amos Hochstein, Biden's special presidential coordinator, who liaises closely with energy industry leaders domestically and around the world. Record-breaking oil company profitsSeveral major oil companies have raked in record profits this year as consumers grappled with soaring gas and energy bills. Many in the oil industry argue that a windfall tax is counterproductive and would harm production and investment. We need more investment in oil production and refining, now."

☆ The US is home to only 7 offshore wind turbines. But one startup is betting on autonomous underwater vehicles to map the seafloor up to 10 times as fast as current methods.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Lily Katzman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Bedrock's seafloor-mapping technologies have the potential to spur offshore wind developments. In spring 2021, the Biden administration set a lofty goal of producing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. Baldwin said Ørsted had a dedicated team of more than 100 people to interpret marine data for the company's offshore wind developments. Bedrock's goal is to make the seafloor process up to 10 times as fast as current methods, DiMare told Emerging Tech Brew. "I'm hoping that we get that seafloor map so that we can make wise decisions about where to put our resilience infrastructure, our wind farms," she said.

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA)HOUSTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - India maintains a "healthy dialogue" with Russia and will look at what is offered following an announced ownership revamp to the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Reuters. "We’ll look at what is the state of play and what’s on offer," Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Reuters in an interview on Monday following meetings with U.S. oil executives in Houston. On the proposed European Union price cap on Russian oil purchases, he suggested it is not yet firm. "At no stage have we ever been told not to buy Russian oil," he said, referring to talks with officials on global energy supplies. India is interested in the U.S companies' technical expertise in offshore production, ethanol and sulfur recovery in oil refineries, Puri added.

☆ At war for decades, Lebanon and Israel edge towards a rare deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A general view shows the Lebanese-Israeli border as seen from the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, Lebanon October 11, 2022. Some 100,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in Palestine during the war arrive in Lebanon as refugees. 1978Israel invades south Lebanon and sets up an occupation zone in an operation against Palestinian guerrillas. 1985Israel establishes an occupation zone in southern Lebanon, about 15 km (nine miles) deep, after it pulled back from a line further north, controlling the area with a proxy force, the South Lebanon Army. 2000Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon, ending 22 years of occupation.

On Wednesday, OPEC+, the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to slash production by 2 million barrels per day, twice as much as analysts had predicted, in the biggest cut since the Covid-19 pandemic. “Saudi Arabia is looking to head off a repeat of 2008 when the market crash sent the global economy into a recession and oil prices suddenly plummeted, requiring emergency action by OPEC,” said Wald. Analysts also say Saudi Arabia cannot afford to let oil prices go below a certain level for budgetary reasons. For its budget to break even, global oil prices must be at around $79 a barrel, according to the International Monetary Fund. That was a warning sign for Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters, who depend on oil for a majority of their revenue.

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