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 impacts business: Musk, tariffs and more
Donald Trump's return to the White Home after winning the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election may improve American company. Much depends on whom he appoints as deputies and cabinet members, consisting of the function of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and what tariffs he enacts. Following are some significant issues and sectors to see:
WHAT FUNCTION WILL ELON MUSK PLAY? After some nudging from the world's wealthiest person, Trump has stated he would tap Tesla CEO Elon Musk to lead a new government performance commission. Musk has stated at least $2 trillion might be cut from the $6.75 trillion federal budget plan. How that works might be an essential to the next Trump administration.
Does effectiveness mean fewer guidelines and regulators? Musk has been a singing critic, for example, of federal review of his SpaceX rocket organization. That might suggest less oversight of self-driving automobiles (a Tesla service) or rocket launches and much more. The two males are not totally in sync: Trump has stated he won't. let California require all lorries in the state go electrical in. a years, however Musk runs the world's most important EV business. A. increasing tide raises all boats. So to the level that Elon is able. to hinder the vilification of EVs by a potential Trump. administration, all the much better, stated James Chen, previous head of. policy for Rivian and Tesla. How Musk would address conflicts of. interest in between his interests in cars, area, health,. building and artificial intelligence is not clear. Trump has vowed to be a crypto president, a strategy that may. begin with replacing market challenger Gary Gensler, the. Securities and Exchange Commission chair who has actually sued the majority of. the industry-- consisting of Coinbase, Binance and Kraken. Gensler's replacement is anticipated to review - and potentially. destroy - accounting assistance and produce industry exemptions. from SEC guidelines. Musk, too is a crypto advocate, as is Silicon. Valley Trump fan Marc Andreessen and inbound Vice. President J.D. Vance.
Musk is also a huge advocate of carbon-free energy, with. Tesla being a significant provider of solar systems and batteries. Trump has actually promised to eliminate the overseas wind industry and. rescind all unspent funds under the Inflation Decrease Act--. Biden's signature environment law. However Trump faces dissent in his. ranks: Republican legislators, oil companies and others see. massive red state gains from the law. Musk has played into that,. building his 2nd U.S. electric vehicle factory in Texas, for. instance.
TARIFFS. Trump has proposed a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and 60% on. Chinese-made items, which if enacted would impact the entire. economy by pressing customer costs higher. The Tax Structure, a. non-partisan think tank, computed Trump tariffs would hike. taxes by $524 billion every year, shrink GDP by at least 0.8%, and. cut employment by 684,000 full-time equivalent tasks potentially. affecting retail workers, the biggest economic sector employer. He likewise recommended he might enforce a 25% tariff on all imports. from Mexico.
Trump's tariff propositions might reduce American customers'. spending power in between $46 billion and $78 billion each year,. according to a National Retail Federation study.
Clothing, toys, furniture, home devices and footwear. would be the most afflicted classifications, the study said. Merchants. would move operations outside of China to countries consisting of. Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam. Big-box shops like Walmart and. Target would deal with higher supply chain costs, while grocery stores. like Kroger, Albertsons, and Publix, which minimally source from. China, might benefit. Delivering and transport specialists say. sweeping tariffs could at first strengthen their organization before. depressing trade. Tariffs tower above tech too. In recent weeks, Trump has likewise. heavily criticized the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act that has. looked for to partly subsidize companies constructing factories in. the United States. Instead, he stated the nation needs to impose. tariffs on chips coming into the country, especially from. Taiwan's TSMC.
Tariffs also would greatly raise expenses for the renewable. energy industries in the U.S., which rely heavily on Chinese. parts. Trump actions without Congressional support could. consist of import tariffs of 10-20% (ex China), 60% -200% on Chinese. imports which could affect the expense of eco-friendly projects,. especially solar and storage projects, according to an. October research note from Bernstein.
And then there is the concern of China's retaliation. It is. the world's most significant soy importer and pork consumer, but it has. diversified its food supply base since Trump's tariffs in his. initially administration. Moreover, China stopped working to totally comply. with an arrangement to purchase more U.S. farming products that it. signed with Trump in January 2020. Trump has vowed in his 2nd. term to impose 60% tasks on imports from China, raising. concerns that Beijing will strike back by minimizing imports of U.S. farm products.
OIL: DRILL BABY DRILL - BUT NOT IRAN. The United States is currently the world's greatest oil and gas. manufacturer, but Trump wishes to clear away remaining barriers. He'll lift a freeze on brand-new melted gas export allows,. expand federal drilling auctions, speed up new pipeline. permitting and attempt to reverse or compromise regulations focused on. cutting power plant and auto emissions. Trump's assistance for the. oil and gas market could likewise lead him to temper his. opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, considering that oil companies. are getting some funding from it for carbon-free undertakings. like carbon capture and sequestration.
The big oil policy wildcard is how Trump will treat rival. exporters, consisting of Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. It is. likely that Trump would ease sanctions on Russian energy, however. leave in place those on Iran, stated Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at. the University of Houston. Jesse Jones, an expert with. speaking with company Energy Aspects, anticipates much more. We believe. that the impact of a Trump administration returning to a maximum. pressure project on Iran might lead to a million barrel each day. decline in Iranian unrefined exports, he stated.
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 wants. to expand and in future strikes the federal government might be. asked to intervene in a manner that damages employee bargaining. power, something Democrats have up until now decreased to do.
Republicans have normally been hostile to unions, however. Trump has actually played a various game, reaching out to blue-collar. workers. Strong assistance among lots of union employees may push. Trump to secure those citizens, stated Anthony Miyazaki, a. marketing professor at Florida International University. Still,. his record of selecting leaders to the National Labor Relations. Board led to a roll back of workers' rights to form unions. If this cycle repeats, it might potentially reverse the gains. unions have actually made because the pandemic, consisting of effective. arranging efforts at Starbucks and Amazon and other fledgling. motions at Apple, REI and Trader Joe's.
OTHER TOPICS INCLUDE:
FINANCE. Within banking, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of. America and other loan providers will likely enjoy a reprieve. from stiff capital walkings, M&A hoop-jumping, and Biden's junk. charges crackdown. Trump is anticipated to quickly install. industry-friendly Republicans at the financial regulators. However. those gains may be offset if Trump follows through on tax and. trade policies that will expand the deficit and fuel inflation,. in turn increasing financing rates. That might press existing loans. into the red, say analysts.
ANTITRUST AND TECH. Trump might stroll back the Department of Justice's bid to separate. Alphabet's Google and choose settling with business over. competitors concerns in mergers, instead of new trials, lawyers. said. The country's tough, leading merger police officer, 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 champ in previous endeavor. capitalist Vance.
MEDIA: VIEW WHAT YOU STATE. Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos decided days before the vote. that the paper would not back anyone for president,. describing it as a principled relocate to gain back reliability. Numerous countless subscribers left, lots of saying it was. political cowardice. USA Today and the LA Times also declined to. back a candidate. The message is quite clear today,. stated previous FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. That is yielding to the. autocrat beforehand before you're asked to, stated New york city. University School of Specialist Research studies accessory partner. teacher Helio Fred Garcia, an author of 2 books about Trump.
During the project, Trump called on the Federal. Communications Commission to strip ABC and CBS of their. broadcast licenses. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has actually denounced. Trump's calls to withdraw licenses for broadcast stations, citing. complimentary speech protections. However the independence of the FCC could. be at danger if Trump follows through on a project promise to. bring regulatory agencies, such as the FCC, under presidential. authority, Wheeler said. The president also could invoke his. emergency situation powers under the Communications Act to exert control. over broadcasters, pointing out national security concerns.
However, a brand-new Trump presidency will likely provide cable. news networks like CNN, Fox News and MSNBC and news outlets. consisting of the New york city Times and Washington Post the same big. shock to audiences and audience that his very first term produced.
PHARMACEUTICALS. Trump just recently said he would let previous presidential prospect. and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. go wild on. vaccine and healthcare policy. Kennedy has stated that Trump. guaranteed him manage over the FDA, CDC, HHS, and the USDA. Those. tasks might possibly offer him manage over what vaccines are. authorized and whether Americans are suggested to receive 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, but suggested he might advise on vaccines.
Jeremy Levin, CEO of biotech company Ovid Therapeutics. and previous chairman of biotech lobby group BIO, stated he. would be alarmed if Kennedy was provided oversight over vaccines,. and that other executives had likewise revealed issue. Vaccine. denialism, which is a central plank of RFK's, is possibly as. harmful as anything you can imagine, he said, adding that. President Trump's previous consultations for the COVID vaccine. effort and the FDA suggest to him that more moderate positions. will triumph. Some executives also were worried that Kennedy's. impact might damage the U.S.'s credibility and ability to review. new drugs.
(source: Reuters)