Latest News
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First Gas from Greater Tortue Ahmeyim
The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project developed by BP and partners has produced its first gas from an offshore field in Senegal and Mauritania, the two countries' energy ministries said.GTA, a floating facility straddling the maritime border between Senegal and Mauritania, will produce 2.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year in its first phase."The opening of the first well ... paves the way for the start of gas commercialization, which is set to begin very soon," the ministries said in a statement on Tuesday.BP and U.S.-listed Kosmo Energy are leading the development of GTA, which is Senegal's first LNG project.(Reuters - Reporting by Bate Felix; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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Oil increases as investors return from vacations, eye China recovery
Oil costs pushed higher on Thursday, the first day of trade for 2025, as investors returning from holidays meticulously considered a healing in China's. economy and fuel demand following a promise by President Xi. Jinping to promote development. Brent unrefined futures increased 46 cents, or 0.6%, to. $ 75.10 a barrel by 0128 GMT after settling up 65 cents on. Tuesday, the last trading day for 2024. U.S. West Texas. Intermediate crude futures gained 49 cents, or 0.7%, to. $ 72.21 a barrel after closing 73 cents higher in the previous. session. China's Xi stated on Tuesday in his New Year's address that. the nation would carry out more proactive policies to promote. development in 2025. In an official study released on Tuesday, China's. manufacturing activity hardly grew in December though services. and building recovered. The data recommended policy stimulus. is dripping into some sectors as China braces for brand-new trade. risks from tariffs proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald. Trump. Traders are going back to their desks and most likely. weighing higher geopolitical risks and also the effect of Trump. running the U.S. economy red hot versus the impact of tariffs,. IG market expert Tony Sycamore said. Today's China Caixin PMI release and tomorrow's US ISM. manufacturing release will be crucial to petroleum's next move, he. added. Sycamore stated WTI's weekly chart is winding itself into a. tighter variety, which suggests a huge move is coming. Rather than trying to anticipate in which way the break will. take place, we would be inclined to wait for the break and after that go. with it, he added. Financiers are also waiting for weekly U.S. oil stocks data from. the Energy Info Administration which has been postponed. until Thursday due to the New Year vacation. U.S. petroleum and distillate stockpiles are expected to. have actually fallen last week while gasoline inventories most likely increased, an. extended Reuters survey showed on Tuesday. U.S. oil need surged to the highest levels because the. pandemic in October at 21.01 million barrels each day (bpd), up. about 700,000 bpd from September, EIA data showed on Tuesday. Unrefined output from the world's leading manufacturer rose to a record. 13.46 million bpd in October, up 260,000 bpd from September, the. report showed. In 2025, oil rates are most likely to be constrained near $70 a. barrel, down for a 3rd year after a 3% decline in 2024, as. weak Chinese demand and rising international materials balance out efforts by. OPEC+ to fortify the marketplace, a Reuters monthly survey showed. In Europe, Russia halted gas exports through Soviet-era. pipelines going through Ukraine on New Year's Day. The commonly. expected interruption will not affect rates for customers in the. European Union as some buyers have set up alternative supply,. while Hungary will keep getting Russian gas through the TurkStream. pipeline under the Black Sea.
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Tesla Cybertruck fire in Las Vegas leaves one dead, others injured
A Tesla Cybertruck ignited outside of the Trump Hotel Las Vegas on Wednesday, eliminating one person and injuring a number of others, and news reports stated it was being examined as a possible terrorist act. Las Vegas Metropolitan Authorities Department Constable Kevin McMahill said at a press conference that a person was discovered dead inside the 2024 model-year Cybertruck and seven individuals sustained minor injuries from the explosion. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, stated the electric cars and truck maker was investigating the fire. The entire Tesla senior team is investigating this matter today, he said in a post on X, including, We have actually never ever seen anything like this. McMahill said the Cybertruck pulled up to the Trump structure at 8:40 a.m. local time. He stated authorities were mindful of the New Orleans attack that had occurred in the early hours of Wednesday. The FBI said a prospective explosive gadget was discovered in the car utilized in that attack. As you can imagine with an explosion here on iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, we are taking all the safety measures that we need to require to keep our community safe. We're looking for secondary devices, McMahill stated, including that there did not appear to be any additional threat to the community. Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Company and a child of president-elect Donald Trump, posted about the occurrence on X. Previously today, a reported electric vehicle fire happened in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas, he composed. The U.S. National Transport Security Board in 2024 opened an investigation into a crash and fire including a Tesla electric semi-truck on a California highway. Car professionals state electrical automobile fires burn differently than those in cars and trucks with internal combustion engines, often lasting longer and being harder to snuff out.
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Numerous dead in shooting incident in Montenegro-local media mentioning authorities
A number of people were eliminated in a shooting at a restaurant near Montenegro's historic capital of Cetinje, local media cited the nation's authorities as stating in a statement on Wednesday. Montenegrin Vijesti TV said a brawl in the afternoon preceded the shooting, and said five individuals were eliminated. The suspect stays at big. Authorities did not define the number of casualties. Montenegro's authorities sent unique units to the location, and prompted people to stay inside their homes. All available police systems are on the ground, undertaking activities within their jurisdiction, to capture the suspect, Montenegro's Authorities Directorate stated in a declaration. Mass shootings are comparatively unusual in Montenegro which has a deeply-rooted weapon culture. In 2022, 11 people, including 2 kids and a gunman, were killed in a mass shooting in Montenegro, and six others were hurt. Despite rigorous gun laws, the Western Balkans remain awash with prohibited weapons going back to World War One.
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In 2024, China saw warmest year in decades, breaking records yet again
Chinese meteorological data shows 2024 was the hottest year for the nation since similar records started more than six years back, the 2nd straight year in which turning points were broken. The national average temperature stood at 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) last year, more than 1 degree higher than 2023, according to weather.com.cn, a service portal run by the China Meteorological Administration. The 10 warmest years because records began in 1961 were all in the 21st century, the service portal said. For largely inhabited Shanghai, China's financial center, 2024 was the warmest given that the Qing dynasty, data from the Shanghai meteorological bureau showed on Wednesday. The city's typical temperature stood at 18.8 Celsius, the most popular given that Shanghai's meteorological records started in 1873. Last year's warmer weather, accompanied by more powerful storms and greater rainfall, caused spikes in power consumption in the world's second-largest economy. Sweltering heat also impacted farming in regions including the rice-growing south. To safeguard its food security in the face of rising temperatures, China has started research into adapting staple crops to heat. Crop yields are anticipated to fall if alternatives are not discovered. Scientists at a Beijing research study center discovered potatoes, of which China is the world's top producer, weighed less than 50%. of normal varieties if they grew in a chamber set at 3 degrees. Celsius above the standard. Under current climate policies, the world faces warming of. as much as 3.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by. 2100, according to a United Nations report launched in October.
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At least 10 dead after truck crashes into New Orleans crowd, city authorities state
At least 10 people were killed and 30 injured when a truck drove into a large crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter early on Wednesday, a city federal government company said. It said no more information was right away readily available. Earlier CBS News, citing witnesses, reported that a. truck had crashed into the crowd at high speed, and after that the. chauffeur got out and started firing a weapon, with police. returning fire. Initial reports show a car may have plowed into a group. of people. Injuries are unknown but there are reported. casualties, New Orleans Police Department representative told CBS. News. The police department did not instantly react to a. Reuters' request for remark.
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Israeli strikes eliminate a minimum of 17 Palestinians in Gaza, WAFA reports
Israeli air strikes on alBureij refugee camp and Jabalia town in central and northern Gaza killed at least 17 Palestinians on Wednesday, the authorities Palestinian news firm WAFA reported. The Israeli armed force had no immediate remark although in a. post on X, its Arabic spokesperson cautioned locals of al-Bureij. earlier to evacuate ahead of an imminent strike versus. militants firing rockets from the area. It also said over night that it eliminated Abd al-Hadi Sabah, a. Hamas militant who assisted lead the seepage into Kibbutz Nir. Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Islamist group on. southern Israel. The instruction to clear the al-Bureij camp has actually triggered a new. wave of displacement, although it was not instantly clear how. many individuals were affected. Israel says its practically three-month-old campaign in northern. Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping. Its. directions to civilians to leave are indicated to keep them out. of damage's way, the military states. Palestinian and United Nations authorities state no place is. safe in Gaza and that evacuations intensify the humanitarian. conditions of the population. According to the Palestinian civil defence, more than 1,500. camping tents safeguarding displaced individuals across Gaza were flooded by. heavy rains over the previous 2 days, leaving individuals exposed to. the cold, their personal belongings harmed. Hundreds more tents experienced less extreme flooding that. still left displaced individuals not able to use them. Much of the location around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun,. Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and taken down,. sustaining speculation Israel means to keep the area as a closed. buffer zone after the combating in Gaza ends. WAFA said the military blew up domestic blocks in Beit. Lahiya and around Jabalia, while tanks shelled parts of. Gaza City and the al-Bureij camp. Israel's Gaza project has killed more than 45,500. Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run. enclave. The majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced. and much of the tiny seaside strip is in ruins. The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200. individuals, with another 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to. Israeli tallies.
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Noble’s Semi-Sub Rig Gets Multi-Well Drilling Job off Suriname
Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has signed a contract with Petronas Suriname E&P for the high-specification semi-submersible rig Noble Developer to drill three wells offshore Suriname.The contract is expected to start around June 2025, with an estimated duration of 200 days.The firm contract value is approximately $84 million including additional services provided, mobilization and demobilization fees.Noble and Petronas have further agreed to add a one-well option to the contract.“We are excited to extend our partnership with Petronas in Suriname through this agreement for the Noble Developer. The Developer has previously operated for Petronas in Suriname, and we look forward to getting the rig back to work in mid-2025,” said Blake Denton, SVP of Marketing and Contracts.The Noble Developer is currently available and located offshore Trinidad and Tobago. Preparations for the upcoming Petronas work scope are set to start immediately.The rig is of DSS21-DPS2 design, built in 2008. It is capable of operating at 10,000 ft water depth, with a maximum drilling depth of 40,000 ft.
How Trump's second administration affects service: Musk, tariffs and more
Donald Trump's go back to the White House after winning the Nov. 5 U.S. governmental election might reshape American service. Much depends on whom he designates as deputies and cabinet members, consisting of the function of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and what tariffs he enacts. Following are some major problems and sectors to watch:
WHAT ROLE WILL ELON MUSK PLAY? After some nudging from the world's wealthiest individual, Trump has said he would tap Tesla CEO Elon Musk to lead a new government effectiveness commission. Musk has actually stated a minimum of $2 trillion might be cut from the $6.75 trillion federal budget plan. How that works might be a crucial to the next Trump administration.
Does effectiveness imply fewer guidelines and regulators? Musk has been a singing critic, for instance, of federal review of his SpaceX rocket company. That might mean less oversight of self-driving automobiles (a Tesla organization) or rocket launches and much more. The two guys are not entirely in sync: Trump has actually said he won't. let California require all cars in the state go electric in. a decade, however Musk runs the world's most valuable EV business. A. rising tide raises all boats. So to the level that Elon is able. to obstruct the vilification of EVs by a possible Trump. administration, all the much better, said James Chen, former head of. policy for Rivian and Tesla. How Musk would resolve disputes of. interest between his interests in autos, space, health,. construction and artificial intelligence is unclear. Trump has actually pledged to be a crypto president, a strategy that may. start with replacing industry opponent Gary Gensler, the. Securities and Exchange Commission chair who has taken legal action against most of. the market-- including Coinbase, Binance and Kraken. Gensler's replacement is expected to review - and potentially. wreck - accounting guidance and produce industry exemptions. from SEC rules. Musk, too is a crypto fan, as is Silicon. Valley Trump fan Marc Andreessen and incoming Vice. President J.D. Vance.
Musk is also a huge proponent of carbon-free energy, with. Tesla being a major provider of planetary systems and batteries. Trump has actually guaranteed to kill the offshore wind market and. rescind all unspent funds under the Inflation Reduction Act--. Biden's signature climate law. But Trump faces dissent in his. ranks: Republican legislators, oil business and others see. huge red state gains from the law. Musk has actually played into that,. developing his 2nd U.S. electric car factory in Texas, for. instance.
TARIFFS. Trump has actually proposed a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and 60% on. Chinese-made items, which if enacted would impact the entire. economy by pushing customer costs higher. The Tax Structure, a. non-partisan think tank, determined Trump tariffs would trek. taxes by $524 billion annually, diminish GDP by a minimum of 0.8%, and. cut employment by 684,000 full-time comparable jobs possibly. affecting retail employees, the biggest private sector company. He also recommended he might impose a 25% tariff on all imports. from Mexico.
Trump's tariff proposals might decrease American customers'. investing power between $46 billion and $78 billion each year,. according to a National Retail Federation research study.
Clothing, toys, furniture, home devices and footwear. would be the most afflicted categories, the study stated. Retailers. would move operations beyond China to countries including. Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam. Big-box shops like Walmart and. Target would face higher supply chain costs, while supermarkets. like Kroger, Albertsons, and Publix, which minimally source from. China, might benefit. Shipping and transportation specialists state. sweeping tariffs could at first bolster their company before. depressing trade. Tariffs loom over tech too. In recent weeks, Trump has also. greatly slammed the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act that has. sought to partly subsidize companies building factories in. the United States. Rather, he said the nation needs to enforce. tariffs on chips coming into the nation, particularly from. Taiwan's TSMC.
Tariffs also would dramatically raise costs for the sustainable. energy industries in the U.S., which rely greatly on Chinese. elements. Trump actions without Congressional backing could. consist of import tariffs of 10-20% (ex China), 60% -200% on Chinese. imports which might impact the expense of renewable projects,. particularly solar and storage tasks, according to an. October research note from Bernstein.
And after that there is the concern of China's retaliation. It is. the world's greatest soy importer and pork consumer, but it has. diversified its food supply base because Trump's tariffs in his. first administration. Additionally, China stopped working to totally comply. with a contract to buy more U.S. agricultural goods that it. signed with Trump in January 2020. Trump has actually pledged in his 2nd. term to impose 60% duties on imports from China, raising. issues that Beijing will retaliate by lowering imports of U.S. farm items.
OIL: DRILL INFANT DRILL - BUT NOT IRAN. The United States is currently the world's most significant oil and gas. manufacturer, however Trump wants to eliminate remaining barriers. He'll raise a freeze on brand-new melted gas export permits,. broaden federal drilling auctions, speed up brand-new pipeline. allowing and attempt to reverse or deteriorate regulations targeted at. cutting power plant and automobile emissions. Trump's assistance for the. oil and gas market could likewise lead him to temper his. opposition to the Inflation Decrease Act, considering that oil companies. are receiving some financing from it for carbon-free ventures. like carbon capture and sequestration.
The huge oil policy wildcard is how Trump will deal with rival. exporters, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. It is. likely that Trump would eliminate sanctions on Russian energy, however. leave in location those on Iran, stated Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at. the University of Houston. Jesse Jones, an analyst with. seeking advice from firm Energy Aspects, anticipates even more. We believe. that the effect of a Trump administration returning to an optimum. pressure campaign on Iran could cause a million barrel each day. decline in Iranian crude exports, he said.
LABOR UNIONS. Organized labor made excellent strides under President Joe Biden,. who signed up with a picket line with U.S. auto employees. The UAW desires. to broaden and in future strikes the federal government could be. asked to intervene in a manner that undercuts employee bargaining. power, something Democrats have so far declined to do.
Republican politicians have actually normally been unfriendly to unions, however. Trump has actually played a different game, connecting to blue-collar. employees. Strong support among lots of union workers might press. Trump to protect those voters, stated Anthony Miyazaki, a. marketing teacher at Florida International University. Still,. his record of designating leaders to the National Labor Relations. Board resulted in a roll back of workers' rights to form unions. If this cycle repeats, it might possibly reverse the gains. unions have actually made since the pandemic, consisting of successful. arranging efforts at Starbucks and Amazon and other new. movements at Apple, REI and Trader Joe's.
OTHER SUBJECTS CONSIST OF:
FINANCE. Within banking, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of. America and other loan providers will likely take pleasure in a reprieve. from stiff capital walkings, M&A hoop-jumping, and Biden's scrap. charges crackdown. Trump is anticipated to quickly install. industry-friendly Republican politicians at the monetary regulators. But. those gains may be balanced out if Trump follows through on tax and. trade policies that will widen the deficit and fuel inflation,. in turn boosting loaning rates. That could press existing loans. into the red, state experts.
ANTITRUST AND TECH. Trump may walk back the Department of Justice's quote to separate. Alphabet's Google and choose settling with companies over. competitors problems in mergers, instead of brand-new trials, attorneys. stated. The country's difficult, top merger police, Federal Trade. Commission Chair Lina Khan, is likely headed for the. door. More broadly, Trump's backers in Silicon Valley, including. financiers Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen and Tesla chief Elon. Musk, desire less regulation of new innovation, from synthetic. intelligence to rockets. They have a champion in previous endeavor. capitalist Vance.
MEDIA: SEE WHAT YOU STATE. Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos chose days before the vote. that the paper would not endorse anybody for president,. explaining it as a principled relocate to regain reliability. Hundreds of thousands of subscribers left, lots of stating it was. political cowardice. USA Today and the LA Times also decreased to. endorse a candidate. The message is pretty clear today,. stated former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. That is conceding to the. autocrat in advance before you're asked to, said New York. University School of Specialist Research studies accessory associate. professor Helio Fred Garcia, an author of 2 books about Trump.
During the campaign, Trump called on the Federal. Communications Commission to remove ABC and CBS of their. broadcast licenses. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has denounced. Trump's calls to revoke licenses for broadcast stations, mentioning. totally free speech protections. However the self-reliance of the FCC could. be at danger if Trump follows through on a campaign pledge to. bring regulatory firms, such as the FCC, under presidential. authority, Wheeler stated. The president also could invoke his. emergency situation powers under the Communications Act to exert control. over broadcasters, citing national security concerns.
Even so, a new Trump presidency will likely give cable television. news networks like CNN, Fox News and MSNBC and news outlets. consisting of the New york city Times and Washington Post the exact same huge. jolt to audiences and audience that his first term generated.
PHARMACEUTICALS. Trump just recently said he would let former presidential candidate. and anti-vaccine supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. go wild on. vaccine and healthcare policy. Kennedy has said that Trump. guaranteed him manage over the FDA, CDC, HHS, and the USDA. Those. tasks could potentially give him manage over what vaccines are. authorized and whether Americans are recommended to get them. Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick has said Kennedy is not. going to be put in charge of the Department of Health and Human. Providers, however recommended he might encourage on vaccines.
Jeremy Levin, CEO of biotech company Ovid Therapies. and previous chairman of biotech lobby group BIO, said he. would be alarmed if Kennedy was offered oversight over vaccines,. which other executives had actually likewise expressed issue. Vaccine. denialism, which is a main plank of RFK's, is maybe as. hazardous as anything you can think of, he said, including that. President Trump's previous visits for the COVID vaccine. effort and the FDA suggest to him that more moderate positions. will win out. Some executives likewise were worried that Kennedy's. impact might damage the U.S.'s track record and ability to examine. new drugs.
(source: Reuters)