Asia

Australia is committed to returning to Australian ownership a major northern port that has been leased to a Chinese firm for 99 years, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday. This was after Beijing's ambassador to Canberra had warned of possible trade retaliation. The Northern Territory government sold Darwin Port in 2015 to Landbridge, a Chinese company for A$506 millions. This was criticized by the United States. The contract was awarded just a few short years after the United States deployed the first group of rotating Marines to Darwin. U.S. and Australia have expanded air bases in Australia’s north for...

Three sources familiar with this preparation revealed on Tuesday that U.S. officials are preparing to issue a license to lift'some sanctions' from Venezuelan energy companies. This is a departure from the previous plan of granting individual exemptions for sanctions to companies wanting to do business there. U.S. officials said that following the capture by the U.S. of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in the first week of this month, Washington would ease the sanctions on Venezuela's energy sector to facilitate a $2 Billion oil supply deal and an ambitious $100 Billion reconstruction plan for the country's petroleum industry. In recent weeks,...

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, will pay Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning up to $6 billion in the coming years as part of a deal for fiber-optic cable supply for its AI data centres. Meta will be the main customer of Corning's advanced optical fiber, cables and connectivity products. Corning is also expanding its manufacturing capabilities in North Carolina including its cable factory in Hickory. Corning's optical connector products are among the key components needed to support massive computing and data transmission needs at?data centres. Corning shares will surge by 84% in 2025 due to the demand for their...

Three industry sources said that Russia's crude exports to its western ports will?decline? in February, compared with January, due to the increase of domestic refinery runs and the fewer scheduled maintenance visits to?plants?. According to?sources, the shipment of Russia's Urals crude, Siberian Light and KEBCO grades through the ports of Primorsk and Novorossiisk is expected to be around?2million barrels per daily (bpd) in the next month. This is down from about?2.2million bpd last January. The expected drop is due to the fact that Moscow intends to lift its ban on gasoline in February. This could spur refineries into producing more...

GMS, a leading ship recycling company in Dubai, has told its CEO that it has applied for a U.S. licence to purchase and scrap vessels seized by the U.S. Government linked to Venezuelan oil trading. In recent weeks, the U.S. Coast Guard and military have seized seven vessels that either carried Venezuelan oil in their cargo or had done so previously. The seizure was part of Washington’s campaign to force Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from power, which culminated with U.S. forces capture him on January 3. Oil spills are possible while the vessels remain in the water. They are part...

Hong Kong and the Shanghai Gold Exchange struck a deal Monday to establish a central clearing system for gold, as well as to expand the warehousing capacity to support the city's market. The precious metal has reached a record price of $5,100 per ounce. The agreement signed between Hong Kong's Financial Services, the Treasury Bureau, and the Shanghai Gold Exchange at the Asian Financial Forum formalised the governance for the new Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing Company. This system will begin its trial operation this year. The government announced that Hong Kong's airport authority - which runs the city’s...

The majority of Gulf stock markets fell in early trading on Monday, due to a mixture of 'geopolitical concerns and policy worries. These range from U.S. and NATO tensions over Greenland as well as uncertainty surrounding tariffs and 'growing questions about the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, warned that he would impose a tariff of 100% on Canada if Canada went ahead with its trade agreement with China. He 'has also threatened to impose a 200% tariff on French wines & champagnes, presumably to pressure French President Emmanuel Macron into signing on?to the Board...

Ship tracking data revealed that the first naphtha shipment for Venezuela, as part of an oil deal reached between Caracas & Washington in this'month', arrived Friday on Venezuelan waters aboard a tanker chartered a trading house Vitol. Caracas, Washington and Venezuela agreed on a $2 billion oil deal this month after the U.S. captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. The agreement covers up to 50,000,000?barrels Venezuelan oil that is in storage. The agreement gives traders Vitol &?Trafigura first access to Venezuelan oil to resell to refineries worldwide. It also includes a?supply? of heavy naphtha, needed to dilute Venezuela's extra-heavy output. According...

India's Adani Group firms lost $12.5 billion on Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked a court to?help? in serving summonses against founder Gautam Adani, and group executive Sagar Adani for an alleged $265 million bribery and fraud scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requested procedural information in its civil case against Adanis on Thursday, after Indian markets had closed. Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani Group, fell the most on Friday against India's Nifty 50 benchmark. The Nifty fell 0.95% as the shares of the company dropped 10.65% to 1,864.2 Rupees. The group shares...

The U.S. has warned Tehran to stop killing protesters and not restart its nuclear program in the face of Iran's most violent unrest for years. Analysts warn of a further escalation that could lead?Tehran, or any other country involved in oil exports, to try to close the Strait of Hormuz. Here are some details on the?strait What is the Strait of Hormuz? The Strait is located between Oman, Iran and the Gulf of Oman. It connects the Gulf of Oman in the north with the Arabian Sea to the south. The shipping lane is only 2 miles (3km) wide either...

India's Adani group firms lost $12.5 billion on Friday after the U.S. market regulator requested permission to email personal summonses to group executive Sagar Adani and founder Gautam Adani regarding alleged fraud and $265 million in bribery. The SEC filed the filing Thursday, after the Indian markets had closed. Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani Group, was the biggest loser in India's benchmark Nifty 50 on?Friday. The Nifty fell 0.95% at close, while the shares of the company dropped 10.65% to 1,864.2 rupies. The group shares dropped between 3.4% to 14.54%. The U.S. Indictment, unsealed on November 20,...

Adani Green Energy, a company in India, reported a 99% decline in its third-quarter profits on Friday. Higher finance costs increased?its expenses while offsetting gains from?strong power sales and improved capacity utilization. Adani Group’s green arm shares were down 13.8%. Stocks of the Adani Group fell between 2% and 11%, after the U.S. SEC requested court approval to email summons to Gautam and Sagar in a $265 million fraud and bribery case. Adani Green's profit consolidated fell to 50 million rupees (544,051.88) in the quarter ending December 31 from 4.74 billion rupees one year earlier. The company's earnings were largely...

Five people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a passenger train in the northeastern Ukraine, according to prosecutors. The President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called it terrorism. The prosecutor said that fragments of five bodies were found near the site of the strike in the Kharkiv region, located in the northeastern Ukraine. The train was operating from Chop near Ukraine's western border with Hungary and Slovakia to the town of Barvinkove. Online photos showed two carriages on fire next to a railbed covered in?snow. In any country, drone strikes on civilian trains would be viewed the same - as pure...

Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state-owned oil and gas company, said Tuesday that a Russian attack had hit one of its facilities in a western area. The strike caused a fire and stopped operations. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukraine's power system. The company said in a statement that this was the 15th attack on their infrastructure since 2026. The impact resulted in a fire on the site. Sergii Korteskyi, Naftogaz's CEO, wrote on Facebook that the company immediately halted the technological processes in the facility for safety reasons and to prevent pollution....

A lawyer for the wife of the captain said that the captain was taken from British territorial waters to a U.S. Coast Guard vessel. U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Military Special Forces, with a judicial seize warrant, captured the Russian flagged Marinera on the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, after pursuing the vessel for over two weeks, as part of Washington’s efforts to stop Venezuelan oil exports. The tanker was then moved to an area?off of the coasts of Scotland. Aamer Anwar is the lawyer for Natia Dzadzama's husband, Avtandil Kalandadze. COURT ORDER REVOKED Anwar stated that on Monday, the Scottish...

People familiar with the situation said that The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has berthed another tanker at its recently repaired SPM-3?at their Black Sea terminal, resuming stable oil loadings. They said that the Agistri tanker would be loading 130,000 tons oil at the SPM-3 'facility, on Tuesday, after the departure from the Paschalis DD which had finished loading on Monday. According to LSEG'shipping data,' the Agistri vessel can be seen near the SPM-3 facility at this moment on the interactive map. In late November, a drone attack by the Ukrainians destroyed one of CPC's mooring facilities. This forced CPC to run...

The regional governor reported that power was restored to the town where 'Russia's main navy base is located on Tuesday after a?four-day blackout caused by the?collapsed of aging electricity lines during the bad winter weather. Severomorsk is the home of Russia's most important naval command. It's located in the closed town on the?Barents Sea, Kola Bay. The Russian Navy's most important command is located in the closed town of Severomorsk, which is home to Russia's largest fleet of ballistic missile subs. It also controls a vast arsenal of nuclear warheads and missiles. On Tuesday, Andrei Chibis, governor of the larger?Murmansk...

Saudi Aramco is the world's biggest oil company. It has issued a bond worth $4 billion in four tranches, attracting a lot of interest from investors. This was its first venture into global debt markets. IFR, the fixed-income news service, reported on Monday that the state-owned oil giant issued $500,000,000, $1.5 Billion, $1.25 Billion, and $750 MILLION in?bonds, with maturities of 3, 5, 10, and 30 years, respectively. IFR reported that the order books for the offering were over $21 billion. This showed strong investor interest, which allowed Aramco, from its initial guidance of $100 bps, to reduce the spread...

Researchers said that efforts to decarbonise Indonesia’s power sector are at risk due to a faster-than-expected increase in the number?of off-grid coal plants?and a lack transparency when it comes to reducing their emissions. Indonesia's captive power plants are built by industries for their own use. They have grown rapidly in recent years due to the growth of the nickel industry in the country. According to a report from the Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, it is difficult to monitor and implement plans to reduce emissions. Lucy Hummer, a GEM researcher, said that...

Two sources reported that Russian crude oil cargoes dated February Urals traded in Indian ports at discounts close to the largest since 2022 compared with dated Brent, amid increased pressure from Western sanctions. The two sources claimed that the 'cargoes' of Urals oil to be supplied in February will trade at a discount of $10 per barrel compared to Brent for delivery to Indian ports. This is a rise from the estimated cargoes loaded in the fall months last year by $3-5 per barrel and close to the largest discount ever recorded. The U.S. targeted oil majors Lukoil & Rosneft...

The energy ministry announced on Monday that Kazakhstan was poised to restart production at its largest oil field. However, industry sources reported that volumes were still very low, and there was still a force majeure in place for CPC Blend exports. Tengiz is Kazakhstan's biggest oilfield. It was recently affected by a number of incidents including drone attacks and power outages. Tengizchevroil led by Chevron temporarily halted the production of oil at Tengiz and Korolev fields on January 18. Chevron announced on Monday that it has resumed oil production without naming the specific field. OIL FIELD POWER RESTORED A Chevron...

The European Union gave its final approval to ban Russian gas imports until late 2027. This is nearly four years after Moscow invaded Ukraine in full force. At a meeting held in Brussels, Monday, ministers of EU countries voted to approve the law. Slovakia and Hungary did not vote for it and Bulgaria abstained. Hungary announced that it would be challenging the law before?the European Court of Justice. The ban was intended to be approved with a broader majority, which would allow it to overcome the opposition of Hungary and Slovakia who are heavily dependent on Russian energy imports, and...

Saudi Aramco offered indicative pricing on four-tranche, dollar-denominated bond, according to a term sheet viewed by. The deal is likely to raise billions for the world's largest oil exporter. The 'indicative' price for the three year debt sale was set at 100 basis points above U.S. Treasuries. For the five-year, it was 115 basis points higher. And the 10-year and 30-year bonds, 125 and 165 basis point over Treasuries. Aramco's last foray into the debt market was in September when it raised $3 billion through a?sale of sukuk or Islamic bonds. This followed a bond issue in May that raised...

MTT Shipping and Logistics Bhd announced on 'Monday that it received approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia to proceed with its proposed listing on Bursa Malaysia main board. The Malaysian maritime logistic group that provides container liners, vessel chartering and container storage services said their initial public offering would consist of 633.5 new shares. Existing shares will not be sold, so all proceeds 'would go to the company. The statement did not disclose any financial or timing details. MTT Shipping plans to use proceeds from the IPO 'to fund growth including the acquisition and development of integrated freight systems, especially?to...