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☆ Europe is set to ramp up its oil war against Russia — and markets are bracing for more disruption
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The European Union's ban on Russian oil product exports is slated to kick in on Feb. 5. The Group of Seven implemented a $60 price cap on Russian oil on Dec. 5. "We also expect this to put upward pressure on prices for oil products more generally." Yet this also means that they will continue to take cheap imported crude oil and process it domestically rather than buying refined oil." "This will create logistical challenges and higher transport costs if Russia seeks to redirect product flows to Asia, as it has done with crude oil," analysts at Eurasia Group said.

☆ More than 13,000 Nigerian residents take Shell to court over oil spills
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Residents fetch water from a well contaminated by oil pollution at Ogale Town, Eleme in southeast Nigeria, on June 13, 2015. Afp Contributor | Afp | Getty ImagesOver 13,000 residents from two Nigerian communities are seeking damages from Shell in the High Court in London, calling for the energy giant to clean up residual oil and compensate devastating environmental damage. Shell, which reported its highest-ever annual profit of nearly $40 billion on Thursday, argues that the communities have no legal standing to enforce clean-up of the oil spills. Shell said in 2021 that it plans to leave the Niger Delta and sell its onshore oilfields and assets after 80 years of operations. "It appears that Shell is seeking to leave the Niger Delta free of any legal obligation to address the environmental devastation caused by oil spills from its infrastructure over many decades," Leader said.

☆ Oil giant Shell posts highest-ever annual profit of $40 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

British oil giant Shell on Thursday posted its highest-ever annual profit, bolstered by soaring fossil fuel prices and robust demand since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Shell reported adjusted earnings of $39.9 billion for the full-year 2022. This comfortably surpasses the $28.4 billion in 2008 which Shell said was the firm's previous annual record and is more than double the firm's full-year 2021 profit of $19.29 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected full-year 2022 net profit to come in at $38.3 billion. For the final quarter of 2022, Shell reported adjusted earnings of $9.8 billion.

☆ Norway's gigantic sovereign wealth fund loses a record $164 billion, citing 'very unusual' year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Norway's sovereign wealth fund was established in the 1990s to invest the surplus revenues of the country's oil and gas sector. Norway's sovereign wealth fund on Tuesday reported a record loss of 1.64 trillion Norwegian kroner ($164 billion) for the whole of 2022, citing "very unusual" market conditions. The $1.3 trillion fund was established in the 1990s to invest the surplus revenues of Norway's oil and gas sector. Norway's vast North Sea oil and gas reserves are the bedrock of the fund's wealth. Indeed, the country's skyrocketing fossil fuel revenues amid Russia's war in Ukraine have prompted an impassioned debate about international justice.

☆ Big Oil poised to smash annual profit records — sparking outcry from campaigners and activists
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden has previously singled out Exxon Mobil for making "more money than God" last year. Flush with cash, the energy giants are expected to use their windfall profits to reward shareholders with higher dividends and share buybacks. In June last year, Biden singled out Exxon Mobil for making "more money than God." "They are profiting from the current increase in oil and gas prices, and they are betting on it. And what you see is actually increased investment in oil and gas," Agathe Bounfour, oil campaign lead at the NGO Transport & Environment, told CNBC via telephone.

☆ Norway’s fossil fuel bonanza stokes impassioned debate about how best to spend its ‘war profits’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It has ignited an impassioned debate about international justice, with many questioning whether it is fair for Norway to rake in record oil and gas revenues at the expense of others' misfortune. Norway's Finance Ministry expects the state's revenues from oil and gas sales to climb to 1.38 trillion Norwegian krone ($131 billion) this year. "They are war profits," Lars-Henrik Paarup Michelsen, director of the Norwegian Climate Foundation think tank, told CNBC via telephone. Oil companies are getting richer and richer, but we don't see that money — and who is really paying for this? The so-called Government Pension Fund Global, among the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, was established in the 1990s to invest the surplus revenues of Norway's oil and gas sector.

☆ Argentina and Brazil are discussing plans for a common currency — analysts can scarcely believe it
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Argentina President Alberto Fernandez (R) and Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (L) greet each other after signing a series of agreements during a news conference in Buenos Aires. Argentina and Brazil, the two largest economies in South America, are in early talks to create a common currency, as part of a coordinated bid to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar. Speaking on his first international visit since taking office, Lula said that the currency would initially be designed for trade and transactions between Brazil and Argentina. Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said that the adoption of a common currency was not designed to replace the Brazilian real and the Argentine peso. "Developing and implementing a common South American currency is, therefore, pie in the sky."

☆ Bank of Japan defends yield curve control measures, intends to stick to ultra-easy monetary policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday defended the central bank's decision to widen the trading band in its yield curve control program and committed to continuing the BOJ's "extremely accommodative" expansionary monetary policy. His comments at Davos come shortly after the central bank defied market expectations by sticking to a core tenet of its ultra-loose monetary policy. The BOJ on Wednesday opted to keep its ultra-dovish -0.1% interest rate unchanged and maintained its yield curve tolerance band. It leaves the BOJ at odds with other major central banks, which have hiked interest rates in a bid to tackle rising inflationary pressure. Nonetheless, the world's third-largest economy reported core consumer prices rose to 4% on an annualized basis in the final month of last year, double the central bank's target of 2%.

☆ Irish premier hopeful of post-Brexit trade talk breakthrough — but ‘we’re not there yet’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar talking to the media outside the Stormont hotel on Jan. 12. Irish premier Leo Varadkar on Thursday said there has yet to be a breakthrough over Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trade rules, but expressed hopes that an agreement is within reach. I am hopeful that we will get there," Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Varadkar told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I think certainly Prime Minister [Rishi] Sunak and the British government seem to be very serious about coming to an agreement and settling this issue. And I think there is increased flexibility from the European Union side, which includes Ireland, around coming to an agreement."

☆ Greta Thunberg says Davos elite are prioritizing greed and short-term profits over people and the planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

watch nowSwedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday accused the political and business elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, of prioritizing self-interest and short-term profits over people and the planet. They are prioritizing self-greed, corporate greed and short-term economic profits above people and above planet." Thunberg said it was an "absurd" situation that the world seems to be listening to Davos delegates rather than those on the frontlines of the climate emergency. We were kettled by police and then detained but were let go later that evening," Thunberg said on Wednesday via Twitter. To be sure, the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate crisis.

☆ Top pharma CEO says Covid likely to become endemic, urges investment in pandemic preparedness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Novartis said in August that it plans to spin off its generics unit Sandoz to sharpen its focus on its patented prescription medicines. The chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Thursday warned the coronavirus pandemic will likely settle into an endemic phase and renewed calls for policymakers to sufficiently finance pandemic preparedness. "If you look over the last two years, we have populations that have built up immunity, you have a virus that's continuing to make shifts, but I think what we're going to settle into is more of an endemic environment with respect to coronaviruses and the Covid virus specifically," Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Narasimhan, who has previously warned that future pandemics are bound to happen, made clear that world leaders must learn from the coronavirus crisis to be in a better place for future pandemics. "I think what is really important now is we turn our attention to pandemic preparedness for the future," Narasimhan said.

☆ Greta Thunberg on Abu Dhabi's oil chief leading COP28 climate summit: 'Completely ridiculous'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaking on the main stage in George Square as part of the Fridays for Future Scotland march during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday became the latest vocal critic of the United Arab Emirates' decision to name the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) as president of this year's COP28 climate summit. The UAE, one of the world's top oil producers, will host the U.N.-led climate summit from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, 2023. And the hard reality is that, in order to achieve this goal, global emissions must fall 43% by 2030." According to the panel, roughly 90% of global CO2 emissions come from fossil fuels and the heavy industry.

☆ Ukraine’s Zelenskyy tells Davos supplies of Western tanks must outpace another Russian offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"Mobilization of the world must outpace a next military mobilization of our joint enemy," Zelenskyy said via videoconference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "Mobilization of the world must outpace a next military mobilization of our joint enemy," Zelenskyy said via videoconference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The supplying of Ukraine with air defense systems must outpace Russia's next missile attacks. The supplies of Western tanks must outpace another invasion of Russian tanks." "The restoration of security and peace in Ukraine must outpace Russia's attacks on security and peace in other countries.

☆ John Kerry says thawing U.S.-China tensions could make a huge difference to climate fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Kerry said he hopes the resumption of diplomatic talks with China can make a "huge difference" in the fight to prevent the worst of what the climate emergency has in store. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry on Wednesday said he hopes that the resumption of diplomatic talks with China can make a "huge difference" in the fight to prevent the worst of what the climate emergency has in store. "We very much hope to be able to find the pathway to a breakthrough that could make a huge difference," Kerry told CNBC's Tania Bryer at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The U.S. and China formally resumed stalled climate talks with China late last year following a meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping. Kerry said Wednesday that U.S. diplomats had since had several meetings with their Chinese counterparts, "and we will be talking very shortly."

☆ IEA chief expects Russia to lose the energy battle, sees major difficulties for Moscow's exports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The IEA's Birol said that prior to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, "Russia was the number one energy exporter to the world." International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol believes Russia will lose its energy war with the West, saying China and India's crude oil purchases will likely fall short of offsetting the fall in shipments to Europe. Last week, an independent analysis from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air showed that revenues from Russia's fossil fuel exports collapsed in December, significantly hampering President Vladimir Putin's ability to finance the war in Ukraine. It said that the Western measures were largely responsible for a 17% fall in Russia's earnings from fossil fuel exports in the final month of 2022. A spokesperson for Russia's Finance Ministry did not respond when asked to comment on the report's findings.

☆ ‘Big Oil peddled the big lie’: UN chief slams energy giants for ignoring their own climate science
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that without further action, humanity was on course for a global temperature increase of 2.8 degrees Ceslius. "Some in Big Oil peddled the big lie," Guterres said during a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The study, published last week in the journal Science, said that Exxon's private projections of global temperature rise were often more accurate than world-leading NASA scientists. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, is the chief driver of the climate emergency. Guterres said that without further action, humanity was on course for a global temperature increase of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

☆ World must abandon Cold War mentality, China's vice premier tells Davos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Liu repeatedly called on countries to improve diplomatic ties, "to "firmly safeguard world peace." China's Vice Premier Liu He said Tuesday that the world needs to abandon its Cold War mentality and seek to strengthen international cooperation. In a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Liu repeatedly called on countries to improve diplomatic ties, "to "firmly safeguard world peace." Earlier on Tuesday, China's commerce ministry said the country's vice premier would soon meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Switzerland. Late last year, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled a desire to improve bilateral ties.

☆ IEA chief lauds U.S. Inflation Reduction Act as most important climate agreement since Paris accord
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The IEA's Birol said the world had "never, ever seen an energy crisis of this depth and complexity" following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol on Tuesday hailed the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act as the most important climate agreement since the landmark Paris Agreement. "The Inflation Reduction Act, in my view, is the most important climate action after the Paris 2015 agreement," Birol said during a panel on energy security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The act, which contains some giveaways to fossil fuel interests, was by far the biggest climate legislation in U.S. history. The world's governments agreed in the 2015 Paris climate accord to limit global heating to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

☆ Market environment was one of the worst imaginable in 2022, insurer Allianz says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The chief executive of Allianz on Tuesday said that the German insurer proved to be "very resilient" through what he described as one of the worst market environments imaginable in 2022. Bäte said that 2022 saw Allianz post record customer satisfaction levels and claimed its employee satisfaction was "beating almost every company in the world." Asked how difficult it is for the company to invest, Bäte replied, "2022 was one of the worst, in terms of environment, that you can imagine. "We are now benefitting tremendously from rates rising in the insurance business … but it has not been priced yet. It is recently that people have come to understand that the higher rates are really, really good for us as a life insurer," Bäte said.

☆ OECD chief says China’s reopening ‘overwhelmingly positive’ to help tackle global inflation crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann on Monday said China's reopening is "overwhelmingly positive" in the global fight to tackle surging inflation. "We certainly very much welcome the easing of Covid related restrictions in China," Cormann told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Beijing reported on Saturday that almost 60,000 people with Covid had died in hospital since the country dropped its strict Covid restrictions last month, a sharp increase from previous figures. "One of the drivers of inflation was very much the supply shock related to global supply not being able to keep up with global demand … as swiftly as was required," Cormann said. "And so, China coming back into the global market in earnest and supply chains functioning more efficiently will help bring inflation down.

☆ German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht resigns amid Ukraine war backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht on Monday tendered her resignation, amid scrutiny over Berlin's response to the war in Ukraine. "Today I asked the Chancellor to be released from the role of defence minister," Lambrecht said in a statement, according to a CNBC translation. Her stepdown comes as Germany mulls whether to approve an increase in military support to Ukraine in order to help Kyiv's armed forces prevail against the Russian onslaught. "The valuable work of the soldiers and the many motivated people in the industry needs to be at the forefront. Lambrecht, a senior lawmaker in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party, had faced sustained pressure over her credibility to lead the country's armed forces.

☆ UAE sparks furious backlash by appointing Abu Dhabi oil chief as president of COP28 climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In a statement confirming his appointment as COP28 president-designate, Al Jaber said, "The UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition." The United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that the head of the state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world's largest oil companies, will lead the COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year. The appointment of Sultan al-Jaber as COP28 president-designate provoked a furious backlash from climate activists and civil society groups. The UAE, the third largest producer of the OPEC oil alliance, will host the U.N.-brokered climate talks from Nov. 30 through to Dec. 12. In a statement confirming his appointment al-Jaber said, "The UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition."

☆ The West’s oil war against Russia is starting to take its toll — sparking calls for tougher measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's revenues from fossil fuel exports collapsed in December, according to a new report, significantly hampering President Vladimir Putin's ability to finance the war in Ukraine. "The EU's oil ban and the oil price cap have finally kicked in and the impact is as significant as expected," Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at CREA, said in a statement. It's essential to lower the price cap to a level that denies taxable oil profits to the Kremlin, and to restrict the remaining oil and gas imports from Russia," Myllyvirta said. The G-7, Australia and the EU implemented a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil on Dec. 5. Together, the measures reflected by far the most significant step to curtail the fossil fuel export revenue that is funding the Kremlin's onslaught in Ukraine.

☆ 'A cowardly and vile attack': Over 400 arrested after Bolsonaro supporters storm Brazil's Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

World leaders condemned what they described as a "cowardly and vile" attack after thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the country's Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. Brazil's security forces have regained control of the country's political institutions and Brasilia governor Ibaneis Rocha said more than 400 people had been arrested as of Sunday evening. Lula sealed a remarkable return to Brazil's presidency late last year, securing 50.9% of the runoff vote to defeat far-right incumbent Bolsonaro. Many of Bolsonaro's supporters refused to accept the result, however, and political analysts have long feared a U.S.-style attack on the country's prominent government buildings. Lula blamed Bolsonaro for "encouraging" the riots, saying there were several speeches by the former president to incite Sunday's attack.

☆ Europe starts 2023 with historic winter heatwave; snow shortage forces ski resorts to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Poland's capital of Warsaw recorded temperatures of 18.9 degrees Celsius on Jan. 1; more than 5 degrees Celsius above the previous record set 30 years ago. A winter heatwave smashed several national temperature records across Europe over the New Year's weekend, prompting meteorologists to sound the alarm, while some ski resorts were forced to close due to an absence of snow. January temperatures reached an all-time high in several European states, with national records set in at least seven countries. Polish capital Warsaw recorded temperatures of 18.9 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) on Jan. 1 — more than 5 degrees Celsius above the previous record set 30 years ago. Warm weather and low snowfall forced some low-altitude ski resorts in the northern Alps and French Pyrenees to close a few weeks after opening.

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