Latest News
-
OMV CFO sees minimal impact of US tariffs
OMV is affected by U.S. Tariffs in some areas, but its exposure to North America in relatively low. CFO Reinhard Fleery said this on Tuesday in a conference call after the Austrian Oil and Gas firm's results. He added, "However this exposure includes activities in the USA themselves and...this means tariffs don't go there because they operate on the domestic market directly." Donald Trump, the U.S. president, suspended his threat to impose steep tariffs against Mexico and Canada, on Monday. He agreed to a 30 day pause in exchange for concessions made by both countries on border enforcement and criminal law enforcement. He imposed a 10% tariff against trade with China and threatened to take similar actions against the European Union. Florey said that if tariffs were imposed on the EU they could affect chemical products exported to the U.S. by OMV subsidiary Borealis, even though these shipments are very limited. He added that tariffs could increase prices by way of surcharges, and that they can hinder global trade. Florey stated, "We want to ensure that energy remains affordable. We must find macroeconomically sound solutions." (Reporting and editing by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, Isabel Demetz at the University of Gdansk)
-
China retaliates quickly against US tariffs and stocks, causing the dollar to plummet.
U.S. stocks futures and dollar dropped on Tuesday while Hong Kong shares fell from two-month-highs as U.S. & China went tit for tat on tariffs. This raised the threat of a larger, damaging trade war. As prices slid around in the headlines, Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP, Sydney, said: "(The trade war) story is alive and well. This has a long way to go." S&P futures, which were buoyed by the news that Mexico and Canada had struck last-minute agreements to defer a U.S. tax, have now fallen 0.2%, while dollar index has lost 0.1% of its earlier gains, trading at 108.86. European stocks fell 0.1% this morning after dropping 0.87% Monday. The DAX in Germany was flat, while the FTSE 100 in Britain fell 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng reached 2025 highs in hopes that China will also negotiate a way out of tariffs, with U.S. president Donald Trump. However, it later pared some gains to trade at about 2.8% higher. This was buoyed by the hope that Beijing would ramp up stimulus expenditure to counter U.S. actions. At 0501 GMT an additional 10% U.S. duty on Chinese exports went into effect. Minutes later, Beijing announced that it was investigating Google, and imposing tariffs from February 10 on the imports of U.S. cars, farm equipment, oil, coal and gas. Ben Bennett, Asia-Pacific Investment Strategist at Legal & General Investment Management Hong Kong said: "I would say that there is disappointment in the fact that U.S. Tariffs will be implemented after the last-minute reprieves of Mexico and Canada." Investors will remain hopeful of a quick agreement between the two sides to remove barriers. On Monday, the dollar surged against offshore yuan but fell 0.16% at its last session on Tuesday. The Australian dollar, which is often used as a proxy to represent the yuan due to its liquidity, fell last by 0.3%, closing at $0.6209. Investors are watching the Chinese currency band that China will fix on Wednesday to see if it is going to try to weaken its yuan in order to reduce the impact of the tariffs. Trump's Press Secretary said he would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping within the next few weeks, but it is not clear what they will have in common. Naka Matsuzawa is the chief macro-strategist at Nomura Tokyo. "Unless China makes huge economic concessions, I don't really think Trump will stop the tariff." UNCERTAINTY UNLEASHED Trump's changing trade policies have led to a wild week, which is also punctuated by major earnings from companies. The Canadian dollar swung the most in a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic, and the S&P500 fell by 1.9% to end the session 0.76% down. Gold, a safe haven for investors, was trading at just $2.817 per ounce, just below the record highs of Monday. Bonds fell after a slight increase on Monday. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 3 basis points to 4.579%. The dollar increased 0.3%, to 155.28 Japanese yen. Michael Feroli, J.P. Morgan’s chief U.S. economic, said that the Federal Reserve will be more inclined to stay on the sidelines, and remain as far below the radar screen as possible. UBS Group blew away forecasts in the fourth quarter and announced a stock buyback. BNP Paribas beat forecasts as well, but reduced its profit target for this year. Google will report after U.S. market closes on Tuesday, and the focus of scrutiny will be its massive AI expenditure after DeepSeek, a Chinese model that was cheaper than DeepSeek but still able to shock markets last week. Brent crude oil, which initially rose Monday, was down about 1%, after reaching their lowest level in a year at $74.81 per barrel.
-
China retaliates quickly against US tariffs and stocks, causing the dollar to plummet.
U.S. stocks futures and dollar dropped on Tuesday while Hong Kong shares fell from two-month-highs as U.S. & China went tit for tat on tariffs. This raised the threat of a larger, damaging trade war. As prices slid around in the headlines, Shane Oliver, Chief Economist at AMP, Sydney, said: "(The trade war) story is alive and well. This has a long way to go." S&P futures, which were buoyed by the news that Mexico and Canada had struck last-minute agreements to defer a U.S. tax, have now fallen 0.2%, while dollar index has lost 0.1% of its earlier gains, trading at 108.86. European stocks fell 0.1% this morning after dropping 0.87% Monday. The DAX in Germany was flat, while the FTSE 100 in Britain fell 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng reached 2025 highs in hopes that China will also negotiate a way out of tariffs, with U.S. president Donald Trump. However, it later pared some gains to trade at about 2.8% higher. This was buoyed by the hope that Beijing would ramp up stimulus expenditure to counter U.S. actions. At 0501 GMT an additional 10% U.S. duty on Chinese exports went into effect. Minutes later, Beijing announced that it was investigating Google, and imposing tariffs from February 10 on the imports of U.S. cars, farm equipment, oil, coal and gas. Ben Bennett, Asia-Pacific Investment Strategist at Legal & General Investment Management Hong Kong said: "I would say that there is disappointment in the fact that U.S. Tariffs will be implemented after the last-minute reprieves of Mexico and Canada." Investors will remain hopeful of a quick agreement between the two sides to remove barriers. On Monday, the dollar surged against offshore yuan but fell 0.16% at its last session on Tuesday. The Australian dollar, which is often used as a proxy to represent the yuan due to its liquidity, fell last by 0.3%, closing at $0.6209. Investors are watching the Chinese currency band that China will fix on Wednesday to see if it is going to try to weaken its yuan in order to reduce the impact of the tariffs. Trump's Press Secretary said he would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping within the next few weeks, but it is not clear what they will have in common. Naka Matsuzawa is the chief macro-strategist at Nomura Tokyo. I don't believe Trump will end the tariffs unless China makes major concessions economically. UNCERTAINTY UNLEASHED Trump's changing trade policies have led to a wild week, which is also punctuated by major earnings from companies. The Canadian dollar swung the most in a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic, and the S&P500 fell by 1.9% to end the session 0.76% down. Gold, a safe haven for investors, was trading at just $2.817 per ounce, a little below the record highs of Monday. Bonds dropped slightly on Tuesday after a slight increase on Monday. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose 3 basis points to 4.579%. The dollar increased 0.3%, to 155.28 Japanese yen. Michael Feroli, J.P. Morgan’s chief U.S. economic, said that the Federal Reserve will be more inclined to stay on the sidelines, and remain as far below the radar screen as possible. UBS Group blew away forecasts in the fourth quarter and announced a stock buyback. BNP Paribas beat forecasts as well, but reduced its profit target for this year. Google will report after U.S. market closes on Tuesday, and the focus of scrutiny will be its massive AI expenditure after DeepSeek, a Chinese model that was cheaper than DeepSeek but still able to shock markets last week. Brent crude oil, which initially rose Monday, was down about 1%, after reaching their lowest level in a year at $74.81 per barrel.
-
Sverdrup oilfield, a massive Equinor field, is shut down by a power outage
A company spokesperson confirmed that Norway's Equinor stopped all production from its Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea on Tuesday due to a failure in the offshore electricity system. This is the largest oilfield producing in western Europe. The spokesperson did not elaborate. "Repair works have been started, and we're working on a plan to restart the system," he said. The oil price could be supported by the outage, as it was under pressure Tuesday due to concerns over global demand after U.S. Tariffs on China went into effect. Sverdrup produced up to 755,000 barrels per day of oil in 2024. Last year, the company stated that it expected the field to reach its peak production in early 2025. Sverdrup has experienced power outages in the past that have resulted also in a shutdown of oil production. Equinor, the operator, owns 42.63 % of the Sverdrup license, followed by Aker BP with 31.57% and Norwegian state-owned oil company Petoro with 17.36%. TotalEnergies has the remaining 8.44%. Reporting by Terje Adomaitis and Nerijus Solsvik. (Editing by Louise Rasmussen, Mark Potter and Mark Potter.)
-
Thermax India misses Q3 profits estimates due to slowing orders
Thermax, an Indian company, reported a third-quarter loss on Tuesday that was below the market's expectations. Thermax blamed a poor order book and increased expenses for this. The net profit of the industrial machine maker fell by 51% in the third quarter to 1,16 billion rupees (13.33 millions) from 2,38 billion rupees the year before. This included a gain of 1.26 million rupees due to the sale of an undeveloped plot of land. LSEG data shows that analysts had predicted a profit of 1,83 billion rupees. In the past few quarters, capital goods companies that rely heavily on orders from government agencies have seen a slowdown of orders. Ordering activity was subdued due to the fact that there were elections both at the federal and the state level during the financial period. Thermax's orders dropped by 8% on an annual basis to 22,96 billion rupees as there were no large orders booked in the third quarter. The cost of raw materials increased by 4%, which accounted for 8% of the total expenditure. The revenue from its industrial products division rose by 5.6% while the revenue from its division that installs bio-CNG power plants and increased by 3%. The two together account for over 88% of the total revenue. This grew 7.9% in the third quarter to 25,08 billion rupees, falling short of analysts' expectations of 26,95 billion rupees. Peer ABB India is expected to release results in the next few weeks. Thermax shares fell 3% after the results. $1 = 87.0530 Indian rupees (Reporting and editing by Sumana Niandy in Bengaluru)
-
EU provides 250 million Euros to Support Energy Security in Moldova
The European Commission announced on Tuesday that the European Union would provide Moldova with 250 millions euros by 2025 to help with energy bills as well as build further energy resilience. The European Commission announced that the funding was part of a strategy of two years aimed at "decoupling Moldova's energy supply from Russian insecurity and fully integrating the country into the EU energy markets". It said that the EU would provide 100 million Euros by mid-April. The EU will also provide 60 million Euros to the people of Transdniestria, a region backed by Moscow and a separatist region. This money is contingent on "the fundamental freedoms" and "human rights". Transdniestria's authorities restored power to residents on Monday after a month-long blackout. The EU emergency assistance announced late January has funded the resumption of gas flows. Since Jan. 1, Gazprom, the Russian gas company, has stopped exporting gas to the region. It cited a Moldovan debt of $709 millions that Chisinau doesn't recognize as valid.
-
The U.S. Treasury requests a 90-day suspension of sanctions from Serbian oil company NIS
The Serbian energy ministry announced on Tuesday that the Serbian oil company NIS - which is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom - has requested a waiver from sanctions for 90 day. The ministry stated that both the Serbian government and the Hungarian government have backed the NIS request. The statement stated that "we urgently request that OFAC consider immediate assistance in the form of suspension of sanctions for at least 90 days while a viable solution leading to the lifting of the sanctions is considered." The request of NIS is to obtain licenses to allow the company to continue to operate while it searches for a solution regarding ownership and management. The ministry stated that "the (Serbian government)... supports this request... because sanctions will impair the ability of the company to supply oil and oil derivatives to Serbian citizens." Gazprom and Gazprom own 50% and 6.15 % respectively of the company that operates the only oil refinery in Serbia. The Serbian Government holds another 29,87%, with small shareholders making up the rest. On January 10, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated that Russian companies had 45 days or 45 days in which to sell their NIS ownership and any deal must be approved by OFAC. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Jan. 14 that Moscow and Belgrade were in contact about NIS. Serbia imports most of its crude through Croatian pipeline operator Janaf. NIS, which is one of Serbia's largest contributors to the state budget, signed a contract for the transportation of 10 million tonnes of oil via Croatia between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2026. (Reporting and writing by Aleksandar Vaovic; Editing and proofreading by Susan Fenton).
-
China's tariff retaliation is aimed at its modest US energy imports
China is the largest energy importer in the world, but its purchases of US crude oil, LNG and coal are relatively modest. This reduces the impact of Beijing’s Tuesday move to impose retaliatory duties on the imports of U.S. natural gas, LNG, and coal. China's Finance Ministry announced that, on February 10, it will impose tariffs of up to 15% on the importation of U.S. coal, LNG, and crude oil, as well as some autos and farm equipment. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed that Chinese imports of U.S. Crude Oil fell 52% in the first eleven months of 2024 compared to the same period a previous year. According to Chinese customs figures, U.S. crude imports made up 1.7% of China’s total imports in the year. This is down from 2.5% a decade ago. Customs data revealed that China's LNG imports to the U.S. increased in 2018. The fuel is used for power generation, and the volume was nearly doubled from 2018's purchase. It accounted for 5.4% of China’s purchases. Even with the tariffs, U.S. LNG imports via long-term contracts can be cheaper for Chinese buyers than spot prices Alex Siow, ICIS analyst, said that they will likely avoid buying U.S. spot cargoes. He said that "Chinese firms will likely search for other sources of spot products, like those in Asia." It might not be that easy to locate, however, as the market for 2025 is still very tight. A Beijing-based LNG dealer said that the tariffs would also affect Chinese importers who are looking for new long-term deals with America, particularly second-tier customers like utilities and city gas companies, which lack trading capability. The U.S. ranks as the world's top LNG exporter, but China is its No.5 customer. It still has ambitions to increase LNG exports under Trump in the coming years, and China, which is the largest importer in the world, could be a customer for more. MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic stated that the tariffs by China will increase U.S. LNG volumes in Europe, and benefit other producers like Australia. The negative impact of these tariffs on U.S. LNG will only partially offset the strong desire from other buyers, under pressure from Trump, to rebalance their trade deficits. CRUDE COSTS FGE analyst Mia Geng stated that when China imposed 25% on U.S. Crude Oil during the Trade War in Trump's First Administration, China stopped purchasing 300,000 to 400,000 barrels of U.S. Crude and began buying alternatives, such as West Africa or Asian supply. "We're still assessing it internally, but we expect to see a pause on purchases while lighter sweet alternatives are sought. She said that this impacts around 100,000 bpd from recent U.S. imports. According to Sparta Commodities analyst June Goh, the tariffs will increase the cost of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude in China compared with alternatives like Kazakhstan's CPC or Abu Dhabi's Murban grades. Goh stated that the WTI price should not be affected by this as WTI is still able to flow into other regions. Sinopec, the largest Chinese buyer of U.S. crude oil, is the biggest target for the tariffs. He expects Chinese exporters to continue to request waivers from Beijing. Refiners will seek out alternative supplies, and may increase their shipments to the Middle East. They spoke under condition of anonymity, as they weren't authorized to speak with the media. Sinopec didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment about a Chinese public holiday. Customs data revealed that China was not a major importer of coal from the United States. However, the value of the shipments of coal used in steelmaking rose by almost a third, to $1.84billion in 2024.
New Belgian government considers building new nuclear plants, report says
The financial daily Tijd quoted Mathieu Bhet as saying that the new Belgian government wants to double nuclear power from 4 GW to 8 GW through new reactors.
Why it's important
In the new coalition agreement, the coalition states that it targets 4 GW nuclear energy as part of the Belgian energy mix. The coalition could achieve this by extending the life of existing reactors or building new nuclear power stations. The building of 4 GW would require a significant shift in policy and billions of Euros in projects that may take years.
KEY QUOTE
Bihet added that the government wanted to extend the lives of existing reactors as well as build new ones. He did not give any details about the locations or timing of the new reactors.
Bihet stated that building Small Modular Reactors by themselves would not be sufficient to provide enough capacity. "We still need to decide which technology we'll use. It is obvious that SMRs will not be the only option. "Small reactors alone will not be enough," he said.
CONTEXT
Engie, a French-Belgian power group, reached an agreement in December 2023 to extend the lives of two nuclear reactors: Doel 4 et Tihange 3. These two reactors account for 35% of Belgium's nuclear energy production.
This agreement has triggered an EU investigation into possible violations of the bloc's competition rules.
THE NUMBERS
Currently, Belgium has five nuclear reactors. Three are located in Doel, and two others in Tihange. They have a combined power of approximately 4 GW.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Engie has stated that it does not want to build new reactors. Bihet has said he is willing to talk with the French company. He hinted he may also speak to EDF, the French state-owned operator of nuclear power plants. EDF has a small stake in Tihange's reactors.
(source: Reuters)