Restructuring Areva Attracts Chinese Interest
Areva has attracted the interest of three Chinese groups in its technology and parts of its business as the loss-making, majority state-owned French nuclear reactor company restructures, Le Journal du Dimanche reported. China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) are open to all forms of cooperation, including joint ventures and taking stakes in Areva, the Sunday newspaper said. Dongfang Electric Corp (DEC)…
PDVSA's Oil Revenue Slips 7.6 pct in 2014
Venezuelan oil company PDVSA's revenue from oil and fuel sales dropped by roughly 7.6 percent in 2014 from the previous year, hurt by a fall in crude prices, the state company reported on Saturday. Revenue from sales declined to around $105.3 billion, according to a company document published in Venezuelan newspaper Ultimas Noticias. Its total revenue for last year was also down by around 4.4 percent to $128.4 billion. Economists tend to focus on PDVSA's revenue because of its multibillion-dollar contributions to anti-poverty campaigns…
Coal Workers March in Berlin in Protest Against Climate Tax
Thousands of coal miners and workers in coal-fired plants marched in Berlin on Saturday to protest a proposed levy on the oldest, most polluting power stations, saying it could lead to massive job losses and the decline of the industry in Germany. Germany is wrestling with how to safeguard its energy supply while sticking to tough goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and exit nuclear power two years after that. The…
UAE Says OPEC Will Take "Appropriate Decision"
The United Arab Emirates energy minister said OPEC countries would deal with the current fall in oil prices and would take the "appropriate decision", the state WAM news agency reported on Monday. WAM said Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui did not elaborate on the nature or kind of decision that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will take when they meet in Vienna on Nov. 27. WAM also cited Mazroui as saying that lower oil prices "will not constitute a disaster for the UAE"…
Spot Prices Fall on Less Demand, Weather, More Renewables
Forecasts for lower electricity demand over the weekend, higher temperatures and a pick-up in renewable power supply sent central and southeastern Europe spot power prices lower on Friday, traders said. On regional exchanges, Czech and Slovak electricity for delivery on Saturday declined more than 24 percent to 33.48 euros ($41.63) per megawatt-hour (MWh), while Hungarian and Romanian spot fell by nearly 6 percent to 41.68 euros and 40.67 euros, respectively.
Global LNG-Prices Slide as Australia, Nigeria Offer Fresh Supply
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices extended losses this week as demand in December and January flat-lined, which is likely to have reduced interest for two sell tenders by Australia and Nigeria. Spot LNG prices <LNG-AS> for January delivery fell 70 cents week-on-week to around $10.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on Friday, while prices for December delivery dropped to $9.85 per mmBtu. Pockets of demand from Indian and Chinese buyers could not hold back the sell-off, which extended for a fifth straight week, traders said.
Less Demand, More Renewables Push Down Spot Prices
Forecasts for lower electricity consumption heading into the weekend and expectations for a pick-up in renewable supply pushed spot power prices lower in central and southeastern Europe on Thursday, traders said. On regional exchanges, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian electricity for delivery on Friday fell 6 percent to 44.20 euros ($55.44), while Romanian day-ahead power dropped 7 percent to 43.09 euros. On Wednesday, Romania linked its day-ahead market with those of the Czech Republic…
Total Expects to Start Producing Azeri Gas at Apsheron in 2021
French oil firm Total expects to start production at Azerbaijan's Apsheron gas field in the Caspian Sea in 2021, a senior company official said, boosting the ex-Soviet republic's potential as a major gas exporter. Total and Azeri state energy company SOCAR formed a joint venture in 2009 to explore and develop the Apsheron field, which has estimated reserves of 350 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas and 45 tonnes of gas condensate. "The final investment decision is expected to be made in the fourth quarter of 2017…
Firms Developing Cyprus Gas Field Raise Reserve Estimate
The reserve estimate for the Aphrodite natural gas field offshore Cyprus has been raised by 12 percent, and most of the gas is likely to be exported, Israeli firms involved in the project said. The new estimate given for the natural gas field is 4.54 trillion cubic feet (tcf). The estimate for condensate, a liquid byproduct of natural gas, was also raised to 9 million barrels from a previous estimate of 8.1 million, two Israeli firms said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Santander Ends Ex-IMF Chief Rato's Contract
Spain's Santander is disbanding its 12-strong international advisory board, a spokesman said on Friday, in a move that ends ex-IMF chief Rodrigo Rato's tenure at the bank and is the highest-profile decision yet from new boss Ana Botin. Rato, who served as head of the International Monetary Fund, as Spain's economy minister and who ran lender Bankia until its state rescue in 2012, was hired by Santander as an adviser in September 2013. He was…
German Green Power Capacity Seen Rising 23% by 2019
Germany's renewable energy power capacity is set to rise by 23 percent between 2015 and 2019, while related costs rise by over a fifth, data from its transmission grid firms showed on Friday. The annually released data showed progress in the planned move to a low-carbon economy but also illustrated the cost to society in the debate over the future of green power subsidies. Green power accounted for 28.5 percent of all power consumed in Germany in the first half of 2014.
Will the Saudis Drive U.S. Shale Out of Business?
There has always been a close link between U.S. oil production, international prices and OPEC, so it should come as no surprise that North America's shale drillers find themselves locked in a battle with Saudi Arabia over prices and market share. Until the 1950s, the United States accounted for more than half of all global oil production. Big finds such as Oklahoma's Glenn Pool (1905) and the East Texas field (1930) drove oil price changes around the rest of the world.
Central European Spot Power Mixed as Prices Converge
Central European day-ahead power prices converged on Tuesday as limited nuclear supply lifted Czech and Slovak prices, while increased import capacity helped push Hungarian prompt power lower, traders said. On regional exchanges, Czech electricity for Wednesday rose 18 percent to 41.87 euros ($52) per megawatt-hour, Slovak day-ahead climbed 17 percent to 41.87 euros and Hungarian prompt power fell 8 percent to 41.87 euros. Hungarian prices have been trading at a premium in recent months…
Brent Oil Falls to $82/bbl, Reaches Four-year Low
Brent crude fell to $82 per barrel on Tuesday as a firm dollar and robust production from U.S. shale fields outweighed a drop in Libyan output, although it recovered in part from a four-year low early in the day. The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies and hit a seven-year high against the yen, suppressing demand for oil and other dollar-priced commodities by making them more expensive in other currencies. But a supply shock in Libya…
Forward Prices Driven Up By CO2, Coal, Forecasts
Europe's forward power curve on Monday afternoon rose due to gains in coal and carbon prices and to forecasts that cold temperatures will set in from next month, traders said. Germany's Cal 15 baseload power rose 40 cents or 1 percent to 34.70 euros a megawatt hour, the highest in five weeks. The equivalent French contract, Cal '15 baseload, was up 15 cents at 42.65 euros/MWh. "Coal has rebounded, and a cold winter, if sustained, would boost the year-ahead power position," one trader said.
Ailing Industry Kills Welsh Refinery
Europe's refiners face stiff competition from Asia, U.S. U.S. company Murphy Oil tried for more than four years to sell its Milford Haven refinery in Wales. The plant was finally doomed last week when a deal with entrepreneur Gary Klesch fell through because he could not secure financing. Banks were not convinced Klesch's plans to buy Britain's smallest and least sophisticated plant were viable, sources familiar with the transaction said. The 135…
Prompt Prices Fall on Lower Weekend Consumption
Central European day-ahead power fell on Friday as typically low demand at the weekend outweighed the effect of cooling temperatures, traders said. On regional exchanges, Czech and Slovak electricity for Saturday fell 28 percent to 27.34 euros ($33.92) per megawatt hour, while day-ahead on Hungary's HUPX declined 12 percent to 45.04 euros. Hungarian spot prices have traded well above their Czech and Slovak counterparts in recent months because of limited import capacity and power plant outages.
Cat-and-Mouse Game Seen in Bid for CAT Oil
Austrian fracking specialist CAT oil appealed to a little known offshore bidder to reveal its intentions and strategy for the German-listed group, showing how investors can cloak their identities and make bids difficult to assess. British Virgin Islands-based Joma Industrial Source said last week it had amassed an indirect 47.7 percent voting stake in CAT oil and would make a mandatory cash offer to other shareholders, as required by Austrian law. CAT oil specialises in boosting the productivity of wells via hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking".
Australian Coal Prices Edge Lower on Weak Demand
Australian thermal coal prices edged lower on Monday due to weak demand from China and oversupply in the global coal market. Cargoes for delivery in December from Australia's Newcastle terminal fell 45 cents to $63.00 a tonne on Monday afternoon. Cargos for delivery in January fell 50 cents to $63.50 a tonne. "There isn't much demand around for coal, but there is still plenty of supply, so I would expect prices to continue to drift lower," a coal trader said.
Argentina: The Most Attractive Shale Play Outside US
Cristina Fernandez, president of Argentina, is the sort of populist political leader financial markets love to hate. For business interests and the media, she has become an archetypal villain, a symbol of everything that has gone wrong with the country's economy over the last century. Extreme political polarisation, serial defaults, devaluations, hyper-inflation and expropriations of foreign property, culminating in the nationalisation of oil company YPF in 2012 and a standoff with the U.S.
