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Saudi Aramco’s Quarterly Profit Goes 15% Down
Saudi oil giant Aramco on Tuesday reported a 15.4% drop in third-quarter profit due to lower crude prices and weaker refining margins, but maintained its generous dividend at $31.1 billion for the quarter.Aramco posted net income of $27.6 billion in the three months to Sept. 30, which still beat a company-provided median estimate of $26.9 billion.Citi had forecast net income of $26.3 billion in a research note in October.The dividend includes $10.8 billion in performance-linked payouts. Aramco introduced performance-linked dividends last year after bumper profits in 2022 when oil prices soared, on top of a base dividend that is paid regardless of results - uncommon among listed companies.Aramco has said it expects to declare total dividends of $124.3 billion in 2024, of which $43.1 billion would be performance-linked dividends.The Saudi government, which directly holds nearly 81.5% of Aramco, relies heavily on the company's payouts, which also include royalties and taxes. Its sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) holds another 16% of Aramco and also benefits from its dividends.The PIF, which manages roughly $925 billion in assets, is steering a sprawling economic agenda known as Vision 2030 to reduce the kingdom's reliance on oil. The plan has ploughed vast sums into everything from sports and electric cars to planned futuristic desert cities.Reuters has reported the PIF is weighing a reorganization that includes reprioritizing projects and reviewing some expenses, after Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said earlier this year that Vision 2030 will be "adjusted as needed," with some projects scaled back or extended and others accelerated.Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is pumping roughly 9 million barrels per day, about three-quarters of its capacity after agreeing to cuts with OPEC members and allies including Russia.Crude benchmark Brent LCOc1 was trading at $75.12 a barrel on Tuesday, trading in a tight range ahead of the U.S. election. The Saudi government needs oil at about $98.40 a barrel to balance its budget, the IMF projected last month. O/RAramco's shares are down about 17% this year, trailing the performance of Western oil majors Exxon and Shell, but broadly in line with BP, which is down 18%.Lower output and prices have pressured state finances. A preliminary budget statement in late September showed the kingdom expects to post a fiscal deficit of 118 billion riyals ($32 billion) this year, equal to 2.9% of GDP, wider than the 79 billion riyals projected in the 2024 budget statement in December.To meet its financing needs, the government sold a fresh chunk of Aramco earlier this year, raising $12.35 billion. The kingdom was the largest debt issuer among emerging markets in the first half.Saudi total public debt was nearly 1.15 trillion riyals ($306.17 billion) at the end of June, up 9.4% from a year earlier, according to finance ministry data.Public debt is projected to rise to 1.172 trillion riyals by year-end, higher than a previous estimate of 1.103 trillion riyals.Aramco itself, as well as the PIF and several other state-linked firms, have also raised billions in debt this year.($1 = 3.7558 riyals)(Reuters - Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Kim Coghill, Varun H K and Christian Schmollinger)
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Cadeler Gets Turbine and Foundation Installation Job for UK Offshore Wind Farm
Danish firm Cadeler has signed firm contracts, valued up to $415 million, for the transport and installation of turbines and foundations for East Anglia TWO offshore wind farm, being developed by ScottishPower Renewables, part of Iberdrola Group.The contracts, valued between $390 million and $415 million, are for the transportation and installation of 64 turbines, each rated at 15 MW, along with their foundations.The offshore works are set to commence in 2027 and will see the use of one of Cadeler’s newbuild A-class vessels, together with an O-class vessels.In September 2024, the UK government announced the results of its latest auction for the award of contracts critical to the outbuild of new offshore wind farms.The awards included 960 MW capacity allocated to ScottishPower Renewables’ $5.2 billion East Anglia TWO Offshore Wind Farm.East Anglia TWO will be located in the southern region of the North Sea, off the East Coast of England, and will the capacity to power the equivalent of almost one million homes each year.Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler, said: “This project underlines that our strategic decisions are in sync with our customers’ needs and the demands that we see in the market. With our six newbuilds on their way, Cadeler will deliver even greater flexibility and offer still improved efficiency for our clients, with solutions for even more complex projects. The East Anglia TWO project reinforces Cadeler’s strong position as a full-service T&I provider in the foundations space and our pivotal role in driving the transition to renewable offshore wind energy”.Cadeler’s partnership with ScottishPower Renewables on East Anglia TWO reflects the execution of firm contracts for a portion of the work contemplated by a reservation agreement Cadeler disclosed in May 2024.“The results of the UK government’s Auction Round 6 are encouraging a focus on continued investment and further commitments to the green transition, with offshore wind energy set to play a crucial role in the energy mix of tomorrow,” said Mikkel Gleerup, CEO of Cadeler.“Following our recent auction success, we’ve been moving with pace and purpose to confirm the supply chain for East Anglia TWO, so it’s great to have Cadeler on board supporting this vital clean energy project, which will power almost one million homes with green electricity.“East Anglia is the heart of our offshore wind operations in the UK and a vitally important region for us with one operational wind farm, another under construction and the supply chain now being confirmed for our third, enabling us to get out there and deliver a cleaner, greener and better future, quicker,” added Charlie Jordan, ScottishPower Renewables CEO.
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Pakistan's Punjab establishes 'smog war room' to fight harmful air
Pakistan's Punjab established a. smog war space to tackle extreme contamination, authorities stated, as. bad air quality in Lahore pressed the capital of the eastern. province to the top of the rankings as the world's most contaminated. city. Live rankings by Swiss group IQAir offered the city a contamination. index rating of 1165, followed by the Indian capital of New. Delhi, with 299. The war space committee will evaluate weather and air quality. forecasts ... daily and monitor the efficiency and actions of. field officers, said Sajid Bashir, a representative for the. province's environment department. Officials informed Reuters it unites staff from eight. departments, with a single person charged with supervising tasks. from managing burning of farm waste to handling traffic. Two times day-to-day sessions will analyse information and forecasts to. short stakeholders on efforts to combat pollution, and problem. daily advisories, they added. But Wednesday's index score for Lahore fell short of last. week's extraordinary score of 1900, which had gone beyond. suggested levels by more than 120 times, triggering closure of. main schools and orders to work from home. At the time, Punjab's senior minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb,. blamed the poisonous air on pollution wandering across the border. with India just 25 km (16 miles) away. Northern locations of the. neighbouring country are likewise battling extreme pollution. The Punjab federal government would ask Pakistan's foreign workplace to. take up the matter with India's foreign ministry, she informed the. Indian Express paper in an interview published on Wednesday. South Asia is shrouded in intense pollution every winter season as. cold air traps emissions, dust, and smoke from farm fires, while. contamination could cut more than five years from people's life. expectancy in the region, a research study discovered in 2015. On Tuesday the environment minister of New Delhi, ranked the. world's most contaminated capital for 4 successive years by. IQAir, said officials were seeking to artificial rain to fight. the issue this year.
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Iron ore slides as focus back on soft principles from China stimulus bets
Iron ore futures slipped on Wednesday, as financiers moved focus back on soft basics of the crucial steelmaking ingredient from expectations of more stimulus from leading customer China. The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 0.95%. lower at 780 yuan ($ 109.16) a metric heap. The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore. Exchange shed 2.08% to $103.2 a load, since 0359 GMT. Some traders picked to liquidate part of long positions to. lock in revenues following increases in previous days, said Pei Hao,. an expert at worldwide brokerage Freight Investor Providers. ( FIS). Some funds flowed out of the market as risk-off belief. emerged amidst uncertainty in the U.S. election, leading to. falls in costs of lots of commodities, including iron ore. Expectations of more stimulus throughout the conference of the. standing committee of China's National Individuals's Congress this. week had actually driven ore rates up by more than 1% in the first 2. sessions. The gains were, however, removed on Wednesday. Reuters solely reported last week that China is. considering approving new debt issuance of more than 10 trillion. yuan to deal with concealed city government financial obligation, fund buybacks of. idle land and reduce a giant inventory of unsold flats. Even if Beijing eventually announces the issuance of 10. trillion yuan later this week, that's simply in line with. expectation, not beating expectation, indicating that gains. achieved earlier will surrender, a China analyst stated. asking for anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with media. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE toppled, with. coking coal and coke down 3.37% and 4.09%,. respectively. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were. weaker. Rebar shed 1.46%, hot-rolled coil. lost 1.31%, wire rod fell 1.09% and stainless-steel. edged down 0.3%.
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Gold holds steady as market awaits United States election outcome
Gold held consistent on Wednesday as financiers keenly awaited the outcome of a securely objected to U.S. presidential race. Spot gold held its ground at $2,745.42 per ounce, as of 0218 GMT. Bullion struck a record high of $2,790.15 last Thursday. U.S. gold futures edged 0.2% higher to $2,754.10. Republican Donald Trump won 14 states in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election while Democrat Kamala Harris caught 4 states and Washington, D.C., Edison Research predicted, but crucial battlefield states were not likely to be called for hours or perhaps days. It's 95% about the U.S. election today, with a 5% splash of the Federal Reserve to add a touch of spice, said Kyle Rodda, monetary market analyst at Capital.com. Gold belongs of the Trump trade and in the long term ought to benefit from a Trump success, primarily due to the effects of substantial budget deficit however likewise since of possibly more unpredictable U.S. foreign policy, said Rodda. Traders are also waiting for the Fed's two-day policy conference, which concludes on Thursday, and Chair Jerome Powell's remarks for further direction. Markets broadly anticipate the Fed to announce a quarter-point rate cut this week after the September decrease. While markets expect a 25-bp cut this week, the Fed might avoid a dovish tone due to the inflationary impact of Trump's. policies, said Matt Simpson, senior analyst at City Index. Gold is considered a hedge against geopolitical and economic. unpredictabilities and tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate. environment. U.S. trade deficit surged to the greatest in nearly. 2-1/2- years in September, information released on Tuesday showed. Elsewhere, Perth Mint reported a decline in October gold. sales, while silver sales slipped to their most affordable in four. months. Spot silver fell 0.53% to $32.49 per ounce, platinum. shed 0.6% to $993.45 and palladium was down 2.17%. to $1,052.25.
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London base metals dip on more powerful dollar; focus on US election results
Prices of Londonlisted base metals declined on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar rallied, while early results from the U.S. presidential election indicated a tight race. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME). fell 0.8% to $9,665.5 per metric heap by 0134 GMT after. striking a three-week peak on Tuesday. LME aluminium reduced 0.5% to $2,648 a heap, nickel. dipped 0.1% to $16,100, zinc lost 1.1% at. $ 3,068, lead decreased 0.3% to $2,022 and tin. slipped 0.5% to $32,200. Polls are closed in 25 U.S. states as of 0100 GMT. Republican politician Donald Trump will win 8 states, while Democrat. Kamala Harris will catch three states and Washington, D.C.,. Edison Research predicted, although the outcome remains. unpredictable with critical battleground states unlikely to be. required hours and even days. The dollar index was up 0.9%, making greenback. priced-metals more pricey for other currency holders. On the other hand, China is thinking about more than $1.4 trillion in. extra debt over the next couple of years, a fiscal plan that is. anticipated to be more reinforced if Trump wins the governmental. race, sources stated. A meeting of the standing committee of China's National. People's Congress, concluding on Nov. 8, is being closely. looked for stimulus hints. China is the greatest customer of base metals. Experts and traders have also kept in mind that a prospective second. term for Trump might cause the reintroduction of tariffs,. which may adversely impact worldwide base metals trading. While the most-traded December copper agreement on the. Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) firmed 0.2% to 77,590. yuan ($ 10,883.56) a ton. SHFE aluminium included 0.7% at 21,085 yuan a load,. nickel got 1.3% to 125,680 yuan, zinc rose. 0.9% to 25,070 yuan, tin inched up 0.3% to 262,840. yuan, while lead reduced 0.7% to 16,680 yuan. For the leading stories in metals and other news, click. or.
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Oil prices fall on more powerful dollar as polls begin closing in US election
Oil costs fell on Wednesday as early poll results in the U.S. election showed Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump secured a tight race for the presidency. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 27 cents, or 0.4%, to trade at $71.72 per barrel, and Brent crude oil futures lost 0.35 cents, or 0.46%, to trade at $ 75.18 per barrel at 0132 GMT. Trump won 8 states in Tuesday's U.S. governmental election while Harris recorded 3 states and Washington, D.C., Edison Research forecasted, however the outcome of the race stayed unpredictable with crucial battlefield states not likely to be required hours and even days. U.S. stock futures and the dollar pushed greater in Asia on Wednesday as early results from the U.S. presidential election recommended the race stayed too close to call, leaving investors jumping at shadows. Oil appeared to be falling on the back of the rally in the U.S. dollar this morning, Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, stated. Oil will likely be vulnerable to wider relocations in markets as we get more clearness on how the U.S. election plays out, ING said in a different note, adding that a Trump triumph might supply short-term advantage with the threat of more stringent sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile, if Harris wins, this would likely keep the status quo, ING's note said.
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Australian shares increase on commodity, tech boost; financiers wait for United States election decision
Australian shares increased on Wednesday, tracking their peers on Wall Street, with the technology and commodity sectors leading the gains as investors braced for the outcome of a firmly fought election in the United States. The S&P/ ASX 200 index rose 0.7% to 8,190.90 points by 2350 GMT, with all sub-indexes trading in the green. The standard fell 0.4% on Tuesday. Internationally, traders are tuned into a hotly-contested U.S. election as viewpoint polls stopped working to suggest a clear winner in between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. In case of Trump ending up being president, his tariffs could set off an international trade war, potentially harming Antipodean economies that depend substantially on open market. Back on the regional bourse, the heavy-weight mining index got the most, as iron ore rates in leading steel producer China got on the potential customers of more stimulus steps. Sector behemoths BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue increased in between 0.4% and 1.2%. The gold sector lodged a 0.6% increase, as costs of the precious metal edged higher on potential customers of political tensions on the planet's biggest economy. Development Mining and Northern Star Resources increased 1.2% and 1% respectively. Innovation stocks followed suit with a 1.2% gain, as their counterparts on the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed up. Accounting software service provider Xero increased 1%. The monetary sector advanced 0.7%, with all the Big 4 banks trading between 0.3% and 0.8% greater. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/ NZX 50 index reversed early losses, trading 0.2% higher to 12,681.37 points. The country's unemployed rate increased to a near four-year high in the September quarter, cementing bets of a 50-basis-point cut by the reserve bank later on this month.
Iran oil rates to China at multi-year high after exports fall, sources state
Discounts on Iranian crude oil sold to China are at their tightest in around five years as lower exports drive up rates in the middle of issues that Middle East stress may interrupt supply, trading sources stated.
The discount rates are the narrowest considering that Chinese independent refiners, known as teapots, stepped in as purchasers in late 2019, filling a vacuum left by the nation's state refiners wary of sanctions renewed on Iran by the United States a year previously.
Greater costs or a decrease in Iranian oil flows, which comprise 10% of China's unrefined imports, would depress currently low production at independent plants and more capture their razor-thin margins amid slow Chinese fuel demand.
Differentials for Iranian Light crude have firmed to a. less-than-$ 4 per barrel discount rate to worldwide standard ICE Brent,. with Iranian Heavy at minus $7, stated 4 sources involved in or. familiar with Iranian oil transactions.
Iran's oil ministry did not right away respond to a demand. for remark.
A deal in the very first half of October was priced at minus. $ 3.80 on a delivered, ex-ship basis (DES) for November arrival,. said 2 of the people, declining to be called due to the. sensitivity of the deals.
A December-arriving delivery was heard offered recently at. minus $3, said among individuals, a Shandong-based trading. manager with an independent plant.
There are really few deals for November or December. deliveries as we found out about loading issues on the Iranian. side, the teapot manager stated.
The Iranian Light discount held around $5 to $6 previously this. year after tightening from double-digits in late 2023, traders. stated.
A separate trading executive with a Shandong refiner said. sellers had risen rates as loadings fell, and also as the. rate of Saudi Arabian oil increased in October.
Loadings at export terminals consisting of Iran's Kharg Island. hub dropped significantly in October from September, with ship. owners worried about possible Israeli attacks on Iranian oil. facilities, which did not take place, according to tanker. trackers Kpler and Vortexa.
Fears of Israeli retaliation did play a part ... but the. impact was smaller sized than the marketplace was anticipating, said Muyu Xu,. an expert at Kpler, which estimated Iran's October exports fell. by 340,000 barrels per day from the previous month.
Vortexa analysts stated loadings were primarily impacted in the. first half of October, with volumes coming by a third to 16. million barrels from a regular rate of about 24 million barrels.
A sixth source, knowledgeable about Iranian oil export facilities,. said a pipeline leak at a Kharg Island anchorage area also. added to the slowdown in loadings. The source did not say. if the leak had been fixed.
Teapots are experiencing one of their worst durations considering that. starting to import crude oil in 2016, running simply above 50%. capacity, with some performing at losses, traders said.
We are barely generating income overall, losing heavily on. diesel production, stated the very first Shandong refinery source.
Iranian oil is often rebranded by dealers as supply from. Malaysia, Oman or elsewhere to circumvent U.S. sanctions. Beijing consistently safeguards its oil trade with Iran as legitimate. and conforming with international laws.
(source: Reuters)