China to cut rates it offers wind and solar power developer
China will cut the preferential rate it offers wind and solar power developers to reflect the decline in construction costs.
Pemex to announce job cuts with oil production at 25-year low
Petroleos Mexicanos hopes to start 2016 with a plan to become leaner and more efficient. The state-owned oil producer is set to announce job cuts for next year as part of the plan to restructure the company and to synchronize itself to industry standards, interim Chief Financial Officer Rodolfo Campos said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Oil shares climb as Japan stocks fall on lower Yen
Japanese stocks fell, reversing gains as a strengthening yen weighed on the profit outlook for exporters. Energy shares climbed as oil advanced for a fourth day. The Topix index lost 0.7 percent to 1,523.62 at the close in Tokyo after rising as much as 0.9 percent as the yen added 0.3 percent to 120.57 per dollar. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.5 percent to 18,789.69.
Japan nuclear restart on way after Kansai Electric court win
A Japanese court has cleared the way for Kansai Electric Power Co. to restart two of its nuclear reactors early next year. The Fukui District Court on Thursday removed an injunction preventing the operation of Kansai Electric’s Takahama No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors, Tadashi Matsuda, a representative for the citizen’s group that initiated the case, said by phone. The court also rejected a demand by local residents to block the resumption of reactor operations at Kansai Electric’s Ohi plant. The ruling was earlier reported by broadcaster NHK.
US stocks rise for third day as energy shares gain with oil
US stocks rose for a third day to further pare their December decline, with energy shares leading amid a rally in crude oil. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.7 percent to 2,053.85 at 10:04 a.m. in New York, after rising 1.7 percent during the prior two sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 120.74 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,538.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.7 percent. Trading in S&P 500 shares was 14 percent lower than the 30-day average at this time of day. US exchanges will close early on Thursday for the Christmas holiday and reopen on Dec. 28.
OPEC sees demand for its crude oil falling for rest of decade
OPEC said demand for its crude will slide to 2020, though less steeply than previously expected, as rival supplies continue to grow. The organization will need to pump 30.7 million barrels a day by the end of the decade, OPEC said Wednesday in its annual World Oil Outlook. That’s 1.7 million barrels more than projected a year ago, and 1 million less than the group pumped in November. The forecast underlines the struggle faced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as it seeks to defend market share against a surge in output from rivals such as the U.S. and Russia. While OPEC is slowly taming the expansion of competitors, the collapse in oil prices means the financial costs of its strategy are immense. Brent crude futures touched an 11-year low of $36.04 a barrel on Dec. 21.
Cosco Singapore explores ways to help shipbuilding business
Cosco Corp. Singapore Ltd., the shipbuilding arm of China Ocean Shipping Group, is exploring options to support its business as a slump in commodities trading and oil prices leads to sluggish demand for new vessels.
Shell-BG deal not yet in bag amid fears of further oil slump
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is on the brink of pulling off its biggest acquisition. Yet the widening discount of target BG Group Plc to the offer price shows that a further steep drop in oil prices could still put the deal in doubt.
As one corruption scandal unfolds, another is just getting started in Brazil
In the shadow of Brazil’s once-mighty oil giant, another state-run behemoth is trying to get ahead of the nation’s biggest-ever corruption scandal to avoid the fallout that has already crippled more than a dozen companies. A team of lawyers and specialists hired by Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, known as Eletrobras, started reviewing Latin America’s biggest electric utility in June to determine whether it has had any losses from graft, according to a regulatory filing. Since then, the internal probe has swelled to involve more than 100 investigators, $15 billion of investments, 10 subsidiaries and three of Brazil’s biggest power projects, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Morgan Stanley: 2016 could put adage ‘the best cure for low prices is be low prices’ to rest
2016 may prove a year in which the theoretical underpinnings of the old adage that "the best cure for low prices is low prices" is challenged, according to Morgan Stanley.
Rescuers in Southern China race to find landslide survivors
Almost 3,000 rescuers have been dispatched to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to search for survivors of the Sunday landslide that’s left dozens missing at a local industrial park.
Oil has a reality check for those elated by the climate deal
For anyone elated by the climate-change accord in Paris, the commodity markets have a reality check for you. World leaders may have vowed to wean the world from fossil fuels, but prices for oil, coal and natural gas are at their lowest in years. Crude, which touched an 11-year low Monday, will probably decline even more with the US ending its 40-year ban on oil exports. So is that bad news for people hoping to switch the world to cleaner fuels?
Shell-BG deal not yet in the bag amid fears of further oil slump
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is on the brink of pulling off its biggest acquisition. Yet the widening discount of target BG Group Plc to the offer price shows that a further steep drop in oil prices could still put the deal in doubt. BG traded 12.5 percent below Shell’s bid price on Dec. 18, the biggest discount since early September, compared with a 6.4 percent gap on Dec. 4. While BG shares soared when news of the deal broke eight months ago, they’ve since tumbled more than 20 percent as oil prices slumped.
Saudi Arabia said to weigh selling state-run entities stakes
As global oil prices tumble, Saudi officials are considering plans to sell shares in state-owned entities and companies, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions, in an attempt to find alternative sources of revenue. The government may sell stakes in ports, railways, utilities and airports, the two people said. Hospitals may also be privatized, one person said. Saudi officials weren’t immediately available for comment. With oil prices down to an 11-year low, Saudi officials are accelerating efforts to reduce the economy’s reliance on revenue from crude exports. They may have missed their best chance when prices were higher, according to economists and an International Monetary Fund study that highlighted how successful attempts depended on policies put in place before the slump.
Brent oil slides to 11-year low as producers seen worsening glut
Brent crude slumped to the lowest level since 2004 amid speculation suppliers from the Middle East to the U.S. will exacerbate a record glut as they continue fighting for market share.
Iraq sees crude oil prices rising on strong market fundamentals
Crude prices are set to rise from current “very low” levels that are hurting producers, Iraq’s Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said after a meeting of Arab petroleum-exporting nations.
Libya’s Eastern Oil company to sign oil sales amid UN peace deal
The National Oil Corp. affiliated with the internationally recognized government in eastern Libya said it will sign agreements with six companies to sell the country’s crude oil after a peace deal was signed between rival factions in the divided country.
Mideast stocks decline after oil sinks to seven-year low
Almost every Middle Eastern stock index declined after oil, the region’s main source of income, sank to the lowest in seven years, damping the outlook for government spending.
US oil is too good, too expensive and too far for Asia buyers
In the world’s biggest oil market, buyers have better options than US crude. As the country inches toward ending the last restrictions on exports, Asian buyers will probably have a limited appetite for the quality of crude on offer. Many of the region’s refiners are geared to process heavier, cheaper oil with higher sulfur content.
No aid for slumping commodities as fed rate move bolsters dollar
The Federal Reserve isn’t doing any favors for commodity markets already enduring the longest slump in decades.
Six missing after freighter sinks in tanker collision in Singapore Strait
A vessel carrying 560 metric tons of bunker fuel sank after a collision with a chemical tanker in the Singapore Strait late Wednesday, the city-state’s Maritime and Port Authority or MPA said. Shipping traffic in the waterway remains undisrupted and there were no signs of any fuel leak, the MPA said in a statement on Thursday.
Shale drillers are now free to export US oil into global glut
US shale drillers will soon be able to sell their oil all over the world. Too bad no one needs it right now. A congressional deal to lift the 1970s-era prohibition on shipping crude overseas has the potential to unleash a flood of oil from Texas and North Dakota shale fields into markets already flush with cheap supplies from the Persian Gulf, Russia and Africa. The arrival of US barrels in trading hubs from Rotterdam to Singapore will intensify competition for market share between oil-rich nations, publicly traded producers and trading houses, adding pressure to prices that have tumbled 67 percent in the past 18 months. In the longer term, it may also extend a lifeline to shale drillers strapped for cash after amassing huge debt loads during the boom years.
Oil refiners shrug off agreement to remove US export limits
Restrictions on US crude exports may disappear. That doesn’t mean the sky is falling for refiners. A Bloomberg index of 11 US independent refiners rose 2.3 percent in New York Wednesday, after congressional leaders agreed on a deal to lift a 40-year ban on most oil exports. Some refiners, which process crude into gasoline and diesel, would get a tax break on the cost of transporting oil as part of the deal. The break is expected to be $119 million in 2016, or about 0.5 percent of next year’s combined pre-tax profits of the refiners in the index, according to government and analyst estimates.
Crude nearing $35 is final blow to Greenland oil dream
After decades of estimates that Greenland may be sitting on oil reserves big enough to meet almost two years of European demand, the Arctic island is throwing in the towel.
Saudi Arabia spends billions to get Asia hooked on its crude oil
At the heart of Korea’s Onsan Refinery lies a street called “A.I. Naimi Road,” an homage to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. The reason: state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. holds a 65 percent stake in the complex.