Western Europe

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, hit $100 per barrel Wednesday. This was the first time this has happened since late July. However the price increase is relatively slow despite the escalating conflict in the Middle East that fuels fears of more disruptions to oil shipments. Russell Hardy, CEO Vitol - the world's largest independent oil trader - told the APPEC Conference in Singapore on Tuesday that the Middle East has exported approximately 9 million barrels of crude per day and another 1 million bpd in refined products in recent days. This compares to roughly 20,000,000 barrels of...

The yields on two-year and five year British government bonds rose to a new high of one week after oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time in six weeks. This sparked fears about inflation, which pushed yields up to their highest levels in decades last weekend. At 0925 GMT the two-year gilt yields - which are sensitive to expectations of interest rates - reached 4,629%, an increase of more than 3 basis point on the day. This is their highest level since September 2, when they reached a five-month high of 4,691%. The five-year yield peaked at...

Alberta landowners have filed a lawsuit to argue that the energy regulator of the province has knowingly and chronically underfunded a program designed to protect the public against the costs of cleaning abandoned oil and natural gas wells. The legal action is a culmination of years' simmering tensions between farmers, ranchers, and oil and natural gas producers in Canada’s largest energy-producing province. This province has struggled with thousands of "orphan" or "wild" wells which dot the rural landscape of Alberta. The Alberta Energy Regulator is being questioned about its willingness to enforce environmental rules at a moment when the Canadian...

Interfax reported that Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice suspended enforcement proceedings against the North Caspian Operating Company, which operates the Kashagan Oil Field. NCOC is a joint-venture between Shell, TotalEnergies,?ExxonMobil, and China's CNPC. It runs Kazakhstan's 'offshore Kashagan' field. It did not respond immediately to a request for comment. NCOC is embroiled in a long-running?legal dispute with the Kazakh Government, who accuses NCOC of?environmental violation related to sulphur storing, and ordered NCOC pay a large penalty. NCOC and its contractors have rejected the fine, as well as the allegations that led to it. The case is now being heard by international...

TotalEnergies announced on Monday that it had cleared a number of?commercial and contractual hurdles in its Papua LNG Project, bringing the project closer to a decision. The French energy giant said that it had completed the tendering process for the engineering, procurement, and construction work of liquefied gas facilities. Contracts are now awaiting approval from its joint-venture partners. TotalEnergies reported that by rebidding?contracts and optimising project design, they have been able to save close to $4 billion in costs since 2024. This has brought down the capital spending?to?around $14 billion. ExxonMobil already operates the nearby PNG LNG plant. The company...

The deputy prime minister of Italy suggested that banks and energy companies be prepared to accelerate tax payments in order to boost the public finances, without an official tax increase. Antonio Tajani, a?also?Italy’s Foreign Minister, said that the additional support could help fund next year’s budget, as well as any other measures to shield consumers from high energy costs. Tajani told reporters at the annual TEHA business forum that any policy should be modeled after the agreement Italy reached with banks and insurance companies last year to advance taxes to the state. He said, "It's only fair to tax the...

Owner?Aliko?Dangote announced on Thursday that the initial public offering (IPO) of Nigeria's Dangote refinery, the largest in Africa, would open within the next 10 to 12 days. "Our dream is to double the capacity of our refinery, which would take us up to 1.4 millions barrels per day." Dangote, who was visiting Botswana in Southern Africa, told investors and analysts that the IPO would open within 10-12 days. The African richest man's refinery is expected to try to raise $5 billion, which could be the largest IPO on the continent. Dangote does not reveal refinery margins. However, the industry has...

Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader, said in a video on Thursday that only a "serious democratic government" could provide investors with the stability they need. In a signing event overseen by Delcy Rodrguez, interim president of the United States and Chris Wright, U.S. Secretary of Energy, international energy firms committed to expanding their projects in the country on 'Wednesday. Eni, GE Vernova, and Chevron are among the companies that have signed agreements to revive Venezuela's oil industry. The country produces only about 1.25 million barrels of crude oil per day, a far cry from its...

British government bond yields reached new 18-year-highs on Wednesday, following a global sell-off in response to the latest escalation of Iran's war. This added to the challenge faced by finance minister John Healey as he prepares his first budget. The yield on the 10-year gilts reached its highest level since June 2008. It hit 5,268% shortly after 7am GMT, an increase of about 4 basis point on?the day. This is on top of a 15-bps rise on Tuesday. Investors are worried about the inflationary effect of the rising oil prices due to the return of the Gulf conflict. The increase...

People familiar with the plant's operations reported that Valero Energy Corporation's Port Arthur refinery, which produces 385,000 barrels per day (bpd), suffered a partial blackout on Tuesday night due to Tropical Storm Edouard. Sources said that the refinery's smaller AVU 147 crude distillation units were shut down due to the power outage at the south end of the plant. The larger AVU 146 CDUs were operating on minimum crude processing levels. CDUs start the fuel production process by breaking crude oil down into feedstocks that are used in the units which make gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, and feedstocks to make...

The music publishing divisions of Sony Music 'and 'Warner Music sued Anthropic at the federal court in California for allegedly using their copyrighted compositions as a basis to train Claude AI models. Sony and Warner stated in their complaint filed on Friday that Anthropic had pirated hundreds song lyrics and sheet songs from The Beatles to Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson to train Claude to respond to human prompts. This lawsuit is part of a series of similar cases filed by copyright holders, including publishers, authors, music labels, and news outlets, against tech companies for using their work in AI...

Niger's military regained the control of an important military airbase after a day-long mutiny by soldiers. This is the latest challenge for military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani, as his government struggles to contain insurgent jihadists. The attack highlighted tensions in Niger's armed services, who have repeatedly suffered battlefield losses fighting West Africa's al Qaeda affiliates and Islamic State. Early Saturday morning, gunfire and explosions echoed throughout Niamey. This included the area around the military base and the presidential palace. On Sunday, three security sources said that the government forces had retaken Niamey's airbase following hours of fighting. Residents reported that the...

Gold prices dropped by over 1% on Thursday, after strong U.S. inflation data and higher oil prices increased the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase next week. Spot gold fell 1%, to $4.358.09 an ounce, by 11:14 am EDT (1514 GMT), whereas U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.4%, to $4.400.60. According to Kyle Rodda of Capital.com, a senior financial analyst, the Producer Price Index data "sort of shows that there's been a?bit? of a pick-up in underlying inflation" in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Labor Department reported that PPI for final demands rose by 0.4% in...

Gold prices dropped by over 1% after?robust U.S. data on inflation and rising oil costs increased bets that the Federal Reserve will raise rates next week. Spot gold fell by 1.2%, to $4349.32 an ounce, at 9:24 am EDT (1324 GMT), whereas U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.6%, to $4391.30. The data from the producer price index "sort of tells [us] that there has been an increase in inflation underlying in?the?U.S. The rising cost of energy is a major factor in the economy. U.S. Producer Prices increased in August in line with expectations, despite a rise in the cost of energy....

Gold lost ground on Thursday as it erased earlier gains. This was a result of a stronger dollar and higher bond yields. Investors were also awaiting key U.S. data on inflation to get clues about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path. Gold futures in the U.S. fell 0.7%, to $4,427.80 per ounce, while spot gold dropped 0.4%, to $4385.40 an ounce, by 1125 GMT. I think that part of the decline in metals prices is due to the U.S. Dollar coming back ahead of inflation data. Fawad Rasaqzada is a Forex.com market analyst. He said that the bond yields are...

Gold rose on Thursday on a softer dollar, as investors waited for key U.S. data on inflation to get clues about the Federal Reserve's rate hike path. Gold futures in the U.S. fell 0.3%, to $4448.80 per ounce, and spot gold rose 0.1%, to $4405.09 an ounce, by 0824 GMT. Gold is benefiting from a slightly weaker dollar, because the yellow metal has a negative correlation with the greenback most of the time. This, combined with the global debt worries, continue to support the demand, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. As the U.S. Dollar index weakened, greenback priced bullion became...

GE Aerospace, a leader in the aerospace industry, has acted to reduce shortages of precision parts for jet engines while securing valuable technologies. It did this by purchasing Consolidated Precision Products at a price of $12 billion. The purchase of CPP, the world's third largest manufacturer of metallic components for engine blades, is part and parcel of a long-term effort to improve aerospace supply chains. Larry Culp of GE Aerospace, who announced his largest acquisition after splitting the industrial giant General Electric and turning it around, described this capacity as "mission-critical". The deal shows a shift in focus from winning...

The London Metal Exchange will launch a contract for steel on October 27 using prices from its Shanghai counterpart, the 'LME' announced -on Wednesday. This is part of China’s efforts to increase its influence on global commodity pricing. In June, the LME announced an agreement with the Shanghai Futures Exchange for the new contract. At the time, the LME stated that trading would start in October. However, it did not specify a date. The SHFE, one of the most liquid steel contracts in the world, will be mirrored on the LME to increase trading volume and attract new customers. The...

Copper prices reached record levels on Wednesday due to a shortage of supplies in the United States. As 'hostilities' in the Middle East flared, concerns were raised about global demand and growth. The price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange fell 0.5% by 1045 GMT to $14,641 per metric ton after reaching an all-time record high of $14 779 on Tuesday. After the escalation of attacks by Iran and the U.S., oil prices soared above $100 per barrel. This is a six-week high. Ewa Manthey is a commodities?strategist with ING. She said that copper?is easing off record highs,...

Volkswagen is exploring a partnership with the Indian conglomerate JSW Group in order to increase 'competitiveness' and profitability?in -the?third largest?car market?in the world. A company spokesperson stated on Wednesday that the partnership aims to expand Volkswagen's India portfolio, strengthen local sourcing, and increase manufacturing. The Economic Times newspaper was the first to report on this move. The proposed deal is timely as 'Volkswagen' has been struggling to expand its presence in India. India is a critical?market for the German automaker to?expand outside Europe. It also highlights the challenges that global automakers have to overcome in order to remain competitive on...

Investors were cautious on Tuesday due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, and higher oil prices. Novartis also suffered its biggest one-day drop in history after reporting another setback in its drug development pipeline. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.05% to 649.6. Novartis' 10.9% drop in the benchmark Swiss index weighed on the overall index, which fell by 1.6%. Novartis, the Swiss drugmaker, was the largest faller in the STOXX 600 index after it announced that its experimental treatment of a muscle-wasting condition had failed a late-stage study. News of the failure came just a day after Novartis revealed...

EU regulators are about to issue a warning to Hong Kong listed mining and metals company MMG regarding its plans to purchase 'Anglo American’s Brazilian nickel business due to 'competition concerns. This move reflects the growing concern of the European Union about its reliance on China to supply critical minerals for defence, technology, and renewable energy. Beijing also uses export control measures?on these critical mineral supplies. According to the people, the European Commission, acting as the EU's "competition enforcer", is planning to send this month a document known as a "statement of objections" or "charge sheet", which will outline the...

The 'price of copper' continued to rise on Tuesday. It reached a record high on speculative purchases on the backs of tight supply outside the U.S. and weak mine production. In open-outcry official trading, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.3% to $14,503 per metric ton, breaking the previous record. LME copper is up 18% in this year. This is largely because a large amount of metal has been moving to the U.S., anticipating?tariffs to be imposed on refined copper. Alice Fox, an analyst at Macquarie, stated that falling inventories outside of the U.S. - including in China...

Solvay, a Belgian chemicals company, is currently in discussions with One Investment Management regarding a possible strategic partnership for its rare earths division. Solvay announced this on Tuesday. OneIM, led by Rajeev Misra (former SoftBank executive), would gain exposure to rare-earths processing. This would complement its existing investments in this sector, which is dominated primarily by China. Sources with knowledge of the situation said that Solvay has been in talks with OneIM about Solvay’s rare earths operations since March. The West is looking to reduce its reliance on China as a supplier of rare earth minerals. These minerals are essential...