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Sources say Exxon is joining Chevron to pursue parts of the Lukoil empire.
Sources familiar with the situation said that Exxon Mobil, a U.S. oil giant, is considering buying parts of Lukoil’s international assets. Sources claim that Exxon is evaluating options to purchase Lukoil assets, in Kazakhstan. Both the U.S. firm and the Russian company have stakes in the Karachaganak field and Tengiz field. Chevron, a partner in these assets as well, is also examining options to purchase them, according to a report on Monday. Two sources claim that Exxon could also be considering a bid for the West Qurna 2 oil field in Iraq. This field is operated by Lukoil, and is considered the most valuable asset of the Russian company. Before last year, the U.S. firm had operated the West Qurna 1 adjacent project for many years. Exxon has declined to comment. Since the U.S. Treasury gave permission to Lukoil on Friday, a growing number of companies have begun to talk with Lukoil. The authorization is valid until December 13, 2009. Bloomberg reported earlier Tuesday that Exxon Mobil and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were interested in Lukoil's assets. Sources told us last week that Carlyle, a U.S. private equity company, is one of the firms exploring options for buying Lukoil’s foreign assets. Lukoil owns three refineries in Europe and oilfields in Kazakhstan (Uzbekistan), Iraq, Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, Mexico and Kazakhstan. It also has hundreds of retail fuel station around the world. According to the company's 2024 filing, its foreign assets extract 0.5% of world oil. Reporting by Shariq KHan, Anna Hirtenstein, and Jarrett Renshaw. Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Sheila Dang; Shadia Nasralla; Jarrett Renshaw, and Maha El Dhan; Editing and Bill Berkrot.
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Gold Reserve requests for staying in Citgo parent Auction is denied
The U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion made by Toronto-listed Gold Reserve on Tuesday to stop all proceedings in the court ordered auction of Citgo Petroleum’s parent company in Delaware. This is yet another setback to the miner, who has been fighting in court for its $7.9billion bid for Citgo Holding's parent PDV Holding. PDV Holding is a U.S.-based subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned energy firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). In late August, a court officer supervises the sale of goods. Recommended by A rival offer by an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management. Motions Disqualify The earlier this month, the Delaware judge Leonard Stark, and court advisors who were involved in evaluating the alleged conflict of interest filed by Gold Reserve, and Venezuelan lawyers, were also denied. In an order dated Tuesday, Judge Patty Shwartz of the Court of Appeals of the Third Circuit stated that "the request for oral arguments and the mandamus application are denied." The final decision regarding the winner of the auction is still pending. In a bid to compensate creditors for defaults on debts and expropriations, 15 creditors are expecting to receive up to $19 billion in auction proceeds. PDV was found responsible for Venezuela's debts in the eight-year long court case. Gold Reserve has not yet commented, but last week it said that the sale process had been "plagued by significant conflicts of interests." Citgo's supervisory boards said last week that they were "concerned" about irregularities in the process. They also stated that the refusal to discuss allegations and freeze the auction, as well as the denial of motions for the same, "casts a shadow over the integrity of this entire process."
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Gold prices rise on weak economic data, traders consider US rate cuts
The gold price rose on Tuesday from its one-week low, supported by weak U.S. job numbers. Investors also assessed the probability of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December, ahead of further delayed U.S. statistics this week. As of 12:01 am, spot gold was up by 0.6% to $4,068.05 an ounce. ET (1701 GMT) after it hit its lowest level since November 10. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell by 0.2% to $4.068.40 an ounce. The data released on Tuesday revealed that the number Americans receiving unemployment benefits reached a two-month-high in mid-October. In the week ending October 18, the claims for continued benefits rose to 1.9 millions. The data is encouraging the market to expect a rate cut in December. The data is helping silver and gold, which are trying break a 3-day losing streak," said Tai Wong. The CME FedWatch tool shows that the markets now expect a 50% probability of a rate reduction at the December meeting. This is up from the 46% they had earlier in the morning, but down from the 67% seen last week. Gold is a non-yielding investment that tends to perform well when rates are low. Prices dropped over 3% on both Friday and Monday, as investors reduced their bets that another rate cut would occur this year. The markets are now awaiting the minutes of the Fed's most recent meeting, which is due on Wednesday, as well as the September jobs data, which will be released on Thursday. Both have been delayed because of the U.S. Government shutdown. Analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote in a report that they expect the elevated official demand for Gold to continue into the near future. "This supports a bullish strategy and an upward revision to our average forecast price of $4,000/oz next year." (Reporting by Pablo Sinha and Kavya Balaraman in Bengaluru;, editing by Ed Osmond and Alan Barona) (Reporting from Pablo Sinha and Kavya Baliaraman in Bengaluru, edited by Ed Osmond & Alan Barona.
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The auto sector struggles with Nexperia disruption amid hope for Dutch-China discussions
Bosch said that thousands of employees are facing production interruptions due to a global shortage of chips caused by a dispute with the manufacturer Nexperia. China and the Netherlands are locked in a fight for control of Nexperia. However, there is hope that the standoff will ease with the Dutch government sending an official delegation to Beijing to try to reach a compromise. Bosch reported that it was experiencing disruptions at three of its sites: Ansbach, Salzgitter and Braga (both in Germany) and Braga (Portugal). It said: "We continue to do everything possible to serve our clients and to avoid or minimize production restrictions." FURLOUGH MEASURES - USE 'AS NECESSARY' The chips from Nexperia, a Dutch company, are simple in design but widely used for car electronics and other consumer goods. In September, the Dutch government took control of a Chinese-owned firm over concerns about technology transfers. Beijing then halted the exports of finished products made by the company from China. The Chinese commerce ministry granted exemptions to some of the export bans, which has left major suppliers such as Bosch, Aumovio, and ZF Friedrichshafen scrambling to find alternative suppliers. Bosch sends workers home as needed when the production is slowed by the shortage of supplies. The spokesperson stated that in Germany, the company uses state-backed furloughs "as necessary" for 300 to 400 employees at Salzgitter where 1,300 are employed, and around 650 out of the 2,500 at Ansbach. The spokesperson said that Braga has about 2,500 employees affected by temporary adjustments in working hours or furloughs. ASSOCATIONS OF THE INDUSTRY WARN OF PRODUCTION RISKS IN THE NEXT WEEKS ZF Friedrichshafen has confirmed that its supply of chips will last until mid-next week. A spokesperson said that furloughs are not necessary at ZF until then but "cannot be ruled out". The German VDA automobile association stated that the situation remains tense. Marcus Bollig, VDA's Managing Director, said: "It is still too early to declare the situation as resolved. We cannot rule out any further impact on supply chains over the next few weeks." A person with knowledge of the situation said that shortages have affected supply chains worldwide. Nissan, for example, will cut production at its Kyushu factory by 1,400 cars next week. Honda, on the other hand, signaled some easing by saying that it would resume its regular production at its North American factories. Reporting by Ilona wissenbach and Rachel More. (Editing by Jan Harvey, Mark Potter and Jan Harvey)
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Two tourists reported dead after being lost in a snowstorm in Patagonian Chile
Media reports said that rescue workers searched on Tuesday for a group who had gone missing during a powerful storm in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, located in southern Patagonia. The storm killed at least 2 Mexicans. According to T13, one of the victims died after she was evacuated. Guillermo Ruiz is the delegate of the president for Chile's southern Ultima Esperanza Province. He told T13 the first responders are still searching for seven people but bad weather has complicated the search. The tourists are lost in the Los Perros camp of the national park, Ruiz stated. It was only reachable by foot after a 4- to 5-hour trek. A snowstorm swept through the area with winds exceeding 193 kmh (120mph), which is equivalent to a category 3 hurricane. The tourists' origins were unclear. Torres del Paine National Park is a vast area of about 1,810 sq km (700 sq miles), with a subpolar forest and jutting mountains. It hosts thousands of tourists each year. (Reporting and editing by Rod Nickel.)
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Renewables and distribution drive Greece's PPC EBITDA up by 24% in the nine-month period
Public Power Corporation (Greece's largest utility) reported on Tuesday that its adjusted core profit grew by 24% in the first nine-month period of 2025 compared to the same period last year, mainly due to higher distribution revenues and a higher output from renewables. PPC reported that adjusted earnings before interest tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Jan-Sept) were 1.7 billion euro ($2 billion), a significant increase from the 1.3 billion euro earned a year ago. In a press release, Chairman and Chief Executive Georgios STASIS said: "We are fully committed to the execution of our Transformation Plan and invest actively in clean and versatile electricity generation." The first nine months in 2025 saw investments totaling 1.9 billion euro, of which approximately 88% were allocated to projects involving renewable energy sources. The group said that RES production rose 5% on an annual basis in the first nine months despite a drop of 15% in large hydro output because of lower reservoir inflows. The wind and solar power generation grew by 48%, respectively, with the new capacity including Ptolemaida's largest solar park. PPC said that its installed RES capacity was 6.4 gigawatts as of end-September. 3.9 GW were under construction or are ready to be built. Renewables now account for 33% in its energy mix. The utility intends to phase out the use of lignite in 2026. The group confirmed its outlook for the year 2025. It said it was on course to achieve adjusted EBITDA in excess of 2 billion euro and a net profit above 400 million euro. It plans to pay 0.60 euros per share in dividends, an increase of 50% over 2024.
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Gabon signs landmark climate finance deal for Congo rainforests
The Gabon government and a group of donors signed an agreement to protect 34,000 square kilometers (13,000 square miles), of the Congo Basin rainforests in the country. The plan, dubbed "Gabon Infini", will combine $94 millions of donor money such as that from the Global Environment Facility or the Bezos Earth Fund over a 10 year period with $86,000,000 of government funding. The model, known as "Project Finance for Permanence", aims to finance national parks and tackle elephant poaching while boosting eco-tourism. It is a method that ties funding disbursements to important government policy changes. The model is becoming more popular. Brazil announced on Monday a similar deal covering almost 243,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest. Kenya and Namibia were also finalising agreements. Gabon is a vital ecological anchor in the vast Congo Basin. Nearly 90% of its land is covered in tropical rainforest. It is home to over half of the remaining African forest elephants and a quarter of the western lowland chimpanzees. The new plan is based on a "debt for nature swap" that was completed only weeks before the military coup of 2023. In that deal, Gabon refinanced $500 million of loans with a bond that set aside funds for coastal protection. The country's finances are once again causing concern. The draft budget for 2026, approved in September, plans to almost double government expenditures next year. Rating agencies warned that the debt-to GDP ratio would increase to nearly 90% from 73% by the end of 2018. The former minister Maurice Ntossui Allogo who oversees the new conservation plan said that Tuesday's Letter of Intent Agreement marked "a crucial milestone" for Gabon’s conservation drive. Ryan Demmy Bidwell of The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organization that has worked with the government to protect the forest, stated that Gabon is important because almost 90% of it is intact. He added that the Infini project would lead to the creation of new national parks, and other protected areas, so as to cover 30% of its rainforests, up from 15% at present. Bidwell stated, "We hope Gabon can serve as a role model for other countries in the Congo Basin and in Africa." (Reporting and Editing by Peter Graff.)
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EU approves subsidy of $2 billion for German coal
The European Commission announced on Tuesday that they had approved a compensation payment of 1.75 billion euro ($2.03 billion), from Germany, to the power company LEAG in exchange for it ceasing coal use by 2038. In 2020, the German government agreed that coal-fired plants would be shut down by 2038 as part of its effort to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. The compensation amount was agreed upon with LEAG, subject to EU approval. LEAG will supply 7 gigawatts (about 10%) of Germany's total lignite-fired electricity in 2024. This shift, which included a planned repurposing opencast mines in eastern Lusatia, caused social unrest. In 2021, the Commission opened an investigation into whether the payment distorted the free competition on the EU's inner market. The Commission Representation in Germany released a press release that said: "The European Commission reviewed and approved an German subsidy up to 1,75 billion Euros in favour of Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG" (LEAG). This was in accordance with EU State Aid rules. The support will compensate for the additional fixed costs that arise from the early closing of the power plants. This includes social costs for employees to change jobs as well as lost profits. The European Commission signaled that it would grant its approval in June last year.
Elliott invests in Barrick Mining according to a source
Sources familiar with the situation said that Elliott Investment Management, an activist investor, has built up a substantial stake in Barrick Mining.
Barrick had a difficult year. It was marked by the loss of control over its Mali gold mining operation, which led to a $1 billion write off, and Mark Bristow's departure as CEO after almost seven years.
The Financial Times earlier reported that Elliott was among Barrick's top 10 shareholders. Its stake is estimated to be worth $700 million.
Barrick, it was reported last week, has discussed the possibility of splitting its company into two separate businesses. One would focus on North America while the other would be focused on Africa and Asia. The Canadian miner wants to develop the Fourmile Gold Project in Nevada.
The FT reported that Elliott was encouraged by Barrick's possibility of splitting into two companies.
Barrick didn't immediately respond to our request for comment. Reporting by Arunima in Bengaluru, and Anousha in London. Editing by Leroy Leo.
(source: Reuters)