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Alberta landowners sue regulator over oil well cleanup
Alberta landowners have filed a lawsuit to argue that the energy regulator of the province has knowingly and chronically underfunded a program designed to protect the public against the costs of cleaning abandoned oil and natural gas wells. The legal action is a culmination of years' simmering tensions between farmers, ranchers, and oil and natural gas producers in Canada’s largest energy-producing province. This province has struggled with thousands of "orphan" or "wild" wells which dot the rural landscape of Alberta. The Alberta Energy Regulator is being questioned about its willingness to enforce environmental rules at a moment when the Canadian and Alberta government are eager to increase domestic oil production due to the escalating U.S. trade war. Alberta has about 7,300 oil and gas inactive wells that were left in many cases due to company bankruptcy. The Orphan Well Association, a group funded by the industry and responsible for cleaning these sites and reclaiming them, has decommissioned 8,900 wells in Alberta since 2002. The cost to remediate the remaining backlog has been estimated at C$1.66 Billion. Two landowners, the Alberta Surface Rights Federation, and the Polluter Pay Federation filed an application in an Alberta courtroom Tuesday asking for a judicial review to determine the legal responsibility of the Alberta Energy Regulator. They wanted the Alberta Energy Regulator to make sure that the burden of cleaning orphan wells falls on industry, and not the taxpayers. The lawyer who represents landowners, Susanne Calabrese, told reporters on Tuesday that the Alberta Energy Regulator had consistently set the amount oil and gas companies have to pay in order to fund the work of the Orphan Well Association at a too low level. The levy for this year was approximately C$154,000,000, which represents only 11% of the estimated total cost to close wells. Calabrese stated that the funding for cleaning up abandoned sites does not keep pace with the growing pile-up, which poses a 'health and safety risk to landowners -- many of whom have wells on their properties -- as wells as financial risks to tax payers. She said, "The safety net falls further and further behind." The Alberta Energy Regulator refused to comment on this legal proceeding. Dwight Popowich is a landowner who has been fighting for years to clean up an inactive oil well on his property. He said that most rural Albertans are in favor of oil and gas development as long as the companies "clean up after themselves". Popowich stated that "that promise has been broken repeatedly, both to me and to?thousands other Albertans." Abandoned oil and gas wells are associated with many risks including methane leakage and soil and ground contamination. They also pose a financial burden for cleanup.
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Oil prices surge amid fears of Middle East inflation and Wall Street slide
Investors were worried about inflation and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The three main U.S. indexes all fell on Tuesday, starting off the holiday-shortened work week in a negative note. In midday trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.95%, the S&P 500 was down 0.33%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.12%. The MSCI index of global stocks was down by 0.37% last week. Oil prices rose after Houthis, backed by Iran, attacked Saudi energy facilities in Yemen. Brent crude oil rose 0.24% to a price of $97.23 per barrel, after reaching a six-week peak at $98.28 earlier in the day. U.S. crude oil rose by 0.93% to $92.33 per barrel. Inflation has risen in recent weeks and this is partly due to the increase in bond yields which have reached multi-year highs. This puts pressure on central banks to increase interest rates. The European Central Bank will raise the euro zone interest rates by a quarter-point on Thursday of this week. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan is likely to do the same thing next week. This has put the yen in a position for its biggest rally in the past two years. Federal Reserve will also be reviewing its rates on September 16, issuing a statement. The U.S. data on inflation released by the Federal Reserve this Friday may be decisive for setting expectations about the outcome of its upcoming meeting. Money markets indicate that traders attach a 58% chance to a rate rise. The yen surge is a major concern for the global markets. Oil was the main topic of discussion on Tuesday. Due to its low yield, traders borrowed yen for the purpose of funding purchases of higher yielding assets, including currencies, bonds, and equities. This strategy is known as "carry trading". The yen gained 4% in the past week, the largest weekly gain since July 2024. On Tuesday it was trading at 154.23 and the dollar was slightly lower for the day. The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket currencies including the yen and euro) rose by 0.04%, reaching 98.86. Copper, a commodity other than oil, hit a new record high price on Tuesday as the global supply was tightened. The metal continued to flow into the United States. Ahead of potential tariffs. The price of three-month copper at the?London Metal Exchange rose 1.5% to $14,728 per tonne. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yielded 4.8% on the bond market. This is not far from their highest level since November 2023.
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Chevron will double the number of oil rigs in Venezuela to support its growth plan
Eimear Bonner, Chevron's Chief Financial Officer, said that the company will double the number of oil rigs in Venezuela as part of a five-year plan to increase production in the country. Last week, U.S. Oil Major announced that its joint venture partnership in Venezuela will invest more than $7 billion to double oil production to 600,000 barrels per day by 2031. The company has maintained its presence in Venezuela for years despite political turmoil. And the Trump administration has been urging oil companies to invest there following 'the removal of President Nicolas Maduro from power by U.S. troops. Bonner stated that Chevron expects the production to plateau between 600,000.00 and 700,000.00 bpd once the joint ventures reach 600,000.00 bpd. She said, "The large base of resources gives us the chance to extend this plateau for 5-10 years and that is just the initial recovery." There's more upside to be had." Bonner said that Chevron received a right to arbitration in international courts as part of the new contract terms signed last week. Other oil producers, such as?ExxonMobil or ConocoPhillips who left Venezuela in 2007 after their assets were nationalized, have cited the ability to'resolve any potential disputes through international arbitration courts'. They claim they still owe money.
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European shares tempered as oil rally fuels cautiousness; Novartis tumbles
Investors were cautious on Tuesday due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, and higher oil prices. Novartis also suffered its biggest one-day drop in history after reporting another setback in its drug development pipeline. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.05% to 649.6. Novartis' 10.9% drop in the benchmark Swiss index weighed on the overall index, which fell by 1.6%. Novartis, the Swiss drugmaker, was the largest faller in the STOXX 600 index after it announced that its experimental treatment of a muscle-wasting condition had failed a late-stage study. News of the failure came just a day after Novartis revealed that its experimental cholesterol drug also failed in a closely-watched late-stage trial. Brent crude futures were hovering around $98 per barrel. Energy shares rose?0.6%. Oil prices increased after Houthi forces, who are aligned with Iran in Yemen, attacked Saudi Arabian cities and energy facilities. This highlights the danger that the conflict will spread across the region. Copper prices also rose, boosting mining stocks. Boliden Antofagasta KGHM all gained between 4.6% to 6.3% while the broader European Mining Index grew by 2%. German exports dropped unexpectedly in July. Weaker shipments to European Union and China highlighted the fragility of trade-driven growth in Europe's biggest economy. Focus on RISING RATE Bets The recent sell-off of global bonds has been attributed to the rising oil prices. This is also a factor in the expectation that central banks will need to continue to restrict their monetary policies. Investors expect that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates on Thursday by 25 basis points. Markets still expect another rate increase by the end of this year and in 2027, despite policymakers' limited appetite for tightening. "Any increases beyond September will move the policy away from the insurance end of the spectrum and into the restrictive side. This shift is still?not sufficiently supported by the data", ING analysts wrote in a recent note. Markets could also be underestimating the concerns over tightening and potential spillovers into European bond markets. The U.S. Inflation data is due this week. ?The inflation report follows a stronger-than-expected U.S. ?jobs reading that reinforced bets on another ?Federal Reserve rate hike this month. Kion Group, among other movers in the market, rose 6.8% following Citi's upgrade of the German forklift manufacturer to "buy" (from "neutral") citing a possible turning point in industrial-truck cycles.
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Chile inflation quickens in August, testing rate-cut hopes
Official data released on Tuesday showed that Chilean consumer prices increased 0.6% from July to August, exceeding market expectations. This is the highest monthly increase since April. The rate of growth in the month of August was?0.1%, up from?0.1% last July. It exceeded the median forecast of 0.3% in an?economists' poll and traders at central banks. The INE statistics agency said that the 'biggest upward pressure' came from transport and food. Transport grew 1.6%, whereas food and non-alcoholic beverages increased 1.4%. Nine of the 13 categories included in the consumer basket showed monthly price increases. The annual inflation rate increased to 4.1% in August from 3.5%, which is outside the tolerance range set by the central bank of 3% plus or minus a percentage point. In a recent note, a group of?Scotiabank analyst said that "inflation expectations are likely to rise." They added that the 'central bank' could raise its forecast for the year-end of 4.2%, partly reflecting the effects caused by the weather phenomenon El Nino. The savings and credit cooperative Coopeuch's analysts said that the report on inflation supported a cautious policy from policymakers. In a meeting scheduled for later Tuesday, the central bank of Chile is expected to maintain its benchmark rate at 4.5 percent.
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Venezuela's mining industry: More data is needed on its geological potential
Here are some facts about Venezuela's Mining Sector, which has attracted the interest of President Donald Trump's Administration. CONFUSION AROUND RESOURCES AND RESERVES Then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, and Delcy Rodrguez, the?acting president, announced in 2019 a five-year plan to boost mineral extraction, as an alternative to oil production. The previous year, Venezuela's government published data on its mineral deposits, using terms from the mining industry interchangeably. This included reserves and resources. It was difficult to determine whether Caracas understood its full potential. A reserve is a volume estimate for a mineral which can be economically produced. The volume of a particular mineral in a region is called a resource, regardless of its economic production. The 2018 report was published by Venezuela's Mining Ministry website as a "minerals catalog" for investors. It estimated that coal reserves were approximately 3 billion metric tonnes and nickel reserves at 407,885?metric tons. The same report also estimated that a gold reserve of 644 metric tonnes, an iron ore of 14.68 billion metric tones -- although it was acknowledged that much of this estimate was speculative -- and a resource of bauxite of 321.5 millions metric tons. Venezuela published in 2021 a map showing mineral reserves, based on 2009 data. The map listed antimony, copper and nickel reserves, as well as coltan, magnesium, molybdenum (molybdenum), titanium, tungsten, and silver. However, it did not include the volumes. Rare earths are a grouping 17 minor metals which is used in magnets to turn energy into motion. The country doesn't appear to have large reserves. Rare earths is a subset critical minerals. OPERATIONAL STATUS UNCLEAR It is unclear what the operational status of mines linked to Maduro’s five-year plans are. Maduro's National Council for Productive Economy said late last year that national production of coal, gold and iron ore increased in the first quarters of 2025. However, it did not provide figures. Venezuela nationalized the gold sector in 2011. The government controls CVG, a maker of iron and steel. Last year, it was reported that Venezuela had restarted its coal production and aimed at exporting more than 10,000,000 metric tons by 2025. The government has not yet confirmed whether it met its target. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that Venezuela produced 100,000 tons of coal in 2019 from 731 million tons of reserves. USGS data for 2021 shows that Venezuelan bauxite production will be 250,000 metric tonnes, down from 2017's 550,000 metric tonnage. Iron ore production, on an iron content basis was 1,41 million metric tonnage, while gold production was only 480 kg. The USGS estimated that alumina production, which is the substance that can be refined from bauxite to produce aluminum metal, would drop to 80,000 tons by 2021. This was down from the 240,000 tons produced four years ago. Aluminum production is estimated at 20,000 tons, a decrease from 144,000 tons in 2017.
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Kazakh gold miner Solidcore announces no more shareholder payouts following buyback and targets expansion
Kazakh gold miner, Solidcore Resources Plc (formerly Polymetal International), which announced plans to buy back shares worth up to $1.2billion, has said that it does not intend to return any more capital to shareholders until they achieve the goals set forth in their strategy for 2029. Chief Executive Vitaly Nesse confirmed this. Tuesday, the company launched a tender to buy up to 23.2% (or $11.66) of its current capital at $11.66 a share. The offer will run between September 9 and October 12, 2009. Nesis stated that the company chose to buy back shares 'because of better liquidity and recognition that not every shareholder is willing to support its aggressive growth strategy. Nesis explained that they chose a buyback because it allowed them to distinguish between those who wanted to cash out, and those who preferred to remain 'invested' rather than taking money off the table. This will be a watershed event. We made the transaction so large deliberately because we don't plan to distribute any more capital until we reach our strategic goal. This is a "unique opportunity." Maaden International Investment of Oman, the largest shareholder with a stake of 31.7% in the company, has agreed not to take part in this buyback. Solidcore, which sold its Russian business to a private company in 2024 has suspended dividends. It is pursuing a strategy of doubling production and reserves by acquisitions. The Ertis POX Project will be completed by 2029. Nesis stated that the company is considering additional acquisitions in 'Oman, and other Gulf countries in particular Saudi Arabia. They are also exploring opportunities in Africa including partnering with Minerals Development Oman, as well as in Tajikistan, and 'Uzbekistan. Solidcore, a joint-venture with MDO, announced that it would announce another agreement with a new partner in the next few weeks.
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Kazakh gold miner Solidcore announces no more shareholder payouts following buyback and targets expansion
Kazakh gold miner, Solidcore Resources Plc (formerly Polymetal International), has announced plans to repurchase shares worth up to $1.2 billion. However, the company does not intend to return any more capital to its shareholders until they achieve their objectives as set forth in their strategy for 2029. The company launched on Tuesday a tender offer to buy up to 23.2% (or $11.66 each) of its current share capital between September 9 and December 12. Nesis said the company chose to 'buy back' shares because of a?improved liquidity and recognition that not everyone is willing to support its aggressive growth strategy. Nesis explained that they chose a buyback because it allowed them to differentiate between those shareholders who wanted to cash out and those who preferred to remain 'invested' rather than take money off of the table. This will be a "watershed moment." We intentionally?made this transaction so large because we do not plan to make any further capital distributions once the transaction is complete. This is an opportunity that will not come around again.
Nike shareholders reject climate proposals backed by Norway Wealth Fund
Nike announced on Tuesday that its shareholders rejected a proposal calling for more transparency in regards to the sportswear company's climate goals. This included revealing details about how it intends?to reach its?emissions reduction targets.
The resolution of the'shareholders' raised questions about Nike's environmental goals, given that it is facing financial pressure, U.S. government pressure, and international regulatory scrutiny for misleading environmental claims.
Nike, based in Oregon, said it would reduce its carbon emission by 65% within its own operations by 2019 and by 30% across its supply chains by 2030. In a fiscal update for 2024 it reported that its supply chain emissions were down 11% from the baseline of 2015.
The company did not disclose the vote totals of its shareholders. It has a capitalization market value of $56 billion.
Norway's wealth funds, according to LSEG, the 11th largest shareholder in Nike, announced this week that it will support the drive for greater transparency.
Nike hasn't dropped the ball. Giovanna Eichner, shareholder advocacy at Green Century Capital Management, the company that introduced the climate proposal, said, "We want to know more about what is really happening." It's not clear if the same level of commitment is being made to achieving goals.
Nike's 2024 impact report detailed the company's efforts to recycle polyester and rubber, and assist factories in its supply chains source renewable energy. Last year, the details of these climate initiatives were replaced with a list containing data on waste and emissions.
Nike's Board urged shareholders to reject the proposal. In a filing, the board stated that Nike remains committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and that management is the "best-positioned" to determine targets and disclosures.
Athletic footwear maker, Elliott Hill, is struggling with slumping sales and declining market share. This comes after two years of his tenure. Shares are down about 40% this year.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNITY COMPENSATION APPROVED
The company's shareholders voted in favor of the contested proposal to approve executive compensation on Tuesday. Hill's compensation totaled more than $36 million for fiscal 2026.
Norway's wealth funds had stated that it would vote against executive compensation. They argued that Nike's Board "should ensure that benefits are clearly justified in terms of business." Glass Lewis and Institutional?Shareholder?Services, proxy advisers, had advised voting against the compensation packages.
A proposal from a group conservative investors asking Nike to exclude gender transition surgery for minors from employee health plans failed as well. This resolution, which was part of a larger campaign against employers and Nike, has increased scrutiny over Nike's diversity policies.
(source: Reuters)