Unipec Hires Veteran Crude Trader for Hong Kong Office
Unipec, the trading arm of Asia's largest refiner Sinopec, has hired veteran crude oil trader Lee Yee Meng, who will join its office in Hong Kong in May, trade sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Lee left Trafigura Singapore earlier this week after more than a year with the European commodities trading company, the sources said. Lee has more than 20 years of experience dealing in physical crude oil and derivatives in Singapore and London…
Barclays, US FERC Near Settlement of Market Manipulation Lawsuit
British bank Barclays Plc and the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) made "substantial progress" toward a settlement of FERC's proposed $435 million fine against the bank for alleged power market manipulation, according to court documents. The Barclays penalty, if there is one, could be the biggest FERC has collected since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 significantly increased the penalties the agency can impose…
BB Energy buys Morgan Stanley's Aussie Diesel Terminal
BB Energy has bought Morgan Stanley's diesel terminal in Australia as the oil trader expands outside its core European and Middle East markets, the trading company said on Tuesday. The U.S. bank and its peers JPMorgan Chase & Co, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs have been selling their physical commodity interests after the U.S. Federal Reserve and other regulators increased scrutiny of Wall Street's involvement in the sector in past few years.
Saudi Aramco taps JPMorgan, M.Stanley for IPO
Listing of Aramco could raise up to $100 billion. Oil giant Saudi Aramco has asked JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley to assist with its upcoming mammoth IPO and could call on another bank with access to Chinese investors, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. The U.S. banks have joined boutique investment bank Moelis & Co in being tapped for coveted roles in what is expected to be the world's biggest intial public offering worth some $100 billion.
Petrobras Tests Investor Sentiment with $6.75 Bln Bond Sale
State-controlled Petróleo Brasileiro SA raised $6.75 billion on Tuesday through a sale of five- and 10-year dollar-denominated bonds, in a closely watched return to global capital markets after the suspension of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. The bond sale is the first by any Brazilian company since last June and the first to test investor sentiment toward Brazil since Rousseff was removed from office last week to face an impeachment trial.
JPMorgan sees Sharp Rise in Precarious O&G Loans
JPMorgan Chase & Co disclosed on Friday that its "criticized" loans to the oil and gas industry more than doubled in the first three months of the year. Criticized oil and gas loans, which are defined by regulators as doubtful, substandard or deserving of special mention, rose to $9.7 billion at the end of March from $4.5 billion at the end of December, according to a quarterly filing the company made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
US Shale Firms Squeezed by Tightening Credit
Nearly two years into an epic oil rout, U.S. shale drillers that have upended global energy markets are finally feeling a credit squeeze as banks make their biggest cuts yet to their loans. Every six months, oil and gas producers and their banks negotiate how much credit they should be given based on the value of their reserves in the ground. In previous reviews, banks were willing to offer borrowers some leeway…
JPMorgan to Increase Oil & Gas Loan Loss Reserves
JPMorgan Chase & Co expects to increase its reserves to cover potential oil and gas loan losses by over 60 percent in this quarter, according to slides released by the bank ahead of its 2016 investor day on Tuesday. The bank expects to set aside an additional $500 million for oil and gas loans in the first quarter, on top of the $815 million it had at the end of 2015. JPMorgan had also…
Total to Pay $3.6 Mln to Settle CFTC Manipulation Charge
A North American unit of French oil company Total SA and a trader agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle charges of attempted manipulation of the U.S. natural gas market, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Monday. Total Gas & Power North America Inc and Therese Tran, formerly known as Therese Nguyen, settled charges of attempted manipulation of monthly index settlement…
JPMorgan Power Market Manipulation Case Dismissed
A federal judge in California has dismissed a class action lawsuit that accused JPMorgan Chase & Co of racketeering and manipulation of the state's electricity market. The ruling on Monday said that California ratepayers could not sue JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has exclusive authority to address violations of the Federal Power Act.
US Regulators Allege Total Rigged Natgas Market for 3 Years
U.S. federal energy regulators extended their years-long effort to crack down on a contested form of market manipulation on Tuesday, alleging that French firm Total SA and two of its traders rigged southwestern natural gas prices for years. In a brief notification posted on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's website, Total was alleged to have made intentionally losing trades - known…
JP Morgan Hires Two Oil and Gas Bankers
U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co has hired two bankers, Mark Deverka and Jonathan Sloan, to expand its coverage of oil and gas in Houston, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Friday. Deverka and Sloan join from Catalyst Energy Advisors, a company Deverka founded and where Sloan was serving as chief financial officer until their hire by JP Morgan. A JP Morgan representative confirmed the contents of the memo.
Odebrecht Considers Bond Buyback
Odebrecht SA, Brazil's largest engineering firm, is analyzing whether buying back some of its bonds is possible without triggering a credit rating downgrade, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analysts led by Marcela Nagib wrote in a note that Odebrecht has not repurchased bonds in the market or made a tender offer as rating companies may consider a tender offer below par as selective default.
Tankers Idle at Big Stone, Puzzling Some
Late last November, the tanker Olympic Flag carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude dropped anchor about 7 miles off the coast in Delaware Bay, a seemingly routine shipment destined for a nearby Philadelphia refinery. What happened next was anything but routine. Instead of discharging its cargo within days and heading off for the next port, the ship idled offshore for nearly 11 weeks…
Senator Levin Seeks Limits on Commodity Trading
U.S. Senator Carl Levin has introduced a bill seeking to crack down on trading on inside information in physical commodities, the first U.S. legislation limiting Wall Street banks' ability to deal in physical markets from crude oil to aluminum. The bill, sponsored by the Michigan Democrat and co-sponsored with Republican John McCain, is seen as Levin's parting swipe at Wall Street before he retires in January.
JPMorgan Hires Former Glencore Crude Trader
JPMorgan Chase & Co has hired Edwin Tay, formerly with Glencore, as a senior crude oil trader in Singapore, industry sources said on Wednesday. Tay starts with the U.S. bank in January, they said. JPMorgan declined comment. JPMorgan completed the sale of its multibillion-dollar physical commodities unit to Mercuria last year. The divestment was due to rising regulatory and political pressure in the United States while the bank wanted to focus on its core business of lending.
In Gazprom Deal, JPMorgan Takes on Business
When JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to lead a $700 million bond offering for Russian gas producer Gazprom OAO, it was doing business that some U.S. banks are afraid to do, several lawyers and a banker said. Gazprom faces U.S. sanctions after the U.S. government widened its restrictions against Russia in September. U.S. companies are prohibited from providing goods or technology to Gazprom and others…
JP Morgan Sells Commodity Trading Arm to Mercuria
JPMorgan Chase & Co has completed the sale of its physical commodities unit to Mercuria, the fast-growing Swiss trading house said on Friday as it expands into metals and North American markets to enter the top league of commodities traders. The deal, announced last March, was originally valued at $3.5 billion but the price decreased to around $800 million because Mercuria bought less metals and oil in JPMorgan's storage, sources close to the deal said.
U.S. Merchant Bank Buys Aging Newfoundland Refinery
A New York-based commodities merchant bank run by veteran energy traders, Neal Shear and Kaushik Amin, announced on Friday plans to buy the aging Come by Chance refinery in Newfoundland from South Korea's state-run oil company. Korea National Oil Corp said it will sell the 115,000-barrel-per-day refinery to SilverRange Financial Partners LLC for an undisclosed price following a months-long search to find a buyer. The deal also includes 53 gas stations and convenience stores.
More Banks Join Syndicate Credit Facility to Brazil Power Sector
Another five commercial lenders agreed to join a syndicate of banks that will extend an additional 6.58 billion reais ($2.9 billion) in emergency credit to Brazilian electricity distributors as drought causes power rates to soar, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. The new banks include JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Credit Suisse Group AG, banco do Estado de Rio Grande do Sul SA, and state bank Banco do Brasilia, the ministry said in a statement.
