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Vietnam to offer online gold trading as it permits private imports
Vietnam is planning to open a gold online exchange, allowing companies to import gold, for the first decade, starting next month. This will be part of efforts to stabilize domestic prices which are increasing at an alarming rate. Local economists say the move is intended to balance gold supply and demand. It could also be used to mobilize private resources in order to boost economic growth. State media quoted a central banking official on Thursday as saying that the State Bank of Vietnam is studying international experiences to set up the exchange. According to a report in the Dan Tri, the deputy governor of the SBV, Pham Quang Dug, said that the central bank would also consider trading gold at the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam, or in a future international financial centre. Academics warn that rapid credit growth could cause asset price bubbles in the Southeast Asian nation, which is one of fastest-growing economies in the region. The central bank also tries to stabilize the price of domestic gold, which is a popular choice for investment and is considered an important tool for wealth preservation in Vietnam. In spite of efforts made last year to increase supplies through auctions and commercial bankers, domestic prices are up 60% this year and, as of Thursday, remain around 23% above the international market. From October 10, a government order will permit qualified companies to import the precious metal. A central bank licence will be issued to companies for gold imports and a quota set annually. Vo Tri Thanh, an economist based in Hanoi, said that more imports would help to cool the domestic gold price and reduce the gap between the local market and the global one. However, it could also pressure the exchange rate. Thanh explained that "you will need to pay U.S. dollar to import gold and the more you import the greater the outflows of greenback." The central bank announced earlier this week that the decree issued on August 26 will also end its monopoly over gold bullion in an effort to diversify the gold supply and increase competition and transparency in the marketplace. The central bank also said that it would tighten its controls on gold trading firms in order to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities such as smuggling, illegal trading, and speculation. The police in Vietnam have charged a former Saigon Jewellery chief executive with embezzlement, and abuse of authority. ($1 = 26 397 dong)
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Saudi Aramco wants buyers to buy more oil for October after a price drop, sources claim
Three sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, has asked Asian buyers for more crude oil in October. The kingdom had made price cuts deeper than expected on all grades due to a growing supply. Two sources claim that Saudi Aramco, in its bid to regain market share, spoke with Asian buyers at the APPEC Conference in Singapore this week, encouraging them to buy more crude oil in October. One of them stated that this has partially led to the delay of the October supply being allocated to their customers, possibly until next week. Aramco has not responded to a comment request. All sources spoke under condition of anonymity. The state-owned producer announced the price of its Arab Light crude for Asia in October at $2.20 per barrel, which is $2.20 above the average Oman/Dubai. This represents a $1 drop from the five-month high reached in September. The price reduction followed a decision made by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) and its allies, led by Russia, at the weekend to increase production by 137,000 barrels a day in October. Since April, the group led by Saudi Aramco, which pumps half of all world oil, has already increased production by 2.5 million barrels per day, or 2.4%. Analysts say the move shows that OPEC+ prioritizes market share, even if this means softer prices. The increase in production has not yet been felt on global markets, due to the strong Middle East oil market in summer. However, it is expected that this will cause global oil markets to become surpluses and global benchmark Brent oil to drop below $60 per barrel. Saudi crude exports from Saudi Arabia to China, the top importer, fell by about 43 million barrels between August and September. Brent crude futures fell slightly to $67.38 per barrel on Thursday, on concerns about a softer U.S. market and broader oversupply risks. However, losses were contained by worries over the Middle East attacks and Russia's conflict in Ukraine. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez in Singapore, Florence Tan, Siyi Liu)
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The EU's highest court has ruled against Hungary's nuclear aid
The EU's highest court ruled on Thursday that the European Commission shouldn't have approved Hungarian aid to expand its Paks nuclear plant by a Russian firm, as the Commission hadn’t checked whether the contract complied with EU rules. As part of a bilateral agreement between Russia and Hungary regarding the peaceful use nuclear energy, Hungary awarded the contract directly to Nizhny Novgorod Engineering of Russia. The Russian government then provided Hungary with an official loan to help finance the majority of the construction of the new reactors. In 2017, the European Commission also approved the project. In 2018, Austria, a neighboring country, filed a complaint with the EU General Court about the state assistance involved in the deal. However the case was lost. The Austrian government then appealed to the EU Court of Justice. On Thursday, the Court of Justice ruled that Austria was right in its argument that the Commission had to examine whether awarding the contract directly to the Russian firm was compliant with EU procurement laws. Bart Meijer, Sharon Singleton, and Helen Popper edited the article.
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IEA: World oil market will see increased supply and surplus after OPEC+ increase
The International Energy Agency stated on Thursday that the world oil supply would rise faster than expected in 2018, as OPEC+ member countries increase their output and the supply from outside of the group increases. It also suggested that a surplus may grow by 2026. The IEA, a consultancy for industrialised nations, has said that the supply will increase by 2.7 millions barrels per day in 2025. This is up from 2.5million bpd, as previously predicted. And by a further 2.1million bpd in next year. OPEC+ has added more crude oil to the market since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other allies have decided to unwind their second layer of production cuts faster than originally planned. This extra supply has led to concerns of an excess and pressure on oil prices in this year. The IEA believes that supply is increasing faster than demand, despite its upward revision of the forecast for world demand growth this year, which was increased by 60,000 bpd compared to the previous forecast. It cited resilient deliveries in advanced countries as the reason. The IEA reported that "Oil markets were being pulled in various directions by a variety of forces. New sanctions against Russia and Iran could lead to supply losses, while OPEC+'s supply was higher and there was the possibility of an inflated oil balance." IEA's demand forecasts are lower than other forecasters, because the agency anticipates a quicker transition to renewable sources of energy. OPEC will update its forecasts on Thursday, with a demand increase greater than that of the IEA. The IEA said the world market looked oversupplied. Thursday's report suggested that the supply could exceed demand by 3.3 million bpd in the next year. This is due to growth outside of the OPEC+ and a small expansion in demand. The report from last month suggested a surplus for 2026 of nearly 3 million bpd. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens, Susan Fenton, and Alex Lawler)
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Iron ore prices fall as China's steel stocks rise
Iron ore futures prices fell on Thursday as the sentiment was weighed down by China, a major steel consumer. The day-traded iron ore contract for January on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.81% lower, at 795.5 Yuan ($111.69), per metric ton. As of 0835 GMT, the benchmark October iron ore traded on Singapore Exchange fell 1.24% to $100.55 per ton. Analysts in Shanghai said that "Steel inventories continue to accumulate while demand is still not showing clear signs of improvement." The stock of five major steel products rose for the seventh week in a row, reaching a four-month record of 15,15 million tons during the week ending September 10. This was according to data provided by consultancy Mysteel. Prices were volatile earlier in the session as traders awaited important China data due on Monday. These include property, economic growth, and industrial metals output. First Futures analysts said that a tight balance between the supply and demand for ore, a key ingredient in steelmaking, is expected to support prices. The focus remains on whether Beijing will cut steel production across the country for the rest of the year in order to rebalance the market, which has been struggling with overcapacity as well as a faltering domestic demand. The Shanghai Futures Exchange saw a decline in most steel benchmarks. Rebar fell 0.51%, while hot-rolled coils dropped 0.03%. Stainless steel lost 0.35%, and wire rod gained 0.37%. Analysts said that prices of coking coal, which is also used to make steel, increased by 2.33% and 1.8%, respectively. The latest mine accident, in Heilongjiang Province, northeastern China, raised concerns about more stringent safety measures, which could limit supply. State media reported that all six trapped miners were successfully rescued. Reporting by Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson and Eileen Soreng; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar & Eileen Soreng.
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Investors weigh Israel's attack against Qatar and US rate cuts as they mix up the Gulf markets
Gulf stocks were mixed early on Thursday. They reflected a cautious mood, but there was no sign of a risk-off position after Israel's attack in Qatar. Traders appeared to be pricing the event as an isolated incident. Israel expanded its Middle East military campaign by targeting Hamas leaders in Doha. Regional investors, who have been navigating months' worth of geopolitical tension, seemed to see the event from a temporary, tactical perspective. Qatar's benchmark stock index fell 0.3% on track to extend its losses for the fourth consecutive session. Investors weighed political developments and possible diplomatic uncertainty as they sold financials. Qatar National Bank is the largest lender in the region. It has decended by more than 1%. Saudi Arabia's main stock index dropped 0.2% during choppy trading as investors sold selectively. Financials and energy sectors were among the losers amid concerns about a weaker U.S. oil demand and an oversupply. Al Rajhi Bank, the index heavyweight, lost 0.6% while Saudi Aramco dropped 0.2%. Aramco has raised $3 billion through a sale of dual-tranche Islamic bonds (sukuk), as it moves to tap the debt markets in order to strengthen its balance sheet due to lower oil prices. Dubai's main stock index rose by 0.1% after bouncing from its lowest level in almost two months. Emaar Properties, the blue-chip property firm, gained 0.7%. ADNOC Gas and Fertiglobe both rose 0.6% and 1.3%, respectively, ending a four-day loss streak. Investors are keeping a close eye on the U.S. Federal Reserve, as a positive reading of U.S. producer price levels has led markets to price a higher chance that three interest rate reductions will be made this year. (Reporting from Amna Marieyam in Bengaluru, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne.)
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Ukraine's DTEK invests heavily in battery storage to boost energy security
DTEK, a Ukrainian private energy company, announced on Thursday that it has built the largest battery storage facility in the country to ensure stable electricity supplies as a result of Russian attacks against Ukraine's energy industry. Russia is attacking Ukraine's energy system and denying millions of Ukrainians power. It launched a full scale war against Ukraine 2022. DTEK reported that its total investment for the project was 125 million euro ($146.13million). It said that six battery storage systems were connected to the electricity grid in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and the Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine. The combined facilities were built in partnership with Fluence, an American leader in intelligent energy storage. They can store 400 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 600 000 Ukrainian households for 2 hours. DTEK stated that the new systems will increase the safety of the electricity supply, and reduce the risks of accidents and outages. This is especially true in the event of an accident or breakdown of some power generation. Svitlana Grinduk, Ukraine's Energy Minister, said that the energy storage system is as important as the energy production itself in the context of the large-scale attacks against Ukraine's energy systems.
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Cnergyico, Pakistan's largest refiner, will increase fuel oil exports in response to a sharp drop in sales
Vice chairman of Cnergyico, Pakistan's largest oil refiner, said that the company expects fuel oil exports to increase by 35 to 40 percent during fiscal year 2026. This is because high taxes are reducing domestic sales. In June, Pakistan imposed an additional tax of around 40% on domestic fuel oil sales, in addition to a consumption-based tax of 18%. This effectively closed the market for its refiners. Usama Qreshi said on the sidelines APPEC that the company had exported 80,000 tonnes, or 95%, of its production from July until now, compared to 55% for the previous fiscal year which ended in June. Fuel oil sales, which are primarily used by ships, usually make up 10 to 15 percent of a refiner's revenue. Cnergyico exports 247,000 metric tonnes (1.57 millions barrels) per year. An increase of 35-40% would bring the annual exports up to 333,000 to 346,000 tons. Kpler's data showed that Pakistan's fuel exports reached a record high of 242,000 tonnes in August. Qureshi, who spoke in an interview, said that Cnergyico was upgrading its refinery to reduce fuel oil output and increase fuel sales on the domestic market in accordance with Pakistani policy guidelines for upgrading refineries to produce cleaner gasoline. Qureshi said, "We plan to import more sweet crude oil and upgrade the refinery so that it produces cleaner diesel and gasoline. We also plan to establish fuel oil cracking plants to boost gasoline production." Cnergyico imports sour crude from the Middle East with a high sulphur level. Last month, it was Pakistan's very first purchase of U.S. oil. The crude oil produced in the United States is typically low sulphur and produces less fuel oil after refinement. Qureshi stated that domestic sales of fuel oil is typically more profitable than exports. Export revenue is dependent on fuel cracks. The company sold fuel to traders, who then exported it to South Europe, Singapore and United Arab Emirates. Pakistan has significant fuel oil-based electricity generation capacity. However, utilisation of this capacity has plummeted in the last decade due to lower demand for power, increased solar adoption, and increased production from other clean sources, such as nuclear. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Sudarshan Varadhan)
Australia's LNG sector is long-term bullish, however needs a carbon cost: Russell
Australia's natural gas manufacturers are increasingly confident that their fuel is essential to the energy transition and will play a role across Asia as much as and beyond the 2050 netzero emissions targets of business and nations.
This optimism was on complete display at the industry's yearly event in the capital city of Western Australia state, which is likewise home to the bulk of the country's liquefied gas ( LNG) production.
Australia was the world's greatest LNG exporter up until being overtaken by the United States in 2015.
But it's not just a powerhouse in supplying the super-chilled fuel, as Australia controls seaborne exports of metallurgical coal utilized to make steel and ranks 2nd behind Indonesia in shipments of thermal coal, utilized generally to generate electrical power.
The yearly conference of the Australian Energy Producers, held today in Perth, was characterised by duplicated statements from a variety of industry leaders about how essential gas is, and will remain, in the energy shift.
The reality is rather more nuanced than the bullish stories, and the industry is mainly proper about some of its assumptions, positive on others and also presently falling well except what's required to really put Australia, and the Asian customers of its energy exports, on a path to net-zero emissions.
There are several essential arguments that the natural gas and LNG industry make to support their view about how necessary their product is, but the most crucial effectively still condenses to saying they are much better than coal.
The accepted position is that utilizing LNG to create power in an Asian country produces about half the carbon emissions than utilizing imported thermal coal, suggesting that the industry is correct in stating they are much better than coal.
Displacing coal does help the decarbonisation procedure, but decreasing emissions is just an action towards net-zero.
Ultimately, if you are burning a fossil fuel, you are developing emissions that you need to capture and save, or offset in some other way, if you want to achieve net-zero targets.
This is where the optimism revealed by the market gets more tricky.
For natural gas to have an ongoing function in the energy transition, several things require to happen, and some of them are largely beyond the control of the market.
CARBON RATE
The main requirement is a cost on carbon emissions, and not just in each country, there requires to be some kind of unified Asian carbon tax and credit system that allows for trading, investment and cooperation between energy exporting countries and those that import.
A carbon tax helps LNG displace coal and also offers a. significant incentive for the industry to invest to abate its own. emissions.
A strong focus in the conference this year was Carbon. Capture and Storage (CCS), with speaker after speaker when again. saying how important this technology will be to getting to net-zero.
The problem is the market has actually been saying this for years,. and doing extremely little to advance considerable projects.
Australian oil and gas producer Santos is among the few. that has really constructed a plant to capture emissions at its. Moomba gas hub in central Australia, which is expected to start. operations later this year.
The plant intends to keep a preliminary 1.7 million metric loads. of co2, which while helpful is small fraction of. Australia's yearly greenhouse gas emissions of 432 million loads. in 2022.
There are other CCS tasks under consideration, but even. if all of them concerned fulfillment, they would still just be the. initial steps on a very long decarbonisation roadway.
Australia does have competitive benefits for CCS,. consisting of appropriate geology and depleted tanks that can be. used for injecting carbon emissions.
But there isn't yet the carbon rates or regulative. structure that will allow for the importation of carbon dioxide. from nations in Asia where sequestration opportunities are. low, such as Japan and South Korea.
CCS is also likely to work far much better for abating the. upstream production of oil and gas, however will be really pricey. to carry out at the point of combustion in Asian energy. importers such as Japan.
Catching carbon emissions at a power plant would cost at. least $100 per ton for 1 million heaps per annum, according to. data from specialists Wood Mackenzie, a rate point that would. currently render the electricity produced economically unviable. without extra assistance.
We see CCS as last mile decarbonisation, Wood Mackenzie. analyst Stephanie Chiang informed in an interview on. Tuesday.
This is why a carbon rate is the necessary piece of the. puzzle.
It provides certainty to financial investment decisions, it is technology. agnostic insofar as it will enable companies to work out the best. approach for them to abate, and if high enough, it will enable. fossil fuels to stay in the energy mix through CCS.
The viewpoints expressed here are those of the author, a columnist. .
(source: Reuters)