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☆ Exclusive: Russia sees sanctions impact on oil products, eyes crude export boost -senior source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] The oil products tanker Nord and a bulk carrier sail near the crude oil terminal Kozmino in Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia, December 4, 2022. "The oil products' embargo will have a greater impact than the restrictions on crude oil," said the senior Russian source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity the situation. The source said the sanctions will lead to more crude oil supplies from Russia, which lacks storage capacity for oil products. Its oil products exports averaged around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. Vedomosti also said Russian oil exports had risen by 1.2% in early January, while refining volumes had increased by 1.4%.

☆ Industry vs. Regulator - aviation heavyweights spar in Dublin
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Joanna Plucinska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Willie Walsh, outspoken head of the world's biggest airline trade body, IATA, joined the European Union's top permanent transport official Henrik Hololei on stage at the Airline Economics conference in the world's aviation finance capital. But Walsh wanted to know what could be done to lift that closure, which threatens to penalise some Western airlines at the expense of Chinese and other carriers that continue to fly over Russia. He added there would be no "business as usual" if Russian airspace did reopen. Airlines accuse airports of overcharging carriers, while airports say they have to fund huge capital investments. "We allowed those who wanted to find the poster child for environmental damage to pick on aviation," he said.

☆ Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +17 min

Now the main Russian Cossack organisations are loyal to Putin, and they are fighting alongside Russia’s forces in Ukraine. He is regularly pictured on his and other social media pages at Cossack gatherings, often wearing Cossack military uniform. Felk has worked as a security guard and has run a logistics firm, according to posts on Felk’s OK social media account. Photos shared by Kharkovsky on social media show him and other participants standing in front of a Great Don Army flag. Eremenko confirmed to Reuters that he worked for Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

☆ The 10 biggest winners in the S&P 500 this year were led by an oil giant Warren Buffett owns. The top stocks saw a combined $357 billion increase in market value.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Oil stocks dominated the S&P 500's top 10 winners this year as commodity prices spiked. These are the index's 10 best performing stocks in 2022, which added a combined $357 billion in market value. Buffett also owns a stake in Chevron, which was the 17th best S&P 500 performer in 2022 with a gain of about 50%. Combined, the top 10 performing S&P 500 stocks in 2022 added a total of $357 billion in market value. SchlumbergerThe exterior of a Schlumberger Corporation building is pictured in West Houston ReutersTicker: SLB2022 Return: 76.7%Market Value Gained: $33.5 billion5.

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☆ Putin says Russia now one of China's leading oil and gas suppliers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia had become one of China's leading suppliers of oil and gas, with 13.8 billion cubic metres of gas shipped to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline in the first 11 months of 2022. In remarks at the start of a video conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin said: "According to the results of this year, Russia has become one of the leaders in oil exports to China." Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as China's top crude supplier last month. Putin added that Russia was China's second largest supplier of pipeline gas and fourth largest of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Russian energy exports to China have risen markedly since Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24, after which Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

☆ Russian pipeline gas exports to Europe collapse to a post-Soviet low
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Vladimir Soldatkin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Russian direct gas exports to Germany, Europe's largest economy, were halted in September following blasts at the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Sweden and Denmark have both concluded that four leaks on Nord Stream 1 and 2 were caused by explosions, but have not said who might be responsible. Russian gas exports via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline totalled record-high 59.2 bcm last year. The 100.9 bcm of Russian gas pipeline supplies, which Gazprom defines as exports to "far abroad", or outside the former-Soviet Union, is one of the lowest since the collapse of the Soviet state in 1991. One of Gazprom's previous post-Soviet lows of gas sales to "far abroad" was at 117.4 bcm in 1995, according to Gazprom Export.

☆ Russia's Navalny accuses authorities of using prison to break his health
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In a post on Twitter, he also complained of being injected with unknown drugs. "See how the system works when you are not allowed to beat up a person, but your leadership ordered you to hurt them badly," the Twitter post said. Navalny said he had asked for a month and a half to see a doctor. The Twitter post included images from Navalny's medical records, which he said had been released to him a month after he asked to see them. Navalny, his allies and Western governments and rights groups say he was the victim of trumped-up charges designed to silence him.

☆ Fire at Russian Private Shelter Kills 22
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian firefighters at the scene in Kemerovo, Siberia, on Saturday. MOSCOW—A fire Saturday at a private shelter in the Siberian city of Kemerovo that was operating illegally killed 22 people, Russian officials said. Initial reports described the wooden building in the city 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Moscow as a nursing home, but the country’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, later said it was a “temporary residence for persons in a difficult life situation.”

☆ Russian lawmaker accuses Putin of breaking his own law with reference to Ukraine 'war,' asks prosecutors to investigate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Russian lawmaker is calling for legal action against Putin for calling the Ukraine invasion a "war." Until Thursday, Putin had publicly referred to the war only as a "special military operation." Navalny remains behind bars, where he continues to criticize Putin and Russia's war in Ukraine. Yevgeny Roizman, a former mayor of the Russian city of Ekaterinburg, in August was detained on charges of "discrediting" the Russian military. Roizman told reporters he was detained after referring to Russia's war in Ukraine as an "invasion."

☆ Blaze kills 22 in Russian home for elderly
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 23 (Reuters) - A fire ripped through an old people's home in Russia's Siberia region, killing 22 people, investigators said on Saturday. The blaze gutted the second floor of the building, which was not officially registered as a home for the elderly, but was out by the early hours when rescuers finished combing the rubble in Kemerovo city, state media and emergency services said. Many homes for the elderly operate without authorisation in Russia, officials said, meaning they were considered private property and not subject to inspections. Kemerovo saw one of the deadliest fires in Russia of recent times when a blaze swept through the upper floors of the "Winter Cherry" shopping centre in 2018, killing 64 people. Reporting by Ron Popeski, Rhea Binoy and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Chris Reese, Edmund Klamann and Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin oversees launch of Siberian gas field feeding pipeline to China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a ceremony launching production at the Kovykta gas field, which will feed into the Power of Siberia pipeline carrying Russian gas to China, via a video link with head of Gazprom Alexei Miller in Moscow, Russia, December 21, 2022. Dec 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch of a major new Siberian gas field on Wednesday to help drive a planned surge in supply to China. The Kovykta gas field will feed into the Power of Siberia pipeline carrying Russian gas to China. In February, Putin reached an agreement to sell an additional 10 bcm of gas to China from Russia's Far East through a new, smaller pipeline to China's northeast. Putin said last week the projects would allow Russia to boost its gas sales to China to 48 bcm annually by 2025 and to 88 bcm by 2030.

☆ Unit of Siberian oil and gas condensate field catches fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MOSCOW, Dec 18 (Reuters) - A unit at an oil and gas condensate Markovskoye (Markovsky) field in Russia's Irkutsk region in Siberia has caught fire over an area of about 1,000 square metres, the local emergency service said on social media on Sunday. There was no danger to other units of the field, it added. The field is owned by the Irkutsk Oil Company (INK), one of Russia's largest private oil producers. One person was injured in the fire, a regional governor said on social media, citing preliminary information. Reporting by Reuters Editing by Mark Heinrich and Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Aluminium companies compete to sell low-carbon products
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Expert Analysis | Reuters Professional | Calls Grow For Companies To Disclose Impacts On Nature In Bid To Plug Finance Gap | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Aluminium companies have launched a raft of aluminium products with lower carbon emissions, largely by either using hydro power or recycled material. Below are low-carbon aluminium brands by the major producers. * ALCOA (AA.N)ECOLUM - Primary aluminium with a total carbon footprint of under 4 tonnes of CO2, including bauxite mining and refining. * RIO TINTO (RIO.L), (RIO.AX)RENEWAL - Primary metal with CO2 emissions of 4 tonnes or less of CO2 per tonne of metal. * CHINA HONGQIAO GROUP (1378.HK)The Chinese producer has introduced two low-carbon products, HQALoop and HQALight, one made with recycled aluminium and the other from low-carbon aluminium produced in Yunnan using hydro electricity and other renewables.

The deal McDonald's struck with former licensee Alexander Govor included a set of requirements the new brand, Vkusno & tochka, must stick to, including restrictions on branding, colour scheme and product usage. New owner Alexander Govor said this week he and the management team regularly talk over video link to the former parent company. "We are not talking about how they somehow participate in our business, this is already done," Vkusno & tochka, which translates to "Tasty & that's it," CEO Oleg Paroev told Reuters. In a statement to Reuters, McDonald's said it fully exited the Russian market earlier this year. Russian authorities in June said McDonald's has an option to buy back its Russia restaurants within 15 years.

☆ Putin says Russia will fight sanctions with shift in trade and energy flows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Dec 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would expand trade cooperation with new partners, including by sharply increasing gas exports to China, to combat Western sanctions. Putin said Russia would increase gas sales to "the east" and reiterated his plan to build a new "gas hub" in Turkey. He said it would define prices for gas sales to Europe using an "electronic platform". Putin said the projects would allow Russia to boost its gas sales to China to 48 bcm annually by 2025 and to 88 bcm by 2030. With no end in sight to the Ukraine war, Russia has outlined plans to spend nearly a third of next year's budget on defence and domestic security while cutting funding for schools, hospitals and roads.

☆ Rain could soon overtake snow in parts of the Arctic, top scientists warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Broken up sea ice is seen from the window of a NASA research flight above the east coast of Greenland. That's causing Arctic sea ice to diminish, the tundra to turn green with vegetation, and sea birds to starve to death in droves. Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesFor the first time this year, NOAA has determined that Arctic precipitation — either rain or snow — is increasing across all seasons. But in places like southwest Alaska, that means rain falling on top of snow, then freezing. Bhatt is part of a group of researchers assessing whether the Arctic tundra in southwest Alaska should be reclassified as sub-Arctic tundra.

☆ Gazprom says it supplied record volume of gas to China on Dec. 14
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies Gazprom PAO FollowMOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) supplied a record daily volume of gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline on Dec. 14, it said on Thursday. The company did not disclose the volume but said that the daily supply to China National Petroleum Corporation exceeded contractual obligations by 16.5%Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's logistic logjam worsens in winter, curbs coal exports to China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The European Union also introduced an embargo on Russian coal imports starting from Aug. 10 as part of the Ukraine-related sanctions. Arrivals of Russian coal stood at 6.43 million tonnes in October, down from 6.95 million tonnes in September and a record 8.54 million tonnes in August, the General Administration of Customs said. Russian coal export constraints could prove even more painful for China as fuel demand in the power generation and heating sectors picks up in winter. Russia's key coal producing region of Kuzbass in Western Siberia will likely miss its coal export target this year and next over persistent logistic bottlenecks, the local governor Sergei Tsivilyov said last month. For next year, the plan stands at 63 million tonnes, while Tsivilyov said the railways had offered to transport 52.5 million tonnes.

☆ Total’s belated Russian exit is still partial
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) took its time before realising it would be impossible to sell its stake in Russian gas company Novatek (NVTK.MM). One of them, Gennady Timchenko, is known as a 30-year friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. As Total notes, it cannot abide by a shareholder agreement giving the owners preemption rights on the stake, since Timchenko is hit by Western sanctions. Fine, but as long as Pouyanné clings to his Yamal project in Siberia, Total’s Russian exit remains piecemeal. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Russian regional deputies urge Putin to issue decree ending mobilisation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Russian reservists recruited during the partial mobilisation of troops attend a ceremony before departing to the zone of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Rostov region, Russia October 31, 2022. The Kremlin said at the time that no formal decree to cancel the mobilisation was needed. Courts were siding with commanders, citing the fact that Putin's September mobilisation decree still had legal force. Reuters saw similar appeals from opposition deputies in the Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pskov and Veliky Novgorod regions. He said this was because the "legal lacuna" created by the absence of the decree "opens up opportunities for legal mayhem".

☆ Moscow and other Russian cities are scaling back or canceling New Year parties to spend the money attacking Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's military is still struggling with a number of problems on the frontlines in Ukraine. As a result, some Russian cities have canceled or scaled down their New Year's celebrations. Moscow is still holding a New Year celebration — but it will not include fireworks, its mayor said. In Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the capital would hold a toned-down celebration, forgoing the usual firework show and mass concert. Some Russian activists last week accused him of spending billions on Russia's military while many of them freeze back home, The Daily Beast reported.

☆ Russian oil selling at $79/barrel in Asia on Monday, well above price cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Russia's ESPO oil blend from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino was selling for around $79 a barrel in Asian markets on Monday - almost a third higher than the price cap imposed on Russian oil by the G7 and European Union - according to Refinitiv data and estimates from industry sources. Russia exports up to 65 million tons of ESPO Blend oil per year via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, including up to 35 million tons through the port of Kozmino. Reporting by ReutersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ G7 price cap on Russian oil kicks in, Russia will only sell at market price
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The price cap, to be enforced by the G7, the European Union and Australia, comes on top of the EU's embargo on imports of Russian crude by sea and similar pledges by the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain. It allows Russian oil to be shipped to third-party countries using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions, only if the cargo is bought at or below the price cap. Because the world's key shipping and insurance firms are based in G7 countries, the cap could make it difficult for Moscow to sell its oil for a higher price. Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, said on Sunday it would not accept the cap and would not sell oil that is subject to it, even if it has to cut production. In essence, such a decree would ban the export of oil and petroleum products to countries and companies that apply it.

☆ Russians are angry Putin is spending billions on an unpopular war as they freeze back home, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russians are accusing Putin of ignoring domestic problems while focusing on the war in Ukraine. Forbes Ukraine estimated last week that Russia has spent around $82 billion in the war so far. It is unclear how much exactly Putin is spending on the war in Ukraine, which continues nine months after the Russian leader launched his large-scale invasion. The war will not get any cheaper for Putin, Forbes Ukraine said, estimating that it will cost at least $10 billion a month going forward. Other reports of mobilized Russian soldiers being deployed with little training and poor equipment have prompted more Russians to publicly voice their criticisms.

☆ Bats use same techniques as death metal singers to vocalize, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Death metal fans might just have a new animal mascot. Some bats use the same vocal structures as death metal singers to make their unique vocalizations, a new study has found. This allowed the scientists to directly observe the vocal membranes and ventricular folds, also called “false vocal folds,” vibrating at different frequencies. These are “the first direct observations” of these vocal structures in Daubenton’s bats, the researchers said. Ventricular folds, or false vocal folds, are located on top of the true vocal cords.

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