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Thames Water stops bosses' bonus after ministers object
Thames Water, the company at the center of the public outcry against Britain's privatised industry for water, has stopped a bonus program for its executives, after ministers raised objections to the payments. Debts in the billions have plagued the company, Britain's largest water provider with 16 million customers. The company secured a loan of 3 billion pounds in February to prevent a financial collapse. Some of the money went to senior managers for bonuses up to 1 million pounds ($1.34million) or 50% of their salary, as part of a retention program. Steve Reed, the Environment Minister told LBC Radio in London on Wednesday that bonuses are "outrageous". He said he told Thames Water to take "all actions" necessary to stop them. Thames Water said that it had suspended the program and would await the guidance of the water regulator Ofwat. Ofwat prevented Thames Water from paying bonuses to executives from customer money last year. A spokesperson for Thames Water stated that the board never intended to oppose the government's desire to reform the water sector. The board decided to suspend the retention program after recent discussions. The British government is looking to reform the water industry, which has been criticized by environmental groups and customers for causing damage to Britain's rivers and increasing customer bills while failing to invest. A government-commissioned review will be published in June. Reed stated that waterways will become cleaner due to a large increase in inspections of sewage pollution over the past nine months, which led to the launch of criminal investigations against water companies. The new legislation, which was passed in September of last year, aims to strengthen the supervision of water companies. Penalties include imprisonment for managers who obstruct investigations on the contamination of rivers and lakes.
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Sources say that the US will appoint Thomas Barrack to be a special envoy for Syria
Thomas Barrack, the long-time friend of President Donald Trump and current U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, will be appointed as a Special Envoy for Syria by the United States, according to a person in Turkey with direct knowledge and a diplomat. This decision comes after Trump's historic announcement last week of the lifting of U.S. sanctions against Syria. This decision also shows that the U.S. is acknowledging that Turkey has become a key regional player in Damascus after Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels last December, ending 14 long years of civil conflict. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said, "There are no announcements at this time." In a Tuesday speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. State Secretary Rubio stated that he had allowed Turkish embassy personnel, including Barrack to work with local officials to understand what type of aid they needed. Rubio stated that "we want to help this government succeed because the alternative would be full-scale civil conflict and chaos which, of course, would destabilise the whole region." According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Barrack attended a U.S. and Turkish meeting on Syria in Washington, where sanctions relief efforts and counter-terrorism were discussed. The U.S. sought to ease sanctions on Syria in a gradual manner, until Trump announced that he would order "the cessation" of sanctions. He said this was to allow Syria to recover from a devastating war. He claimed that he reached the decision following discussions with Saudi Crown Princess Mohammed bin Salman, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdoan. Trump met with Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on May 14, in Saudi Arabia, and encouraged him to normalise relations with Israel after his surprise announcement of sanctions. The removal of U.S. financial sanctions on Syria would allow for more engagement from humanitarian organizations working in the country, as well as ease foreign trade and investment. This is important to help the country rebuild. (Reporting from Timour Azhari and Jonathan Spicer, both in Damascus; editing by Mark Heinrich).
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Rosneft has taken control of Russia's biggest rare earth deposit.
Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, has purchased Tomtor, which is the largest rare earth deposit in the country, according to a company registry published on Wednesday. This acquisition follows President Vladimir Putin’s request last year that the development of this field be accelerated. Tomtor is located in the northern part of Siberian Yakutia region. It's a major project for Russia to increase production of metals used in the defense industry, mobile phones, and electric cars. According to the official Russian state registry, Rosneft under Igor Sechin - a Putin ally for many years - gained complete control of Vostok engineering, the project operator, on 20 May. Rosneft didn't immediately respond to a comment request. Putin accused Tomtor's operator in November of stalling the development of the deposit, and suggested that it either increase investment or seek assistance from third parties including the government. Prior to the Ukraine conflict, Russia had planned to invest $1.5 Billion in rare earth minerals to become the second largest producer of rare earth minerals after China by 2030. Other countries such as the United States are also attempting to reduce their dependence on China which controls 95% global production and supply. According to U.S. Geological Survey, Russia is the fifth largest producer of rare earths in the world, behind China, Brazil and India. USGS estimates that Russia's reserves are 3.8 million tons. According to its sector strategy, the country wants to be one of the five top producers of rare earth metals with a share of up to 12% of the global market. Through his IST group, Alexander Nesis was a former shareholder of Polymetal, a large producer of gold, silver and other metals. He owned a 75% share in ThreeArc Mining. Polymetal owned a 9.1% stake of ThreeArc Mining. After the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions against Russian companies, the operator of this project was under the control of IST’s former manager Vladislav Rezin before Rosneft took it over. (Reporting and editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kirsty Donovan; Anastasia Lyrchikova, Vladimir Soldatkin)
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Polish power company Enea signs $2.4 Billion loan agreement for grid improvements
Enea, a Polish energy utility, announced on Wednesday that it had signed a loan agreement worth 9.13 billion zlotys ($2.44 billion), with the state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. The funds will be spent to upgrade Enea’s power distribution network in northwest Poland. This is to improve quality and security and to enhance grid capacity for renewable energy sources. Jakub Jaworowski said at a Polish Minister of State Assets' press conference that "developing the network is crucial to keeping energy prices at a level acceptable for businesses and consumers." The company announced that the funds would be distributed in 2025-2036 in tranches, and repayments will take place in semi-annual payments at a fixed rate of 0.5% annually until 2050. Enea is Poland's largest power utility. Its coal-fired units are losing profitability as renewables take a greater share of the market. According to the Forum Energii, coal will account for 57% of Poland’s electricity production in 2024. ($1 = 3.7420 zlotys) (Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Writing by Rafal W. Nowak; Editing by David Goodman)
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A former Ukrainian politician is shot dead in front of an elite American school, Madrid
Sources close to the investigation have confirmed that an unidentified gunman, or gunmen, shot and killed Andriy portnov outside a school on a wealthy Madrid suburb's campus early Wednesday morning. Madrid police confirmed that they received a report of an incident involving a shooting outside the American School of Madrid in Pozuelo de Alarcon at 9:15 am local time (07:15 GMT). The victim was not identified. Portnov served as a top aide to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who was overthrown in the Euromaidan Revolution of 2014. In the years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, several high-profile crimes have involved Russians and Ukrainians living in Spain. Both countries have large expatriate communities in Spain. Six letter bombs, sent in November and December of 2022, were sent to prominent targets throughout Spain. These included the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office, the Ukrainian Embassy, the government offices, an EU satellite company, and the U.S. embassy. A retired Spanish civil servant, aged 76, whose searches on social media suggested a sympathy for Russia has been jailed. A Russian businessman who was linked to the Russian gas company Novatek, along with his daughter and wife, were found dead by an apparent suicide in April 2022. A Russian pilot, who had defected with his helicopter to Ukraine in February 2024 was found dead of multiple gunshots in the garage of an apartment building near Alicante. (Reporting and editing by Andrei Khalip, Aislinn laing, and Emma Pinedo. Additional reporting by Joan Faus.
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Prices for Europe GAS hit a six-week high due to tighter supplies, Middle East and Ukraine concerns, and concerns about tighter supply.
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose on Wednesday to their highest level in over six weeks, boosted by a lower Norwegian supply, the competition for liquefied gas, and concerns about peace talks in Ukraine and unrest in Middle East. The benchmark Dutch front month contract rose 0.48 euros to 37.63 euros per Megawatt Hour at 0813 GMT. This was its highest level since 7 April. The British contract for the month of June increased by 1.29 pence, to 90.31 p/therm. This is the highest price since April 4. Day-ahead gas rose 0.70 pence to 90.50 p/therm. A trader stated that heavy maintenance in Norway supported the prices this week. However, other reasons remain unclear. He said people may have difficulty gauging demand from Asia and China during this summer. Europe and Asia are competitors on the global LNG market. Analysts at ING stated in a morning report that Asian LNG prices were mostly higher than European gas prices over the past few months. Gassco, the infrastructure operator, reported that Norwegian gas exports to Britain and Europe fell to 160 million cubic meters per day, or half their usual volume, on Wednesday due to planned outages at Troll and Kollsnes. Oleh Skrynyk, LSEG analyst, said that if there is no extension of the shutdown, flows will recover by Thursday. Analysts also cited the lack of progress made in Russia-Ukraine talks as a support. Karsten Sander-Nielsen, senior analyst at Mind Energy, said that reports suggesting Israel was planning to strike Iran and raise oil prices may have also triggered a stronger movement in the gas markets than fundamentals would justify. He added that "growing Middle East unrest" has affected European gas prices over the past few years. We have also seen markets react violently when Israel and Iran fought in the past. The benchmark contract on the European carbon markets eased 0.09 euros to 73.09 Euros per metric tonne. Nora Buli, reporting from Oslo; Jan Harvey, editing)
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Gold reaches a new peak after a week-long high on the back of a weak dollar and safe-haven demand
Gold prices reached a record high of more than a week on Wednesday. The rise was fueled by a weaker US dollar and a demand for safe havens as U.S. president Donald Trump was unable to convince Republican dissenters to support his tax reform bill. As of 0830 GMT, spot gold rose 0.5% to $3,306.68 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures rose 0.7% to $3308 60. The market has reacted positively to the Moody's downgrade and was excited by the $3,300 level yesterday, according to UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Staunovo said that "this fiscal concern weighs on the dollar and the weaker currency is supporting the gold price." Dollars in foreign currencies are now cheaper than gold priced in greenbacks. In a meeting behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, Trump warned Republicans not to push for more changes to the bill that would reduce taxes and tighten the eligibility for Medicaid. Investors were also closely watching developments in the Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks and any progress made on trade agreements as the clock ticked down towards the end of Trump’s 90-day tariff exemptions. Last month, gold, which is traditionally viewed as a safe haven during times of political and economic unrest, reached an all-time record high at $3,500.05/ounce, thanks to central bank purchases, fears about tariff wars, and strong demand for investment. The spot palladium price fell by 0.8%, to $1,005.70. It had earlier reached its highest level since the 4th of February. "Palladium is in desperate need of good news. Honda's move towards hybrids, and not EVs, is a reasonable reason," said Tai Wong an independent metals dealer. Palladium plays a major role in the catalytic converters that are used to reduce harmful emissions from internal combustion engines (ICEs) and hybrid vehicles. Silver increased 0.3%, to $33.15 per ounce. Platinum fell 1%, to $1,043.10.
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LME approves the construction of three new warehouses in Hong Kong, which is the mainland gateway.
The London Metal Exchange approved the construction of three new warehouses in Hong Kong. This brings the total number to seven. It is increasing its presence in this city, which is the gateway to China, the largest metals consumer in the world. Since Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing acquired the LME, in 2012, approving warehouses to store metal traded on the LME has been a strategic objective. The LME is focusing on Hong Kong instead, as it is closer to mainland Asia than other Asian locations. Bonnie Y Chan, CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, announced the addition of three warehouses at the LME Asia Week Conference. Commodity warehousing is part of Hong Kong's plan to diversify the economy and grow it. The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong's government, Paul Chan Mo-po, told conference attendees that the region aims to create a trading ecosystem for commodities. The additional costs associated with operating in Hong Kong where land is priced at a premium have led to questions regarding the viability of this model in comparison to other Asian sites like Korea and Malaysia. According to anonymous industry sources, warehouse costs in Hong Kong exceed those of Singapore by more than two times. According to LME documents, the maximum charge that warehouse companies can make for storing metal in South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong is 51 U.S. Cents per metric tonne of copper. However, it will be 61 U.S. Cents in Hong Kong. GKE Metal Logistics hosted a warehouse on Wednesday. Leung Kam Un, the General Manager, said that initial cargoes will be arriving in late June. These include copper, nickel, and tin. Lewis Jackson, Liz Lee and Tom Hogue edited the article.
Mubadala Energy is ready to sell South Andaman Gas to Indonesia at the right price
A senior executive at Mubadala Energy said that the company would be happy to provide all of the natural gas produced in its South Andaman Block for Indonesian domestic consumption, and do so at the best possible price.
Indonesia wants producers of gas to increase their supplies to domestic consumers as the demand is increasing. The producers have been focusing on exports of LNG and asked the government to revise price caps for domestic gas. They argue that it is not a good business decision when spot LNG prices are so high.
Abdulla Bu Ali (President Director of Mubadala Energy Indonesia) told reporters at the Indonesia Petroleum Association Conference that Mubadala Energy Indonesia was interested in both exports as well as selling to Indonesia.
He said that domestic gas prices must be competitive, but declined to provide a specific figure.
The United Arab Emirates explorer anticipates that gas production will begin at Tangkulo-1, in its South Andaman Block, in late 2028. It signed an initial contract to supply gas to the state fertiliser manufacturer Pupuk Indonesia on Tuesday.
Indonesia sets domestic gas prices at $6.50 to $7 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) for certain industries and electricity plants. Spot LNG Prices in Asia
(source: Reuters)