Latest News
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Two Russian airports briefly stop operations, air travel guard dog states
Russia's Kazan airport has temporarily stopped flight arrivals and departures, Russia's. aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said through the Telegram messaging. app on Saturday, following a Ukrainian drone attack on the city. Russian state news firms reported the drone attack on a. domestic complex in Kazan, a city some 500 miles (800 km). east of Moscow. The TASS firm stated eight drone strikes had. been tape-recorded including six on domestic structures. There were no casualties reported, companies stated, citing. regional authorities. The Baza Telegram channel, which is close to Russia's. security services, released unverified video footage revealing an. aerial things crashing into a skyscraper, producing a. big fireball. Rosaviatsia stated it was also presenting temporary. restrictions at the airport in Izhevsk, a smaller sized city northeast. of Kazan.
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Venture Global, a LNG producer, files an IPO at the NYSE
Venture Global, the United States' largest producer of liquefied gas, filed on Friday for what could become one of the world's largest initial public offering next year. According to the filing, the LNG producer intends to list its Class-A common shares on NYSE under the symbol "VG". In November, it was reported that Arlington, Virginia based company planned to raise approximately $3 billion through its New York IPO. LSEG data shows that the cold storage giant Lineage’s $4.44 billion New York IPO and Hyundai Motor India’s $3.33 trillion Mumbai IPO were the two largest listings in this year. The company intends to use a portion of the proceeds towards general business purposes including funding operations. The company stated in its filing that Venture Global Partners II, LLC, Robert Pender, and Michael Sabel, Venture's co-chairmen and founders, will continue to control more than half of the voting power after the IPO. Sabel is the CEO of the company. According to the filing, Goldman Sachs & Co. J.P. Morgan and BofA Securities are amongst the underwriters of the IPO. Venture Global, founded 11 years ago, has already risen to the top of U.S. Natural Gas exporters. It competes with larger rivals Cheniere Energy Freeport LNG, and Sempra. Venture Global operates two plants in Louisiana. Its second plant at Plaquemines achieved its first LNG production only last week. The company reported revenues for the nine-month period ended September 30, which was down from $6.27 billion a year ago. (Reporting from Ananya Marym Rajesh in Bengaluru, Leroy Leo, and Prakhar Shrivastava; editing by Vijay Kishore).
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United States government shutdown could cost travel sector $1 billion per week, interfere with vacation travel
A partial federal government shutdown could cost the U.S. travel industry $1 billion weekly and cause widespread disturbances for travelers, a trade group representing airline companies, hotels and other travel business stated on Friday. An extended government shutdown threatens holiday travel disturbances that Americans won't endure, stated U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman. On Thursday, the head of the Transport Security Administration alerted an extended partial U.S. government shutdown could result in longer wait times at airports. TSA expects to evaluate a record 40 million guests over the vacations after setting records over the Thanksgiving vacation. Fitch Scores said on Friday that a shutdown could also cause non-material functional disruptions at airports with non-essential FAA and TSA worker furloughed. TSA, which manages airport security screening, said about 59,000 of its 62,000 employees are thought about vital and would continue working without pay in case of a shutdown that would begin on Saturday unless the government reaches a. funding deal. Air traffic controllers and TSA officers are amongst the. federal government workers who would be needed to keep working but. would not be paid. It's difficult to see how anybody in Congress wins if they force. TSA employees, air traffic controllers, and other necessary. employees to work without pay during among the busiest travel. durations of the year, stated Freeman of the travel association. whose members include United Airlines, Marriott,. American Airlines and Hertz The group said a study found 60% of Americans would. consider altering their travel plans if a government shutdown. occurs, with many picking to cancel or prevent flights. completely. Without a deal, the Federal Air Travel Administration. estimated it would need to furlough more than 17,000 workers. and halt training of air traffic controllers. In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the variety of. lacks by controllers and TSA officers increased as workers missed out on. paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports. The. FAA was forced to slow air traffic in New York, putting pressure. on lawmakers to lastly end the standoff.
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U.S. crude exports to Europe anticipated to fall in Jan as shipping economics weaken
U.S. crude oil exports to northwest Europe are most likely to slip early next year after hitting a record high in November, as the arbitrage for transatlantic shipments has knocked shut and freight rates have climbed, analysts stated today. The spread between U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude and Brent futures has actually narrowed to a discount rate of around $3.40 per barrel over the last couple of sessions, closing at its narrowest point on Wednesday since October 2023 at minus $3.37. per barrel. A narrower spread makes it less economic to deliver. barrels from the U.S. across the Atlantic. The spread last. traded at minus $3.44 per barrel throughout Friday's session. A discount of $4, in my opinion, is constantly the line in. the sand in between a big export number versus a small export. number, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. The tighter spread comes as freight rates have increased and. stocks in the U.S. have fallen. Crude stocks at the key storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma -. have dropped to 23 million barrels, their lowest mid-December. level in 17 years. The decrease in stockpiles indicates U.S. barrels are being. priced to stay at home. At the end of November, the WTI/Brent spread had broadened to. approximately $4.50 per barrel, motivating more flows throughout the. Atlantic Ocean to higher priced markets and driving U.S. crude. exports greater. But the spike in flows may be short lived. Freight rates for. moving barrels from the U.S. Gulf Coast to northwest Europe have. climbed roughly $1 from November to around $3.80 per barrel. this month, according to information from product prices company Argus. The constricting WTI/Brent spread contributed to those. higher freight rates which are being used to price shipments for. late January arrival, according to Sparta Commodities analyst. Neil Crosby. We would expect more minimal U.S. to. Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp streams in the short-term to emerge,. Crosby said. The addition of WTI Midland crude in the outdated Brent index. has actually suggested that the spread between the two is significantly. associated to freight rates, as the cost of Dated Brent is set. by WTI Midland on lots of trading days. U.S. exports bound for Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hit a. record high of 771,000 barrels daily
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United States firm proposes to improve self-driving vehicle exemption reviews
The National Highway Traffic Security Administration on Friday proposed a brand-new process to streamline evaluations of exemptions filed by car manufacturers seeking to release selfdriving vehicles without required human controls like steering wheels or brake pedals. NHTSA has authority to grant petitions to allow as much as 2,500 automobiles per maker to run on U.S. roads without needed human controls but the firm has actually invested years examining several petitions without doing something about it. Efforts in Congress to make it simpler to deploy lorries on U.S. roadways without human controls have been stymied for many years. Car manufacturers have expressed disappointment with the company's slow reviews of autonomous cars. Under the law, totally self-driving lorries do not need NHTSA approval if they have required human controls. The market faces scrutiny after a pedestrian was seriously injured in October 2023 by a General Motors system Cruise lorry. NHTSA has actually opened a variety of investigations into self-driving vehicles consisting of Cruise , Alphabet's Waymo and Amazon.com's Zoox . The Alliance for Automotive Development, representing GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and other major automakers, said the proposal will provide a. path to significantly expand the variety of commercial AVs. operating in the U.S. We urgently require a regulative framework. for AVs in the U.S., so we do not deliver leadership to China and. other nations. Reuters and other outlets have actually reported that President-elect Donald Trump wishes to reduce implementation barriers for. self-driving automobiles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close adviser to. Trump, stated in October the car manufacturer would roll out driverless ride-hailing services in 2025. NHTSA in October opened an examination into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with full. self-driving (FSD) after four reported collisions, including a. 2023 deadly crash. In 2018, GM petitioned NHTSA to deploy approximately 2,500 cars. without steering wheels or brake pedals on U.S. roadways. In 2020,. GM withdrew the petition. GM in 2022 again looked for NHTSA approval to release automobiles without human controls. GM withdrew the petition in October. and revealed this month it would exit the Cruise robotaxi business. Ford last year withdrew its self-driving petition submitted in July 2021 with NHTSA, citing its decision to close. its self-driving venture Argo AI in 2022.
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Spire's sale of ship tracking arm raises antitrust concerns
French maritime data analytics platform Kpler wishes to buy ship tracking company Spire Maritime, whose satellite information is a crucial resource for oil traders and shipping business, but some Spire clients fear Kpler will cut them off and have raised antitrust issues to U.S. authorities, sources familiar with the matter say. The $241 million deal announced on Nov. 13 would provide Kpler control over Spire's satellites and maritime Automatic Recognition System (AIS) data stream, which tracks ships internationally, especially in the open ocean, with a refresh rate of every 15 minutes. This capability is unequaled by rivals, including Orbcomm, which has 7-10 satellites and takes about 36 hours to update. Spire's advanced innovation enables it to track tens of thousands more ships than its rivals, making it an attractive info source for various consumers consisting of freight trackers, the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence agencies. The data is likewise used by business maritime companies and commodities and energy desks at Wall Street companies who utilize it to trade oil contracts. Other clients consist of Maxar Intelligence, Polestar Global, Lloyd's List Intelligence, Windward, Vortexa, MapLarge too as shipping and cruise business, the people said. Veson Nautical, which lists Cargill and Trafigura among its clients, and ShipTracks, which serves Chevron, are amongst the analytics business that use Spire information. If the deal goes through Spire will still service existing contracts with the U.S. government for maritime data. However, the acquisition has raised concerns that software application and analytics consumers who depend on Spire's AIS information, and might compete in some applications with Kpler, might lose access to that data if the deal moves forward. Kpler has actually been actively obtaining competitors to strengthen its marine traffic and fleet tracking capabilities. There is a. worry that this vertical integration could also affect prices. and suppress development, stated the sources. Spire's data is also used in items used by LSEG Data &&. Analytics. LSEG pays Reuters for news. Kpler's acquisition spree has actually currently raised eyebrows in the. industry. Over the last few years, the business has bought up a number of. competitors including UK-based maritime data supplier. MarineTraffic and Norwegian firm Nortek. These acquisitions have. expanded Kpler's abilities and market share but have also. raised concerns about the company's growing supremacy in the. maritime information market. Kpler's acquisition of MarineTraffic, which was formerly a. major rival in the AIS information market, resulted in a loss of data. access for some analytics business that were outside Kpler's. targeted consumer base, the sources said.
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What we know about Malaysia's missing out on MH370 aircraft, 10 years on
The disappearance 10 years ago of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 with 239 people on board remains one of the world's greatest air travel secrets. The Boeing 777 went missing on its method from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Satellite data analysis revealed the plane most likely crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, off the coast of western Australia. However, two significant searches failed to come up with any considerable findings. Here are some information of the search for MH370 and the unsolved mystery of what took place: WHAT IS KNOWN? The last transmission from the plane was about 40 minutes after it removed from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah signed off with Great night, Malaysian 3 7 no, as the plane got in Vietnamese air area. Quickly afterwards, its transponder was turned off, which meant it could not be easily tracked. Military radar showed the airplane left its flight course to fly back over northern Malaysia and Penang island, and then out into the Andaman Sea towards the idea of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It then turned south and all contact was lost. UNDERSEA SEARCHES Malaysia, Australia and China released an underwater search in a 120,000 sq km (46,332 sq miles) area in the southern Indian Ocean, based on data of automatic connections in between an Inmarsat satellite and the airplane. The search, which cost about A$ 200 million ($ 143 million),. was called off after 2 years in January 2017 without any traces of. the plane discovered. In 2018, Malaysia accepted a no-cure, no-fee deal from. U.S. exploration firm Ocean Infinity for a three-month search,. indicating the business would only earn money if it found the plane. That search covered 112,000 sq km (43,243 square miles). north of the initial target location and likewise showed useless,. ending in May 2018. PARTICLES More than 30 pieces of thought airplane debris have been. gathered along the along the coast of Africa and on islands in. the Indian Ocean, however only 3 wing pieces were validated. to be from MH370. The majority of the debris were used in drift pattern analysis in. the hopes of limiting the aircraft's possible location. EXAMINATION REPORT A 495-page report into MH370's disappearance, published in. July 2018, said the Boeing 777's controls were likely. deliberately controlled to take it off course, however. detectives could not determine who was responsible. The report also highlighted errors made by the Kuala. Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control service centres and. issued recommendations to prevent a repeat event. Investigators stopped short of using any conclusions. about what happened to MH370, saying that depended upon finding. the aircraft's wreckage. CONSPIRACY THEORIES The failure to find MH370's crash website has actually sustained. numerous conspiracy theories, ranging from mechanical error or a. remote-controlled crash, to more bizarre descriptions like alien. abduction and a Russian plot. In recent years, some aviation professionals have said one of the most. most likely explanation was that the aircraft was intentionally removed. course by a skilled pilot. Detectives, nevertheless, have. said there was absolutely nothing suspicious in the background, financial. affairs, training and mental health of both the captain and. co-pilot. RESUMPTION OF SEARCH Malaysia's transportation minister announced on Friday the. government had concurred in principle to resume the search for the wreckage following a brand-new proposal from Ocean. Infinity, which would receive $70 million if substantive. wreckage is found. The new search, when a contract is signed, would expand the. previous search area by 15,000 sq km, the minister stated. The. contract would cover 18 months and the firm had actually indicated the. finest time for the search would be between January and April.
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Asian spot LNG costs at 10-week short on weak need, moderate weather
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) rates fell this week to its most affordable level in 10 weeks in the middle of mild weather condition and strong storage stocks. The typical LNG rate for February shipment into north-east Asia was at $13.30 per million British thermal units ( mmBtu), its least expensive level because mid October and down from somewhat lower than $14.50/ mmBtu recently, industry sources approximated. The market is fairly comfy in instant supply/demand terms. China seems well-stocked and Japan is bringing some brand-new nuclear plants back in coming weeks, said Alex Froley, senior LNG analyst at information intelligence company ICIS. Given typical weather and an absence of supply shocks, the conditions could be in location for prices to start a sluggish slide over the very first quarter of 2025, similar to in 2015, Froley included. Samuel Good, head of LNG pricing at Argus, stated the easing of Asian rates was due to weak downstream consumption in the face of moderate weather and was satisfied by a spate of cargo deals. Both Beijing and Seoul are anticipated to have mostly above-average daily minimum temperatures for the end of this month and through January. Nevertheless, Tokyo was set for continued cooler weather condition throughout the period which might support Japanese terminal throughput in the coming weeks, Good stated. In Europe, gas costs rose this week as unpredictability stays over Russian gas flows to Europe with the end of the Ukraine gas transit offer looming. Russia's pipeline streams through Ukraine will stay a secret focus of attention for traders across the vacation duration, ICIS' Froley said. Florence Schmit, a European energy strategist at Rabobank, said that Russian circulations through Ukraine is unlikely to resume in the first quarter of 2025, leaving Europe more exposed to higher LNG import need in the new year. As the quantity of gas that will need to be changed is little, real concern about supply availability is restricted. Demand in Asia and the pace of Europe's gas storage withdrawals will be key in identifying which market will become the premium market in Q1, she added. S&P Global Product Insights assessed its everyday North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price criteria for cargoes provided in February on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $12.967/ mmBtu on Dec. 19, a $0.20/ mmBtu discount to the February gas price at the Dutch TTF hub. Argus assessed the price at $12.990/ mmBtu, while Spark Products assessed the cost for January delivery at $ 12.913/ mmBtu. The U.S. arbitrage to north-east Asia through the Panama Canal is presently also signalling U.S. cargos are incentivised to provide to Northwest Europe, said Glow Commodities expert Qasim Afghan. In LNG freight, Atlantic rates rose for the fourth week going to $23,500/ day on Friday, while Pacific rates rose to $22,000/ day, Afghan included.
Businesses sell in Russia
Some Western companies sold their Russian assets to comply with the sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine, and to respond to the Kremlin's threats that it could seize foreign assets.
The following companies have sold their business in Russia. They are grouped by sector.
Continental sold its Russian tire plant to holding company S8 Capital by May 2023.
Renault sold Avtovaz's majority stake to the Russian government in 2022. The price was reportedly only one rouble, but there was a six-year buyback option.
Volkswagen sold its Kaluga production facility and local subsidiaries to Volkswagen in May 2023.
BANKS AND INSURANCE
HSBC said that it had transferred its Russian unit, owned by Expobank, to the bank for an undisclosed amount in May.
In May 2022, Societe Generale will sell its Rosbank division to Interros Capital. The loss is 3.1 billion euros ($3.4 billion).
ENERGY
Shell sold its Russian retail business and lubricants to Lukoil by 2022. Food & Beverages, Consumer Goods
Belgian brewer AB InBev has agreed to sell its share in the joint venture (JV), AB InBev Efes, in April 2022. This will result in a $1.1billion impairment.
Danone sold its Essential Dairy and plant-based business to Vamin R LLC, a company based in Russia. The sale cost 1.2 billion euro.
Heineken left Russia in August 2023 after selling its Russian operations to Arnest Group at a symbolic price of one euro.
The RBC daily reported that Unilever had received approval from Moscow to sell its Russian assets. These assets are reportedly worth between $393 million and $449 million. Unilever declined comment.
FORESTRY AND PACKAGING
International Paper sold its 50 percent stake in a joint venture to Russian shareholders in 2023. Mondi, a British company, sold three packaging converting businesses to Gotek Group in September 2023 for 1.6 billion roubles. It also agreed to sell the largest plant it has in Russia to Sezar Invest at 80 billion roubles.
Finnish packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki sold its Russian operations last year for 151 millions euros. Forestry firm Stora Enso also sold their three corrugated packing plants to local management.
RESTAURANTS & RETAIL
AmRest sold its KFC business to Smart Service in Russia for 100 million Euros in May 2023.
Gazprombank Group purchased 14 MEGA shopping centers in Russia from an Ingka Group unit, which operates IKEA stores. The price was not disclosed.
Hugo Boss announced on August 5 that it had sold its Russian business for an undisclosed amount to Stockmann, a wholesale partner.
Moscow has approved the sale of Inditex's Russian operations to an UAE-based buyer by April 2023.
LPP sold its Russian businesses in June 2022, to a Chinese group and the former CEO of Russian firm Re Trading. The stores were sold for $135.5m plus 1.2billion zlotys (about $311m) for inventory. LPP reported a loss of 600 million zlotys on the sale on March 18th.
McDonald's closed its Russian business in 2022 and took a $1.28 billion charge. TOBACCO
British American Tobacco announced in September 2023 that it would sell the Russian and Belarusian operations to a consortium headed by its Russian management. The amount of this sale was not disclosed.
Imperial Brands sold its Russian business in April 2022 to Russian investors.
EMBRACER
In March, the Swedish gaming company announced that it had ceased its operations in Russia. It did this by selling selected assets of its Saber Interactive subsidiary to a third party for $247 millions.
POLYMETAL INTERNATIONAL
The precious metals company announced in March that it had sold its Russian operations to a Siberian miner for $3.69 billion, which included the net debt of $2.21 billion.
In October 2023, the telecom operator announced that it had completed its exit from Russia by selling Vimpelcom in Russia to the senior management of the local team.
XEROX HOLDINGS
In October 2023, Xerox Holdings, a printer maker, announced that it had sold the Russian operations of its company to local management at an undisclosed price.
YANDEX NV
Yandex is a Dutch company that runs an internet search engine. In July, a Russian investor consortium bought the majority of its business in a deal valued at around $5 billion. ($1 = 0.9025 euros) ($1 = 84.9000 roubles) ($1 = 3.8568 zlotys)
(source: Reuters)