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Chevron's West Qurna 2 Oilfield in Iraq poised to increase production with Chevron, Minister says
Iraq's Oil Minister said that Chevron is in exclusive talks with Lukoil to take over the West Qurna 2 oilfield. Iraq is seeking to increase its oil and gas production. Oil majors are competing to expand their operations, after years of political insecurity. Hayan Abdel-Ghani, the Oil Minister of Iraq, told Kurdish TV Rudaw in an interview that production could increase to 750,000-800,000. bpd once Chevron took over operations. The U.S. The?U.S. Iraq, which is the second largest oil producer in the OPEC+ Group, comprising Organization?of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, has plans to increase the capacity of oil production to over 6 million bpd before?2029. Iraq's oil production has increased to over 4 million bpd by 2025, from 2.5 million bpd prior to the U.S. invasion of 2003. The country 'has not reached ambitious targets of 12 million bpd that were promised after the war, but 'has often produced more than its OPEC+ quota. Chevron didn't respond to a comment request immediately. The deal would increase Chevron’s footprint, giving it control over one of the largest oilfields in the world. This field accounts for almost 10% of Iraq’s production and 0.5% of global supplies. Chevron has already committed to developing several fields in the country, as part of its international expansion. Baghdad has signed a series of?agreements, including with Exxon and BP, to increase production. This deal may also improve relations between Baghdad, Washington and other oil majors. Washington had threatened to restrict Iraq's access if Iranian-backed organizations were included in the new government. The agreement with Chevron brings Iraq closer to Western energy interests, as a U.S. company replaces a Russian company that was sanctioned over its involvement in Ukraine. Lukoil declared force majore at West Qurna?2 after being hit with sanctions by President Donald Trump to end the Ukraine war. Iraq transferred the field temporarily to BOC, the state-run Basra Oil Company in January. Iraq's cabinet announced in January that an "amicable agreement" had been reached with Lukoil. Chevron said that the final deal must be approved by both Iraq's Cabinet and the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez Kim Coghill David Goodman, Stephanie Kelly Additional reporting by Nayera Abedallah)
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Valterra Platinum owes Valterra Platinum 100 million dollars in unpaid export proceeds
South Africa's Valterra Platinum said that the Zimbabwean government owes it $100 million for 2025 export proceeds. The Zimbabwean government has begun making payments to settle these arrears. Zimbabwe only allows exporters to keep 70% of their foreign currency proceeds, and convert the rest into local currency. According to the Zimbabwean mining chamber, Valterra and other companies in the platinum industry have been delayed payments by the government due to the retention rule. The government has cited cash-flow constraints as the reason for the delays. Zimbabwe's Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. ZIMBABWE MINING PRODUCES AROUND 7% OF THE?CONCENTRATE EXPORT CFO Sayurie Naidoo said to analysts on a call about results that "it's around $100 million" which we haven't had access to. Naidoo said that "we have been in contact with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as well as the Ministry of Finance and we are already receiving some funds for 2026. We expect to get the rest of the money over the next few months." Valterra's Unki Mine in Zimbabwe produced about 219,700 pounds of PGM Concentrates in 2025. This is about 7% the group's contentrate production last year. Earnings Doubling in 2025 Valterra announced on Wednesday that its headline earnings for the full year 2025 will double to 16.7 billion Rand ($1.05 'billion), driven by higher platinum price and cost reductions. This sent its shares up over 10%. The earnings were boosted by a 26% increase in the price of the platinum group metals, and?5 billion rand worth of cost-savings. The company, which demerged last year from the Anglo American Group, announced a final dividend of?43 rand per share. This brings its total payouts to 2025 up to?12 million rand. Spot platinum prices have more than doubled since 2025, and reached a record of $2,757.69 per ounce on 26 January. This was due to a?scarce supply? and a rising demand for precious metals. Platinum, which is used in catalytic convertors to reduce vehicle emissions, has also been driven up due to the European Union's U turn on a ban of combustion engines by 2035.
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Morning Bid America-Another Day, Another AI mood swing
By Mike Dolan February 25th - What's important in the U.S. and Global Markets Today By Mike Dolan Editor-at-Large of Finance and Markets Tuesday, software stocks staged a rally that was strangely driven by what has been dragging them down over the last month: the release of new plug-ins developed by AI lab Anthropic. The market was more focused on the partnership between these companies and Anthropic this time, than the existential threat AI could pose. Below, I will discuss this and more. Check out my latest article on why AI isn’t the?only? thing driving global economic growth. Listen to the most recent episode of Morning Bid, the daily podcast. Subscribe to the Morning Bid daily podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks. Another day, another AI mood swing. While many software stocks were able to enjoy a good day yesterday, those affected by Anthropic’s new tools had a less favorable outcome. Workday, a HR software company, fell 10% over night. A downbeat revenue outlook was exacerbated by the fact the new Anthropic gizmo targets HR tasks. The broader recovery may not be enough to address the viral stories that claim white collar workers will disappear, but it suggests that many of these businesses may survive and prosper with AI. It is at least a reminder to rethink the recent selloffs in several sectors, and perhaps a nod towards today's big news - Nvidia results. After the bell, the world's most valued company will report its results. Despite all the ifs, ands, about AI, it's clear that a torrent of capital expenditures is being allocated to chips, computing hardware and bricks-and?mortar data centers, as well as the energy required to power them. The chip giant will forecast a 64% increase in revenue for the first quarter, which is estimated to be $72 billion. Nvidia faces increasing competition, including Alphabet, AMD, and the standard to be met is always rising. The Chinese market may also be a focus, given the recent fluctuations in government restrictions on its top-end chips. Options markets are braced for an earnings swing of up to 5%, even though Nvidia's shares have only been?up by 2% this year. This is because the market cap of Nvidia has risen to $230 billion. Futures rose ahead of the bell today after Tuesday's 0.77% increase in the S&P. Asia's shares soared on Wednesday, as investors focused on the impact of AI capex on companies that are building infrastructure. South Korea's Kospi, which is the benchmark for South Korea, has already risen by 45% this year. The Nikkei, on the other hand, gained 2.2%. The Japanese stock market was helped by a further fall in the yen, which reached its lowest level in two weeks. This came after the news that the nominees of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takayichi for two Bank of Japan Board positions were viewed as'reflationists.' The yuan, meanwhile, strengthened to near three-year levels against the dollar after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited China for the second time this year. Over the last month, the offshore yuan is up 3%. The State of the Union address by President Trump on Tuesday was largely a general one, with few specific market implications. However, the AI theme did make its way into the speech when Trump said that Big Tech must build their data centers' own power plants. Trump is clearly aware of the impact on electricity prices for households due to the increased demand. Trump has also promised to give $1,000 to Americans who do not have 401k retirement plans next year. This money will likely go directly into the stock market. Chart of the Day Analysts expect Nvidia's first-quarter revenue to show a 64% increase to $72 billion. Nvidia has exceeded sales expectations in the last 13 quarters. However, the size of these beats have shrunk as the competition for AI chips has increased and the bar is being raised. Nvidia stock is up about 2% so far in 2026 after powering the U.S. market rally over the past three years. Watch today's events * U.S. Corporate earnings: NVIDIA (NVIDIA), Lowe's (Lowe's), Salesforce, Zoom * ?U.S. 5-year note auction Thomas Barkin of the Richmond Fed, Jeffrey Schmid of Kansas Fed, and Alberto Musalem, St. Louis Fed, all speak Want to receive Morning Bid every morning in your email? Subscribe to the newsletter by clicking here. Follow us on LinkedIn, X and ROI. The opinions expressed here are the author's. These opinions do not represent the views of News. News is committed to the Trust Principles and to integrity, independence and freedom from bias.
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The US AI boom is facing an electric shock
The race for artificial intelligence dominance by Big Tech may soon hit a bump in the road as U.S. power grids struggle with keeping up with hyperscalers who spend big. Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, among other technology giants in the US, announced in recent months that they plan to spend $600 billion in AI by 2026. Some investors are already concerned about the profitability of this strategy due to the investment wave. The ambitious U.S. AI plans will be hindered by severe power-infrastructure bottlenecks including turbine shortages and slow grid expansion. The processing and cooling of data centers that are used to train and deploy AI models requires enormous amounts energy. The largest U.S. site consumes over a Gigawatt (GW), enough to power up to 850,000 households. These electricity-hungry installations, which are often located in remote areas, will require independent energy plants that use gas, renewables, or nuclear technology. Cleanview, an energy consultancy, has identified 46 data centres that are planning to build their power plants themselves. These centers will primarily use gas-fired generators. The consultancy stated that their combined 56 GW capacity represents about 30% of the planned U.S. capacity for data centers. Soon, developing independent power systems may become a necessity. In this article, State of the Union Address On Tuesday, Donald Trump, the U.S. President who has been a champion of AI growth in the U.S., said that tech companies have "the obligation to provide their own energy needs". Trump said, "They can build their own power plants as a part of their factories so that nobody's prices will increase." The pressure is building. In 2025, the annual U.S. electricity consumption reached a record-high of 4,195 terawatt hours. According to government statistics, electricity prices in the United States have also risen by 7% on average over the past year. The International Energy Agency predicts that electricity demand will continue to increase, with an average annual growth rate of 2% between 2025 and 2030, more than double the previous decade. This is mainly due to data-center expansion. BOTTLENECKS AROUND Soon, you may feel the squeeze. PJM interconnection, the U.S.'s largest grid operator, which controls around 180 GW in 13 states, has warned this month that data center demand will increase rapidly, resulting in a potential 'power supply shortfall of up to 60% over the next decade. The company warned that by 2027 the U.S. Grid could be lacking in reserves and capacity, increasing the risk of blackouts. Grid operator PJM announced plans last month to force large power users – primarily data centres – to develop their own energy supply or to agree to connect to a framework that allows PJM the ability to reduce power output. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, (ERCOT), is also at risk of being overwhelmed by the surge in data-center demand. ERCOT reported in December that 226 GW, mainly data centers, were seeking to connect to the grid. This is roughly three times the current capacity of U.S. data centers. Most of the requests concern projects larger than 1?GW. The data centers may also struggle to find the gas turbines needed to power them. Gas turbine manufacturers, such as GE Vernova and Siemens Energy, have warned they can't meet the global demand for gas turbines. This is especially true of power generation. Siemens Energy and GE Vernova executives have stated that they are sold out for years. Delivery slots for large gas turbines stretch well into the 2020s. THE GRIDS Grid The U.S.'s surge in power demand has led to a large investment into the country’s?aging grid. In Texas, the?ERCOT is planning to spend $585 million annually in 2027, up from $414 in 2025. However, it's not clear if that will be sufficient to meet demand. Not only the U.S. market is playing catch-up. The global investment in power grids also lags behind the deployment of new generation?capacity. In a report, the IEA stated that more than 2,500 GW projects - such as renewables, batteries and large-load development, like data centers – remain stuck?in queues for grid-connection. This puts around a quarter of global data center build-outs at risk of delay. The IEA stated that to meet global electricity demand by 2030, grid investments would need to increase from $400 billion today, along with a significant scaling up of grid-related supply chain. The rush to build up data centers to support the global AI arms races is likely to be a major economic factor of this decade, and possibly even this century. The AI future could be held back today by the physical limitations of the world. The opinions expressed in this article are those of Ron Bousso a columnist at. Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets seven days a weeks.
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Sources say that Vedanta India is set to tap the debt market for a second time in this fiscal year.
Vedanta, an Indian company, is planning to raise 30 billion rupees (about $329.89 million) by selling shorter-duration debt before the end of March, its second bond issue in the current fiscal. Sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media said that the metals-to oil conglomerate would likely sell bonds for two years or three years, or a combination of the two. One source said that the company had already begun talks with some investors, such as mutual funds. After'receiving board approval today', things would'speed up, and they would ideally aim to complete this round by the first half in March. Vedanta didn't immediately respond to an email asking for comment. In June last year, the company raised an aggregate of 50 billion rupiahs by combining two-year papers with 30-month bonds, and three-year bonds. Ajay Goel, Vedanta's Chief Financial Officer, said last month that the company plans to list four demerged units on Indian exchanges before the middle of May. Vedanta will be reorganizing its business to separate four units - steel, ferrous metals and oil and gas. Aluminium, power and aluminium will also be spun off. Base metals will remain within the parent. Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia, Editing by Eileen Soreng. $1 = 90.9390 Indian Rupees
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Shell and Metlen sign a deal for LNG trading and supply.
Metlen, a Greek company, announced on Wednesday that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shell to collaborate on the supply and trading of liquefied gas. Greek energy companies are seeking to replace Russian gas with U.S. LNG in central and southern Europe. Metlen is a London and Athens listed energy and metals company. The agreement will allow it to trade and secure between 0.5 billion cubic metres of LNG per year from 2027 until '2031. Deliveries are routed through Greece's Revithoussa terminal and Alexandroupolis. The agreement also envisages the use of the Vertical Gas corridor, a route for transporting gas from Greece to central Europe and Ukraine. This will allow Greece to access additional European markets outside Southeast Europe. The consortium led by U.S. oil major Chevron signed exclusive lease contracts earlier this month for the search for natural gas off southern Greece. This will expand U.S. presence in eastern Mediterranean. Exxon Mobil and Energean joined Helleniq in November to "explore" another offshore block in western Greece. Shell declined to provide any further details. Reporting by Antonis Pottitos. Stephanie Kelly contributed to this report. (Editing by Jane Merriman, Mark Potter and Mark Potter).
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Emirates Global Aluminium anticipates that copper substitution and capacity limitations will drive demand.
Emirates Global Aluminium stated on Wednesday that the outlook for the "aluminium" market is healthy. They cited opportunities created by China's production capacity ceiling, and the demand caused by the high cost of copper, which has led to some manufacturers using aluminium in place of copper. In an interview, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban said that the demand for aluminum was increasing worldwide...and moving away from copper. He also stated that he anticipated demand to exceed supply. EGA, owned jointly by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, and the Dubai sovereign wealth fund ICD, is planning to build the U.S.'s first primary aluminum plant in over 50 years. CFO Pal Kildemo stated that the total capital required to build the smelter in Oklahoma has increased from $4 billion to $5-6 billion, as the company intends to use the advanced EX technology being tested at its UAE facilities. CENTURY ALUMINIUM STAKE According to an agreement announced by Century Aluminum last month, EGA will hold the remaining 60% of the project. The planned capacity has been increased to 750,000 tons of aluminum per year. Kildemo stated that the 60-40 split would be reflected in the future equity contribution. EGA reported on Wednesday that its 'core profit' rose by 7% last year, due to higher sales. However, the company took a $765-million hit in Guinea, after the country revoked the concession granted to GAC for bauxite, a move the Emirati firm had opposed. Bin Kalban stated that discussions with Guinean authorities are ongoing, but did not provide any further details. EGA said that alternative bauxite supplies, such as those from Australia and Ghana signed after the license was revoked have helped cover more than 70% of volume requirements. Bin Kalban stated that "we have a global strategy for supply, and we now have multiple sources rather than one source which was Guinea." He claimed that the UAE refinery was reconfigured to accept all types of bauxite. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi aich and Barbara Lewis; Federico Maccioni)
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Sources: At least nine killed in Congo drone attack that killed rebel spokesperson
Four sources claim that the drone strike in eastern Congo, which killed M23's military spokesperson Willy Ngoma, left nine people dead, but missed the commander of rebel forces, who was able to escape unharmed. Four sources claim that the drone strike near Rubaya killed at least nine people but missed the rebels' military commander, who escaped unharmed. Ngoma’s death marks an 'acute escalation' in the conflict. It removes one of M23's senior leaders who was most visible as the fighting intensifies despite mediation efforts, including Qatar's to broker a truce. An intelligence source, two sources from the rebels, a senior official of the military and a U.N. provided details about Tuesday's strike. These sources spoke under condition of anonymity. M23 hasn't commented on the?"strike" and a spokesperson from the?Congo army didn't respond to a comment request. According to two sources, nine dead bodies were transported from the strike site to Goma, eastern Congo's largest city. According to the senior military official, at least seven bodies were reduced to ashes and could not be recovered. The sources claimed that M23 commander Sultani Makenga had been in the area just before the attack. In a press release, a spokesperson for Wazalendo (a loose coalition of self defense?groups that fight?alongside?the Congolese army) said Makenga had fled into a church nearby. The 'U.N. Experts say that Rwanda is backing the M23 rebels, while residents claim that fighting continued in Masisi territory on Wednesday between Congolese forces,?supported by Wazalendo, and M23 rebels. In a series on?X, Kanyuka has accused Congolese troops of triggering a "total conflict across all frontlines" in various parts of North Kivu and South Kivu Provinces. Reporting by Clement Bonnerot, Nairobi newsroom and Giulia Paraavicini; editing by Robbie Corey Boulet and Toby Chopra.
Earnings for Big Oil backpedal as natgas costs tumble
U.S. and European oil business reported weaker very first quarter results on Friday due to a sharp drop in natural gas rates compared to a year ago.
Results at oil and gas companies are still retreating from record levels in 2022 that were improved by a surge in demand after the COVID-19 pandemic and after that when rates surged after Russia got into Ukraine.
In the U.S., Exxon Mobil missed out on Wall Street incomes targets on fuel derivatives and Chevron beat tempered expectations with better-than-expected U.S. oil production.
French oil significant TotalEnergies also a little beat experts projections as good refining margins partially balance out a. high drop in profits from natural gas.
European gas prices decreased by 35%, reflecting a mild. winter and high storage levels, stated TotalEnergies Chief. Financial Officer Jean-Pierre Sbraire.
Exxon's earnings fell 28%, Chevron decreased 16% and. TotalEnergies was down 22% year-on-year, with the 2 U.S. oil. majors likewise taking a toll from weaker profits from gas and. fuels.
Henry Hub futures, the criteria for U.S. gas, has. been trading below $1.70 per million British thermal system. ( mmBtu), and earlier this year dropped to a 3-1/2- year short on. warm weather and oversupply.
Global benchmark Brent crude costs were mostly. flat versus a year earlier at $81.76 a barrel in the quarter.
But greater oil prices-- currently trading around $90-- implies. financially rewarding oil refining margins from early this year are set to. fall, with TotalEnergies anticipating its refining business to be. less lucrative in the 2nd quarter and beyond due to. geopolitical tensions and OPEC+ production limits.
In 2015's strong earnings led Exxon, Chevron, Occidental. Petroleum to bid for competitors wanting to create higher. oil and gas production.
Exxon published an $8.5 billion earnings, its second highest for. the first quarter in more than a years, while Chevron made. $ 5.5 billion and TotalEnergies provided $5.1 billion in. adjusted web.
Share costs reflected the revenue drops, with Exxon down. 2.6% and Chevron falling less than 1% in late New york city trading. TotalEnergies' shares closed up 2.09% in Paris after it. reconfirmed a $2 billion share buyback.
Executives provided no new guidance on their production. outlooks for coming quarters on conference calls, offering. investors less factor to cheer.
In part, the two largest U.S. oil companies' outlook depends. on pending approvals for two bid deals.
Exxon aims to close its purchase of Leader Natural. Resources in the present quarter, it said.
Chevron said its offer for Hess is continuing. The. offer is anticipated to be put for shareholder vote in late May, and. an arbitration process with Exxon that is blocking the sale. should be concluded in the 4th quarter.
(source: Reuters)