Latest News
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Vallourec Boosts Pipe Coating Offering with Latest Acquisition
French tubular solutions supplier Vallourec has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Matt’s subsidiary Thermotite do Brasil, a specialized provider of thermal insulation pipe coating services for the offshore oil and gas industry.The acquisition price is $17.5 million, on a cash-free, debt-free basis, subject to customary price adjustments, including working capital.Thermotite’s facility is located within Vallourec’s existing coating services premises in Serra, Esperito Santo State in Brazil.The acquisition will support Vallourec’s strategy, reinforce its presence across the industry value chain with an integrated industrial set up and improve its technical expertise, notably for the offshore and particularly deepwater markets.“This acquisition is a further step forward in our strategy to provide premium integrated solutions for the most challenging offshore projects. Thermotite’s expertise perfectly complements our existing portfolio of anti-corrosion coating solutions, allowing us to offer our customers more complete and tailored line pipe solutions.“By strengthening our presence in Brazil, a key market for the offshore industry, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for premium tubular solutions both in the domestic market and in high-value export markets,” said Philippe Guillemot, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer of Vallourec.
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Rovco and Vaarst Unite Under New Brand Beam
High-technology offshore wind companies Rovco and Vaarst have entered into merger, creating a new brand Beam to boost their offshore wind services.In uniting their capabilities across research, development, and deployment, Beam will provide innovative automation technologies to service offshore wind, and deliver efficiencies and reduced costs for survey and subsea work across all lifecycle stages.Under the unified Beam brand, Rovco and Vaarst will continue in their shared mission develop and deploying AI and autonomy enabled services in the offshore wind sector.Rovco was founded by Brian Allen in 2016, with technology spin-off Vaarst later launched by Allen in 2021.The decision to unite the companies under one name follows several years of rapid growth and will support future technological ambitions.Allen will continue in the CEO role at Beam, with the merger of the two companies creating a combined workforce of over 200 employees.“Piecemeal policymaking, supply chain issues and the rising workforce shortage have created hurdles in the green energy transition and fueled a continued reliance on oil and gas. It’s never been more important to find ways to cut costs and project timelines.“This merger under a united brand makes Beam the only company in the world with a unique combination of subsea AI, computer vision, sonar and autonomous advanced robotics. Our mission is to deliver real world impact in the offshore wind industry by making it cost competitive with oil and gas, which is a pivotal step in ending the world’s dependence on fossil fuels,” said Brian Allen, CEO of Beam.Beam is set for further expansion in the coming year, hiring over 150 new employees across the UK in a variety of high-technology roles at its Bristol, Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices.Global growth will also see Beam recruit an additional 50 positions in other global markets, including 25 in the United States and 10 in Asia.
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Peru calls on farmers to halt burns amid fatal fire season
Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen on Monday gotten in touch with farming neighborhoods to stop burning meadows in Andean and Amazonian locations that have triggered fatal wildfires, eliminating a minimum of 15 individuals this season. Forest fires are regular in Peru between August and November, mainly due to the burning of dry grasslands to expand farming frontiers and sometimes by land traffickers, according to information from the Ministry of the Environment. Please, I ask you to stop burning lawn. All the fires that are happening nationwide have actually been started by people, the prime minister informed reporters. Adrianzen said 222 fire emergencies, of which 80% had actually been controlled, were reported as of Sunday according to the civil defense company. He included the fires might flare once again due to the dry season, more powerful winds and hard access. The biggest fires have actually been recorded in the regions of Cuzco, San Martin, Amazonas, Ucayali, Madre de Dios and Ancash, according to authorities. Health Minister Cesar Vasquez informed reporters that 15 people have actually died and 134 others have been hurt so far. A number of authorities have called for greater action from the federal government to put out the fires. Firemens and volunteers are attempting to put out fires in hard-to-reach locations with water and by hitting the ground with branches to stop it from spreading. The governor of Ucayali, Manuel Gambini, called for the existence of military airplane to help firemens and volunteers because the rugged location makes it difficult to snuff out the fires that are damaging palm and cocoa crops.
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Tech stocks drag, dollar plumbs lows on rate cut expectations
Tech stocks dragged on U.S. indexes and the dollar touched a. more than 1 year low against the yen on Monday as all eyes. aimed to a Federal Reserve meeting later on this week that is. expected to usher in a hotly anticipated alleviating cycle. Expectations have grown that the Federal Reserve could cut. rates of interest by as much as half a point in a bid to keep the. economy on course for a soft landing, while managing slowing down. jobs growth and moderating inflation. The Fed will reveal its. policy decision on Wednesday. Rate-sensitive tech stocks dipped, pulling down the Nasdaq. Composite. Nvidia and Apple shed more. than 2% each, and Amazon.com was down practically 1%. The S&P 500 hovered between favorable and negative. territory in early afternoon trading. Far from growth plays,. the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average struck an. intraday record high. XTB research director Kathleen Brooks said markets would. look past the size of any rate cut on Wednesday to understand. the Fed's rationale. If the Fed does begin by cutting 50 bps, however at the. exact same time restates that it is doing so to maintain the. economy's soft landing, this is stock-market positive. If it. sounds like the Fed needs to panic-cut rates of interest because of. some gray cloud on the horizon, then anticipate stocks to sell off,. she said. The dollar index, which determines the greenback. versus a basket of currencies, fell 0.29% at 100.73. Versus. the Japanese yen, the dollar damaged 0.14% at 140.62. Financiers also absorbed news from Sunday of a second. assassination attempt on Republican governmental prospect. Donald Trump. Shares in his Trump Media & & Technology. company reversed early gains to trade down more than 3% on the. day. Limitations on sales of Trump Media shares by the previous. president and other business insiders will be raised within the. next 10 days, though Trump stated Friday he will not sell his. shares. The Dow increased 0.44%, to 41,575.17; the S&P 500. gained 0.02%, to 5,627.40; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped. 0.61%, to 17,575.83. The S&P last week published its greatest weekly efficiency. this year. Wishes for a big rate cut by the Fed have enhanced stocks this. year and some of the radiance remained in MSCI's All-World index. , which increased 0.12%, to 827.95. TREASURY YIELDS STRIKE LOWS Yields on short-dated U.S. debt hit their most affordable level. in two years at one point on Monday and remained 2.7 basis points. lower on the day on the rate-sensitive two-year note, continuing. a slide this month. Standard 10-year yields shrank for a 2nd. straight session, shedding 3.1 basis points to 3.618%, from. 3.649% late on Friday. Traders are putting a 59% chance of a half-point cut at. the Fed's conference on Wednesday, up from 30% a week earlier, futures. program. The chances narrowed greatly after media reports. restored the possibility of more aggressive relieving. Central banks in Japan and the UK also meet this week, with. both expected to stand pat in the meantime, while a packed information schedule. consists of U.S. retail sales and commercial production. The Bank of England is anticipated to leave rates on hold at. 5.00% when it satisfies on Thursday, though markets have actually priced in a. 31% opportunity of another cut. On Friday, it is the Bank of Japan's turn. The BoJ is commonly. expected to hold stable, though it might lay the groundwork for a. further tightening in October. Lower Treasury yields played in to the yen's strength. against the dollar. The euro stayed greater, underpinned by the. prospect of more rate cuts from the European Central Bank,. keeping a lid on the currency at $1.1200. Gold also felt the results of lower loaning costs,. adding 0.22% to $2,582.08 an ounce, near an all-time peak of. $ 2,588.81. Oil rates rose as the results of Cyclone Francine kept. almost a fifth of petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico. offline. U.S. crude rose 2.51% to $70.37 a barrel and Brent. acquired 1.9% to $72.97 per barrel.
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At least two die as wildfires hit Portugal, Europe sends assistance
At least 2 people died as wildfires raged in central and northern Portugal on Monday, forcing authorities to evacuate villages, close motorways and ask the European Union to send more water-bombing airplane. The circumstance was most harmful in the northwestern Aveiro district where one forest blaze reached the borders of the town of Albergaria-a-Velha and burned numerous houses, the mayor said. More than 1,100 firefighters were battling that fire and three others in the surrounding location. Cops shut a stretch of the main highway in between Lisbon and Porto as thick smoke blanketed the location. Authorities stated officers had actually found the remains of a guy who had actually obviously been working for a forestry business close by. In the very same area, another individual died of a cardiovascular disease as the fire approached, and 2 people were in hospital with severe injuries, according to the civil protection service. Authorities said they had actually released 12 water-bombing aircraft in that district and were battling a minimum of 20 fires throughout the nation. The government asked for 8 more aircraft from the European Commission under the EU civil protection mechanism known as RescEU. 2 shown up from Spain, and two were anticipated from France, an Interior Ministry representative informed Reuters. Greece said it would send out two Canadair CL-415 planes. The scenario would likely worsen amidst unusually dry conditions and wind gusts of up to 70 kph (43 mph), national emergency and civil protection commander Andre Fernandes stated. He planned to preserve the existing unique red alert status across mainland Portugal. Albergaria-a-Velha Mayor Antonio Loureiro told press reporters the fire had burned down four homes and was threatening 20 more as it raged in the industrial and property perimeter of the town of around 25,000 people. Temperature levels topped 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the country over the weekend and Monday, and were expected to stay high into Tuesday. Portugal and neighbouring Spain have tape-recorded less fires than usual after a rainy start to the year. But both stay susceptible to the increasingly hot and dry conditions that researchers have actually blamed on global warming.
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Daye copper plant in China to close for 3 months after fire, sources say
Hong Konglisted China Daye NonFerrous Metals Mining stated on Monday a fire at its copper facilities in China triggered a blockage, which 3 sources with direct knowledge of the matter stated would last for three months. China Daye Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Ltd did not react to a Reuters ask for talk about Monday on the length of its shutdown or the reason for the fire. The stoppage might mean the release of copper basic materials to the marketplace, which has faced unprecedented shortages this year. The fire at the Daye operations in China's central Hubei province broke out on Saturday at its sulphuric acid facility, stated the sources, who declined to be named. Sulphuric acid production is an essential part of the copper smelting procedure, sales of which contribute to smelters' incomes. Although main smelting would be shut, Daye's refinery will remain in partial operation to produce copper cathodes using intermediate products like scrap and blister, the sources said. Daye, a subsidiary of China Nonferrous Mining Corp, said on Monday it expected to produce 680,000 metric tons of copper cathode this year after taking account of the effect of the fire. In March, the business said it was targeting output of 870,000 tons of copper cathode. Fundamentals along the copper supply chain are significantly polarised, with mined copper focuses dealing with scarcities due to rapid growth of worldwide smelting capability. On the other hand copper cathodes, a more refined kind of copper for making cables and wires, are facing a surplus due to lacklustre need from top buyer China.
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Colombia court suspension of Uchuva-2 well threatens energy security, state industry groups
A judgment from a Colombian court that bought the suspension of work at a significant overseas gas well is a hazard to the nation's energy security, market groups the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP) and Naturgas said on Monday. In a court order dated Sept. 11, a judge said activities at well Uchuva-2, on the Tayrona block in Colombia's Caribbean, need to stop after the business stopped working to correctly consult a local Native neighborhood about the operation. We can not enable them to turn the country off with approximate choices, ACP president Frank Pearl stated in a press conference along with Naturgas president Luz Stella Murgas. The block is owned in between Colombia's bulk state-owned energy company Ecopetrol, which has a 55.6% stake, and Brazil's Petrobras, which is the block operator and holds the remaining 44.4%. The judgment represents the most recent chapter in Colombia's. long history of stress in between succeeding governments and. Native groups over energy projects, which the neighborhoods. often say infringe on their rights or threaten their way of. life.
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WTO chief Okonjo-Iweala looks for second term to complete 'unfinished company'
WTO DirectorGeneral Ngozi OkonjoIweala will look for another fouryear term as head of the World Trade Organization following a broad Africaled push to begin the procedure early, intending to complete incomplete. organization from her first required. Okonjo-Iweala, 70, a previous Nigerian finance minister, made. history by becoming the first female and African chief of the. 30-year-old trade body in 2021. I want to become part of this chapter of the WTO story. and I stand all set to contend for the position, Okonjo-Iweala. told Reuters on Monday in comments later on validated by a WTO. declaration. For my 2nd term, I plan to concentrate on providing, she. added, saying among the priorities were attending to unfinished. company. These include a deal on ending fisheries subsidies and. reaching an advancement in international agriculture negotiations, as. well as reforming the WTO's hobbled disputes system and. decarbonising trade. Formally, she has till the end of November to decide. whether to use once again. But the African-led move to begin early,. started in July before U.S. President Joe Biden withdrew from. the election campaign and supported by lots of nations, was. viewed as inspired partially by a bid to protect her 2nd term. ahead of the U.S. vote in November. Under WTO agreement rules, that would be possible if nobody. else uses and all states accept her. In 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. obstructed her appointment in an action seen by some as an attack on. an organisation he as soon as described as awful. She protected. U.S. backing when Biden was successful Trump in 2021. Asked whether both she and the WTO might be successful if. Trump is chosen, she stated: I don't concentrate on that because I. have no control. REALLY DIFFICULT TASK Okonjo-Iweala is one of the few WTO chiefs in the body's. history to land global trade deals, consisting of the very first part of. a global treaty on cutting fishing subsidies concurred in 2022. However a high-level meeting earlier this year yielded more. meagre outcomes: the accession of two brand-new members and a rollover. on a deal to hold off from enforcing digital tariffs. Ever since. some agreements such as a follow-up fishing offer have actually been. blocked most plainly by just one member - India. Okonjo-Iweala admitted to Reuters the job was tough and. that geopolitical stress among its 166 members was a. substantial obstacle. It is tough, you understand, really tough. There's no escaping. from that. However it's likewise a job that makes me wish to get out of. bed in the morning, she informed Reuters. Given that the Trump the administration blocked judges in Dec. 2019 to the WTO's top adjudications court, leaving it unable to. function, the guard dog has actually had limited scope to constrain the. flouting of rules by members. The policy has continued under Biden, although Washington is. engaging on possible reforms which could ultimately see some. form of evaluation system for conflicts ultimately revived.
US slowly replenishes Strategic Petroleum Reserve into 2025
The U.S. is gradually replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, purchasing nearly 6 million barrels of oil for delivery in the very first several months of next year, after the biggest sale yet from the stockpile in 2022.
The Energy Department stated on Monday it purchased about 3.4 million barrels for shipment to the reserve's Bryan Mound, Texas site from January to March next year. In August it bought nearly 2.5 million barrels for delivery in the exact same months at the exact same site, which was closed for upkeep but is now able to take oil.
Here are truths about the SPR and efforts to put oil back in.
WHAT IS THE SPR?
It is the world's largest emergency oil stash. President Gerald Ford developed the SPR in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo led gasoline rates to increase and harmed the economy.
Presidents because have tapped the stockpile to calm oil markets during war including oil-producing countries or when cyclones struck oil infrastructure along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
The oil is held in heavily protected underground caverns at 4 sites on the Texas and Louisiana coasts.
JUST HOW MUCH SPR OIL WAS SOLD IN 2022?
In 2022, the administration of President Joe Biden announced a sale of 180 million barrels of oil over six months, the biggest SPR sale to date, in an attempt to lower fuel rates after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Department of Energy also conducted a sale of 38 million barrels in 2022 that had actually been mandated by Congress.
WHAT RATE DOES THE US WISH TO PURCHASE SPR OIL?
The administration states it sold the 180 million barrels at an average of about $95 a barrel. It wishes to buy back oil at $ 79.99 or less.
Rates of the U.S. oil criteria West Texas Intermediate fell to about $67.80 a barrel on Tuesday on a weaker demand outlook and worldwide oversupply risks. Rates for WTI futures contracts in the very first three months of next year were about $66 to $65.
Conflict in the Middle East could rapidly boost oil costs, however. In April, the U.S. canceled an SPR purchase of oil due to increasing rates.
JUST HOW MUCH IS RETURNING?
The administration has actually up until now redeemed more than 50 million barrels of domestic oil given that the historic 2022 sale at an average cost of $76 a barrel, it states.
Buybacks of much bigger volumes could run the risk of rising oil and gas prices ahead of the Nov. 5 governmental election, though that risk is reducing as prices fall.
PRESENT SPR LEVEL
The reserve holds 380 million barrels, the majority of which is sour crude, or oil that numerous U.S. refineries are engineered to process. The most it has actually held was nearly 727 million barrels in 2009.
The sales in 2022 lowered levels of the SPR to the most affordable in about 40 years. That angered some Republicans who implicated the Democratic administration of leaving the U.S. with a thin supply buffer to respond to a future crisis.
The administration states it has a three-pronged method to return oil to the reserve.
That includes buying back oil, the return of oil loaned from the SPR to business, and canceling congressionally mandated sales of 140 million barrels of SPR oil through 2027. Both Democratic and Republican legislators had elected those sales to spend for federal government programs.
The U.S., which is producing oil at record volumes, has more crude in the SPR than needed as a member of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, the West's energy guard dog.
The U.S. is needed to hold 90 days' worth of net petroleum imports, compared with the SPR's about 155 days' worth, according to Mason Hamilton of the American Petroleum Institute.
(source: Reuters)