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Petrobras, Brazil's drilling vessel operator, will remove corals from the drilling vessel that will be used in Foz do Amazonas
Documents seen by revealed that Brazil's Petrobras had received approval from the environmental agency of the country to remove corals from undersides of the drilling vessels it intends to use in Foz do Amazonas. Monday, the firm's request for a vessel to drill off of the coast of northern Amapa State was granted if the firm obtains the long-sought exploration license in the environmentally sensitive area. Corals are a potentially invasive specie if they were moved to another biome. This process must be supervised by Ibama - Brazil's environmental agency. Petrobras considers the Equatorial margin as the most promising frontier in oil exploration. Petrobras hopes to start drilling this year if the license is granted. Petrobras' plans to drill were again thwarted last month when Ibama’s technical staff recommended that the body deny a drilling license in the northern part of the Equatorial Margin. This area shares the same geology as nearby Guyana where Exxon Mobil has developed huge fields. Petrobras' exploration head Sylvia dos Anjos told the CERAWeek Conference in Houston on Tuesday that the company is "optimistic". Ibama, in May 2023 denied Petrobras’ request for an offshore oil drilling license off the coast Amapa State, citing concerns about the environment. Ibama has yet to make a final decision on the appeal filed by Petrobras. (Reporting from Fabio Teixeira, Rio de Janeiro. Additional reporting by Marianna Pararaga, Houston. Editing by Bill Berkrot.)
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Trump doubles tariffs on Canada's metals
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump doubled the planned tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada. This was in response to Ontario's decision on Monday to impose a 25% tariff for its electricity exports into the U.S. Trump posted on his Truth Social media page that he had instructed his Commerce Secretary to impose an additional 25% tariff for metals products. The new tariff will be in effect Wednesday morning. "Canada must also immediately remove their anti-American Farmer tariff of 250% to 390 % on various U.S. Dairy Products, which is long considered outrageous. "I will declare a National Emergency on Electricity in the affected area," Trump wrote. He also threatened "substantially increasing" tariffs on vehicles coming into the U.S. starting April 2, "if other egregious and long-standing Tariffs from Canada are not likewise dropped." In a message posted on X after Trump's latest threats, Ontario Premier Doug Ford – whose government is raising the price of electricity it generates in parts of New York State, Michigan, and Minnesota – said he wouldn't back down until Trump's tariffs against Canadian imports into the U.S. are "gone for ever." Investors are worried that the tariffs will harm U.S. economic growth and ignite inflation. The S&P/TSX composite index of the Toronto Stock Exchange was down by about 0.5%, and the Canadian Dollar fell against the dollar. Early on Wednesday, a 25% levy on all steel and aluminium imported into the U.S. will be increased. These tariffs will be applied to millions of tonnes of steel and aluminium imports from Canada and Brazil. They also apply to South Korea, Mexico and other countries which had previously entered the U.S. without paying duty. Trump has promised that tariffs would be applied "without exemptions or exceptions" to help struggling U.S. businesses. Since taking office, Trump has focused his attention on tariffs in a way that has shaken investor, consumer and company confidence. Economists are increasingly concerned about the possibility of a recession. The small business survey released on Tuesday revealed that sentiment has weakened for the third consecutive month, erasing any confidence boost Trump received after his November 5th election win. Last week, economists polled showed that risks for the Mexican economy are increasing amid chaos in the implementation of U.S. Tariffs. This has caused deep uncertainty among businesses and decision makers. In the surveys, 70 out of 74 economists from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico said that they believed the risks of a possible recession have increased. The upside risks of inflation in the U.S. also rose. (Reporting and editing by Dan Burns, Katharine Chiacu, and David Ljunggren; Additional reporting in Ottawa by David Ljunggren; Writing by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Paul Simao).
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CERAWEEK - Petrobras looks for opportunities in Argentina, Colombia and Africa
Sylvia dos Anjos, head of exploration and production at Petrobras, said that the company is looking for opportunities in Argentina and is also advancing projects in Colombia and Africa. Anjos, speaking at the CERAWeek Conference in Houston, said that the gas from the Vaca-Muerta region could be of interest to Petrobras, as a pipeline linking Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil can be used to transport the gas. She said the company could also search for oil opportunities abroad, since Petrobras is actively seeking to replenish its reserves of oil through overseas projects due to difficulties in obtaining environmental permits to drill in Brazil. The company in Colombia is drafting a development plan for an offshore project, where 6 trillion cubic foot of gas has been discovered. They are waiting on a government licence. Anjos stated that 13 million cubic metres of gas per day from the project will be delivered to Colombia by pipeline. The firm in Africa expects to drill exploratory wells between July and august in a block of oil in which they have a stake, in Sao Tome & Principe. The executive said that another area in South Africa would be drilled during the second half. (Reporting and writing by Marianna Pararaga, editing by Gabriel Araujo).
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Research provider: Index funds could double sales of agricultural futures in the face of recession fears
Last week, index funds, which are the largest participants on the commodities market, sold agricultural futures worth over $7 billion. This could be doubled due to fears of recession and lower inflation expectations. Peak Trading Research, a provider of commodities markets research, said that on Tuesday, funds, which are investment vehicles for endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds could sell between 200,000 and 300,000 agricultural commodity futures contracts. It said that they had already sold 156,000 contracts in the last week. This was a record for this period and equated to $7.3 billion worth of contracts. In a recent note, Dave Whitcomb said that index fund investors were very concerned about the economy's softening and their lower inflation expectations. They could be selling a lot of agriculture futures. He said that this would cause the prices of agricultural futures to fall significantly. Whitcomb stated that index funds typically invest in agricultural futures to hedge against inflation and as a store of value. Their positions are usually closely tied to U.S. expectations for inflation. The derivatives market is the largest trading place for agricultural commodities. Soybeans and corn are the most commonly traded. Sugar, beef, sugar, coffee, and cattle are also popular. Whitcomb stated that the inflation data due to be released Wednesday, and the oil prices which are highly correlated to inflation pressures will be the catalysts for index funds to sell agricultural commodities futures in large quantities. (Reporting and Editing by Marguerita Chôy)
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Russia sentences a man to long prison term for attempting to kill an ex-lawmaker on Ukraine's orders
A Russian military tribunal sentenced on Tuesday a man who was a part of the Ukrainian network that operated in the peninsula, and had attempted to kill a former pro Russian member of the Ukrainian Parliament as part of its operation. In a press release, the office for Russia's Prosecutor General said that a court in Rostov, a southern city, found Pyotr Zitsky, a resident from Yalta guilty of high treason and attempted murder of a prominent public figure, among other charges. Oleg Tsaryov survived after being shot twice by Russian forces in Crimea in October 2023, the Black Sea Peninsula that Russia annexed forcibly from Ukraine in 2014. Sources in Ukraine's SBU Intelligence agency said at the time the shooting was an SBU action. The prosecutor’s office stated that the court found Zhitsky to have established contact with SBU in the year 2022, and had "expressed his desire to help in activities against Russian Federation". Zhitsky was said to have trained in explosives, tracked Tsaryov’s travel routes and passed the information onto the SBU. The SBU paid Zhitsky approximately 15,000 roubles per month ($175) for a period of a year, until he killed Tsaryov at Yalta. Three sources familiar with Kremlin thinking said that in 2022, Moscow was preparing Tsaryov as the leader of a puppet regime in Kyiv in case Russia succeeded in ousting president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the first days after the war began in February 2022. Tsaryov dismissed the 'account as having "very few things to do with reality". The 54-year old hotelier had previously served as a member of Ukraine's parliament, and later the speaker of "Novorossiya", a body formed in 2014 after separatists backed by Moscow in eastern Ukraine started fighting Ukrainian forces. Ukraine, the United States, and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on Tsaryov. Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been responsible for a number of assassinations that have occurred in Russia, including the death of Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, last December. ($1 = 85.9000 Roubles) (Written by Lucy Papachristou, edited by Gareth Jones).
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Nigeria intensifies its fight against Lassa virus after 98 deaths in this year
Nigeria has been battling an outbreak of Lassa fever with 535 cases confirmed and 98 deaths across 14 states reported since the beginning of this year, a case fatality rate 18.3%. Officials from Nigeria's Ministry of Health confirmed that a patient who had recently visited the United Kingdom, died after returning home. This has prompted contact-tracing efforts to be undertaken in both countries. The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control has released a new advisory, urging increased awareness and prevention measures. This is especially important for healthcare workers as well as those who are in affected areas or traveling there. The NCDC stresses that "early presentation to ensure diagnosis and treat the disease can greatly increase patient survival". Avoiding contact with infected people, surfaces, or contaminated foods are all precautions. Lassa fever can be transmitted to humans by contact with food, household items or other objects contaminated with rodent excrement or urine. It can spread through body fluids. Ondo state, Bauchi state, Edo state, Taraba and Ebonyi are the most affected. Fever, headaches and death are some of the symptoms. Nigeria reported 190 deaths due to the disease in 2017 and announced that it had activated an emergency response center. (Reporting and editing by Ed Osmond, Isaac Anyaogu)
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UK's Thames Water rescue plan faces creditor-group appeal
Thames Water, Britain’s largest water supplier, was again in court on Tuesday when a group junior creditors filed a lawsuit over a debt lifeline of 3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion), which is needed to keep the company afloat. The water industry is facing a backlash from the public. Thames Water's mismanagement is being blamed for the sewage pollution of rivers and its 18 billion pounds of debt, which has brought it to the brink. Thames Water avoided an emergency state rescue by securing court approval in February for new loans. However, a group of junior creditors as well as a public interest group filed a complaint. The court will continue to sit until Thursday. Both groups are opposed to the high costs of the new loans. They want Thames Water placed under the Special Administration Regime of the Government, a temporary nationalisation that would allow water services to continue to operate until the company was eventually sold. Mark Phillips, a barrister who represents junior creditors, stated on Tuesday that senior creditors such as Abrdn and Elliott Investment Management were given "valuable" additional rights, disadvantaging Mark's clients. In legal documents, the group stated that "all creditors will be treated equally" by special administration. Charlie Maynard, a lawmaker from the Thames Water constituency, is the leader of the group's public appeal. The appeal is centered on the environment as well as ensuring that taxpayers and Thames Water customers get value for their money. The Thames Water Group released arguments in its support stating that the "terms of the debt lifeline are worse for the Thames Water Group...than a rescue by special administrator". Thames Water stated that the debt lifeline program remained their best option and would not have any financial impact on taxpayers or customers. A spokesperson for the company said, "It enables us to continue investing in our network to enhance critical infrastructures for our customers as well as our environment." The government has said that it wants Thames Water to be free of administration, and is focused on reforming Britain’s privatised water industry to improve its environmental performance. As the legal battle continues, Thames Water is worried that it could run out money. After the outcome of the appellations, which is expected to be in the next few weeks, either side could decide to bring the matter before the Supreme Court. Steve Reed, the Environment Minister, said that on Monday, the government is ready to intervene if necessary.
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Eaton buys Fibrebond for $1.4 billion to increase market presence in data centers
Eaton, a power management company, announced on Tuesday that it would buy Fibrebond Corporation for $1.4 billion in order to expand into the datacenter market. Eaton and other electrical equipment manufacturers have benefited from the global demand for energy-intensive data centres. Eaton has expanded its data center network in Europe last year by investing a sum that is not disclosed into NordicEPOD. NordicEPOD provides electrical power pods to data centers. Fibrebond, based in Minden, Louisiana, designs and manufactures equipment for data centers, industrials and utility companies. Eaton expects to achieve a core profit adjusted of $110m in 2025. Eaton has added Fibrebond power enclosures that allow off-site installation and testing of equipment. This helps customers to become operational faster and for less money. The transaction should close in the third-quarter of 2025. Eaton expects that the transaction will be neutral in terms of earnings per share by 2025. Reporting by Aishwarya Jain, Bengaluru. Editing by Shreya biswas and Vijay Kishore
Couche-Tard expects Seven & i to be approved by regulators in a straightforward manner
Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian company, said Tuesday that it was confident of obtaining the regulatory approvals needed in the United States to purchase Japan's Seven & i Holdings. The latter had said that antitrust laws would prevent any transaction. It said that it was also frustrated by Seven & i’s lack of engagement, despite the fact that both companies have started working together to find a way to get regulatory approval.
Stephen Dacus of Seven & i, the CEO who was appointed just last week, reiterated the fact that there are significant regulatory obstacles to a merger. In a press release, Couche-Tard stated that it had submitted a revised proposal non-binding in January at Seven & i’s request. It was confident about its financing plans which included a mix of debt and equity.
The statement stated that "Our proposal provides shareholders with a clear value economic, unlike 7&i’s plan which was repeatedly revised and announced last week."
Seven & i didn't immediately respond to a comment request. (Reporting and editing by Christopher Cushing, Stephen Coates and Anton Bridge)
(source: Reuters)