Buildings damaged in Ecuador by earthquake of magnitude 6.3
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre reported that a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit near the coast in Ecuador on Friday. It damaged buildings in Esmeraldas, and some oil infrastructure was temporarily shut down. EMSC reported that the quake occurred at a depth between 23 km and 14.29 miles. The authorities of Ecuador have ruled out issuing a warning for a tsunami. In a preliminary government report, it was stated that one person had been injured and several homes and public buildings were damaged.
Finance Minister: Indonesia's growth in 2025 will be around 5%, despite trade tensions
Indonesia's growth will probably remain around 5% this year despite the trade tensions. The finance minister stated that a government delegation was still negotiating with Washington in order to avoid high tariffs. Minister's forecast is about the same as last year's growth rate of 5.03%. The government has set a target of 5.2% growth for this year, and President Prabowo Sulbianto has promised to raise the rate to 8% in 2029.
Indigenous groups in Peru protest Glencore's Antapaccay mine
A local leader reported that members of Indigenous communities in Peru's Cusco Region blocked access to Glencore Antapaccay Copper Mine to protest against an expansion plan. In an interview, Flavio Huanque, a community leader from the area, said that local residents began to block roads on Sunday and called for a meeting between government officials and mining companies over concerns about environmental damage caused by the expansion plan. He said that the protesters were from ten different localities.
Rubio: An attack on Exxon or Guyana would be a 'bad day for Venezuela'
Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state during a Thursday visit to Guyana’s capital, said that it would be "a bad day" if Venezuela attacked its neighbor Guyana and the U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil. Guyana and Venezuela have been locked in a longstanding dispute over which country holds the rights to the area of Esequibo, spanning 160,000 square kilometers (62,000 square miles), which is currently the subject of a case before the International Court of Justice.
Polish Cabinet approves liberalisation in wind farm regulations
Polish authorities approved on Friday a draft law that eases the rules for building onshore wind farms. This is a major step towards delivering on a promise made at 2023's election to increase power production using renewable energy sources. The new rules must be approved by the parliament. They reduce the distance between planned installations, and residential areas, but keep permitting restrictions for projects near national parks and natural protected areas.
Argentine workers strike, halting soy crushing factories
The CIARA industry association reported that on Thursday, activity was halted in Argentina's soy-processing plants as the oilseed workers union SOEA began a strike to protest layoffs and the actions of the national security forces. The strike began late Wednesday night after members of Argentina's Naval Prefecture interfered with a demonstration by biodiesel producer Explora SA, in the Rosario area, a major agribusiness center.
Commodities ignore Trump's noise and focus on fundamentals of trade: Russell
The best way to navigate the challenges that the U.S. president Donald Trump's inconsistent and erratic trade policies are posing for the global commodity markets is to ignore the noise and concentrate on the fundamentals. While the media focuses on every headline-grabbing announcement or social media post regarding new and retaliatory duties from the U.S. president and his administration the commodity markets continue to do what they have done in the past: adapting rapidly changing circumstances.
Zelenskiy: Ukraine fully committed to constructive dialog with US
The President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Saturday that Ukraine was "fully committed" in having a constructive dialog with U.S. officials next week in Saudi Arabia about ways to end Russia's war. Since taking office as U.S. president Donald Trump in January, he has suspended U.S. military assistance to Ukraine and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. He accused Zelenskiy that he was not serious about reaching an agreement with Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2013 and has taken over 20% of the country's territory.
Russians warned not to panic about a 'gas cloud" in a city near a plant that was struck by Ukraine
The Governor of Russia's Astrakhan Region told its residents to not panic after the main city was covered in a natural gas cloud on Wednesday. Its main city is located near a large gas chemical complex which was attacked this week by Ukrainian drones. The gas smelled by the public was caused by the restart of production at a plant in the south of the city of Astrakhan. Astrakhan has about 475,000 residents. "Dear Citizens, this morning, the city was covered with a cloud that smelled like natural gas.
Senate confirms Chris Wright, a fracking executive, as Trump's Energy Secretary
The U.S. Senate confirmed Chris Wright as President Donald Trump's Energy Secretary on Monday. Wright is a fracking executive. Seven Democrats and an Independent who caucuses alongside Democrats crossed the aisle. Wright, 60 years old, has been the CEO of Liberty Energy, since 2011. He announced that he would step down as soon as the confirmation was received. In a Liberty Energy report published last year, he wrote…
Senate Committee moves Trump's energy & interior nominees to the floor
The U.S. Senate Energy Committee approved Donald Trump's nominees for the U.S. Department of Interior and Energy. The U.S. Senate energy committee approved President Donald Trump's picks to lead the United States on Thursday.The panel approved former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as the U.S. Department of Interior's new director and for a national council on energy to be formed to increase oil and gas production.The committee also approved Chris Wright…
Nordic countries debate energy policy after spikes in power prices
On Thursday, the hourly electricity prices in certain parts of Scandinavia reached record levels. They were tenfold higher in some cases than average, due to cold weather and lower wind power production. This prompted politicians to suggest a change in energy policy. In Denmark, the price per megawatt-hour (MWh) for an hour starting at 1600 GMT has risen to 936 Euros. South-western Norway and Southern Sweden have seen prices above 700 Euros/MWh.
As the gas transit dispute escalates, Ukraine's Zelenskiy lashes out at Slovak Prime Minister Fico
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico of opening a second energy front against Ukraine at the behest of Russia as the dispute over gas transit between the two countries intensified. Ukraine currently pumps Russian gas to Slovakia and other European countries through its territory. However, the current transit agreement - which was signed before Moscow invaded Ukraine - will expire at the end this year.
Cuba's electrical grid is back online but generation still lagged
Cuba announced late Wednesday that it had reconnected the national electrical grid. However, production remained well below demand a day after an outage caused by a power plant knocked millions of people off their electricity. Cuba's Energy and Mines minister Vicente de la O Levy announced on X on Wednesday that the grid had been restored just before midnight. The National Electric Union (UNE), however, announced on social media that it was "serving in" 880 MW to the system.
Hungary: US exemption of gas payments from Russia Gazprombank sanctioned
In a video on social media, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto stated that the United States had granted exemptions for gas payments from the sanctions they imposed against Russia's Gazprombank. The U.S. implemented sanctions against Gazprombank in November, creating a barrier for European gas buyers. Gazprombank was used by buyers to pay for their purchases. Hungary, which relies primarily on Russian oil, gas and other energy sources, requested an exemption from the U.S.
British Business – Nov 11,
These are the most popular stories in the British business pages. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports. A government investigation into the dieselgate scandal has led to the suspicion that 47 car models from 20 different brands, manufactured by 11 different manufacturers, are more polluting than previously thought. These cars could be recalled. The government is…
Stocks in the US react differently to Trump's first official day as president
Tesla, prison operators, and other "Trump trades", were volatile Tuesday as investors analyzed a flurry of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump just hours after taking his oath. Trump announced his plans to increase oil production, reduce immigration and impose tariffs on Monday as he began his second term as president of the United States. Investors braced themselves for increased volatility under Trump 2.0 as some "Trump Trades"…
New York City dismisses climate change lawsuit against Exxon BP Shell
A judge dismissed New York City’s lawsuit against Exxon Mobil and BP for misrepresenting their products and commitment to renewable energy, as well as their fight against climate change. Anar Patel, a state Supreme Court justice, ruled on Tuesday that the city cannot claim to have climate-conscious citizens, but then let them down by oil companies who fail to disclose the contribution of their fossil fuels to climate change.
Where will Trump's trade with China lead commodities in 2025? Russell
In 2025, Donald Trump's return as U.S. president and China's stagnant economy will influence global commodity markets. The only certainty is that there will be volatility, and many factors acting in opposite directions. In 2025, it will be harder to predict the prices of major commodities, such as crude oil and liquefied gas, ore like iron ore, coal, and metals, such as copper. Consider, for example, Trump's signature promise during his campaign: tariffs.
Ukraine drones target ethanol plants in Russia, Telegram channels say
Russian channels on Telegram said that Ukrainian drones attacked ethanol plants in Russia’s southern region Voronezh. The regional governor confirmed the report, saying the attack caused two injuries, ignited a fire, and damaged two industries. Alexander Gusev said that the regional governor Alexander Gusev confirmed on Telegram that firefighters had extinguished the fire which injured two workers in the Anninsky District of the region.
