Latest News
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Mayor of Kyiv: Russia has hit petrol stations and warehouses in Kyiv
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine, said that a drone struck a petrol station early Tuesday morning. He also added that a drone had also struck warehouses in another part of the city. Witnesses heard an explosion in Kyiv The attack follows a?U.S. Donald Trump stated on Monday that Ukraine had agreed with Russia not to?hit each other's targets. Recently, Russia began targeting petrol stations in Kyiv and expanded the scope of facilities that were targeted. In the last few months, Russia has targeted around 300 petrol stations, mostly in or near Ukraine's frontline areas. In a social media statement, Poland's Armed Forces stated that as a precautionary measure, it had begun military aviation operations to secure its airspace. A regional governor on Telegram said that a Ukraine missile strike?damaged a warehouse owned by the ecommerce company Ozon, in the southern port of Taganrog. Separately, a?industrial facility?in the Samara Region on the Volga River was hit by a drone, said Governor Vyacheslav Federishchev on Telegram without naming this particular industrial facility. A number of large oil refineries are located in the?region. It was not possible to independently verify all the reports. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, said that Kyiv would only support a U.S.-proposed ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on energy sites if Washington could guarantee that Moscow was truly ready to end its conflict with Ukraine.
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China's oil throughput in August is up for the second consecutive month amid Iran war
China's oil throughput in August?rose for a second consecutive month but was still?6.9% lower than a year ago, according to?data released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. In August, the world's largest oil buyer processed 59.07 metric tons crude oil, or 13,91 million barrels per day. This is an increase of 11.2% compared to July. Oil throughput in the first eight months was 456.12 millions metric tons or 13.7 million bpd. This is down 6.6% compared to a year earlier. According to data, China's domestic crude oil production in August rose by 0.8% on the year to a total of?18.43 metric tonne, or 4.34 millions bpd. Beijing does not release information on its reserves. However, calculations that add official crude imports and domestic production, then subtract refinery output, estimated a drop of 639,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August. This was the second largest drop since the Iran War began, following a decline of 936,000 barrels per day?in June. The data also revealed that the crude oil production for the year to date was 146.39 millions metric tons. This is a 0.9% increase from last year. The natural gas production in August increased by 0.8% from the previous year to?21.4 billion cubic meters (bcm). The output for the year to date is 175.7 bcm. This represents a 1.1% increase from a previous year.
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New Hope coal miner in Australia pays out highest dividends since 2022
New Hope Corp, a thermal coal -miner in Australia, declared its 'largest ever final dividend' on Tuesday. This was despite the fact that their annual profit had more than halved and they missed expectations. The shares rose to their highest level in over 3-1/2 years. Rob Bishop, CEO of. "We had a good year and we were able to pay out a large dividend," said he. New Hope announced a final dividend per share of 30 Australian cents for fiscal 2026. This is the highest since 2021 when it was 31 cents and surpasses last year's 15 Australian cents. The company's shares rose by as much as 4.1% in the early trading, reaching their highest level since January 2023. As of 0056 GMT, the broader market was down 0.5%. Sales and production of saleable coal increased by 7.6% and 11.8% respectively. This was due to the ramp-up at its New Acland Mine in Queensland, and the strong performance in the second half of the year at the Bengalla Mine in New South Wales. The annual net profit after taxes fell by 63.4% compared to the previous year, falling to A$161 million ($114.94 millions), the lowest level since fiscal 2021 when A$79million was recorded. Visible Alpha's estimate of A$182.2 millions was also not met. New Hope said that its earnings were negatively affected by a decline of 8.8% in the average realized sales price to A$143.2 per tonne. This was due to unfavourable exchange rate fluctuations, as well as an increase in the percentage of sales with high-ash across the group. The company's Bengalla Growth Project and ramp-up at the New Acland Mine?also contributed to the decline in profits. The company stated that it expects thermal coal prices will be well supported in the medium to long term, due to a shortage of supply caused by ageing assets and a lack of investment in new projects.
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Asian shares fall as oil prices and yields increase ahead of Fed and BOJ meetings
Asian shares struggled on Tuesday, as investors considered Middle East tensions. Industry figures also called for a halt in AI development. Meanwhile, higher oil prices and bond yields heightened caution ahead of 'key' central bank meetings taking place in the U.S. Yemen's Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, launched a new offensive on Saudi Arabia Monday. Riyadh had blamed Iran-backed fighters based in Iraq for an assault on the east-west oil pipeline of the kingdom that could disrupt up to 4% global supply. Gulf Arab states have also delayed planned talks with Iran. Brent crude was up by 1.21% at $106.96 a barrel, while U.S. Crude rose 1.27% to $102,68 per barrel. In a recent note, Yokoo Akihiko, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Bank said that the markets are likely to continue to focus on the possibility that higher crude oil costs could contribute to 'inflationary forces, and in turn, drive interest rates higher. Leading AI figures have called for a'slow down in development of AI technology. This has continued to resonate through the markets, even as U.S. president Donald Trump has played down concerns about misuse. He said that existing U.S. protections are adequate and China would benefit from any doubts regarding AI development. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan fell 0.12%. South Korea's 0.25% drop led the way. Japan's Nikkei index edged up 0.19% after reversing its early losses. Shares of chip-related companies were mixed. South Korea's Samsung Electronics lost 0.2%, while Japan's Kioxia rose 3.3%. Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day session later that day. The markets have priced in a 90% probability of a rate increase, which would be the first since mid-2023. Morgan Stanley analysts said in an?address that "while inflation continues to decelerate" recent upside surprises have made the pace of disinflation slower and less convincing. They expect a 25 basis point hike on Wednesday and December. "We can see both arguments for a hike or a hold. However, signs of second-round impacts from energy prices and strong demand linked to AI-related investments, as well as a neutral rate which is temporarily higher and concerns over credibility, mean that the balance of risk now argues in favor of a slightly more restrictive policy." Overnight, the benchmark yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds reached 5% for first time in 2023. Germany's 10-year yield rose above 3.51% to its highest level since 2009, and U.S. Treasury bond yields also touched 5% overnight. Tuesday, Japan’s benchmark 10-year government bond rate jumped back to 3%. Bank of Japan will likely raise its interest rate to 1.25% by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its two-day session on Friday, and signify that more tightening is to come. The Bank of Japan is looking to bolster the yen following intervention that helped move the currency away from a low for 40 years. The dollar index, which measures greenbacks against a basket including the yen, and euro, increased 0.05%, to 99.53. Meanwhile, the euro fell 0.03%, to $1.1543. The dollar rose 0.17% against the Japanese yen to 154.61. Spot gold fell 0.15%, to $4,291.59 per ounce. Spot silver dropped 0.31%, to $63.03 per ounce.
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SB Energy will sell shares worth up to $500,000,000 to Japanese investors as part US IPO
A filing on Tuesday showed that the SoftBank Group-backed Data 'centre developer SB Energy will sell up to $500 million worth of shares to Japanese investors as part a a U.S. public listing. The filing stated that the firm would issue new shares to the Japanese investors and the funds raised would be used for "general operating costs" for the development of data centres, "power generation", and other infrastructure projects. The filing did not disclose the size of the U.S. Initial Public Offering. SoftBank could be looking for a $50 billion valuation for SB Energy. SB Energy's investment prospectus from September reported that Nvidia had committed to investing $1.5 billion at the IPO price in a private placing, while OpenAI was issued warrants valued at approximately $5.5 billion. Investor interest in artificial intelligence led to a flurry of 'public listing' in related firms this year. SpaceX listed in June, and Anthropic is preparing to list in the second half of.this year. Japanese investors?secured a total of $2.2 billion in SpaceX shares at its IPO.
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Interior Secretary Burgum: US wants to issue deep sea mining permits in a few months
The Trump administration announced on Monday that it was close to approving permits to'mine' the deep sea as part of an broader effort to increase U.S. access to the vital minerals needed across the U.S. economy. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told a G20 gathering in Houston of energy ministers that the permits could be issued within months, as the administration pursues its strategy of "energy add" to expand the supply chains of the country and its allies. Donald Trump, since returning to office in 2017, has taken steps to bolster the deep-sea mine industry. However, he still hasn't issued operational permits to allow it to move forward. Many environmentalists are concerned that seabed mining could lead to irreversible biodiversity losses. The Pacific Ocean, and other parts of the world are believed to have large quantities of polymetallic nodules (potato-shaped rocks) that can be used as building blocks for electronic vehicles, weapons and electronics. Burgum stated that "those nodules we have to vacuum up from the sea floor (are filled with?critical minerals we need." Burgum said that part of the solution is to ensure that we have a diverse, reliable, and affordable supply of essential minerals. In the last 18 months, U.S. exports of critical minerals, especially those processed in China by Chinese companies, have been limited as Beijing limits its exports. This has increased pressure on Washington, which is now urging it to support efforts to increase domestic mining. Burgum responded to Burgum's question about when the federal government could issue permits for deep-sea diving: "Those discussions are taking place right now." He added that "you'll hear more in the coming weeks and months because there's exciting developments on that front." Burgum's Interior Department supervises the Marine Minerals Administration which must approve all?permits for mining?U.S. Territorial waters. The MMA review would begin with a lease to allow private companies to have exclusive access to a part of the seabed. Then, a review process would be conducted to determine if an operational permit was needed. This would include a variety of scientific data. Separately Trump wants the Commerce Department to issue international permits. This could lead to a conflict with the United Nations' International Seabed Authority, which has tried to set standards for more than 25 year. The Metals Company, a privately-held company, and Impossible Metals are among the companies that have requested permits for seabed mining. Other companies have also applied for exploration permits.
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Texas penalizes data centers for violating water laws
On Monday, the 'governor' of Texas, a state that is one of the fastest-growing areas for artificial intelligence infrastructure, instructed'state regulators to penalize any data centers who fail to provide details regarding their water usage. Texas, which has halted new data center connections to the state's?electrical grid, pending an assessment of the facilities' water and power use, amongst other issues, re-examines its regulations for server warehouses. Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Water Development Board to "impose legal consequences" to data centers and large water-using entities that fail to report their water usage. Abbott's office issued a statement saying that "major water users including data centers appear to have violated civil and criminal laws by failing to provide TWDB the required information about water usage." The 'Texas water regulator tries to survey data centres about their 'water use and consumption expectations. The data center will be denied new or renewed environmental permits if it fails to submit the survey by the deadline.
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Interior Secretary: US oil export ban unlikely lower energy prices
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated on Monday that a ban on U.S. fuel or oil exports was unlikely to help lower energy prices for consumers in the midst of the Iran War. Burgum, speaking to reporters at the G20 meeting on energy in Houston, said: "We'd consider an export prohibition if it actually could lower prices. But that's not true." Burgum, a Trump appointee, stated that a ban on the export of oil, gasoline, or diesel could result in retaliatory measures from other countries. This could harm consumers in California, whose energy imports are largely dependent on. Burgum stated, "We stopped exporting products, and then someone said, "We're not going to export to California." Burgum stated that California has already shut down several oil refineries which has contributed to the rise in fuel prices. Burgum stated that California already has the highest gas and diesel prices in the nation due to their policies. We don't want to make it worse. The Trump administration has run out of options to reduce prices for diesel and oil, which recently reached a record-high above $6 per gallon, and are even higher in California. The White House is considering how it can use the Cold War Defense Production Act in order to increase U.S. refinery capacity.
Budget watchdog: UK water crisis partly blamed on regulators
A budget watchdog in Britain said that the regulators had failed to invest enough in the water industry. This has led to an environmental crisis.
The public is angry with water companies in England, Wales and Scotland over their rising bills. This comes after sewage spills polluted Britain's rivers in the last few years due to aging pipes and overcrowded treatment plants.
After the National Audit Office report was released, Geoffrey Clifton Brown, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts said: "The government's failure in regulating this sector properly is now falling on the bill-payers who are left to pay the tab."
The average household water bill in England and Wales is expected to increase by 26% this year.
According to the NAO, water sector requires "unprecedented investment" in order to meet the challenges it faces, including a weakened financial performance, a declining public trust, and a falling investor confidence.
In October, as Britain's largest water provider, Thames Water, was on the verge of financial collapse the government began a review of water industry. The report is expected in June.
The government's Environment Department (DEFRA), in response to the NAO Report, said that new laws allowing water managers to be criminally charged if they violate environmental rules will help improve the industry.
A Defra spokeswoman said that "the government has taken immediate action to fix water industry - however, change will not occur overnight."
The NAO stated that Britain must build nine new reservoirs and invest an estimated 47 billion pounds ($62.52 million) in water infrastructure over the next five-year period.
The report highlighted that there was no national plan for water and that regulators, Ofwat and the Environment Agency as well as the Drinking Water Inspectorate did not understand the state of infrastructure.
The report also criticised the way Ofwat sets prices for water consumers. It said it was difficult to understand for investors, and questioned whether its review process was suitable given that major infrastructure projects require a long-term approach. ($1 = 0.7517 pound) (Reporting and editing by Sharon Singleton; Sarah Young)
(source: Reuters)