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Polish power company Enea signs $2.4 Billion loan agreement for grid improvements
Enea, a Polish energy utility, announced on Wednesday that it had signed a loan agreement worth 9.13 billion zlotys ($2.44 billion), with the state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. The funds will be spent to upgrade Enea’s power distribution network in northwest Poland. This is to improve quality and security and to enhance grid capacity for renewable energy sources. Jakub Jaworowski said at a Polish Minister of State Assets' press conference that "developing the network is crucial to keeping energy prices at a level acceptable for businesses and consumers." The company announced that the funds would be distributed in 2025-2036 in tranches, and repayments will take place in semi-annual payments at a fixed rate of 0.5% annually until 2050. Enea is Poland's largest power utility. Its coal-fired units are losing profitability as renewables take a greater share of the market. According to the Forum Energii, coal will account for 57% of Poland’s electricity production in 2024. ($1 = 3.7420 zlotys) (Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Writing by Rafal W. Nowak; Editing by David Goodman)
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A former Ukrainian politician is shot dead in front of an elite American school, Madrid
Sources close to the investigation have confirmed that an unidentified gunman, or gunmen, shot and killed Andriy portnov outside a school on a wealthy Madrid suburb's campus early Wednesday morning. Madrid police confirmed that they received a report of an incident involving a shooting outside the American School of Madrid in Pozuelo de Alarcon at 9:15 am local time (07:15 GMT). The victim was not identified. Portnov served as a top aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was overthrown in the Euromaidan Revolution of 2014. In the years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, several high-profile crimes have involved Russians and Ukrainians living in Spain. Both countries have large expatriate communities in Spain. Six letter bombs, sent in November and December of 2022, were sent to prominent targets throughout Spain. These included the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office, the Ukrainian Embassy, the government offices, an EU satellite company, and the U.S. embassy. A retired Spanish civil servant, aged 76, whose searches on social media suggested a sympathy for Russia has been jailed. A Russian businessman who was linked to the Russian gas company Novatek, along with his daughter and wife, were found dead by an apparent suicide in April 2022. A Russian pilot, who had defected with his helicopter to Ukraine in February 2024 was found dead of multiple gunshots in the garage of an apartment building near Alicante. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, Aislinn laing, and Emma Pinedo. Additional reporting by Joan Faus.
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Prices for Europe GAS hit a six-week high due to tighter supplies, Middle East and Ukraine concerns, and concerns about tighter supply.
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Wednesday to their highest level in over six weeks, boosted by a lower Norwegian supply, the competition for liquefied gas, and concerns about peace talks in Ukraine and unrest in Middle East. The benchmark Dutch front month contract rose 0.48 euros to 37.63 euros per Megawatt Hour at 0813 GMT. This was its highest level since 7 April. The British contract for the month of June increased by 1.29 pence, to 90.31 p/therm. This is the highest price since April 4. Day-ahead gas rose 0.70 pence to 90.50 p/therm. A trader stated that heavy maintenance in Norway supported the prices this week. However, other reasons remain unclear. He said people may have difficulty gauging demand from Asia and China during this summer. Europe and Asia are competitors on the global LNG market. Analysts at ING stated in a morning report that Asian LNG prices were mostly higher than European gas prices over the past few months. Gassco, the infrastructure operator, reported that Norwegian gas exports to Britain and Europe fell to 160 million cubic meters per day, or half their usual volume, on Wednesday due to planned outages at Troll and Kollsnes. Oleh Skrynyk, LSEG analyst, said that if there is no extension of the shutdown, flows will recover by Thursday. Analysts also cited the lack of progress made in Russia-Ukraine talks as a support. Karsten Sander-Nielsen, senior analyst at Mind Energy, said that reports suggesting Israel was planning to strike Iran and raise oil prices may have also triggered a stronger movement in the gas markets than fundamentals would justify. He added that "growing Middle East unrest" has affected European gas prices over the past few years. We have also seen markets react violently when Israel and Iran fought in the past. The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets eased 0.09 euros to 73.09 Euros per metric tonne. Nora Buli, reporting from Oslo; Jan Harvey, editing)
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Gold reaches a new peak after a week-long high on the back of a weak dollar and safe-haven demand
Gold prices reached a record high of more than a week on Wednesday. The rise was fueled by a weaker US dollar and a demand for safe havens as U.S. president Donald Trump was unable to convince Republican dissenters to support his tax reform bill. As of 0830 GMT, spot gold rose 0.5% to $3,306.68 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures rose 0.7% to $3308 60. The market has reacted positively to the Moody's downgrade and was excited by the $3,300 level yesterday, according to UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Staunovo said that "this fiscal concern weighs on the dollar and the weaker currency is supporting the gold price." Dollars in foreign currencies are now cheaper than gold priced in greenbacks. In a meeting behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, Trump warned Republicans not to push for more changes to the bill that would reduce taxes and tighten the eligibility for Medicaid. Investors were also closely watching developments in the Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks and any progress made on trade agreements as the clock ticked down towards the end of Trump’s 90-day tariff exemptions. Last month, gold, which is traditionally viewed as a safe haven during times of political and economic unrest, reached an all-time record high at $3,500.05/ounce, thanks to central bank purchases, fears about tariff wars, and strong demand for investment. The spot palladium price fell by 0.8%, to $1,005.70. It had earlier reached its highest level since the 4th of February. "Palladium is in desperate need of good news. Honda's move towards hybrids, and not EVs, is a reasonable reason," said Tai Wong an independent metals dealer. Palladium plays a major role in the catalytic converters that are used to reduce harmful emissions from internal combustion engines (ICEs) and hybrid vehicles. Silver increased 0.3%, to $33.15 per ounce. Platinum fell 1%, to $1,043.10.
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LME approves the construction of three new warehouses in Hong Kong, which is the mainland gateway.
The London Metal Exchange approved the construction of three new warehouses in Hong Kong. This brings the total number to seven. It is increasing its presence in this city, which is the gateway to China, the largest metals consumer in the world. Since Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing acquired the LME, in 2012, approving warehouses to store metal traded on the LME has been a strategic objective. The LME is focusing on Hong Kong instead, as it is closer to mainland Asia than other Asian locations. Bonnie Y Chan, CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, announced the addition of three warehouses at the LME Asia Week Conference. Commodity warehousing is part of Hong Kong's plan to diversify the economy and grow it. The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong's government, Paul Chan Mo-po, told conference attendees that the region aims to create a trading ecosystem for commodities. The additional costs associated with operating in Hong Kong where land is priced at a premium have led to questions regarding the viability of this model in comparison to other Asian sites like Korea and Malaysia. According to anonymous industry sources, warehouse costs in Hong Kong exceed those of Singapore by more than two times. According to LME documents, the maximum charge that warehouse companies can make for storing metal in South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong is 51 U.S. Cents per metric tonne of copper. However, it will be 61 U.S. Cents in Hong Kong. GKE Metal Logistics hosted a warehouse on Wednesday. Leung Kam Un, the General Manager, said that initial cargoes will be arriving in late June. These include copper, nickel, and tin. Lewis Jackson, Liz Lee and Tom Hogue edited the article.
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Rosneft has taken control of Russia's biggest rare earth deposit.
Rosneft, the country's biggest rare earth metal deposit and largest oil company, acquired Tomtor on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin urged the development of this field to be accelerated last year. Tomtor is located in the northern part of Siberian Yakutia region. It's a major project for Russia to increase production of metals used in the defense industry, mobile phones, and electric cars. Rosneft, according to the official Russian state registry, took control of Vostok engineering, the project operator, on May 20, 2018. Rosneft didn't immediately respond to a comment request. In November, Putin accused Tomtor's operator of delaying its development and suggested that it either raise investments or seek assistance from third parties including the government. Prior to the Ukraine conflict, Russia had planned to invest $1.5 Billion in rare earth minerals to become the second largest producer of rare earth minerals after China by 2030. Other countries such as the United States are also trying their best to reduce their dependence on China. China controls 95% global production and supply for rare earth metals. Through his IST group, Alexander Nesis was a former shareholder of Polymetal, a large producer of gold, silver and other metals. He owned a 75% share in ThreeArc Mining. Polymetal owned a 9.1% stake of ThreeArc Mining. After the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions against Russian companies, Vladislav Resin's former manager at IST was given control of the project before Rosneft took it over. (Reporting and editing by Guy Faulconbridge; Anastasia Lyrchikova, Vladimir Soldatkin)
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Nyrstar, a company in Australia, seeks government funding to produce antimony
Matt Howell, CEO of Nyrstar (owned by Trafigura), said that the company, which is owned by a global commodity trader, could produce antimony in its South Australian plant, but it would require government assistance to do so. After China, the largest antimony producer in the world, implemented export controls in 2013, there is a high demand for new supplies of this strategic metal. It's used in the production of night-vision goggles and infrared sensor, among other things. The company stated that as part of Trafigura's strategic review of Nyrstar Australia operations, Nyrstar discovered it could produce up to 5, 000 tonnes of antimony or trioxide per year at its Port Pirie multi-metals plant by adding a second processing step after lead smelting. Matt Howell, Nyrstar's CEO, said: "We are able to produce critical minerals such as antimony in order to meet the global demand." "However, significant investments and assistance will be required to address the unsustainable pressures on the market that Australian smelters face," he stated in a May 5 statement. Howell didn't specify how much funding the government would need to support production at the Port Pirie facility or when it could start producing antimony metal. The smelters in Australia are suffering from high power costs at home and a surplus of processing capacity available in China, which has pushed down the prices they can charge for material. The Australian Government is offering billions in funding for critical mineral processing. A spokesperson for the South Australian government said, "Antimony has been defined by the Australian Government as a critical mine. This provides a path to access substantial support from government." He said that complex refineries are key to the economy of South Australia.
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Iran and the U.S. face each other without a Plan B when nuclear redlines collide
While rising U.S.-Iran tensions over Tehran's uranium enrichment jeopardize nuclear talks, three Iranian sources said on Tuesday that the clerical leadership lacks a clear fallback plan if efforts to resolve a decades-long dispute collapse. With negotiations faltering over clashing red lines, Iran may turn to China and Russia as a "Plan B", the sources said, but with Beijing's trade war with Washington and Moscow distracted with its war in Ukraine, Tehran's backup plan appears shaky. "The plan B is to continue the strategy before the start of talks. Iran will avoid escalating tensions, it is ready to defend itself," a senior Iranian official said. "The strategy also includes strengthening ties with allies like Russia and China." On Tuesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected U.S. demands to halt uranium enrichment as "excessive and outrageous", warning that the talks are unlikely to yield results. After four rounds of talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief, multiple stumbling blocks remain. Tehran refuses to ship all of its highly enriched uranium stockpile abroad or engage in discussions over its ballistic missile programme, two of the Iranian officials and a European diplomat said. The lack of trust on both sides and President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a 2015 accord with world powers has also raised the importance for Iran of getting guarantees that Washington will not renege on a future accord. Compounding Tehran's challenges, Iran's clerical establishment is grappling with mounting crises - energy and water shortages, a plummeting currency, military losses among regional allies, and rising fears of an Israeli attack on its nuclear sites - all exacerbated by Trump's hardline policies. With Trump's speedy revival of a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran since February, including tightened sanctions and military threats, the sources said, Iran's leadership "has no better option" than a new deal to avert economic chaos at home that could threaten its rule. Nationwide protests over social repression and economic hardship in recent years, met with harsh crackdowns, have exposed the Islamic Republic's vulnerability to public anger and triggered sets of Western human rights sanctions. "Without lifting sanctions to enable free oil sales and access to funds, Iran's economy cannot recover," said the second official, who like others asked not to be identified due to sensitivity of matter. Iran's foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment. A THORNY PATH Wendy Sherman, former U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs who led the U.S. negotiating team that reached the 2015 accord between Tehran and six world powers, said it was impossible to convince Tehran to "dismantle its nuclear programme and give up their enrichment even though that would be ideal". "So that means they will come to an impasse, and that we will face the potential for war, which I don't think, quite frankly, President Trump looks forward to because he has campaigned as a peace president," she said. Even if enrichment disputes narrow, lifting sanctions remains fraught. The U.S. favours phasing out nuclear-related sanctions, while Tehran demands immediate removal of all restrictions. Dozens of Iranian institutions vital to Iran's economy, including its central bank and national oil company, have been sanctioned since 2018 for "supporting terrorism or weapons proliferation". When asked about Iran's options if talks fail, Sherman said Tehran would likely "continue to circumvent sanctions and sell oil, largely to China, perhaps India and others". China, Iran's primary oil buyer despite sanctions, has helped stave off economic collapse, but Trump's intensified pressure on Chinese trade entities and tankers threatens these exports. Analysts warn that China and Russia's support has limits. China insists on steep discounts for Iranian oil and may push for lower prices as global oil demand weakens. If talks collapse - a scenario both Tehran and Washington hope to avoid - neither Beijing nor Moscow can shield Iran from unilateral U.S. and EU sanctions. France, Britain and Germany, though not part of the U.S.-Iran talks, have warned they would reimpose U.N. sanctions if no deal emerged quickly. Under the 2015 nuclear pact's U.N. resolution, the E3 have until October 18 to trigger the so-called "snapback mechanism" before the resolution expires. According to diplomats and a document seen by , the E3 countries may do this by August if no substantial deal can be found by then. Diplomats warn that getting a deal before then would mean, in the best case scenario, an initial political framework like in 2013 whereby both sides offer some immediate concrete concessions giving time for a more detailed negotiation. "There is no reason to think it will take less time than the 18 months in 2013 especially when the parameters and the geopolitical situation is more complicated now," a senior European official said. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi and John Irish; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Reports that Israel could attack Iran cause supply concerns
The price of oil jumped by more than 1% after Israel was reported to be preparing an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. This sparked fears that the conflict could disrupt supply in this key Middle East region.
Brent futures rose by 97 cents or 1.5% to $66.35 per barrel at 0330 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures for July rose 96 cents or 1.6% to $62.99. The WTI contract for June expired at $62.56 on Tuesday.
CNN reported Tuesday that the United States has received new intelligence suggesting that Israel is planning to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. CNN cited multiple U.S. government officials who are familiar with the issue.
CNN, citing officials, added that it was unclear whether Israeli leaders had made a decision.
On Wednesday, ING commodities analysts said that such an escalation could put Iranian oil supply in danger. It would also be a threat to other parts of the region.
An attack by Israel could disrupt the flow of oil from Iran, the third largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Iran may also retaliate, blocking oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Gulf through which Saudi Arabia Kuwait Iraq and United Arab Emirates export crude and fuel.
This year, the U.S. has held multiple rounds of talks with Iran over its nuclear program. U.S. president Donald Trump is reviving his campaign to increase sanctions on Iranian crude oil exports in order to force them to abandon their nuclear ambitions.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme leader and U.S. officials made statements on Tuesday that both sides are still far from a solution.
If successful, indirect nuclear talks are taking place between the U.S.A. and Iran. This could lead to further gains for the market. These talks seem to be losing steam, according to ING analysts.
There were still some signs that crude supply was improving. Market sources cited American Petroleum Institute data on Tuesday to say that U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week, while gasoline and distillate stocks fell.
Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that crude stocks in the U.S. - the world's largest oil consumer - rose by 2.5m barrels during the week ending May 16.
Investors will be watching the Energy Information Administration's report on U.S. government oil stocks later this Wednesday.
A source in the industry said that Kazakhstan's oil output has risen by 2% since May. This is a significant increase, which defies the pressure of OPEC+ to reduce Kazakhstan's production. (Reporting from Houston by Georgina McCartney and Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger).
(source: Reuters)