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Talos Energy Announces Successful Exploration Results at Daenerys
Talos Energy Inc. announced successful drilling results at the Daenerys exploration prospect located in the U.S. Gulf of America Walker Ridge blocks 106, 107, 150, and 151.The discovery well was drilled to a total vertical depth of 33,228 feet utilizing the West Vela deepwater drillship and encountered oil pay in multiple high-quality, sub-salt Miocene sands. A comprehensive wireline program was conducted, acquiring core, fluid, and log data to evaluate the reservoir. The well was drilled approximately 12 days ahead of schedule and delivered approximately $16 million under budget. Planning is underway for an appraisal well to further define the discovered resource. The discovery well has been temporarily suspended to preserve its future utility.Talos, as operator, will hold a 27% working interest ("W.I."), Shell Offshore Inc. will hold a 22.5% W.I., Red Willow will hold a 22.5% W.I., Houston Energy, L.P. will hold a 10% W.I., Cathexis will hold a 9% W.I., and HEQ II Daenerys, LLC will hold a 9%."We are encouraged by the results of our Daenerys discovery well, which confirms the presence of hydrocarbons and validates our geologic and geophysical models," said Talos President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Goodfellow. "We believe these results support Talos's pre-drill resource assumptions. We are now working closely with our partners to design an appraisal program that will further delineate this exciting discovery. We anticipate spudding the appraisal well in the second quarter of 2026."
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Aluminium prices rise on reduced stocks and improved China demand
Aluminum prices rose on Thursday, beating their peers as signs of improved demand and lower inventories in China, the top consumer, boosted prices. As of 0231 GMT, the most traded aluminium contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange had risen by 0.73% to 20,670 yuan for a metric ton. The benchmark three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange increased 0.17%, to $2.581 per ton. The price of aluminium has been supported by the improvement in spot demand. This, coupled with a destocking of certain products, was said under condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to media. Analysts at Galaxy Futures wrote in a report that lower aluminium inventories will support Shanghai's prices in the event of potential downside risks. A higher global supply has, however, limited further price increases. The International Aluminium Institute (IAI), which released data on Wednesday, showed that the global primary aluminium production in July increased 2.5% compared to last year. Investors are also closely monitoring the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Friday speech for clues to test their bets for a rate reduction. The dollar price of metals could increase due to a weaker U.S. dollar. SHFE copper grew by 0.06%. Zinc advanced by 0.31%. Lead gained 0.35%. Nickel fell 0.23%. Tin dropped 0.68%. LME copper edged up 0.02%. Nickel slipped 0.05%. Lead lost 0.08%. Zinc dropped 0.11%. (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson, Sonia Cheema).
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As markets prepare for Jackson Hole, the dollar drifts and Asian stocks are mixed.
Investors were preparing for three days worth of market-moving information from the Federal Reserve annual symposium at Jackson Hole. The event will begin later that day. However, traders will be focusing on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Friday speech as they look for clues about the possibility of a rate cut in September. The Nikkei fell 0.6% during the morning session and is now further away from its record high reached on Tuesday. Advantest was up 3%, while Tokyo Electron fell 2%, despite a tech-driven selloff overnight on Wall Street. South Korea's KOSPI rebounded by 0.9% on Thursday after hitting a six-week-low on Wednesday. Australia's benchmark index rose 0.6% to a new all-time high. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was mostly flat, while mainland Chinese blue chips rose 0.5%. U.S. Stock Futures are pointing lower. Nasdaq futures have fallen 0.2%, and S&P futures are down 0.1%. Overnight, Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% while the S&P 500 Cash Index dropped 0.2%. Kyle Rodda is an analyst with Capital.com. Equity prices are starting to reflect the risk that Jackson Hole will disappoint, and there is a lot of uncertainty about whether or not the Fed will pivot in the aggressive dovish direction implied on the rates markets. The odds are currently around 80% that the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point on September 17 and they price in 52 basis points over the remainder of the year. On Wednesday, odds of a rate cut in September were 84%. Fed Chair Powell said that he was reluctant to reduce rates due to the expected price pressures caused by tariffs this summer. Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting, where policymakers voted for rates to remain unchanged, were released overnight. They suggested that Governor Christopher Waller and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman were the only two who pushed for a reduction in interest rates at the gathering. The traders increased their bets on a September reduction after a surprising weak payrolls report was released at the beginning of this month. They were also encouraged by consumer price data, which showed that tariffs had little impact on prices. The policy picture was complicated by a higher-than-expected reading of producer prices last week. The central bank was again under pressure overnight by President Donald Trump, who is not only a potential influencer but also a trader. Trump, who had earlier attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates, targeted Fed Governor Lisa Cook on Wednesday, demanding her resignation amid allegations of wrongdoing in connection with mortgages on properties that she owns in Georgia, Michigan and elsewhere. Cook stated that she "had no intention" of being bullied into stepping down. Investors were unnerved by Trump's call for greater control over the Fed earlier this year. The dollar fell. The dollar index was unchanged at 98.252 in the morning, after climbing to its highest level since August 12 at 98.541 the day before. Rodrigo Catril is a strategist with National Australia Bank. If he were to remove Cook from the Fed Board, he could end up having four out of seven members supporting his call for lower rates. Trump nominated Council of Economic Advisers chair Miran to be a Fed Governor earlier this month following the resignation of Adriana Kulgler. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bill in the United States was unchanged at 4.2965% during the last session. The yields on Japanese government bonds have risen, however. For the first time since 1999, the yield for the 20-year bond has risen to 2,655%. Investors are concerned about increased fiscal spending, especially as the pressure on the Japanese Prime Minister to resign grows. The dollar was little changed at 147.41 Japanese yen. The Euro and Sterling were both flat at $1.1647 each and $1.3458 respectively. Bitcoin has continued to climb from the 2-1/2 week low of $112,386,93 reached on Wednesday, to reach around $114 690. Gold prices have slipped slightly to $3,342 an ounce. Prices of oil edged up as the U.S. crude oil and fuel inventory declined more than expected, supporting expectations of steady demand. Brent crude futures rose 0.5% to $67.19 per barrel after rising 1.6% the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) rose 0.6% to $63.00, after gaining 1.4% in the previous session.
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Investors' views on gold are not much different as they await Jackson Hole comments
Investors waited for clues about the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook before the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that begins later in the day. As of 0202 GMT, spot gold declined 0.1% to $3341.93 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery also fell 0.1% to $3384.40. Investors will be watching closely to see if Fed Chair Jerome Powell supports measures to boost the labor market, or focuses on inflation risks. We don't believe gold prices will rise much and think they are consolidating right now. We could see gold prices rise slightly even if the interest rate is cut a little. The $3,400 level may be possible. If not, prices could continue to stabilize or even drop a bit, to a level closer to $3300," said Brian Lan. Two Fed officials, Vice Chair for Oversight Michelle Bowman, and Governor Christopher Waller, voted last month for a quarter point rate cut in order to address the job market's weakness. However, their position was not widely supported. CME's FedWatch tool predicts an 85% probability of a quarter point rate cut in September. Gold usually performs better in low-interest rate environments and times of increased uncertainty. U.S. president Donald Trump demanded that Fed Governor Lisa Cook resign due to issues allegedly related to her mortgages held in Michigan and Georgia. This was part of his increased efforts to influence the central bank. Russia also said that attempts to resolve Ukraine's security concerns without Moscow's involvement were "a road to nowhere". Silver spot remained at $37.86 an ounce. Platinum fell by 0.3% to 1,334.99, and palladium dropped 0.1% to $1,000.46. (Reporting and editing by Sumana Aich and Rashmi Nandy, Bengaluru)
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Prices of oil rise as US inventories are reduced, indicating a strong demand
The price of oil rose slightly on Thursday, as the decline in crude oil and fuel stocks in the U.S. - the world's largest oil consumer - was larger than expected. This supported expectations for steady oil demand. Brent crude futures rose 13 cents or 0.19% to $66.97 per barrel at 0055 GMT after rising 1.6% the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 15 cents or 0.24% to $62.86 after climbing 1.4% Wednesday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude oil inventories dropped by 6 million barrels to 420.7 million last week, contrary to analysts' expectations based on a poll of a 1.8-million barrel draw. The EIA reported that gasoline stocks fell by 2.7m barrels versus the expected 915,000 barrels. This indicates a steady demand for summer travel. This was also reflected in a spike in the average four-week consumption of jet fuel, which reached its highest level since 2019. Daniel Hynes said that the price of crude oil rebounded on Thursday as strong demand from the U.S. boosted confidence. Hynes warned that "bearishness remains evident" as traders continue to watch negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russia said Wednesday that attempts to resolve Ukraine security issues without Moscow's involvement were "a road to nowhere", as U.S. military planners and European military planners began exploring post-conflict guarantees of security for Ukraine. Western sanctions against Russian oil supplies will continue indefinitely due to the long-term efforts being made to bring peace to Ukraine. Further U.S. tariffs and sanctions against Russian oil buyers are also a possibility. The Russian government is adamant that it will continue to supply crude oil to India, despite the warnings of the U.S. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, announced that an additional 25% tariff would be applied to Indian goods starting August 27, due to their purchases of Russian crude. The European Union also sanctioned Indian refiner Nayara Energy which is supported by Russian oil company Rosneft. Indian refiners initially stopped buying Russian oil, but officials at Indian Oil and Bharat petroleum have resumed purchases for delivery in September and October after the discounts were increased. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger in Tokyo, Katya Golubkova)
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Chile's Codelco to lower 2025 copper target after El Teniente accident
Codelco, a Chilean copper mining company, has announced that it will reduce its production forecast for 2025 after an accident at the El Teniente mine in Chile reduced its output by 33,000 metric tonnes. Ruben Alvarado, the CEO of El Teniente, told a congressional committee that the company is now expecting to produce 316,000 tonnes this year. Alvarado stated that the decline is a $340 million loss due to the lost production. This was slightly more than the $300 millions Codelco predicted last week, based on an estimated loss of 20,000-30,000 tons. Six people were killed in an accident that occurred on July 31, near a section of El Teniente’s vast underground network, Andesita. This caused Codelco's mining operations to be halted for several days. Maximo Pacheco, the chairman of Andesita, told employees that they would only reopen Andesita after an internal investigation was completed. The company will release its first-half financial results in the next few days, and an updated estimate of total copper production will be released. Due to an accident, the company had to delay its results. Pacheco said the company would maintain its long-term target of producing 1.7 millions tons of copper annually by 2030. Codelco stated in March that it would aim to produce between 1,37 million and 1.4 millions metric tons by 2025. This is slightly higher than the output of the previous year. Reporting by Fabian Cambero, Paolo Laudani, Editing by Sarah Morland and Daina Beth Solon, Rod Nickel
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Entergy's investment in Meta's Louisiana datacenter receives regulatory approval
Entergy Louisiana's unit has received regulatory approval from the state to proceed with infrastructure investments related to Meta's global data center located in Richland Parish. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced in December that it would invest $10 Billion in Louisiana's data center. This would make Louisiana the largest datacenter in the world. The U.S. datacenter power consumption is expected to triple by 2030, due to AI expansion. This has led tech companies to explore other energy sources including nuclear power. Meta, in December, sought proposals from developers of nuclear power to meet its AI objectives. Entergy has been granted approval by the Louisiana Public Service Commission to build three combined-cycle combustion generator facilities in Richland Parish. Two of these are expected to be online in 2028. The third facility is set to begin operations at the Waterford site of Entergy Louisiana in St. Charles Parish in late 2029. The company said it would build new transmission facilities across its operating area for Meta's Data Center. The commission approved Entergy Louisiana's request to purchase up to 1,500 Megawatts of solar energy through a streamlined certification process. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore in Bengaluru, with Pranav Mathur reporting from Bengaluru)
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Wall Street tech selloff deepens, European shares steady
Wall Street shares fell on Wednesday as a tech sell-off continued into the second day. Currency and rates traders remained focused on a meeting of central banks later this week. The S&P 500 finished down 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite, which is dominated by technology companies and has a high tech component to it fell 0.7%. This was a significant decline after Tuesday's steep drop. Both indexes have partially recovered from earlier, deeper losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04%. Analysts attributed the decline in tech stocks to a number of factors, including fears over high valuations, investors selling profitable positions and risk aversion. Seth Hickle is the managing partner of Mindset Wealth Management. He said, "Tech was overbought to me." "We've had great earnings and it seems natural that the market would want to sell off some of this good news." Investors are also concerned about the growing influence of Donald Trump over U.S. tech companies. Two sources say that U.S. Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick is investigating the possibility of the government owning equity in Intel and other semiconductor companies. Washington has recently signed other revenue-sharing agreements with the artificial intelligence chip companies Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon all dropped more than 1%. The STOXX 600, a pan-European index, rose 0.25%. The FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 1.17%, reaching a new record high. Consumer and healthcare companies were the main drivers of this rally. FOCUS UPON JACKSON HOLLE The U.S. Dollar weakened against a basket after Trump demanded that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook resign. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury was unchanged at 3.29%. However, the yield on 2-year Treasury fell to 3.74%. Now the focus is on the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Symposium, which runs from August 21 to 23. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on Friday about the U.S. Central Bank's policy framework and the economic outlook. Powell's comments on the short-term outlook of interest rates will be closely watched, as traders have already priced in a possible rate cut for next month. Analysts at ING wrote in a report that "even if Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell emphasizes muted unemployment rather than sharply revised payrolls that would be a difficult sell to the White House as well as a market pricing in 21 bp rate cuts for September." The minutes of the Fed's meeting in July, when interest rates remained unchanged, revealed that almost all policymakers believed it was appropriate to keep the target range of the federal funds rate between 4.25% and 4.50% despite the two dissenters. As expected, Sweden's central banks kept their key interest rates on hold, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered policy rates to an all-time low, signaling further easing. The kiwi fell by over 1%. Data showed that consumer prices in Britain rose 3.8% in July. This was the fastest increase for an economy in the Group of Seven. The data pushed sterling higher but it quickly retreated. Meanwhile, the fact that inflation wasn't even higher led to a rally of government bonds. The 10-year gilt yield fell 7 basis points to 4.68%. Oil prices rose about 1% as investors awaited next steps in the talks to end Ukraine war. Sanctions on Russian crude remain in place. Spot gold increased 1% to $3.348.70 per ounce.
Beijing, historically dry, is it ready for a wetter future?
Cui Jian, the owner of a rural hotel in Beijing, and his guests were stranded in the rain on a roof during the deadly floods that struck Beijing last month. Rescuers had to battle through metres-high silt and mud to reach them the following day.
Beijing's northern Huairou District and the neighbouring Miyun District received an entire year's rain in just one week. This led to flash floods which devastated entire villages, killing 44 people. It was the worst flood in Beijing since 2012.
Most Huairou villagers were asleep when the authorities issued their most severe weather warning.
In the past, they evacuated tourists, closed scenic areas, and relocated villages. It's good to warn people, but it is a disaster if you don't.
The floods revealed weaknesses in Beijing's rural emergency response infrastructure. Beijing is an urban center surrounded by a number of rural districts.
They also showed how Beijing, a city of 22 million, which has a history of being dry, is not prepared for an increasingly wet climate, according to experts. Forecasters predicted that the Chinese capital would only experience three deluges every 100 years. Climate experts warn of a growing threat to disasters previously unimaginable in scale.
Chinese experts increasingly call for city planners in China to prioritize "ecological resilient" due to the devastating effects of climate changes.
Zhou Jinfeng is the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. He said: "The current understanding and future challenges of climate change are insufficient. This naturally leads to inadequate deployment and planning."
Beijing's city government and China's housing and environment ministries did not reply to faxed comments.
While two Beijing districts devastated by floods in 2023 have issued long-term reconstruction plans prioritising "climate-adaptive city construction" and proposing measures to improve rural flood control systems and upgrade infrastructure, the vast majority of recently-commissioned infrastructure projects in the capital do not prioritise climate adaptation in their plans.
In a database of the Chinese government, only three Beijing infrastructures projects were mentioned in the last five years in terms of "ecological resilient", while hundreds more tenders that mention "climate changes" are mostly research projects at Beijing's state scientific institutes.
According to Zhou, ecological resilience is a term that refers to such measures as restoring natural river banks, reducing concrete and other hard material use, and artificial landscaping as well as increasing biodiversity.
A top-level meeting on urban planning in July emphasized the importance of building "liveable and sustainable" cities.
Mid-July marks the start of northern China's wet season, but it began earlier this year than ever before. Several Beijing rivers also experienced their worst floods.
Official data revealed that the citywide rainfall for June and July was 75% higher than a year ago.
The director of China’s National Climate Center, who works for the state-owned China Newsweek newspaper, said that this is because of the "significant northward extension of China’s rain belt" since 2011, which has been linked to climate changes. This marks a shift to "multiple, sustainable, long-term cycles of rainfall" within the traditionally arid North.
'SPONGE CITIES'
China's policymakers took some steps to fight urban flooding. Since 2015, "Sponge City" projects are underway in China, which transform concrete-laden megacities into cities with hidden drainage infrastructure, such as permeable pavements, sunken rainfall gardens, and modernised sewer systems.
This concept originated in China and refers to the ability of a sponge to absorb rainwater, then release it.
Recent projects in Beijing include flood control pumps, riverside parks and manmade lakes.
Official data shows that China will spend more than 403,78 billion yuan (2.9 trillion yuan) in 2024 on infrastructure projects for "sponge cities".
The authorities aim to cover 80% of all urban areas by 2030. However, many provinces and large cities are still behind schedule.
According to a Chinese database of procurement tenders, in Beijing, this year has seen the start of new "sponge cities" worth at least 150 million yuan. Media reports claim that 38% of Beijing’s urban areas currently meet the "sponge-city" standards.
Experts say that such initiatives will not help Beijing's rural fringes, because of the mountainous terrain, which makes villages more vulnerable to secondary disasters, such as landslides, due to their location at the base of steep hillsides, and the lack emergency response infrastructure.
Yuan Yuan is Greenpeace East Asia’s climate and energy campaigner. She said that the current "sponge cities" standards were also based on historic precipitation data, and they are not equipped to handle extreme rainfall.
She added that future contingency plans should also include pre-emptive evacuations of residents, and improved early warning systems.
31 residents of an elderly nursing home in Miyun died during the recent Beijing flooding. The elderly residents were not included in evacuation plans, and they became trapped by the rising water.
Yuan stated that it was necessary to plan infrastructure in a rational way and to coordinate risk response plans, countermeasures and other measures to minimize future losses. Reporting by Laurie Chen, Editing by Kate Mayberry. $1 = 7.1813 Chinese Yuan Renminbi
(source: Reuters)