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Documents show that Niger intends to reduce Chinese oil workers
Documents seen by us on Friday show that Niger has requested that Chinese employees who are working on oil projects in the country leave. This could impact dozens of people and strain bilateral relations. Niger, like other West African nations, has tried to gain greater control over natural resources while promoting local employment. Two letters show that the Oil Minister Sahabi Oumarou asked the China National Petroleum Corporation and its refinery SORAZ, to terminate the contracts with expatriates working in Niger since more than four years. In a May 21 letter to SORAZ, Oumarou said that there would be flexibility. He explained that he understood the necessity to keep certain employees within the country. Decisions on departure would be taken case-by-case. In a letter dated 20 May, Oumarou stated that he would not accept a meeting in private with the CEO of the company who asked to discuss tensions. In the same letter, Oumarou accused CNPC for not complying with local regulations. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Niger expulsed three Chinese oil executives from the country in March over a dispute regarding disparities in salaries between foreign employees and local workers. Sources close to CNPC said that following the dismissal of the executives, the top officials at CNPC have tried to negotiate with the government. Source: If the May 20-21 letters are implemented, Chinese workers would have to return home. (Reporting and writing by Anait Miridzhanian, Liz Lee in Beijing. Editing by Rob Corey-Boulet & Susan Fenton.
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RIA reports that a Russian-Italian prisoner was sentenced to 29 years in jail by RIA for an 'act' of terror committed against Ukraine.
The Russian state news agency RIA reported that a Russian-Italian was sentenced to 29 years in prison by a Russian military court after he was found guilty of various terrorism charges, including blowing up a train on Ukraine's orders. The report said that a military tribunal in the western Russian town of Ryazan ordered Ruslan to serve nine years in prison and the remainder in a maximum-security prison camp. RIA cited Sidiki’s lawyer, who said that his client partially admitted to his guilt. In the past, Russian-language media outlets reported that Sidiki had admitted his guilt but denied any intent to harm anyone. These reports stated that he regarded his actions as sabotage and not terrorism, and viewed himself as a war prisoner. State prosecutors accused Sidiki, in November 2023 of blowing up a train with a homemade bomb, which caused 19 wagons derail. They also said that he had used a drone to attack an airbase the previous year. In a statement issued at the time, Russia's FSB said that Sidiki was recruited by Ukrainian military intelligence in Istanbul in 2023. He then received sabotage instruction in Latvia before returning home to Russia. Ukraine has not yet responded. Andrew Osborn (Reporting) Andrew Heavens (Editing)
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US Senators urge DOJ to not let Boeing escape criminal prosecution
Two U.S. Senators called for the Justice Department to prosecute Boeing on Friday in a criminal case stemming two fatal 737 MAX accidents, and reject a tentative agreement that would have allowed the planemaker avoid pleading guilt. "DOJ should not sign an agreement with Boeing to avoid prosecution, which would allow Boeing to evade responsibility for its failed corporate cultures and any illegal behaviors that have resulted in fatal consequences," wrote Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal. Any deal between DOJ & Boeing that allows the company and its executive to escape accountability would be a grave mistake. Boeing and the Justice Department have not responded to comments immediately. Paul Cassell is an attorney for the families of some of the 346 victims of two 737 MAX crashes that occurred in Indonesia and Ethiopia between 2018 and 2019. He said that it would be unfair to allow Boeing to avoid trial or a guilty plea. Cassell said that the proposal of the government would allow Boeing to be its own probationary officer, as it would not need an independent monitor. On May 16, the department announced a tentative agreement. The agreement will prevent a trial scheduled for June 23 against the planemaker on a fraud allegation that it misled Federal Aviation Administration regarding a critical flight control system in the 737 MAX jet, its most popular model. Boeing pleaded guilty last July to a criminal conspiracy charge of fraud after the two fatal 737 MAX crash and agreed to pay a maximum fine of $487.2 Million. Prosecutors told the family members of crash victim during a last-week meeting that Boeing no longer agrees to plead guilty. Prosecutors told family members that the company's position changed after a December judge rejected an earlier plea agreement. Lawyers for the families reported that, in addition to $500 million Boeing had paid by 2021, the Justice Department informed families that Boeing was required to pay $444.5 millions into a fund for crash victims, divided equally per victim. Boeing is under increased scrutiny by the FAA after a new Alaska Airlines MAX 9 that was missing four bolts in January 2024 suffered an emergency mid-air and lost a door plug. This happened near Portland, Oregon. The FAA has set a monthly production limit of 38 aircraft. (Reporting and editing by Mark Porter, Frances Kerry, and David Shepardson)
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Panama-flagged ships must notify authorities of any ship-to-ship transfer
Panama's Maritime Authority announced on Friday that it would strengthen controls for ship to ship operations by Panama flagged vessels. This follows an increase in "dark fleet" tankers being used to avoid sanctions or evade requirements. The U.S. increased pressure on countries that have large vessels registries, such as Panama, who gives its flag for more than 8,500 ship. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has threatened to take over the Panama Canal by criticizing the expansion of a "dark fleet" of oil tankers that are moving sanctioned crude. Panama has removed several vessels from the registry in recent months following investigations into norm violations. The Maritime Authority stated in February that Panama was not a "haven for sanctions evasion". A resolution published in the beginning of this month states that all Panamanian flagged ships with a gross weight exceeding 150 tons must inform Panama's Maritime Authority at least two working days prior to their planned ship-to-ship transfer. The notification must include the vessel involved, the place of transfer, the type and quantity of hydrocarbons, and the compliance with international maritime rules. Dark-fleet vessels that transport oil at sea turn off their transponders for localization or manipulate coordinates in order to conceal the operation.
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Bessent: Trump's tariff threat could ignite a fire in the EU during trade negotiations
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated on Friday that Donald Trump believes that the European Union’s trade offers are not of high enough quality. He hopes that a 50% tariff threat by June 1 will "light up the EU" during negotiations with Washington. Bessent said to Fox News Channel, that other major U.S. trading partner are in good faith negotiating with the EU. Trump intensified his trade war on Friday, saying he "recommended" a tariff of 50% on EU goods beginning on June 1. Trump warned Apple he could impose a tariff of 25% on any iPhones made outside the U.S. Bessent made the shocking announcement a day after he concluded meetings with G7 finance leaders including Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission. The G7 Ministers Meeting in Banff Alberta Papering over deep divisions On Trump's tariffs, reach agreement on the efforts to reduce "excessive balances" in global economy. The conversation in Canada The problem was the lead-up to that," Bessent said. Bessent: "The problem was in the lead-up to that." He told Fox News other countries had made good-faith trade offers and that some talks had been advanced with them. Some Asian countries have come up with "very interesting" proposals. Bessent stated, "I believe that the president feels that the EU's proposals are not of the same standard as those we have seen from other important trading partners." He stated that he is getting feedback from certain EU countries that they do not know about the proposals coming from Brussels by the European Commission. Bessent stated, "I won't be negotiating on television but I hope this will ignite a fire in the EU." "The EU is having a problem with collective action." This group represents 27 countries in Brussels. Bessent stated that Trump was interested in bringing precision manufacturing, including semiconductors, back to the United States. "I believe that this external production is one of our biggest vulnerabilities, especially in semiconductors. Bessent added that a significant portion of Apple's components is in semiconductors. We would like Apple to help us secure the semiconductor supply chain.
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Volvo Cars CEO: Customers must pay for tariff increases
Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars, said that the company's customers will be responsible for a significant portion of any tariff-related increases. He also stated that if taxes increase it may become impossible to import even one of their most affordable models to the United States. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said on Friday that he would recommend a 50% tariff on all goods coming from the European Union beginning on June 1. He claimed the EU had been difficult to deal with in terms of trade. Samuelsson said that a tariff of 50% would restrict Volvo Cars' ability to sell the EX30 electric car made in Belgium in the United States. He added that he wouldn't speculate any further due to the nature of the threat of tariffs. Trump's tariffs against automotive imports have created turmoil in the auto industry. Some companies are altering their production plans to reduce costs associated with the duties while others are waiting to see if policies change. Volvo has tried to provide its customers an affordable electric vehicle with the EX30. Samuelsson stated that it had been "very severely affected" by tariffs due to being initially produced in China. Volvo had planned to sell the car on the U.S. Market at a starting price of $35,000. However, the high tariffs placed on cars manufactured in China forced Volvo to wait until the production began in Ghent in Belgium in April this year before selling it. The starting price of the car is now $46,195. Imports of vehicles from other automakers, such as Ford Motor General Motors, and Toyota Motor from Mexico, South Korea, or Japan, with lower prices, to the U.S. are at risk due to tariff uncertainty. Samuelsson expressed his optimism that Europe and the United States would soon reach an agreement, despite the threat from rising tariffs. "I think there will be an agreement soon." It would not be in either Europe's or the U.S.'s interest to stop trade between the two." The majority of Volvo Cars vehicles sold in the U.S., which accounted for 16 percent of sales last year, are imported. The company plans to add a new plug-in hybrid model at its Charleston, South Carolina plant in the near future. Samuelsson previously stated that this could be a midsized plug-in. Volvo's share price was down 5.0% by 1337 GMT.
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Saudi Aramco seeks investors in Jafurah infrastructure assets, sources say
Two people with knowledge of the situation said that Aramco, Saudi Arabia's oil giant, is looking for investors to help finance its $100 billion Jafurah Gas Project. Saudi Aramco is aiming to be a major player in the global natural gas market by 2030 and increase its production capacity of gas by 60% from levels reached in 2021. Jafurah is the largest shale project outside the United States. It will begin production this year, and increase to 2 billion cubic foot per day by 2030. In 2024, the U.S. will produce around 80 billion cubic foot per day of shale-gas. Aramco will remain the operator and retain the majority of assets, according to one of the two individuals. Second person: The investment in Jafurah is expected to help develop the project. Two people, who spoke under condition of anonymity as the process was private, have spoken. Aramco has declined to comment. Aramco could raise money through a potential deal for Jafurah at a time when oil prices are falling. This would be in line with recent efforts made by the oil giant to invest in its infrastructure. BlackRock and EIG are among the investor groups who took minor stakes in Aramco’s oil and natural gas pipeline networks, in two separate deals that were completed in 2021. This helped Aramco raise almost $28 billion. These groups have taken 49% stakes of Aramco Oil Pipelines & Aramco Gas Pipelines. Aramco still holds 51%. Aramco pays a tariff to the subsidiaries for crude oil and natural gas flows, which is backed up by minimum throughput commitments. Aramco has built infrastructure for the Jafurah Project, including a gas fractionation plant, gas compression system, a pipeline network covering approximately 1,500 km (932 mi). Aramco's Chief Executive Amin Nasser told local media in early 2014 that the total investment in Jafurah would exceed $100 billion within 15 years.
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Asian spot LNG price rises to two-week highest amid renewed demand
The price of Asian LNG spot rose for the third consecutive week to a record high. This was due to renewed demand and weak production in Malaysia, as well as Egypt's desire to secure large volumes for the remainder of the year. Average LNG price for July deliveries into North-East Asia Industry sources estimate that the price per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu) is now $12.40, up from $11.75/mmBtu a week ago. Alex Froley is a senior LNG analyst with data intelligence firm ICIS. He said that the market had been in a trend of rising since the recent lows it experienced at the beginning of the month. However, overall, the market remains far below its highs from mid-February. Froley attributes the increase to the interest of Asian importers, including Bangladesh and Taiwan. He also reports that Egypt is looking to secure large quantities over the remainder of the year. Laura Page, the head of LNG insights at Kpler, said that the Asian market continues its monitoring of LNG supply disruptions in Australia and Malaysia. Page stated that Australia's North West Shelf Plant ceased LNG exports from May 16-22. Meanwhile, exports of Malaysia's Bintulu Complex have been in a steep decline. She said that while some of the decrease is due to maintenance planned, the severity of it suggests there could also be a problem unplanned that affects capacity. Martin Senior, head LNG pricing at Argus said that weekly loads at Malaysia's Bintulu had fallen to a 13-year low. A growing number of vessels are waiting off the shore to the facility, awaiting production to resume. He also said that the hot weather forecasts in parts of North-east Asia and Southern Europe could increase early summer cooling demands. Gas prices in Europe rose at the Dutch TTF hub this week due to maintenance by Norway and concerns about the Ukraine peace talks, which haven't seen much progress. Kpler's Page stated that "looking ahead, TTF could increase slightly due to heavy pipeline maintenance in Norway. This is despite weather predictions anticipating strong renewable production and a gradual warming of temperatures across the continent." Froley, ICIS, said that Europe's underground storage of gas is growing and the supply is increasing. He added that possible EU storage targets reductions would prevent major price increases, but downsides could be limited if new Asian buyers enter the market at lower prices. S&P Global Commodity Insights estimated its daily North West Europe LNG Marker price benchmark (NWM) for cargoes to be delivered in July ex-ship on May 22 at $11.646/mmBtu, a $0.55/mmBtu reduction from the July futures prices at the TTF Hub. Spark Commodities set the price of July delivery at $11.467/mmBtu. Argus had the same price. According to Spark Commodities analyst Qasim Afghan, the U.S. Arbitrage to North-East Asia via Cape of Good Hope has decreased but is still pointing to Europe. The arbitrage via Panama, however, continues to point towards Asia. Afghan said that on Friday the LNG market saw a drop in rates to $32,000/day for Atlantic and $20,750/day for Pacific. (Reporting and editing by Nina Chestney; Marwa Rashad)
Operator says damaged CPC pumping stations in Russia are back online
CPC, the operator of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in Russia, said that a pumping station damaged in February has been restored to service.
This route is Kazakhstan’s main way of exporting crude oil. It also transports Russian oil from the Black Sea to be exported by tanker.
A drone attack was said to have damaged the Kropotkinskaya pumping stations.
The General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces has acknowledged that Moscow accuses Ukraine of having struck the site.
CPC delivered products while the pumping station is being repaired.
The pipeline transports more than 1% daily oil supply in the world.
The oil field of Tengiz in Kazakhstan stretches 1,500 km (939 mi) to the Russian Black Sea Port of Novorossiysk.
Separately CPC reported that the pipeline restarted oil pumping on Friday, after stopping for 3 days for planned maintenance. (Reporting and editing by David Goodman, Jason Neely and Vladimir Soldatkin)
(source: Reuters)