Latest News
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Metinvest, a Ukrainian steelmaker, receives coking coal from the US
The company announced on Tuesday that Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest had received the first shipment of U.S. coal to compensate for the suspension in production at Ukraine's sole coking coal mine. Metinvest's United Coal Company in the U.S. delivered 80,000 tons of coal via its bulk carrier Bison, according to a company statement. Metinvest stated that "this shipment is intended to support the sustainable steelmaking activities of the Group in Ukraine after the suspension of Pokrovsk Coal's operations." The company said it was expecting one vessel to carry 80,000 tons per month of U.S. coal coking "to cover a share of demand at Zaporizhstal JV" and Kamet Steel. Metinvest has suspended its operations at the coking coal mine it operates in Pokrovsk, in eastern Ukraine. The company cited a deteriorating situation in security as Russian forces advanced. The Ukrainian Steel Producers' Union reported last month that despite the loss in coking coal production from Pokrovsk during the first two-month period of 2025, the country still produced more steel. (Reporting and editing by Mark Potter.)
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NextDecade signs a 20-year agreement with Aramco for the supply of LNG from Rio Grande.
NextDecade, a U.S. producer of liquefied gas, announced on Tuesday that it had signed a 20-year agreement with a Saudi Aramco subsidiary to supply supercooled gas from its Rio Grande plant. The Aramco subsidiary is expected to purchase 1.2 millions tonnes of LNG per year from Train 4 in Rio Grande, which will be its fourth liquefaction plant, if the final investment decision on the facility is positive. In declaring a state of energy emergency, President Donald Trump promised to unleash American power. This strategy includes a growth in LNG exports. In March, the country exported more than 9 millions metric tons of LNG. NextDecade has been developing the Rio Grande LNG Export Plant for several years and has suffered repeated delays. Its phase 1 is expected to be completed by early 2029, at a cost of approximately $18 billion. The company has made an FID for the construction of the first three liquefaction trains at the project by 2023. The statement said that a positive FID for Train 4 was subject to "entering into appropriate commercial agreements and obtaining sufficient financing to build Train 4 and its related infrastructure". (Reporting and editing by Anil D’Silva in Bengaluru, Shilpa Majumdar, and Tanay Dhumal)
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Orlen wants to sell 1 billion cubic meters of gas to Ukraine before September, according to sources
Two sources familiar with the matter said that Orlen, a Polish company, aims to deliver 10 LNG cargoes to Ukraine in 2010, as Kyiv tries to fill its gas storage facilities before winter. After Russian shelling, Ukraine has been left with nearly empty storage facilities and damaged production equipment. It is now looking to expand its gas transit routes, and purchase large volumes of U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) via Germany, Greece and Poland. Sources said Orlen includes gas supplied by the United States. The United States has called for Europe to purchase more energy from it and provides important military and financial assistance to Ukraine. Orlen wants up to 10 cargoes or 1 billion cubic meters (bcm), of gas to be sold to Ukraine before September. This includes two cargoes that have already been sold to the state-controlled Naftogaz. One of the sources stated that Orlen, in addition to Naftogaz is also discussing the issue of liquefied natural gas supply with Ukraine's biggest private energy company DTEK. Orlen is planning to buy cargoes on the spot market for Ukraine, according to the source. DTEK Orlen Naftogaz all declined to comment. Orlen's production of gas grew by 20% in the last year, thanks to increased production in Norway. Orlen, with its LNG import contracts, pipeline capacity and reserved regasification, has more gas available than Poland's own consumption. The existing interconnector will have a capacity increase by the beginning of 2026, allowing Poland to supply gas to Ukraine up to 7 million cubic meters (mcm). The Ukraine needs to import LNG at least four billion cubic meters for the heating season 2025/26. (Reporting and editing by David Goodman, Pavel Polityuk, and Marek Strzelecki)
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Jordan purchases approximately 60,000 tons wheat at tender, traders claim
Jordan's state grain buyer bought about 60,000 metric tonnes of hard milling from optional origins at an international auction on Tuesday, traders reported. They said that it was estimated to have been purchased from Cargill for $264 per ton, including freight (c&f), with shipment scheduled to take place in the first half August. The traders said that these other trading firms participated in the tender on Tuesday, and their offers per ton C&F were: Viterra $275, Al Dahra 274; CHS $265.70. Traders have received information that Jordan is planning to issue a tender for 120,000 tonnes of wheat in the next few days. Offers will be due on April 15 with shipments expected in different combinations between July and August. On Wednesday, a separate Jordanian bid for 120,000 tonnes of animal feed barley will also be closed. The reports reflect the assessments of traders. Further estimates on prices and volume are possible in the future. Reporting by Michael Hogan, Editing by David Goodman
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Snam, the Italian company, is considering increasing its stake in Open Grid Europe (Germany).
Luca Passa said that Snam is considering increasing its stake in Germany's largest independent Gas Transmission Operator Open Grid Europe (OGE), which it recently acquired. Why it Matters Snam purchased a 24.99% share in Vier Gas Holding on Monday, which is the owner of OGE. The equity value was 920 million euro ($1.0 billion). Snam will enter the German gas market - the largest in Europe by volume - with this deal, which is expected to close during the third quarter of the year. The Investment Authority of Abu Dhabi, which is the sole owner of Infinity Investments Investment Vehicle Company, acquired its stake. KEY QUOTES "(The purchase) is just a beginning." Passa, a Passa analyst on Tuesday, said that they would also be watching the attitudes of other shareholders. He added, "We'll consider it but also want to see the evolution of the regulatory framework in Germany," in response to a query about a potential stake increase. By the Numbers Snam announced on Tuesday that the 24.99% stake will increase Snam’s net income between 2026-2029 by approximately 40 million euros or 2-3% per year. The company said that its adjusted earnings per share would increase by around 1 percent over the same time period. WHAT'S NEXT? The Italian company stated that OGE will assist Snam in expanding its presence along current and future energy corridors. Stefano Venier, the Chief Executive Officer of Snam, said that the company was planning to expand in Europe. He stated the group would target "the southernmost area of the Mediterranean region and not expand into other parts of world." The dollar is worth 0.9155 euro (Additional reporting and editing by Emelia Sithole Matarise).
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The oil loadings at Russia's western port ports fell by 6% between April 1-15
Data from trade sources and calculations show that oil loadings in Russia's western port over the period April 1-15 will fall by 125,000 barrels a day (bpd), compared to the same period last March, to around 1.86 million bpd. Calculations showed that the daily decline in exports and transits of Urals, KEBCO, and Siberian Light grades of oil from Primorsk to Ust-Luga, Novorossiisk and Novorossiisk during the first 15 April days will be 6%. As some refineries are undergoing repairs following drone attacks in March and February, Russia's oil output in April may fall below the March level. This means that more crude oil will be allocated to domestic plants in advance of the peak season demand for motor fuels. Traders said that the Russian oil loadings may pick up in the second half April, eventually reaching March levels, and even beyond. Calculations based on LSEG data and other sources show that Russia's total offline primary crude oil refining capability in April could fall by 320,000 bpd, to 2.137 millions metric tons. This is down from 3.58million tons in March. Reporting by Kim Coghill; Editing by Kim Coghill
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Barrick's Reko Diq Project in Pakistan seeks new funding
Barrick Gold’s Reko Diq gold and copper project in Pakistan plans to secure up to $2 billion from international lenders. Term sheets will be signed in early Q3, according the project director of the mine. The funding will be used to support the development and expansion of Reko Diq, one of the largest copper-gold deposits in the world. It is expected that the mine can generate free cash flows of $70 billion, as well as operating cash flows of $90 billion. The project is jointly owned by Barrick Gold, the government of Pakistan, and the government of Balochistan. Multiple lenders are currently in discussions with the project's financing team to discuss phase one, which will start production by 2028. Tim Cribb said that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and International Development Association are looking to invest $650 million in the Reko Diq mine. Cribb said that the mine was also in discussions with the U.S. Export-Import Bank for a $500 million to $1billion in financing as well as 500 million from institutions of development finance including the Asian Development Bank Export Development Canada and Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Cribb said, "We anticipate closing the term sheet either in late Q2 early Q3." He said that railway financing discussions are currently underway with IFC and other financiers, with estimated infrastructure costs of $500-800 millions, with approximately $350 million being the initial cost. Recent feasibility studies have upgraded the scope of the project. Phase one throughput has increased to 45 million tonnes per year from 40 millions, and phase 2 throughput to 90 million tons from 80 million. A revised mine life of 37 years has been set due to increased throughput. However, the company believes that unaccounted for minerals could extend this to 80 years. The cost for phase one was also revised up to $5.6 billion, from $4 billion. Over the next 10 years, the World Bank will invest $2 billion per year in Pakistan's infrastructure. Cribb stated that the lenders will be expected to sign offtake agreements with countries such as Japan, Korea and Sweden, who are seeking copper supplies to supply their industries. Reporting by Ariba Sharif in Karachi, editing by David Evans
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The German LNG import terminals
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, Germany has sought to import liquefied gas (LNG), to replace Russian gas piped to Germany. The first step was to deploy floating storage units (FSRUs), which receive seaborne LNG. Longer term, it planned shore-based regasification facilities and terminals to import and manufacture ammonia and clean hydrogen. Here are the latest updates: MUKRAN Gascade's OAL pipeline supplies the terminal on Ruegen Island in Baltic Sea with LNG. The private operator Deutsche ReGas began a three-month bid round on April 4 to expand Mukran’s long-term capacity for regasification by offering 5 bcm extra per year between 2027 and 2043. ReGas currently only uses the FSRU Neptune of Norwegian operator Hoegh at Mukran. ReGas had cancelled a second FSRU in February due to low utilisation. ReGas said that it is struggling to compete with the fees offered by DET, the state-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH, to attract cargoes to terminals in the North Sea, which are more west-lying and under DET's supervision, while German LNG sales are generally slow. It also stated that it would stick to its plans of restarting a 2nd FSRU, and restoring Mukran’s full capacity (13.5 bcm per year) by 2027. LUBMIN ReGas signed a 2024 agreement with Hoegh to convert the Baltic Sea port (a precursor of Mukran) into an ammonia/hydrogen terminal. Hanseatic Energy Hub took a final decision in 2024 to invest in a terminal that is ammonia ready and will be located at the Elbe River inland port. The terminal should start operating in 2027. The terminal will cost approximately 1 billion euro ($1.09 billion). The employment of the FSRU Energos Force, which was to last until 2027 before the onshore terminal starts operations, has been delayed until further notice. This is because DET and HEH have cancelled their contracts after they could not resolve disputes over construction schedules and payment. WILHELMSHAVEN Utility Uniper launched Germany’s first FSRU operations, Wilhelmshaven 1 on the North Sea in 2022. Uniper has plans to build a 200-MW electrolyser that will be powered by local wind energy and a land based ammonia reception terminal. DET has stated that there are plans to build a second FSRU in Wilhelmshaven, but it did not specify a date for commissioning. BRUNSBUETTEL Brunsbuettel FSRU began operations in 2023 along the North Sea Coast. It was initially chartered by RWE and operated by its trading arm, before being handed over to DET. The facility is a precursor to a land-based Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant that has been approved for 40 million euro of state assistance. The terminal could begin operations by the end of 2026 when an adjacent ammonia facility, which was recently inaugurated, could also be operational. $1 = 0.9147 euro (Reporting and editing by Vera Eckert, Aidan Lewis and Jason Neely).
Norway's wealth fund can begin offering Russian stocks, finance ministry states
Norway's $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, can begin selling stocks it holds in Russian companies, as long as it complies with worldwide sanctions, the deputy finance minister told Reuters on Friday.
Permission to offer the fund's Russian stocks is given on the condition that the sale can be carried out in line with suitable sanctions, Ellen Reitan said in an email.
The Norwegian finance ministry bought a halt to all deals in the fund's Russian properties soon after Moscow's. invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and stated at the time that. the ultimate goal was to divest its holdings.
The fund has actually up until now been not able from unloading Russian. properties because it is not allowed to offer to counterparties. under U.S. or EU sanctions.
On Wednesday, the reserve bank, which handles the fund,. asked the Norwegian finance ministry for consent to offer. parts of its Russian portfolio when possible, saying separated. transactions if and when divestment chances emerge is. currently the only method to sell parts of the portfolio.
Wednesday's letter did not state if the fund had actually discovered. buyers it might offer to.
Norway's fund, which holds the windfall generated by its oil. and gas production, owns 1.5% of all worldwide listed shares in. business.
Moscow thinks about U.S. and EU sanctions a type of economic. warfare, and states contacts us to divest Russian properties are hostile. acts of unfriendly states.
Philip Gabunia, deputy governor of Russia's reserve bank,. informed Reuters on Wednesday any decision to offer the assets inside. Russia would require Moscow's consent, given just with. engaging grounds.
If they want to sell in Russia, they should send a demand. to our Russian governmental commission. Only after that will the. matter be considered. Outside of Russia, they can offer to. another immigrant, however it will likewise remain frozen, Gabunia. said.
Asked about Gabunia's comment, the Norwegian deputy finance. minister did not resolve the concern in her emailed reply.
The worth of the fund's Russian equity portfolio was. approximated at just 1.5 billion crowns ($ 135 million) at the end. of June this year, the central bank has said.
The investments are across 49 Russian business, fund data. revealed, with the greatest holdings in Sberbank, Lukoil. and Gazprom, fund information showed.
That includes stocks of Russian companies listed outside. Russia, or which have a secondary listing outside Russia, which. would not require approval from Moscow.
Amongst them are Novatek, Yandex, Evraz. , Globaltrans Investments and Ozon Holdings. , fund data revealed.
In addition, the fund holds Russian roubles worth some 3.2. billion crowns in its custodian Citibank account with the. Russian National Settlement Depository
(source: Reuters)