Fossil Fuels

PBF Energy posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, as higher margins helped the U.S. refiner offset downtime at its fire-hit Martinez refinery in California. The U.S. refinery margins are up from multi-year-lows. They have recovered from last year's slump, when profits dropped from their post-pandemic peaks and supply shocks caused by Russia's invasion in Ukraine 2022 faded. Valero Energy, Phillips 66 and other rival refiners also reported positive quarterly results. PBF Energy’s gross refining profit, excluding special items and other costs, was $9 per barrel during the third quarter of 2016, compared to $6.79 per barrel a year earlier....

The refiner HF Sinclair beat Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter adjusted profits on Thursday. This was due to improvements in refining margins as well as strength in the midstream segment. Shares of HF Sinclair rose 1% in premarket trade. Fuel producers in the U.S. benefited from an increase in pricing due to supply shortages resulting from geopolitical tensions affecting Ukraine. Companies such as Valero Energy, Phillips 66 and others also beat Wall Street's expectations. U.S. refinery profit margins measured by the 3-2-1 Crack Spread In the third quarter, grew by nearly 29% in average compared to a year ago,...

Enterprise Products Partners announced a decrease in profit for the third quarter on Thursday. Lower processing margins, maintenance downtime and record volumes of pipeline and gas processing offset lower processing margins. The company's shares dropped by nearly 2% during premarket trading. The U.S. Pipeline Operator also increased its share purchase authorization from $2 billion to $5 billion. A.J. Teague, the CEO of the company, said that natural gas and liquids throughput from Permian Basin helped set nine operational records in the quarter. Teague, the company's CEO, said that the Permian Basin natural gas and liquids output helped to set nine...

Lukoil announced on Thursday that it accepted an offer by global commodity trader Gunvor for its foreign assets. Russia's second largest oil company has been seeking to sell these assets after Washington imposed sanctions last week. The planned asset sales are the most significant action taken by a Russian firm in response to the Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. This war began when Russia invaded its neighbor on a full scale back in 2022. Lukoil announced in a press release that it had accepted Gunvor's offer to sell Lukoil International GmbH which controls foreign assets of the oil...

The only refinery in Serbia will only continue to operate until November 25, as new crude oil deliveries have been stopped due to U.S. sanction against the Russian-owned plant operator NIS. This was reported by Tanjug News Agency on Wednesday, citing the energy minister. NIS, of which Gazprom, Gazprom and the Serbian Government each own 44.9%, operates the only refinery in Serbia, located in Pancevo. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed initial sanctions on Russia's petroleum sector on 10 January and gave Gazprom a 45-day deadline to sell its NIS holdings. The sanctions had been...

The refiner Phillips 66 exceeded Wall Street expectations for its third-quarter profits on Wednesday. This was due to higher fuel margins and record volume in its pipeline business. The shares of the company increased 1% in premarket trading. The U.S. refinery margins are recovering from a multi-year slump. Profits were down from their post-pandemic peak and supply shocks caused by Russia's invasion in Ukraine 2022 have faded. Quarterly U.S. Refinery margins On average, the price of a car has risen by 25% since its multi-year lows. The recovery has helped top refiners including Valero Energy post stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Phillips...

On Wednesday, a U.S. court of appeals will decide whether Argentina has to pay $16.1 billion in compensation to investors who took control of the state-owned oil firm YPF over ten years ago. The 2nd U.S. The 2nd U.S. Burford Capital funded much of this litigation, and the investors could be rewarded with billions of dollars in the event that they prevail. Argentina would appeal a defeat to the U.S. Supreme Court. The midterm elections were a crucial event for Argentina and President Javier Milei. His party was able to win a decisive victory. Argentina warned that a large judgment...

As early quarter results show businesses adapting to President Donald Trump's new tariffs, the outlook for European corporate health is slightly better, according to the latest earnings estimates released on Tuesday. According to data from LSEG, European companies will report an average growth of 0.4% for their third quarter earnings. This is higher than the 0.2% analysts expected just a week earlier. This would still be the lowest quarterly performance since the beginning of 2024. Early Results Beat Analyst Expectations So far, 96 companies in the index have reported their earnings. Of these, 56.3% exceeded analyst expectations. Volvo Cars is...

Wall Street's major indexes hit new record highs Monday, as the excitement surrounding a possible U.S. China trade deal set a tone for a busy week of high-profile earnings from technology companies and a widely anticipated interest rate reduction. On Thursday, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping (the Chinese counterpart) will meet to discuss the future of the U.S.-China relationship. A framework This could stop the tougher U.S. Tariffs and China's export restrictions on rare earths. It would also ease market anxiety about a possible trade war, and send Wall Street's VIX "fear gauge", to a month-low. During his weekend TV...

On Monday, the Russian rouble gained against the U.S. Dollar and the Chinese yuan ahead of corporate tax payments on the day before exporters convert their forex earnings into Russian roubles. By 1315 GMT the rouble had risen 0.6% to 79.24 dollars in the over-the counter market, and 0.5% to 11.09 yuan at the Moscow Stock Exchange where the Chinese currency is the most actively traded. The rouble also received support after the central bank decided to increase its key interest rate last week by a symbolic amount of 50 basis points, to 16.5%. This was high enough to keep...

The U.S. Stock Rally faces a potentially significant week in order to maintain its momentum going into the year-end. This includes a flood corporate results, headlined by Megacap Companies and a possible interest rate reduction by the Federal Reserve following its two-day meeting. Investors may be concerned about the escalation of U.S.-China tensions in the next few days. Meanwhile, the U.S. shutdown continues to cause uncertainty. The S&P 500 posted a record-breaking closing high on the Friday after a 36% rise since the low of the year, in April. The benchmark index has risen over 15% in the past year....

Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said that Slovakia would not participate in any European Union program aimed at funding military assistance for Ukraine to fight Russia's invasion. Slovakia has allowed commercial sales but stopped all state aid to Ukraine in 2023 when Fico came to power. Fico disagrees with European Union countries on the war and says that a solution cannot be found on the battlefield. The EU leaders decided on Thursday that they would meet Ukraine's urgent financial needs for the next two-years, but did not endorse a plan to fund a loan of 140 billion euros...

The Financial Times reported that the Indian refiner HPCL Mittal Energy stopped buying Russian oil on Wednesday, just a few days after it was revealed by the Financial Times that the company had purchased Russian oil transported aboard blacklisted vessels. The U.S., Europe, and other countries imposed new sanctions last week on Russian oil. Washington targeted the country's two largest oil producers, Lukoil, and Rosneft. Indian refiners have halted their purchases of Russian oil while they wait for clarity. In a statement, the company stated that "HMEL has already decided to suspend any further purchases of Russian crude following recent...

A company executive said that India's state refiner Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd does not have immediate plans to purchase Russian oil because of the risks involved following the latest U.S. sanction on Moscow's major oil producers. Last week, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions against Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, and Lukoil in an effort to pressure Vladimir Putin into ending the war in Ukraine. The MRPL executive who declined to name himself due to the sensitive nature of the issue said that it was hard for the company's to track back oil supplies and make sure they did...

Russian authorities reported that Ukraine had sent drones to Moscow for a third night in a row and also targeted other Russian regions. The drones disrupted air traffic across the country, and threatened an industrial plant located in the south of Russia, they said. The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Telegram that Russian air defence units had destroyed 100 Ukrainian drones over the course of the night, including six in Moscow and thirteen over the bordering areas. Kyiv continued to launch long-range drone attacks on Moscow and other Russian regions over the past few months. The aim, according to Kyiv,...

Tuesday, the United States warned Americans living in Mali to immediately leave using commercial flights. The government is under increasing pressure by insurgents linked to al Qaeda, who have imposed a fuel embargo. Early September, militants from Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam and Muslimin announced a ban on fuel imports into the landlocked West African nation. Since then, they have attacked convoys of tankers trying to enter the country and reach Bamako. Due to fuel shortage, the government ordered on Sunday the suspension of all school and university classes in Mali for a period of two weeks. The U.S. Embassy in Mali...

Analysts and trade sources reported that Asian oil refinery profits had risen to their highest level in 20 months. This was due to a strong diesel performance, which has been boosted by a tightening of the outlook following US sanctions against two major Russian suppliers. Singapore's complex refinery margin, a proxy of Asia's refining profitability rose to almost $9 a barrel Tuesday, the highest since February 2024. LSEG data shows that it was about $2 a barrel early October. The global diesel market has been the main driver of strength in recent weeks, with a strong demand and tighter supplies....

State television Vesti, on its Telegram channel, reported that the Kremlin stated on Sunday that it was incorrect to speak about canceling a meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump. However, it added that preparations were needed. They are clear about this: "Presidents can't just meet to waste time. They cannot meet just for the sake meeting. They have instructed the (U.S. secretary of state Marco) Rubio and the (Russian foreign minister Sergei) Lavrov to prepare for this meeting. "The process is complex," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said to state TV Kremlin reporter Pavel Zarubin. Peskov...

The U.S. Dollar was almost flat Friday, after it had dipped following new inflation data showing that U.S. consumer price increases were lower than expected in September. This kept the Federal Reserve on course to reduce interest rates next week. Consumer Price Index increased by 0.3% in September and by 3.0% over the past 12 months. The economists surveyed by predicted that the CPI would rise by 0.4% this month, and by 3.1% on an annual basis. The U.S. Dollar Index was down last by 0.021%, at 98.934. It had fallen as high as 0.2% earlier. Still on track to...

Oil prices rose more than 5% on Thursday to a new two-week high after Washington imposed sanctions against major Russian companies for the Ukraine War. Major stock indexes also climbed, as gains in U.S. energy stocks and European energy shares offset mixed earnings reports. The sanctions were announced late on Wednesday and targeted major Russian suppliers Rosneft, as well as Lukoil. The European Union approved the 19th set of sanctions against Moscow, which included a ban on Russian gas liquefied imports. Britain imposed sanctions on Rosneft & Lukoil last week. Wall Street stocks closed higher with indexes gaining strength after...

The oil prices rose more than 5% Thursday, after Washington announced sanctions against major Russian companies for the Ukraine War. Major stock indexes also rose as gains by U.S. energy stocks and European energy shares offset some disappointing earnings reports. The sanctions were announced on Wednesday night and targeted major Russian suppliers Rosneft, Lukoil. The European Union approved the 19th set of sanctions against Moscow, which included a ban on Russian gas imports. Britain imposed sanctions on Rosneft & Lukoil last week. Wall Street stocks rose with indexes picking up momentum following the White House You can also check out...

Rosen Zhelyazkov, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, said that although U.S. sanctions have been imposed on Russia's Lukoil, which operates Bulgaria's largest refinery, there is still enough fuel to meet demand. The U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions against Russia's biggest oil companies Lukoil, and Rosneft over Moscow's conflict in Ukraine. This has sent global oil prices up and prompted India to cut Russian imports. Lukoil operates the Burgas refinery in Bulgaria which produces 190,000 barrels per day. It also has more than 200 petrol station and a network of fuel depots and transport. Zhelyazkov, speaking to journalists in...

Russia, which is the second-largest oil exporter in the world, is considering how it will respond to U.S. sanction against top oil companies Rosneft, and Lukoil, and to the possibility of reduced sales to India, its largest buyer. Since months, President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have been discussing a way to end the conflict. However, there has not yet been a breakthrough. What did the U.S. do? The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, imposed sanctions against Rosneft, Lukoil and several of their subsidiaries on October 22, while calling on Moscow to agree...

The Kazakhstani defence ministry announced on Thursday it would tighten control over the airspace of the nation after a drone with "unknown origins" exploded near the border of Russia in the west of the country. In a Telegram statement, the ministry stated that the explosion took place in a remote region around 180km (111miles) west of Orenburg which was attacked by Ukrainian drones the previous week. The Ministry did not reveal the origin of the drone, but stated: "Consultations with foreign partners are also underway who may own these devices." The fallout from an intensifying campaign of Ukrainian drone attacks...