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Citgo Petroleum returns to profitability in the second quarter
Citgo Petroleum, a U.S. refiner owned by Venezuela, reported a net profit of $100 million for the second quarter, compared to a loss of $25 million during the same period last year. The company ended the quarter with 2.6 billion dollars in liquid assets, the company said on Thursday. Before its second quarter results, the Houston-based refiner recorded two consecutive quarters with losses due to weak margins. PDV Holdings is the parent company. is being auctioned The seventh largest U.S. refiner, which processes an average of 858, 000 barrels of crude oil per day, increased its processing from 833,000 barrels of crude oil per day in the first quarter to 858,000 bpd on average between April and June. This represents a crude usage rate of 101%. In a press release, the company stated that "reliable operations in an environment more supportive of business" contributed to a better second quarter. Citgo will advance some key projects in the second half of this year. However, the company has shifted the turnaround activities for its Lemont and Lake Charles refineries, located in Illinois, to next year. The projected capital, turnaround and catalyst expenditures were reduced by approximately $696 million. Citgo's quarterly marketing sales volume increased slightly over the previous quarter to 431,000 bpd.
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Nayara, the Indian refiner that has been hit by sanctions, is in talks with the government to continue operations
Nayara Energy, a Russian-backed Indian refiner, said it was in contact with government officials and partners on Thursday to ensure the operational stability of its 400,000 bar per day refinery. Last month, the EU sanctioned the private refiner owned by Russian companies, including Rosneft. This was part of an EU package that targeted entities associated with Russian oil. In a court filing in Delhi, the private company said that it sold 70% of its refined fuels to Indian consumers through more than 6,600 retail outlets. Nayara said that it supplies fuels through its coastal, rail and road networks to its retail outlets. It said, "Our retail petrol stations will continue to operate normally while we work diligently to ensure an uninterrupted fuel supply across India." Nayara was forced to reduce its Vadinar refinery production on the West Coast by 70-80%, and to halt its exports. Former chief executives of the company resigned, and shippers pulled out of local movements for its refined fuels. It said that the company operates its refinery at "a healthy run rate" while supplying fuels. Nayara did not specify at what rate it operates its refinery. A government source confirmed on Thursday that Nayara had asked the Indian shipping ministry for help in obtaining vessels to transport its refined fuels. (Reporting and editing by Alexandra Hudson. Nidhi verma)
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Ukraine PM orders massive audit of mining licenses
Yulia Shvyrydenko, Ukraine's prime minister, ordered the review of all mining licences for strategic minerals on Thursday. This was part of an effort to aid the war-ravaged Ukrainian economy and to secure new investments under a deal to sell minerals to the United States. Ukraine and the United States signed a deal on minerals in April that was heavily promoted Donald Trump, President of the United States. The deal envisaged that the Ukrainian government would send half the revenue it earns through mineral extraction to a joint U.S. and Ukrainian investment fund. Svyrydenko announced on Thursday that the government would also run its tenders for extraction of gas at two sites in west Ukraine. "We will check to see who is working and who has licenses that are not being used." Svyrydenko, a Telegram user, said that these facilities must either produce results or be returned to auctions. Our natural resources should be used to boost the economy of Ukraine. The European Union considers 22 minerals to be critical for the European Union's industries, including defence, high-tech appliances, green energy and ferro alloys, precious and nonferrous metals that are used in construction and some rare elements. The United States' deal, which grants the latter preferential entry to Ukrainian minerals as an exchange for investment was seen as helping to rebuild the country's economy, which had been destroyed by Russia's invasion. It also helped Kyiv with its defence efforts. Officials from the Ukrainian government have said previously that Ukraine has about 3,000 mining permits, and around 10% may be dormant. (Reporting and editing by Hugh Lawson; Olena Hartmash)
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Zambia's copper production drops in the second quarter, risking 2025 goal
Official data released on Thursday showed that Zambia's copper production fell in the second quarter. This puts at risk a goal of increasing production to 1,000,000 metric tons by this year. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has tried to increase copper production as part of his efforts to revive the economy. Back on Track after a protracted debt crisis. South Africa is Africa's largest copper producer. The report was made. Approximately 224,000 tonnes in the first quarter 2025. The Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe said at a press briefing that the copper production in the first half of the year was 449,000 tons. He refused to provide a figure for the second quarter. If the first quarter production is not revised, then second quarter production would be about 215,644 tonnes, down about 4 percent quarter-on-quarter. Kabuswe reported that the second-quarter production had been dampened due to issues at four producers, Sino Metals Leach (FQM), Mimbula, and Sino Xinyuan. Sino Metals Leach was closed due to an Acid spill After the failure of a tailings pond. Zambia's first-half copper production was up 18% on last year. If the government is to meet its goal of 1,000,000 tons, it will need to increase production by 27% during the second half of this year. Analysts believe that the expansion of FQM’s Kansanshi Mine could boost production in the second half. However, an increase of over 20% would be pushing it.
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Copper prices fall amid uncertainty over tariffs, interest rate, and Ukraine
Copper prices fell on Thursday, as investors waited for clarity on various issues including tariffs and the Ukraine conflict, Chinese demand, and U.S. Interest Rates. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange dropped 0.5% in open-outcry official trading to $9751 per ton, after having fallen from its highest level in more than two weeks, which was reached on Tuesday at $9865. LME copper is up 11% so far this year. Ole Hansen is the head of commodity strategy for Saxo Bank, Copenhagen. "We are looking at not only the Friday negotiations (on Ukraine), but also Jackson Hole, and we will continue to focus on the central banks and FOMC," he said. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its minutes for the July meeting and next week the U.S. Central Bank's annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming takes place. The market is still looking for big-picture answers, and until that happens, we will probably continue to see the range-bound behavior that we are seeing now. Hansen said that the market is ripe for upside, but it needs a catalyst to break through its current range between $9,500 and $9,900. The news that Chile, the largest copper producer in the world, has lowered its production growth estimate for 2025 to 1.5% per year. This is down from the 3% estimate made in May. The most actively traded copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.5%, to 78950 yuan (11,008.39 dollars) per ton. A recent increase in the premium that traders pay to purchase copper on the spot market over the SHFE price also helped to support the market. The price of a ton has doubled in the last week, to 200 yuan. Analysts at ANZ expect the market to be watching for critical China data this Friday. Retail sales, industrial output and fixed asset investments are expected to improve despite concerns over trade. LME aluminium fell by 0.3% during official activity, to $2608 per ton. Zinc also eased to $2822, Nickel dropped 1.2%, to $15075, Lead lost 0.2%, to $1985, and Tin fell 0.4%, to $33,590. Click here to see the latest news in metals.
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Kuwait's health ministry reports that tainted alcohol has killed 13 Asians and blinded 21 others in Kuwait.
Kuwait's Health Ministry reported that 63 people suffered from methanol poisoning due to contaminated alcohol drinks over the past five days, with 13 deaths and 20 cases of blindness. In a late-night statement broadcast on X, the ministry stated that all of those affected were Asians. It added that 51 needed urgent kidney dialysis while 31 required mechanical ventilation. Kuwait has banned the importation or production of alcohol, but it is still illegally produced in secret locations without any safety or oversight standards. This exposes consumers to poisoning. The Embassy of India, Kuwait's largest expatriate country, reported that around 40 Indians were hospitalized over the past few days. However, the Embassy did not specify the reason. In a statement posted on X it said that "there have been some deaths, some are in critical condition, while others are recovering." It added that it was seeking more details.
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Equinix signs multiple advanced nuclear power deals with data centers
The company announced on Thursday that it has signed several deals for advanced nuclear energy, including power purchase agreement for fission and microreactors pre-ordered for its operations. The race by Big Tech to develop technologies such as generative artificial intelligence that require warehouse-like data centres and can use city-sized quantities of electricity on a single location is increasing global energy consumption, raising concerns about depleted supplies. Data centers have a voracious appetite for energy, which has prompted a growing number of power deals that will fuel them with advanced nuclear technology. The United States, which is the hub of the world's largest data centers, does not have commercially available small modular reactors or other next-generation power. The Equinix announcement comes after the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it had earlier selected 11 initial projects for a program to develop high-tech nuclear test reactors. Three of these projects were expected to be operational in less than one year. Equinix has signed deals with advanced nuclear suppliers that will supply the company's data centres with more than 1 gigawatts of electricity. Equinix will procure 500 Megawatts of electricity from Oklo, a California-based company that manufactures nuclear fission powerhouses. Radiant Nuclear in California also signed a preorder contract for 20 transportable nuclear microreactors. Equinix has signed agreements in Europe to purchase electricity from ULC-Energy, Stellaria, and other nuclear developers. Equinix has also signed advanced fuel cell agreements in Silicon Valley with Bloom Energy. Raouf Aboud, Equinix executive vice president for global operations, said that the agreements were part of Equinix’s long-term plan for electricity use in its data centers and not a quick fix.
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Sources say that Indian refiners are looking at Russian oil, as the discounts on it have increased.
Three people familiar with the matter confirmed on Thursday that Indian state refiners are now contacting trading firms to inquire about purchasing Urals crude oil from Russia as the discounts have increased. This comes ahead of Friday's high-profile summit between U.S. leaders and Russian counterparts. Indian refiners, including Indian Oil Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd., halted their Russian oil purchases in the last month, as discounts shrank. State refiners in India, who account for 60% of the country's refining capacity of 5.2 million barrels of oil per day, purchase Russian oil delivered. Sources said that spot discounts for Russian Urals crude oil delivered to India in the month of October had increased to $2.70 per barrel from $1.50 to $1.50 per barrel in late July. The larger discount means that Urals is cheaper to deliver than in July. India was the biggest customer of Russian oil shipped by sea from 2022 onwards, after Western nations shunned Russian crude and imposed sanctions against Moscow due to its invasion of Ukraine. Last month, U.S. president Donald Trump threatened to sanction buyers of Russian products unless Russia agreed to a peace agreement with Ukraine. Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin will discuss an possible deal to end Ukraine's war when they meet in Alaska on Friday. One of the sources stated that they would wait to see the results of the Trump-Putin negotiations, which will give them some indications. Vetsa Gupta (the finance director of Bharat Oil Corp) told an analyst conference call on Thursday that the company will continue to use Russian oil for up to 35% its processing requirements if new sanctions are not imposed. BPCL’s Russian oil purchase slowed down in July, as discounts decreased, he said. In order to replace the lower Russian oil supply, Indian refiners are now buying on-demand from Brazil, West Africa and the United States. Russian Urals crude oil is sold at a lower price than Brent crude oil. Brent crude oil is a widely-used benchmark for oil pricing. More than a third (35%) of India's total oil purchases are Russian. Private companies such as Reliance Industries, Nayara Energy and others have contracts for a certain period of time to purchase Russian oil.
Sources say that India BPCL has bought 10 million barrels US oil through a five-month tender.
Two people familiar with the matter have confirmed that India's Bharat Oil Corp, a state-run company, has awarded a 5-month tender to European trader Glencore for 10 million barrels U.S. crude oil. This is helping India to strengthen its energy relations with Washington.
India, which is the third largest oil importer in the world, has increased its imports of US crude oil as the negotiations for a bilateral agreement continue.
Sources said that Glencore would deliver 2,000,000 barrels of WTI Midland Crude per month to the Indian refiner from November through March. This is double the volume BPCL had imported in its previous tender.
Indian refiners, traders and oil companies do not comment on issues related to the oil trade citing confidentiality.
Increased imports will help India reduce its $45.7 billion trade surplus with the U.S.
The trade tensions between India, the United States and other countries have risen sharply over the past few weeks. U.S. president Donald Trump has imposed a 25% tariff starting on August 7, and threatened similar measures due to the Asian nation's continued purchase of Russian oil.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington in February and pledged to increase U.S. purchases of energy from $10 billion up to $25 billion. Both nations aim to reach $500 billion in bilateral trade in 2030.
Indian refiners are increasing their imports of U.S. crude oil on the spot market due to improved arbitrage economies of sending Atlantic Basin grades into Asia.
The federal government also plans to eliminate import taxes on propane and liquefied gas purchased from the U.S.
(source: Reuters)