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Energy Markets

Fossil Fuels

Electric Utilities

Investor's letter: Vietnam cuts retroactively subsidies for solar and wind farms

According to a petition from investors, Vietnam's state-owned power utility has reduced the subsidised prices that it pays for electricity generated by solar and wind farms. These farms now face defaulting on their bank debts. The document was sent to Vietnam's highest authorities on May 16, and follows a letter from the majority of signatories in which they warned that billions of dollars were at risk due to retroactive changes made by Vietnamese authorities to subsidies, even though they were targeting a massive expansion of solar energy capacity. Documents show that, starting with invoices for January, a subsidiary EVN's Vietnam...

Natural Gas Utilities

Indonesian gas firms sign gas swap deal to meet domestic demand

Gas producers from western Indonesia signed a swap agreement with Singaporean buyers Sembcorp Gas and Gas Supply Pte and state-owned distributor Perusahaan Gas Negara to boost domestic gas supplies, according to PT Pertamina. Pertamina stated in a press release that the gas swap scheme is designed to meet demand for natural gas in Indonesia, especially in the power and industrial sectors. MedcoEnergi, an Indonesian gas producer whose units are part of the West Natuna Supply Group (WNSG) and Corridor Block (also parties to the agreement), will replace the flows from the Corridor Block to Singapore with those coming from WNSG....

Oil & Gas Refining

In the Pertamina case, Indonesia contacts trading firms in Singapore

It was announced on Monday that the Indonesian Attorney General's Office had contacted a number trading firms in Singapore about a corruption probe involving Pertamina. In the first half of this year, a number of Pertamina subsidiaries executives were arrested for alleged corruption in relation to oil imports from 2018 through 2023. This allegedly caused state losses of $12 billion. Pertamina apologized publicly and promised to improve the transparency after the arrests. Harli Siregar, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said that investigators want to speak with some Singapore trading firms about the case. Siregar stated that earlier attempts...

Fossil Fuels

Salt is dropped from the ODIs against West Indies. Cricket-Dawson will return to England's T20 Squad.

The England & Wales Cricket Board has not selected Phil Salt for the upcoming home white-ball series against West Indies. Will Jacks, a batting all-rounder, has been recalled to the England squads that will face West Indies in three ODIs (over 20-overs) and three T20s between May 29 and July 10. Harry Brook, the white-ball captain, is leading both teams. Luke Wood and Tom Hartley have both returned to England's T20 and ODI teams, respectively, after not playing white-ball cricket since September 2023. Jacks was playing in the Indian Premier League along with Jos buttler, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton,...

Natural Gas

Singapore establishes new GasCo, and appoints a chief executive, according to regulator

Singapore's energy regulator announced on Wednesday that the country had established a wholly government-owned company called Singapore GasCo, to centralise gas procurement and supply to the power sector of the city-state. Energy Market Authority (EMA), in a press release, said that the entity would also benefit from economies of scale, negotiate better gas contracting terms and procure gas from different sources. It would sign contracts for longer periods to ensure a more stable gas supply and price. Alan Heng was also named as Singapore GasCo CEO by the EMA. He was previously the Group Chief Executive of Singaporean LNG company...

Oil Refineries

Trafigura Puma Energy's net profit and EBITDA will be higher in 2024, but lower.

Puma Energy, a Trafigura-owned refinery products company, reported a 5% increase in net profit for 2024 in financial results published on Thursday. This is the third consecutive year that the business, which was once in a state of struggle has made a profit. Trafigura, a global commodity trading company, bought Sonangol’s stake in Puma Energy (then a loss-making company) in 2021. It took full control of the company and integrated it to its company as a way to increase its downstream market share. The company announced that its net profit was $39million. The company will not be paying a dividend....

Refined Products

The aunt of Trafigura Mongolia's boss was the main partner company

Trafigura’s top executive for Mongolia has been suspended pending an investigation into a fraud scheme worth billions of dollars at the Swiss trading firm. The executive, however, lent more than $500 million from Trafigura to a company owned by his aunt. Lex Oil is Trafigura’s main counterparty in Mongolia. According to three sources and a document, it belonged to Erdenetuul who is the aunt of Trafigura’s suspended local boss Jononbayar Erdenesuren. Trafigura announced last October it had suffered a loss of $1.1 billion after an internal investigation found that employees within its Mongolian petroleum product supply business had engaged in...

Fossil Fuels

Jadestone Energy presents plan to develop offshore natural gas fields in Vietnam

The Singapore-based Jadestone Energy PLC, an oil and gas company that develops offshore gas fields, has submitted to the state-controlled PetroVietnam a plan for a joint development of two offshore gasfields in southwest Vietnam. Jadestone stated in a press release that the proposal included drilling two wells at the Nam Du and U Minh field to support a plateau production rate of 80 millions standard cubic feet per day. Jadestone, a separate company, said that the development of Nam Du and U Minh's gas fields will reduce Vietnam's future dependency on expensive liquefied gas imports. Gas will be transported to...

Fossil Fuels

Trafigura announces Hallouche's departure as Puma Energy CEO

Mark Russell will replace Hadi Hallouche as the chief executive officer of Trafigura's downstream energy company Puma Energy. Trafigura, a Swiss company, said that Hallouche would work as co CEO with Russell until June's end. Hallouche, who is the CEO of Puma, has held this position since October 20, 2021. Prior to that, he was Trafigura’s Asia Head of Oil and Global Head of Liquefied Natural Gas. He was previously an LNG trader at Shell. Richard Holtum, who replaced Jeremy Weir in January as Trafigura's group CEO, is the latest Trafigura leader to leave. This was followed by a number...

Oil & Gas Refining

Brava will connect four additional wells to Atlanta Field after Trafigura's deal

Brava Energia, a Brazilian company, will add four wells to the Atlanta field by 2025. It will also begin shipping oil to Trafigura as part of a six-million barrel supply agreement. The head of Brava's offshore operations, Carlos Mastrangelo, told reporters during a Tuesday visit that the number of wells connected with the floating production storage unit and offloading (FPSO) will now be six. We currently have two wells. In a little more than a month we will be connecting two more, and by the end June, two more. Mastrangelo said that Atlanta produces about 26,000 barrels per day. Mastrangelo...

Fossil Fuels

Anglo American sells nickel business up to $500 Million

Anglo American announced on Tuesday that it would sell its nickel mining business to an MMG Ltd unit listed in Hong Kong for up to $500m. A broader restructuring is underway to focus its operations on iron ore and copper. Nickel business in Brazil includes two ferronickel projects and two greenfields. Anglo will receive $350 million upon completion, up $100 million as a price-linked gainout, and an additional $50 million for potential project development, according to a company statement. Together, the assets produce around 38,000 metric tonnes of nickel each year. In January, the metal's price fell to a record...

Oil Refineries

The fuel oil rally is expected to slow down as the market adjusts to US-Iran policies

Fuel oil margins rose after U.S. president Donald Trump reimposed tougher policies on Iran. However, trade sources expect the rally to be short-lived due to an unclear disruption in supply, and weaker China demand, as well as broader tariff worries, weighed on sentiment. As traders have considered various factors and pondered the uncertainty of supply, there has been a volatile movement in the market this year, especially for high-sulfur fuel. A fuel oil trader stated that the recent increase in crack spread or traded margin was more of an emotional reaction. He added that Chinese demand remains a negative factor....

Crude Oil

Crude Oil

As trade uncertainty increases, Asian stocks are up and the dollar is softening.

The dollar dipped to six-week lows on Wednesday as traders prepared for the impending increase in U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. This is the latest chapter of the trade war that has roiled the markets throughout the year. South Korea's stock market and currency rose as the liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung won his election. This raised hopes for a rapid economic stimulus, reforms of the markets and an end to policy uncertainty. The benchmark KOSPI rose more than 2%, reaching its highest level since August 2024. The MSCI broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan was 0.6% higher....

Crude Oil

Dollar slips, shares cautious as trade concerns persist

Asia shares were slightly higher in Asia on Tuesday, while the dollar dropped to a six week low. Investors turned defensive as the erratic U.S. policies clouded the market sentiment. White House Press Secretary Karoline Laavitt announced on Monday that U.S. president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely speak this week. This comes after Trump had accused Beijing of breaking an agreement to reduce tariffs and trade barriers. Markets will closely monitor the call between the leaders, as tensions in trade between the world's largest economies continue to simmer due to tariffs. Monday's data showed that U.S....

Crude Oil

After the latest court ruling, Trump tariffs are still in place and stocks fall. The dollar also falls.

Investors digested the fact that an appeals court upheld President Donald Trump's tariffs, just a day after markets had rallied following a ruling that blocked most of them. The Nikkei index in Japan saw the biggest selling after the largest buying on Thursday. This was exacerbated by the fluctuation in demand for safe-haven currencies, such as the yen. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington, temporarily reinstated Trump’s duties on Friday while it considered the government’s appeal. A little-known trade tribunal unanimously ruled on Wednesday that Trump had overstepped his authority and that tariffs are the...

Mining

Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources

Report: China's Ant Group will list its overseas unit in Hong Kong

Chinese media, citing anonymous sources, reported that Ant Group, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, plans to list Ant International on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Caixin reported, citing sources close to the company that Ant was in communication with regulators regarding the possible listing. The report didn't specify whether discussions took place with regulators from China or other countries. Ant International is a Singapore-based company. Alibaba controls 33% of Ant, which was founded by Jack Ma. It runs China's ubiquitous Alipay mobile payment app. Chinese authorities pulled Ant's $37-billion IPO in Shanghai & Hong Kong in 2020....

Mineral Resources

Sources say that Singapore's SC Capital is in talks with Global Switch to purchase the British data center group.

S ingapore-headquartered real estate investment manager SC Capital Partners has emerged as a potential bidder for British data centre group Global Switch, two people familiar with the matter told . One of the sources said that the firm, which is backed by the global real estate manager CapitaLand Investment is working with advisors to purchase the London-based Jiangsu Shagang Group. The matter is a private one, so both sources requested anonymity. The people cautioned that the talks are still ongoing and will depend on market conditions. The first person who spoke said that the transaction could be valued between $4...

Mineral Resources

Sources: Mercuria's former Beijing head joins China's Rongsheng

According to internal memos and sources, the former head of Mercuria's Beijing office will join China's largest oil refining group Rongsheng Holdings as a senior executive. Li Xinhua will assist Xiang Jingjiong as president of Rongsheng Holdings. Li will be responsible for Rongsheng’s coal, petrochemical and oil trading businesses in Singapore, according to sources who declined to name themselves as the move had not yet been announced. Rongsheng has not yet commented. Li has been with Mercuria in Geneva for 17 years, one of the top four commodities and energy traders on the planet. Li's new role is to grow...

Oil & Gas Refining

Indonesia will set up a state investment agency similar to Temasek

The parliament approved the creation of a state-owned investment vehicle that will oversee government investments in some the largest companies. It is similar to Singapore's Temasek investment arm. Soon after Prabowo Subito assumed office in October, the creation of Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (Danantara) was announced with the goal of improving performance and returns on state investments. Danantara will have an initial capital of at least 1,000 trillion Rupiah (61 billion dollars). Sufmi dasco Ahmad, deputy speaker to parliament, told reporters that it would take over the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry's holdings in all state-owned companies. State companies play...

Mineral Resources

EV investor Ideanomics files for bankruptcy to sell possessions

Electric automobile tech company Ideanomics Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Wednesday to discover a buyer for its wireless charging business and other innovation investments. Ideanomics got in insolvency with over $30 million in debt and simply $189,000 in cash on hand, according to files filed in Wilmington, Delaware personal bankruptcy court. Ideanomics said it has lost over $800 million in the previous five years. The company spent $320 million on electric automobile innovation investments in between 2021 and 2023, but the majority of those investments were unprofitable. It has actually closed down all of its obtained...

Mineral Resources

LME lead stocks jump to highest level in 11-1/2 years after inflows

Lead inventories in London Metal Exchange authorized warehouses have jumped by 49% over 2 days to their highest level considering that March 2013, LME information showed on Tuesday. Inflows of 91,025 metric loads were most likely to be from celebrations providing against brief or bearish positions ahead of Wednesday's November agreement expiry, analysts said. LME information reveals 2 celebrations each holding a significant short position in November- one accounting for more than 40 %of market open interest and another one for 10% -19%. On the other side of the marketplace are 4 long> positions, where one celebration holds up to...

Mineral Resources

New green steel firms could enjoy benefits as EU carbon tariffs loom

On Thailand's eastern coast, strategies are underway to develop an electric arc heater that will provide green steel to Europe and benefit from controversial brand-new guidelines that will require buyers to pay tariffs on highcarbon imports. Federal governments and market associations in Asia have lobbied ferociously against Europe's Carbon Border Change Mechanism ( CBAM) and it could cast a shadow over COP29 environment talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, next week, with China and others calling for an end to green trade barriers. CBAM was created to stop European companies averting carbon compliance expenses by sourcing commodities from regions with laxer ecological...

Mineral Resources

Indonesia Q3 FDI development accelerates, investment ministry says

Foreign direct financial investment ( FDI) into Indonesia increased 18.55% in the third quarter from a. year earlier to 232.65 trillion rupiah ($ 14.94 billion), the. financial investment ministry said on Tuesday. That compares with a 16.6% annual increase in the 2nd. quarter. The data excludes investment in the financial and oil. and gas sectors. FDI has actually been increasing in Southeast Asia's biggest economy,. especially in the mining and metal refining sectors, because it. prohibited exports of nickel ore in 2020 as part of the federal government's. efforts to draw in investors in the electrical automobile (EV) supply. chain....

Mineral Resources

Trafigura extends notification period in traders agreements to 6-month minimum, sources state

Products trading business Trafigura has extended the notice period for traders leaving the company to a minimum of 6 months or approximately one year, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, after current worker departures. It is not known precisely when changes were made to extend the notice period, but the sources said they use to new and existing workers and depend on seniority levels. A longer notice duration might dissuade traders from using to operate at Trafigura, among the sources said. Trafigura declined to comment. Energy traders consisting of Mercuria, Gunvor and Vitol are going back to trading...

Mineral Resources

Shares and oil rate slip, with Mideast dangers, United States rates in focus

A gauge of worldwide shares dropped along with oil rates on Tuesday as investors weighed geopolitical dangers as well as approaching Nvidia profits and U.S. inflation information. Markets are expecting an impending start to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy easing, after Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday the reserve bank was ready to start cutting rates. All three major U.S. indexes were trading lower, with the benchmark S&P 500 down 0.19% to 5,606.07, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.01% to 41,235.73, and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.53% to 17,633.19. European stocks were slightly higher, following a. late rally in...

Refined Products

Glencore to supply crude to UK's Lindsey oil refinery

International commodities trader Glencore has won a tender to provide petroleum to Prax's. 113,000 barrel per day Lindsey oil refinery in Britain,. replacing rival trader Trafigura, 3 sources with knowledge. of the deal informed . The deal boosts Glencore's oil trading operation, and. follows the current joint acquisition of Shell's Singapore. refinery and petrochemical assets with Chandra Asri. UK-based independent oil business Prax selected one of the most. commercially advantageous offer in a tender procedure that. begun in the 4th quarter of in 2015, according to a. declaration released to . The business decreased to reveal. information of the contract,...

Mineral Resources

Vale Indonesia states Febriany Eddy reappointed as CEO as MIND ID deal approaches

Investors of nickel miner PT Vale Indonesia on Monday voted to reappoint Febriany Eddy as CEO, ahead of state miner MIND ID raising its stake in the group to become its bulk investor, the business stated. Vale and MIND ID said when the state mining group's planned acquisition of a 14% stake in Vale Indonesia from Vale Canada and Sumitomo Metal Mining was announced in February that they would concur board positions as the offer progressed. Eddy and a variety of brand-new appointees will sit as the new board of directors from the closure of MIND ID deals - anticipated...