Asia / Pacific

Three sources familiar with the matter confirmed on Thursday that India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), a state-owned company, had provided its first guarantee for 15 years to a rupee denominated bond. The bond is expected to be issued this quarter by a subsidiary. ONGC Petro Additions Ltd. (OPAL), a company in which ONGC holds more than 95 percent of the shares, wants to raise 50 billion rupees (563.22 million dollars) via a multi-tranche bond issue, according to their report. Sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorised by the media to speak on their behalf said that...

Saudi Aramco announced on Thursday that it had acquired a 22,5% stake in the joint venture for refining and petrochemicals Petro Rabigh, from Japan's Sumitomo Chemical. The acquisition is part of the turnaround plan for this loss-making venture. This agreement increases Aramco’s stake in Petro Rabigh from about 40% to 60%. It is part of an effort to improve the performance at the joint-venture, which has suffered significant losses over recent years due to a difficult global market for petrochemicals. According to calculations, Petro Rabigh's last full-year profit was in 2021. Since then, the company has accrued net losses totaling...

The President of Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russian energy installations may have cut gasoline supplies by as much as a fifth in Russia. Both sides are intensifying their attacks on the other's energy infrastructure. As diplomatic efforts to end this war have largely stagnated and there has been little movement on the front lines, Russian forces are focusing their efforts on crippling Ukrainian oil refinery capacity while Ukraine is targeting Russia's gas production. Calculations in August indicated that Ukrainian attacks reduced Russian oil refinery by nearly a fifth at certain times. Zelenskiy implied in his...

Letters show that Hollywood and Bollywood groups lobby an Indian panel to increase copyright protection so that artificial intelligence companies cannot use their intellectual property for training AI models. AI companies are at odds with content owners around the world, and governments are developing rules to govern this new technology. While Japan allows AI firms to use copyrighted material, the European Union's rules are stricter and allow content owners to opt out. The film industry is especially concerned that AI could scrape copyrighted online videos, images and clippings like trailers and promotions - and even more importantly ingest pirated material...

Investors brushed aside oversupply concerns on Wednesday, after digesting OPEC+'s decision to limit production next month. Brent crude futures were up 63 cents or 0.96% to $66.08 per barrel at 0715 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude climbed 66 Cents, or 1.07 %, to $62.39. The benchmarks settled broadly flat in the previous session as investors weighed signs of a supply glut against a smaller-than-expected increase to November output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and affiliates. The market is stuck in a price limbo. One side believes there will be a glut of supply, while the other...

Taiwan's Economy Minister said on Wednesday, that private refiners would be willing to stop purchasing Russian naphtha if the EU asked them. This comes after a group non-governmental organizations criticized the island's continuing business with Russia. Taiwan, along with the United States, major Western allies, and other countries, put broad sanctions against Russia in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine, but it did not ban explicitly imports, which are a major source of hard currency for Russia. A group of NGOs, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air(CREA), criticised Taiwan for its continued imports Russian naphtha last...

Early Wednesday, oil prices rose as the markets began to dismiss oversupply fears for now. This was after digesting a decision made by OPEC+ in November to limit production increases. Brent crude futures were up 40 cents or 0.6% to $65.85 per barrel at 0045 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude climbed 44 cents or 0.7% to $62.17. The benchmarks settled broadly flat in the previous session as investors weighed signs of a supply glut against a smaller-than-expected increase to November output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and affiliates. OPEC+ chose to increase production by 137,000 barrels...

Sources in the trade said that traders offering Russian oil are now asking Indian refiners to make payments in Chinese Yuan. They see recent signs of improved relations between New Delhi, China and Beijing as an opportunity to simplify transactions with Indian buyers. Indian Oil Corp, India's largest refiner and state-controlled company, paid in Chinese currency recently for two or three cargoes worth of Russian oil. Indian Oil has not responded to the request for comment immediately. Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have led to a greater use of alternative currencies such as the...

Sources in the trade said that traders offering Russian oil are now asking Indian refiners to make payments in Chinese Yuan. They see recent signs of improved relations between New Delhi, China and Beijing as an opportunity to simplify transactions with Indian buyers. Indian Oil Corp, India's largest refiner and state-controlled company, paid in Chinese currency recently for two or three cargoes worth of Russian oil. Indian Oil has not responded to the request for comment immediately. Western sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have led to a greater use of alternative currencies such as the...

Angola has a complex network of pipelines that snake along the Atlantic coast. They lead to a new refinery, which signals Angola's drive for energy independence. It also shows how private lenders are being used instead of banks to finance a large-scale project. "We are not the lender last resort," said Felipe Berliner. He is the co-founder and CEO of Gemcorp, a emerging markets asset management company that provided the majority of the funding for the refinery using private capital. "Sometimes, we are the sole lender." Veteran investors said that private credit for emerging market countries -- driven by investors’...

Oil prices were steady on Tuesday, with sentiment toward a smaller-than-anticipated OPEC+ output hike dulled by weakening global demand and the potential for a supply glut. Brent crude futures rose 1 cent or 0.02% to $65.48 per barrel at 0014 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude was unchanged at $60.69 per barrel. Both contracts were settled at a higher level than the previous session. Crude oil prices rose after OPEC announced a production increase that was smaller than expected. Oil market analysts had been expecting a significant increase in quotas as the members of the group met over the weekend...

According to the Defence Ministry, tensions between the U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces have increased. The statement stressed that the move was not intended as a prelude to a military action but to prevent the Kurdish led group from launching repeated attacks or attempting to seize land. Residents scattered their protests after witnesses reported that the army had sealed off two districts of Aleppo City under SDF control. Residents reported rockets being fired by residents from the Kurdish districts into nearby residential areas. A security source confirmed that one security officer had been killed in a recent attack on a...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s February ban on cobalt exports has pushed the price of battery metal to a new low. The world's biggest producer wants to take it a step further by leveraging its unique geology to control a market that is notoriously volatile. Export quotas were set for this year, 2026, and 2027. The volume is less than half that of last year and the intention is to reduce global stocks which have accumulated after consecutive years of surplus. The Congo's state mineral regulator ARECOMS is entitled to adjust these quotas quarterly and to purchase any surplus...

The policies of U.S. president Donald Trump have devalued the dollar and fueled a gold rush, pushing prices to record highs above $4,000 per ounce in the past week, said Franco-Nevada's CEO, Franco-Nevada, on Thursday. Paul Brink, who spoke at a Melbourne business lunch, said that the combination of tariffs and a growing structural imbalance in the U.S. Trade Balance as well as the breakdown in trust in U.S. Institutions has accelerated "de-dollarisation". De-dollarisation is when countries stop relying on the dollar for financial transactions and as a currency reserve. Gold becomes more affordable to buyers who use other currencies...

Shanghai copper prices jumped by more than 16 months on Thursday, as China resumed trading after National Day. Concerns over supply from large mines supported the price in a market that was already tight. By 0330 GMT, the most traded copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen 3.64%, to 86250 yuan per metric tonne ($12102.72). The contract reached its highest level since May 22, 2020 at 86 390 yuan earlier in the session. As of 0333 GMT, the benchmark three-month copper price on London Metal Exchange had risen by 1.11% to $10,787.5 per tonne. On Wednesday, it briefly...

On Thursday, gold took a break from its record-breaking run as investors booked profits. This was a day after the bullion broke the $4,000 per ounce barrier for the first ever time on the back of economic and geopolitical uncertainty and the hope that the U.S. will continue to cut interest rates this year. Gold spot fell by 0.4%, to $4,020.99 an ounce, as of 0302 GMT. It had hit a record-high of $4,059.05 per ounce on Wednesday. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell by 0.7% to $4 040.70. Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on Wednesday to implement...

Iron ore futures rose on Thursday, boosted by the restocking of Chinese steel mills after National Day, but profit margins, and concerns about trade restrictions for steel, weighed on the market sentiment. As of 0256 GMT, the most traded January iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 1.09 percent to 791.5 Yuan ($111.03). On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark October iron ore traded at $104.35 per ton, up 0.14%. According to Hexun Futures, following the Chinese National Day, some steelmills have started replenishing their inventories. However, profit margins are still under pressure because of high coke prices. The...

China tightened export controls for rare earths on Thursday. It expanded restrictions on processing technologies, barred unauthorised cooperation with overseas users, and stated its intention to restrict exports to overseas semiconductor and defence users. The announcement by the Ministry of Commerce clarifies, and expands on, sweeping controls announced last April. These controls caused massive shortages in the United States and Europe before a series of agreements with Europe and America resumed shipments. China produces 90% of the processed permanent magnets and 60% of the global mine output. Rare earths are essential materials used in everything from electric vehicles and aircraft...

Brazilian Rare Earths, a company listed in Australia, announced on Thursday it had signed agreements with Carester SAS to supply heavy rare earths for an initial period of 10 years. Carester will provide engineering and technical support for the separation plant that Brazilian Rare Earths plans to build at the Camacari Petrochemical Complex in Bahia, Brazil. Over a ten-year period, the processor will purchase a maximum 150 tonnes of dysprosium or terbium per year from Brazilian Rare Earths. The partnership is designed to address the shortage of the critical minerals dysprosium (as well as terbium), which are essential to the...

International Copper Study Group (ICSG), a group of researchers, said that the global refined copper market will be in deficit by 2026. This is due to a slower growth of production. The copper price briefly reached a 16-month high on Wednesday, due to fears about possible shortages caused by a recent series of mine disruptions in Indonesia. Chile and Congo. In a statement released on Wednesday, the ICSG said that these incidents prompted it to lower its forecast of the global mine production growth in 2025 to just 1.4% instead of the 2.3% expected in April. These incidents will reduce...

Sources told Wednesday that two senior Indian ministers, in a rare intervention, have urged Tata Group’s charity arm to solve internal boardroom conflicts to ensure stability at its sprawling $180 billion business empire. A year after Ratan Tata's death, the discord in Tata Trusts has raised concerns that the bitter public spat of 2016 between Tata Sons and the charity could repeat itself, damaging the reputation of India’s most famous group. Tata Trusts holds a 66% stake of Tata Sons and has the power to make major strategic decisions. Tata Sons is responsible for 30 companies, ranging from autos to...

The copper price briefly reached a 16-month high on Wednesday, due to fears of a possible shortage from a number of mine disruptions. However, a stronger dollar slowed the rise. Aluminum prices also reached their highest level in 16 months, as inventories decreased. The price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange rose to $10,815 a metric ton. This was the highest since May 22, last year. It then settled 0.1% higher, at $10,771, in open-outcry official trading. LME copper is up 22% this year so far, boosted in recent weeks by the problems in major mines in Indonesia...

Anglo American's CEO Duncan Wanblad stated on Wednesday that the company still views Africa as a part of its future because of its vital mineral resources. This is despite recent restructurings and asset sales in Africa. Anglo American is exiting its platinum and coal operations in South Africa where it was founded more than a century earlier. It will sell diamond miner De Beers and shift its focus on copper, an essential metal for the clean energy transformation. Kumba Iron Ore is the only major asset of South Africa. Wanblad, despite these exits, said Anglo intended to use South Africa's...

Toyota and Sumitomo Metal Mining announced on Wednesday that they had made progress in the development and production of cathode material for all-solid state batteries for electric vehicles. Solid-state batteries promise improved safety, longer life and faster charging than conventional lithium-ion battery that uses flammable liquids as electrolytes. The cost of manufacturing, the complexity of raw materials and their availability are all factors that have a large impact on mass adoption. Toyota, the largest automaker in terms of sales, plans to introduce EVs using all-solid state batteries by 2027 or 2028. Sumitomo Metal, a Japanese company that specializes in powder...