Latest News
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HitecVision acquires a 50% stake in TotalEnergies' Polish biogas company
TotalEnergies announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Norwegian investment company HitecVision to sell 50% of Polish producer Polska Grupa Biogazowa. The French energy company stated that the agreement represents a value of 213.6 million euros (190 million Euros). Stephane Michel, TotalEnergies' President of Gas, Renewables & Power, said that the deal would help Polska Grupa Biogazowa continue its growth in Poland, where biogas development is booming. Erlend Elliottsen, CEO of HitecVision and Managing Director, said that the companies have complementary skills which they will use to "scale" PGB in the coming years, through greenfield projects, as well as M&A. The European Union allows countries and companies, including transport sectors, to use biogas in conjunction with wind and solar energy and to mandate its usage via quotas. Crystal Union, a sugar producer, bought a 10% stake from Total in its BioNorrois unit last year. The French company plans to produce 100 Terawatt Hours (TWh), up from 1.2 in 2024. Biogas has a similar chemical composition to the natural gas that is drilled from the ground, but it is produced by animal wastes and crop residues. The HitecVision agreement is subject to government and regulatory approvals.
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Base metals are firmer on the back of a weaker dollar and easing US-China tensions.
The copper price rose on Wednesday, as investors gained confidence that a global economic recession can be avoided and the demand for metals dependent on growth will continue. The benchmark copper price on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.2% to $9,618 per metric tonne by 0955 GMT, after reaching $9,642 at its highest level since April 3. Tom Price, Panmure Liberum's analyst, said that investors have shifted away from gold and other safe-havens to the industrial sector. "However they do not engage the market vigorously at this stage, but remain very cautious for the time being." "They are curious to see what (U.S. president Donald) Trump will do next," said he. The U.S. Dollar extended its losses after overnight experiencing its largest decline in over three weeks, as weaker than expected U.S. consumer price inflation data strengthened the case for Federal Reserve ease. Other currency holders will find metals priced in dollars more affordable, and the prospect of lower interest rates will support demand for industrial metals. Market attention is still focused on the U.S. investigation into possible new tariffs on imports of copper that has been ongoing since February. The premium of COMEX Copper Futures over the LME Benchmark is high and deliveries have already been made to COMEX Copper Stocks. The premium peaked at 18% in March and is now down to 10%. Copper inventories have risen 77% to 165 112 tons since the end of February. Morgan Stanley stated in a report that "this reflects both tariff timing uncertainty and front-loading." The U.S. imported 180,000 extra tons of copper in the past seven weeks. Only 65,000 of those have been recorded on the COMEX inventories. "With more to come" says the report, "leaving a buffer of tariff-free metal". Other metals include aluminium, which rose by 1.3%, to $2.521.5 per ton. Zinc also increased, adding 1.9%, to $2.754. Lead gained 0.2%, to $1.992.5. Tin climbed 0.4%, to $32,805, and nickel grew 0.9%, to $15,860. Reporting by Ashitha Shivprasad and Polina Devitt in London, Editing by Barbara Lewis
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Spot prices fall on increasing renewable supply
The European spot electricity prices for Thursday dropped on Wednesday as the wind supply in Germany is expected to increase sharply while demand is set to decline. German baseload for the day ahead fell by 2.9%, to 65.90 Euros per megawatt-hour (MWh), at 0948 GMT. The French baseload for the day ahead has fallen by 63.2%, to 13.25 Euro/MWh. LSEG analyst Florine Engl stated that the residual load in Germany is decreasing on Thursday as a result of an increase in the wind power supply. Forecasts indicate imports into the country all day long, she said. LSEG data indicated that German wind power production was expected to increase by 6.3 gigawatts to 17.7 GW. French wind power is projected to rise by 4.5 GW and 6.1 GW. LSEG data shows that solar power production in Germany has decreased by 2.9 GW and now stands at 16.5 GW. LSEG data shows that the power demand in Germany is expected to drop 440 MW on Thursday from its level of Wednesday to 53.6 GW. The French consumption will increase 1 GW to reach 42.5 GW. The German baseload for the year ahead was down 0.6% at 89.60 Euros/MWh. Baseload for French 2026 was 0.5% lower at 59.50 euro/MWh. Benchmark European carbon permits fell 0.6% to 72.45 Euros per metric tonne. Sara Aagesen, energy minister, said that the massive grid disruption in Spain and Portugal began on the 28th of April in southern Spain, around Granada and Badajoz, and Seville. This was the first time specific locations were identified. Forrest Crellin, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Krishna Chandra Eluri are responsible for reporting.
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IIR: Nigeria's Dangote Oil Refinery cancels maintenance for June at its gasoline unit
According to IIR, Nigeria's Dangote Oil refinery has cancelled maintenance for June at its 204,000 barrels of gasoline per day unit because it completed planned work during an unplanned shut-down from April 7 to 11th. According to Kpler, a shipping trade analytics company, during the unplanned outage the Dangote Refinery increased its exports for residual products, such as straight-run fuel oil, but decreased exports for finished products, such as jetfuel and gasoil. Kpler data shows that Nigeria's fuel imports increased by 24% in April, to 157,000 barrels per day. Dangote originally planned to close its gasoline-making residue liquid catalytic Cracking (RFCC), unit in June for a 30-day maintenance period. In January 2024, the 650,000 bpd Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dagote's refinery in Lagos started processing crude oil into products such as gasoil and naphtha, and began producing gasoline in September. A Dangote refinery executive, referring specifically to the RFCC Unit, said: "We've completed the maintenance. We have begun." Reporting by Robert Harvey in London and Enes Tunagur in Lagos. Mark Potter and Louise Heavens edited the story.
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Sources say that Indian billionaire Ambani will meet Trump and Qatar's emir at Doha
Mukesh ambani, the Indian billionaire, will meet with Donald Trump, President of the United States, and Qatar's emir in Doha, according to two sources. His company, Reliance Industries, is looking to strengthen ties between authorities in both countries. Qatar's sovereign fund, QIA has invested in Reliance over the years. Ambani is Asia's wealthiest man and has many business relationships with U.S. technology giants like Google and Meta. Ambani is attending a state dinner in Doha for Trump, but he does not intend to have any business or investment discussions. This was confirmed by the first source who has direct knowledge of this matter. Both sources confirmed that another Indian businessman based in London, close to the Trump administration and the Qatari government, will attend. They did not identify the individual. Ambani did not provide any further details about his agenda. Reliance didn't immediately answer'questions. Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, visited India in February. His country had committed to investing $10 billion in various industries. Trump will leave Qatar for the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, a trip which is more focused on investments than on security issues in the Middle East. (Reporting Aditya Kalra, Editing Clarence Fernandez).
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Gold drops as US-China truce on trade dims appeal of safe-haven assets
Gold prices dropped on Wednesday, as easing U.S. China trade tensions eased investor fears of a global recession. This increased risk appetite for investors and weakened the appeal of bullion as a safe haven. As of 0828 GMT, spot gold was down 0.4% at $3,233.69 per ounce. Prices reached a record-high of $3,500.05 per ounce last month due to increased trade war concerns. U.S. Gold Futures declined 0.3% to $3.238.10. After discussions over the weekend in Geneva, the U.S. agreed to suspend reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. The U.S. plans to reduce its "de minimus tariff" on low-value shipments coming from China to 30%. This is according to an executive order of the White House and industry experts. Ole Hansen is the head of commodity strategy for Saxo Bank. He said that the recent tariff truce has boosted the stock market and, at least temporarily, has taken away the focus on safe havens which has pushed gold to record levels in recent months. There's the risk of further decline if we break through that $3,200 mark, and then we might test $3,165 fairly quickly." The global stock market has rallied on the back of easing Sino-U.S. Trade War concerns. It also received support from relatively benign U.S. Inflation data. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its interest rate policy on Thursday. After the April consumer price index was lower than expected, traders speculated about possible rate cuts in later years. Markets expect the Fed to reduce rates by 53 basis points this year starting in September. Gold is traditionally seen as a hedge to inflation. However, in an environment of low interest rates it tends also to flourish as it pays no interest. Silver spot fell 0.2%, to $32.83, platinum rose 0.8% at $995.66 and palladium remained unchanged at $957.69. (Reporting and editing by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru, Anmol Choubey from Bengaluru)
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Residents of Libya's capital are trapped in the most intense fighting they have seen for years
Witnesses in Tripoli said that the most intense clashes since years continued through Wednesday morning after Monday's death of a key militia leader sparked fighting between rival groups. The United Nations Libya Mission UNSMIL expressed its "deep alarm" at the violence escalating in Tripoli's densely populated areas and called for an immediate ceasefire. The latest unrests in Libya's capital follow battles that seemed to consolidate Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's power as prime minister of the divided government of National Unity (GNU), and an ally of Turkey. Any prolonged fighting in Tripoli could attract factions outside of the capital. This could lead to an escalation among Libya's numerous armed actors after years relative calm. The English-language Libyan Observer reports that the main fighting took place on Wednesday between the Dbeibah aligned 444 Brigade, and the Special Deterrence Force(Rada), which is the last major armed Tripoli group not in his camp. Residents of Tripoli trapped inside their homes due to the fighting expressed horror at the sudden outbreak of violence that followed weeks of increasing tensions between armed groups. It's terrifying to watch all the intense fighting. "I had my family all in one room so that we could avoid the random shelling," said by phone a father of 3 in Dahra. Mohanad Juma, a resident of the western suburb Saraj, said that fighting would stop for a few moments before it resumed. "Each time the fighting stops, we feel relieved. "But then we lose our hope again," said he. ARMED FACTIONS Libya has seen little stability since an uprising in 2011 backed by NATO ousted Muammar Gadaffi, the longtime autocrat. The country was split in 2014 into rival eastern and Western factions. However, a major outbreak of warfare halted in 2020 with a ceasefire. Libya, a major energy exporter and a waystation for migrants headed to Europe, has attracted foreign powers, including Turkey, Russia and Egypt, as well as the United Arab Emirates, into its conflict. The main oil facilities of Libya are located in the south and east, away from the current fighting. While the eastern part of Libya is dominated by Khalifa haftar's Libyan National Army for over a decade, control in Tripoli as well as western Libya is splintered between numerous armed groups. Dbeibah ordered on Tuesday the dismantling what he called irregular military groups. This announcement follows the death of Abdulghani Kikli (also known as Ghaniwa), a major militia leader, on Monday, and the unexpected defeat of his Stabilisation Support Apparatus group by factions aligned to Dbeibah. The 444 Brigade and the 111 Brigade, which are allies of Dbeibah, have taken over SSA territory, indicating a concentration of power within the fragmented capital. Rada is the only major faction that has not been closely linked to the Prime Minister.
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Holcim shareholders approve spin-off of North American Business
Holcim's shareholders approved Wednesday the separation and spin-off of its North American business, a move designed to take advantage of increased construction spending in the United States. Almost all shareholders supported the decision to separate the company into two companies, Amrize and Holcim, which will focus on North America. Holcim will provide building materials for the remainder of the world. The spin-off should be complete by the end June. The listing will be done via a 100% share spin-off for Holcim's shareholders. The new company stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and also on the Six Swiss Exchange. Amrize will have more than 1,000 locations and 19,000 employees in North America. It will be the largest cement producer across Canada and the United States. It is aiming to capitalize on the massive infrastructure projects underway in the region. Jan Jenisch, Holcim's Chairman, said that the two companies would benefit from a more focused strategic and operational approach as separate publicly traded companies. Jenisch will be Amrize's CEO and chairman. $1 = 0.8386 Swiss Francs (Reporting and Editing by Rachel More, Madeline Chambers, and John Revill)
Two Injured as Glomar’s OSV Hits Offshore Wind Turbine in North Sea
Glomar Offshore’s offshore supply vessel (OSV) Glomar Venture has reportedly hit the foundation of an offshore wind turbine in the Dutch North Sea, leaving two crew members injured in the accident.
The Royal Dutch Sea Rescue Society (KNRM) received a distress call for medical evacuation from Glomar Offshore around 7.00 am local time on April 20, which reported that two of the crewmen aboard Glomar Venture OSV have been injured.
KNRM deployed its lifeboat Irene & Henk for the assistance, as well as the second vessel Koen Oberman (Callantsoog).
The Dutch media have reported that Glomar Offshore hit the foundation of the offshore wind farm in the North Sea, not disclosing which wind farm specifically
The medical condition of both crew members was quickly assessed and the two wounded have been evacuated to Den Helder using the Joke Dijkstra rescue boat.
An official investigation is currently underway to investigate the incident, according to Dutch media.