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Prices of oil rise on expectations of demand amid improved economy
The price of oil rose on Wednesday, as the U.S., China and other major oil consumers are expected to continue using their products. Brent crude futures were up 29 cents or 0.42% to $69 per barrel at 0105 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Futures rose 40 cents or 0.6% to $66.92. The market has downplayed any potential supply disruptions following the threat by U.S. president Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Russian oil purchases. Prices have been fluctuating in a narrow range, as the combination of signs that demand is steady due to an increase in summer travel in the Northern Hemisphere has fought against concerns about U.S. tariffs imposed on its trading partners slowing economic growth and fuel consumption. The major oil producers, however, are pointing out an improvement in the economic growth of the second half year. Chinese data also showed that growth was consistent. In a recent note, LSEG analysts stated that "strong seasonal demand" is driving up oil prices as the summer season brings a peak in industrial and travel activity. The increased gasoline consumption, especially during the Fourth of the July holiday in the U.S., has helped offset the bearish pressures of rising inventories and concerns about tariffs. Data from China showed that growth in the second quarter slowed, but not as much as was previously thought, partly due to frontloading in order to avoid U.S. Tariffs. This eased concerns about the economy in the world's biggest crude importer. Data also revealed that China's crude throughput in the month of June increased by 8.5% compared to a year ago, which indicates a stronger fuel demand. Consultants said that this was the highest level since September 2023 as state-owned refining facilities increased their operations and experienced a profit recovery. In a report published on Tuesday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries predicted that the global economic outlook would improve in the second half of this year, thereby boosting oil demand. The report stated that India, China, and Brazil outperformed expectations, while the U.S., EU, and EU recovered from last year. Reporting by Colleen Waye, Editing by Christian Schmollinger
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Trump: Vietnam trade deal is "pretty much set"
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that an agreement on trade with Vietnam is almost complete. Trump told journalists at Joint Base Andrews, near Washington, that he was willing to release the details of the Vietnam Trade Agreement but did not feel it necessary. The U.S. President announced this month that he has struck a preliminary deal with the Communist Country, which will reduce planned U.S. Tariffs on Imports from Vietnam from the level of 46% he threatened in April. Trump said at the time that goods Washington considered to have been illegally transshipped to other countries through Vietnam would be subjected to a 40% tax. Details of the agreement have yet to be finalized, and questions remain about how Washington will define illegal transshipments and how much Vietnam must add value to imported products in order to avoid the tariff. The exact products that would be subject to Trump's tariff of 20% are also unclear. Vietnam hasn't confirmed specific tariff rates but is celebrating an agreement it called a "joint statement" about a framework for trade. When asked if he intended to reveal details about the trade agreement with Vietnam, Trump replied, "Well I might." It doesn't matter how much information you release about the deal. "We have a Vietnam agreement, and I'd say that this deal is pretty well set." Since the beginning of the U.S. - China trade war, in 2018, when the Trump administration first imposed tariffs on Beijing that were so high they pushed some manufacturers to relocate production to Vietnam, Vietnam's exports have nearly tripled. Data from the U.S.A. and Vietnam shows that at the same time Vietnam has greatly expanded its imports from China. Their inflow is almost identical to the value and swings in exports to the United States. Each totaling around $140 billion by 2024. (Reporting and editing by Leslie Adler, Stephen Coates and Andrea Shalal)
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Indigenous groups ask Chilean court to stop community review of Codelco/SQM lithium deal
According to documents reviewed by, two indigenous groups in northern Chile asked a local judge to suspend the state-led process of community review that was required to approve a partnership between copper miner Codelco and lithium mining company SQM. Last week, the Indigenous community of Coyo and Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers of San Pedro de Atacama filed separate legal challenges with the Chilean Appeal Court in the Antofagasta Region. They accused the Chilean Economic Development Agency Corfo of failing to properly conduct a consultation process for their input regarding the partnership. This is the last condition for the deal that will see state-run Codelco take over SQM's lithium mine operations on the Atacama Salt Flat. The Coyo Community and the Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers (which has Indigenous members) said that they needed more time and information to give informed consent to the plan. According to a document filed in court, the Antofagasta Court accepted their challenges on Friday. The court ordered Corfo, to respond within 15 days to the allegations and asked Codelco to comment. Corfo said that the consultation process is still ongoing. The agency released a statement saying that the "Indigenous consultation process" with the Atacama Indigenous Organizations is progressing and was carried out according to the regulations. Codelco refused to comment while SQM didn't immediately respond to a comment request. The Indigenous Consultation, led by Corfo, and including a few dozen local community groups around the Atacama Salt Flat, was expected to end around late July. SQM, Codelco and other communities in the vicinity of the salt flats are holding separate talks to discuss a model that will allow Indigenous communities to oversee lithium extraction. Both the Coyo Community and the Atacameno association of Irrigators & Farmers asked the court for a suspension until a new method to review the community could be implemented and more information was provided. Both groups claimed that Corfo did not provide enough details about the proposed Codelco-SQM contract and that the timeline of the consultation between November 2024 to July 2025 is too short for a detailed analysis. The report also stated that Corfo did not always act in good faith and did not adhere to the standards of the International Labour Organization (a U.N. agency). The Coyo Community said that "this situation directly affects fundamental rights by limiting the Community's influence over decisions affecting its territory, its environmental surroundings, and its collective rights, thus violating constitutional protections," in its court filing. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Daina Beth Solon)
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Rio Tinto misses estimates for iron ore output, copper forecast upbeat
Rio Tinto reported a smaller-than-expected increase in iron ore shipment for the second quarter but forecast copper production at the upper end of the range. Rio Tinto's iron ore shipment is recovering following a series tropical cyclones that slowed operations during the first quarter of March. The miner's Pilbara operations shipped 79.9 Mt of iron ore in the three-month period ended June 30. This is a 13% increase from the previous quarter, but still below the Visible Alpha consensus estimation of 81.98Mt. Rio Tinto exported more iron ore of lower quality, SP10 grades. SP10 levels made up 29% of Pilbara exports. The company expects to achieve full-year production of copper at the upper end of its guidance range, and unit costs in the lower half. This is due to the ramp up from its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. The miner confirmed its forecast for iron ore shipments in the full year at the lower end, between 323 Mt and 338Mt. Rio Tinto named Simon Trott as its new CEO on Tuesday. He succeeds Jakob Stausholm who announced unexpectedly in May that he was stepping down after four and a half years. (Reporting from Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru and Shivangi lahiri; editing by Devika Syamnath).
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Two people killed in New Jersey floods by severe storms near New York City
As severe storms ravaged the New York City region on Monday and Tuesday night, flooding cars and subway stations submerged in New Jersey. Intense rainfall has caused travel disruptions across airports, highways, and railways in the region. According to Mayor Eric Adams, more than 2 inches (5cm) of rain fell in Manhattan's Central Park in just one hour, making it the second-most rainfall in 60 minutes in history. On Monday night, videos showed flooding at several subway stations. One station in Manhattan's West Side had a geyser-like water stream. The subway system, according to officials, was overwhelmed by the rain in a very short time. Rohit Aggarwala said that the antiquated sewer network can only handle about 1.75 inches (4.44cm) of rainfall per hour. This is compared to a rate exceeding 4 inches per hour during the storm. Adams stated, "I don't think I can remember seeing such a level of rainfall before." New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has declared a state-of-emergency and announced that two people have died in Plainfield after their vehicle was washed away by floodwaters. Murphy, a reporter, said that the victims were discovered in a car submerged. Murphy stated that some locations had experienced flooding for the very first time. The governor blamed climate changes for the increased frequency and intensity extreme weather events. He said, "That's a new reality." Authorities in Westchester County north of the city conducted numerous water rescues, as cars submerged under floodwaters and highways were closed due to flooding. According to the National Weather Service, Nanuet, a suburb in Rockland County near New York City, recorded over 5 inches (12.7cm) of rainfall. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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Blackstone and US utility PPL will build gas power stations in a JV partnership
The companies announced on Tuesday that they have formed a joint-venture to build natural gas power stations for data centers, under long-term agreements to provide energy services. Vincent Sorgi, President and CEO of PPL, said in a press release that he was excited to use the expertise PPL and Blackstone Infrastructure have to bring new dispatchable generation to Pennsylvania in order to meet new data center loads. The announcement was made at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, held in Pittsburgh. Government, technology and energy officials announced investments of approximately $90 billion to advance data centers and other aspects in the artificial intelligence boom. The U.S. president Donald Trump was expected in attendance. According to the companies, PPL and Blackstone Infrastructure, which own 51% of the joint venture, will sign long-term agreements for energy services with large data centers companies. There has not yet been any agreement of this nature. The joint venture has engaged in active engagement with landowners and natural gas pipeline companies, as well as turbine manufacturers and secured multiple land parcels for this new generation buildout, according to the announcement.
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Trump's AI and tech summit announces major US investments
On Tuesday, American companies announced a series big-ticket AI investments and energy pledges as part of President Donald Trump's push to maintain the nation's advantage in the booming tech sector. Here are the most important announcements made around the Energy and Innovation Summit, held at Carnegie Mellon University. The summit is expected to bring $90 billion of investments into and around Pennsylvania. Google, owned by Alphabet, has signed a deal worth $3 billion with Brookfield Asset Management to purchase electricity produced from two hydropower plants in Pennsylvania. Google will invest $25 billion over the next two-years in data centers throughout Pennsylvania and its neighboring states, according to a report by Semafor. Jon Gray, the president and chief operating office of Blackstone Asset Management, said at a panel discussion that it plans to invest $25 billion in data centers and energy infrastructures in Pennsylvania. Blackstone also announced a joint venture for power generation with PPL Corp. First Energy is investing $15 billion in expanding power distribution and strengthening grid infrastructure. They will also operate an enhanced grid for 56 Pennsylvania counties. This was announced by the Pennsylvania office of Senator Dave McCormick. Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta Platforms, said on Monday that his company will spend hundreds of millions of dollars building several AI data centers. One of these is a data center with a capacity of more than one gigawatt, dubbed Prometheus. It's planned to be built in Ohio. CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure technology company, plans to invest up to $6 billion in building a new artificial-intelligence data center in Pennsylvania. The company announced this on Tuesday. Senator McCormick’s office announced that Constellation Energy would invest $2.4 billion in upgrading the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. Energy Capital Partners has announced a plan of $5 billion to build a datacenter at the York II Energy Center. PitchBook's report on Tuesday revealed that AI-related startups have seen a rise in investment, which is a sign of the continued growth of this field, even though venture capital firms struggle to raise funds. Reporting by Raphael Satter, Editing by Chizu nomiyama and Leslie Adler
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Pentagon will continue to work with US rare-earths projects, US Defense official says
A defense official said on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Defense will continue to work with rare earths firms to ensure a diverse American supply of these critical minerals, which are used throughout the economy. Pentagon signed multi-billion dollar deal last week to become largest shareholder of rare earths producer MP Materials. It also agreed on several financial backstop measures. Defense official stated that the move was made to "share risk" in a vital minerals project. The U.S. Mining sector questioned whether similar investments could be made by the U.S. Military. Official: The Pentagon is "looking forward to continuing to work with companies throughout the (rare earths supply chain) to ensure that DoD, and the nation, have the secure and robust supply chains necessary to protect national and economic security in the future." The official said that the MP deal structure is a "unique" approach by the government in order to "account [for] the difficulties of establishing and maintaining production of rare earth magnets within a market where China controls a large part of the supply chain." Officials said that the Pentagon's investment in MP came through a Cold War law called the Defense Production Act and its Office of Strategic Capital. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Sandra Maler, and Ernest Scheyder)
Watchdog asks EU to explain the speed at which it proposes to reduce green rules
In response to complaints from campaigners who accused Brussels of weakening sustainability laws without consulting the public, the EU Ombudsman demanded that the European Commission explain on Tuesday why it had fast-tracked its proposals to curb them.
In February, the Commission introduced legal changes to exempt thousands smaller European businesses from European Union reporting rules on sustainability. This was done to simplify regulations for industries that are struggling to compete against rivals in China or the U.S. where President Donald Trump has been rolling back regulations.
The EU Ombudsman demanded that the Commission explain why they did not perform a full impact analysis on these proposals, consult with the public about the changes or assess if the proposals are in line with Europe’s commitments to climate change.
The Commission will usually perform an impact analysis when proposing new EU legislation to determine their effects.
This can be skipped when the law is an emergency response to a crises and the proposals for simplifying the green reporting rules did not include an assessment.
In a letter published Tuesday, Ombudsman Teresa Anjinho stated that "based on the materials made available so far, it does not appear the Commission has adequately justified derogating its rules in this instance."
She said, "The Commission has not indicated any sudden or unanticipated event that would warrant the urgency."
Anjinho noted that, instead of the usual 10-day consultation, the Commission gave its departments only 24 hours, beginning on Friday evening, to evaluate the plans.
A spokesperson for the Commission said that it would answer the questions and make rapid changes, since some companies have already been required to report their information this year.
The spokesperson said that "businesses and members states urgently need legal certainty in order to comply with sustainability framework," during a regular briefing.
The European Ombudsman is responsible for investigating cases of mismanagement in EU institutions. The Commission must respond by September 15. (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis; Kate Abnett)
(source: Reuters)