Asia / Pacific

Reliance Industries, India's largest refiner of crude oil, has ceased importing Russian crude into its Jamnagar complex in western Gujarat from November 20, a spokesperson for the company said. The Indian conglomerate has said that it will abide by the sanctions against Moscow, while maintaining its ties with existing oil suppliers. The United States, Britain and the European Union have all imposed sanctions against Russia for its involvement in the war in Ukraine. New sanctions by the U.S. target its two largest oil producers, Rosneft, and Lukoil. Reliance's spokesperson stated in a press release that all products exported from the...

Saudi Arabian crude oil exports reached a record high of seven months in September, according to data released by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative on Wednesday. The world's biggest oil exporter has increased its crude exports to 6,460 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), a slight increase over August's 6.407 millions bpd and the highest level since February. Saudi Arabian crude production, on the other hand, reached a peak of nearly 2.5 years, 9.966 millions bpd, in September. This was its highest level since April 2023. In August, the output was 9.722 millions bpd. JODI publishes the monthly export...

British Defence Minister John Healey stated on Wednesday that "military alternatives" were ready in the event the Russian spy vessel Yantar became a threat. The ship had directed lasers towards British pilots who were sent to monitor it. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Britain's Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Air Forces (RAF), regularly shadow potential threats to national safety. Such missions to monitor Russian vessels or submarines are becoming more frequent. Healey stated that aiming lasers at RAF aircraft was "deeply hazardous" and Britain would react based on the Yantar’s next move. Healey stated that "we have...

Finnish petrol station operator Teboil is owned by Russian oil giant Lukoil and said that it was preparing to close its operations when fuel ran out due to U.S. sanction against its parent. Teboil announced that stations would close in stages once the fuel stock is sold out. The United States last week imposed sanctions on Lukoil for its involvement in the war in Ukraine. On Friday, the Trump administration gave potential buyers clearance to speak to the Russian company regarding buying their products. Non-Russian assets According to the website of Teboil, there are 430 Teboil stations in Finland. This...

Sources familiar with the situation said that Exxon Mobil, a U.S. oil giant, is considering buying parts of Lukoil’s international assets. Sources claim that Exxon is evaluating options to purchase Lukoil assets, in Kazakhstan. Both the U.S. firm and the Russian company have stakes in the Karachaganak field and Tengiz field. Chevron, a partner in these assets as well, is also examining options to purchase them, according to a report on Monday. Two sources claim that Exxon could also be considering a bid for the West Qurna 2 oil field in Iraq. This field is operated by Lukoil, and is...

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Monday urged Serbia to align its foreign policy and security towards Russia with that of the European Union, if it wanted to join the bloc. Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic tries to balance his country's European Union candidacy with its traditional ties to Russia and China. Serbia depends on Russian gas and its only oil refiner NIS (Russian-owned) is subject to U.S. sanctions because of the conflict in Ukraine. Wadephul told his Serbian counterpart Marko Dridic that Ukraine is fighting for freedom not only for itself but also for the whole of Europe. "We...

The Kremlin announced on Tuesday that Russian representatives would not be taking part in the talks about Ukraine to be held in Turkey on 19 November. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced earlier that he will travel to Turkey on Tuesday to try to restart negotiations with Russia to end the war. According to a Turkish source, Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq, will be attending these planned talks. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters that "no, tomorrow there won't be any Russian representatives in Turkey." These contacts are currently taking place without Russian involvement. Peskov...

The oil prices fell on Tuesday, as traders assessed the impact of Western sanctions against Russian flows, and supply concerns eased after the loading of cargo at a Russian hub was resumed following a drone strike in Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 46 cents or 0.72% to $63.74 per barrel as of 0420 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 45 cents or 0.75% to $59.46 per barrel. According to two industry sources, and LSEG data, the Russian port of Novorossiysk resumed oil loadings Sunday after a two-day interruption caused by a Ukrainian drone and missile attack. In a...

The oil prices fell on Tuesday, as traders assessed the impact of Western sanctions against Russian flows, and supply concerns waned after the loading of cargo at a Russian hub was resumed following a drone strike in Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell 28 cents or 0.4% to $63.92 per barrel as of 1100 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) were down 26 cents or 0.4% at $59.65 per barrel. According to two industry sources, and LSEG data, the Russian port of Novorossiysk resumed oil loadings Sunday following a two-day suspension triggered a Ukrainian drone and missile attack. In...

A senior White House official stated on Monday that President Donald Trump would be willing to sign legislation imposing sanctions on Russia, as long as the ultimate decision-making power remained with him. Trump told reporters on Sunday night that he was "OK" with Republicans working on legislation to impose restrictions on countries that do business with Russia because Moscow failed to negotiate a deal with Ukraine. Trump suggested that lawmakers could add Iran to sanctions measures. Both Senator Lindsey Graham, and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick are Republicans. They sponsored legislation to impose restrictions on countries that do business with Russia....

Five sources familiar with this process said on Monday that the U.S. oil giant Chevron was examining options to purchase global assets from sanctioned Russian oil company Lukoil. Last week, the U.S. Treasury cleared potential buyers to speak to Lukoil regarding foreign assets. Chevron will join Carlyle, and other firms to compete for Lukoil's portfolio of at least $20 billion. Last month, the United States imposed sanctions against Russia's two largest oil companies, Lukoil & Rosneft, in an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to force Moscow to peace talks with Ukraine. Five sources confirmed that Chevron was looking at...

The office of the Iraqi prime minister said that Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, met with former CEO of Russia’s Lukoil on Monday to discuss how to resolve disruptions in the oil company’s operations following U.S. Sanctions. Sources told us last week that Lukoil declared force majeure on its West Qurna-2 oil field in southern Iraq. This is the largest fallout from the sanctions imposed last month against Russian oil companies as U.S. president Donald Trump pushed to end the conflict in Ukraine. Sudani told Vagit Aliekperov Iraq was committed to stable oil markets worldwide, according to a press release from his...

The competition for essential minerals has now reached the lowest part of the metal supply chain. Maros SEFCIOVIC, EU Trade chief, says that aluminium scrap is a strategic commodity. Over a million tons of aluminium scrap is exported from the EU every year. Sefcovic, the European Commission's Director of Communications and Public Affairs, described this as "a measure that is balanced" in order to keep more recyclable materials in Europe. The industry association European Aluminium blames the United States for the price differential created by the country's import duties, which is causing more European scraps to be exported to the...

The crypto currencies were caught up in the broad flight away from risk assets, which sent bitcoin and ether down to their lowest levels for several months as concerns about high tech valuations persisted and bets made on Federal Reserve policy easing near-term faded. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world, dropped 2.1% and broke below $86,000, hitting a seven-month low of $85,350.75 during Asian trading. Ether fell more than 2%, to $2,777.39 its lowest level in four months. Both tokens faced weekly losses of approximately 8%. Investors often use cryptocurrency as a barometer to gauge their risk appetite. The...

The Chinese embassy in Central African Republic (CAR), has warned that its citizens could become "mining slaves", in the gold trade of the politically insecure nation. Chinese workers are now looking to sub-Saharan Africa for work as gig economies in Asia dry up. The embassy released a statement Thursday stating that Chinese nationals were killed or kidnapped, and some even scammed of large sums and deported because they illegally mined. China has sent workers to resource-rich sub Saharan Africa in search of fortune. Gold prices have soared amid massive Chinese state purchases, while factory and construction jobs are disappearing as...

Gold inched down on Friday as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will refrain from cutting interest rates at its December meeting. As of 0242 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.1%, at $4,072.87 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery edged up 0.3% to $4,071.90 an ounce. GoldSilver Central MD Brian Lan stated that "gold prices are currently consolidating and we can see the dollar has gained quite a bit. Behind it, there's a lot speculation about whether or not the Fed will cut interest rates further." "I think the market is uncertain...

Sources said that China's state owned iron ore purchaser has ordered steel mills to stop buying a specific type of BHP ore. This ban is in addition to another one already in place, and escalates a dispute about a new contract. China Mineral Resources Group, set up in 2020 to centralise the purchasing of iron ore and to win better terms for miners, has asked Chinese steel mills to not buy new cargos of Jinbao Fines, a low-grade ore produced by the world's largest iron ore mining company, BHP. Sources said that CMRG had told mills they were not allowed...

According to three sources familiar with the issue, Indian officials are looking into whether a safety lapse in the supply chain of a pharmaceutical component was responsible for the contamination of cough syrup which has caused the deaths at least 24 children over the past few months. Three health and drug safety officers from Tamil Nadu said they believed the solvent used in the production of a batch Coldrif cough medicine could have been contaminated by a toxic chemical at the time when it was delivered to the drugmaker Sresan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. Sresan purchased 50 kg of propylene glycol solvent...

Gold prices fell on Thursday as investors digested the September U.S. jobs report, which showed stronger-than-expected employment figures and dampened prospects for a December rate cut. By 12:15 pm, spot gold had fallen 0.7%, to $4,051.89 an ounce. ET (1715 GMT). U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell by 0.8%, to $4.051.90 an ounce. Gold priced in greenbacks became more expensive to overseas buyers as the U.S. Dollar strengthened against major currencies. Labor Department's closely watched report was delayed by the government shutdown. It showed that nonfarm payrolls rose 119,000 in September, which is more than twice the expected 50,000...

Paul Weibel, CEO of 5E Advanced Materials, said that the company is in discussions with Los Alamos National Laboratory about securing $20 million of federal funding for the Fort Cady Boron Project in California. The project will help the company become one of few domestic suppliers of this newly-designated critical mineral. Weibel stated that the New Mexico laboratory had made an offer to finance the company's operations. Los Alamos didn't immediately respond to our request for comment. The U.S. Department of Energy operates the lab, which conducts research on national security, space exploration and nuclear fusion. It also conducts research...

The copper market edged upwards on Thursday, following strong results by AI giant Nvidia. However, a strong dollar as well as concerns over the demand from China's top metals consumer weighed heavily on the market. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange increased 0.3%, to $10,784 per metric ton, by 1525 GMT. This modest gain was extended from the previous session. LME copper is up 22% for the year, but it has fallen from its record high of $11,200 reached on October 29, 2009. Nvidia shocked Wall Street on Wednesday after the markets closed by reporting an...

The gold price remained stable on Thursday as investors digested the delayed U.S. employment report, which showed better than expected September employment figures. They were looking for more clues about the Federal Reserve policy outlook. As of 9:25 am, spot gold was up by 0.1%, at $4,083.95 an ounce. ET (1425 GMT). U.S. gold for delivery in December rose by 0.1%, to $4.083.30 an ounce. Labor Department data, which was delayed by the government shutdown, revealed that nonfarm payrolls rose 119,000 in September, more than twice the expected 50,000 increase. Peter Grant, senior metals analyst at Zaner Metals, said that...

The U.S. government has increased its U.S. investment plans to $1 trillion following the lavish welcome that Donald Trump gave to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Washington, which was hailed by many as a rehabilitation of his human rights record. This is a significant increase over the $600 billion announced by the world's biggest exporter during Trump's Riyadh visit six months ago. Bin Salman will meet with top U.S. business leaders on Wednesday. Here are some of deals and frameworks that the U.S. announced with Saudi Arabia in this week. Energy Sector The U.S. signed a nuclear...

The gold price rose on Wednesday as investors sought out the safe haven asset in anticipation of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes to be released later that day. This was also due to delayed U.S. Employment data on Thursday. At 11:25 am, spot gold rose 0.3% to $4,081.15 an ounce. ET (1625 GMT) after climbing more than 1% earlier in session. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery gained 0.4%, to $4.081.50 an ounce. There's a safe-haven buy going on right now .... Bob Haberkorn, RJO Futures' market strategist, said that the (job) figures have been slightly softer and there is...