Latest News
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More than a quarter of United States Gulf of Mexico oil output offline
More than a quarter of crude oil production and nearly 17% of gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was offline in the aftermath of Cyclone Rafael, the U.S. overseas energy regulator stated on Saturday. The late season storm got in the Gulf of Mexico as a. effective classification three cyclone on Wednesday and moved into. the main Gulf, prompting oil companies to evacuate dozens of. production and drilling centers. Rafael has compromised into a. hurricane, however will meander in the main Gulf for at. least the next two days, the National Cyclone Center said. There were 490,241 barrels of oil and 313 million cubic feet. of gas shut-in on Saturday, offshore regulator Bureau of. Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported. U.S. Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts. for 15% of overall U.S. crude oil production and 2% of dry natural. gas production. Oil and gas workers have been left from 41 of the 371. manned production platforms, and seven drilling vessels have. been vacated the storm's path, BSEE said. Storm losses this week have actually totaled 1.59 million barrels of. oil and 826 million cubic feet of natural gas, according to BSEE. data.
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South Africa partially resumes border after Mozambique vote sparks issue
South Africa's border authority said on Saturday it had actually partially reopened its primary crossing with neighbour Mozambique, where last month's contested election sparked protests, raising safety concerns. Opposition advocates in Mozambique have actually been demonstrating versus what they say is a deceptive win by Frelimo, the party that has actually ruled the southern African country since 1975. South Africa closed the Lebombo port of entry in its Mpumalanga province earlier today after receiving reports of lorries being torched on the Mozambican side. The port is now open for freight movement, after the Mozambican authorities managed to deal with challenges with their systems to facilitate processing through the Ressano Garcia port of entry into Mozambique, the Border Management Authority stated. It stated in a declaration that the preliminary reopening of the port was to manage the motion of individuals, adding: however this morning, the Mozambican authorities worked relentlessly to address cargo systems for smooth border processing. At least 21 people have actually been eliminated in Mozambique and scores injured in demonstrations in which demonstrators have actually burned tires, blocked roadways and marched to Frelimo workplaces. Authorities have reacted with tear gas and live ammunition, human rights groups said, and restricted access to the web.
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At least 24 eliminated in Pakistan train station bomb blast, police say
At least 24 individuals were killed and more than 40 hurt in a bomb blast at a. railway station in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday,. cops and other authorities told Reuters. Pakistan is facing a surge in strikes by separatist. ethnic militants in the south and Islamist militants in its. northwest. Inspector general of cops for Balochistan, Mouzzam Jah. Ansari, stated 24 individuals have passed away from the blast up until now. The target was army workers from the Infantry School, he. stated, with a number of the injured in crucial condition. So far 44 hurt individuals have actually been brought to civil. healthcare facility, Dr. Wasim Baig, a health center spokesperson, told Reuters. Senior superintendent of authorities operations, Muhammad Baloch,. said the blast seemed to be a suicide bomb which. investigations were underway for more details. The blast happened inside the train station when the. Peshawar-bound express will leave for its location,. Baloch stated. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast at. Quetta's main railway station, which is typically hectic early in. the day. In August, a minimum of 73 individuals were killed in Balochistan. province after separatist militants assaulted police stations,. train lines and highways. The attacks in August were the most extensive in years by. militants battling a decades-long revolt to win secession of. the resource-rich southwestern province, home to significant China-led. projects such as a port and a gold and copper mine.
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Who will Trump pick as regulators? Here are the competitors
Donald Trump has actually started the process of picking a cabinet and picking other high-ranking administration authorities following his U.S. presidential election victory. Here are some of the contenders for a number of posts supervising policy and enforcement. Commerce Department LINDA MCMAHON McMahon is seen as a top contender for Commerce secretary. She worked as head of the Small company Administration in the first Trump administration and is chair of the pro-Trump America First Action extremely political action committee. She serves on the board of social networks platform Reality Social, and is a major Trump donor. ROBERT LIGHTHIZER A loyalist who functioned as Trump's U.S. trade agent for essentially the president-elect's entire first term, Lighthizer will almost certainly be welcomed back. He is considered a contender for the top jobs at Treasury, the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Agent's office. Lighthizer is a firm follower in tariffs and was one of the leading figures in Trump's trade war with China. VIVEK RAMASWAMY A Republican governmental candidate until he left of the race in January, Ramaswamy is a possible choice for the top job at Commerce. The multi-millionaire former biotech executive acquired fame in right-wing circles thanks to his 2021 bestseller Woke, Inc., which decries decisions by some big companies to base business method around social-justice and climate-change concerns. NAZAK NIKAKHTAR Nikakhtar was previously an assistant secretary and acted as under secretary for the Bureau of Market and Security during the very first Trump administration. She is being thought about for a senior post at the Commerce Department, which supervises export controls that have been used by Washington in the U.S.-China tech war. She is a legal representative and currently chairs the national security practice at Wiley Rein. Antitrust GAIL SLATER A policy advisor to Vice President-elect JD Vance, Slater is seen by antitrust attorneys as a leading prospect to lead the Federal Trade Commission. Slater formerly encouraged Trump on data privacy and telecommunications, and held roles at Fox Corp. and Roku. Before that, Slater was at the FTC. for ten years, including as a consultant to then-Commissioner Julie. Brill, who is now an executive at Microsoft. MELISSA HOLYOAK Among the FTC's two existing commissioners, Holyoak is a. possible pick for acting chair. She was Utah's solicitor. general, and previously led the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute,. a conservative non-profit law practice focused on free speech and. minimal government. ANDREW FERGUSON The other Republican on the FTC, Ferguson is another. potential candidate for leading antitrust roles. He was previously. primary counsel to Republican politician Senator Mitch McConnell and clerked. for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Both Ferguson. and Holyoak voted versus some of the firm's efforts under. chair Lina Khan, consisting of a guideline that would make it much easier to. cancel subscriptions and restriction non-compete contracts. ANDREW FINCH Finch, a previous deputy in the Department of Justice's. antitrust department under Trump who revealed uncertainty towards. drastic calls for separating firms or turning tech platforms. into controlled energies, could be a competitor to lead the. department. Finch is a partner at Paul Weiss where he has. represented Spirit Airlines, Uber Technologies. and Mastercard in merger reviews. BARRY NIGRO A former antitrust authorities at the DOJ and FTC and partner. at Fried Frank, Nigro is another potential candidate. Nigro. managed the DOJ's evaluation of T-Mobile United States Inc's. $ 26-billion takeover of Sprint Corp in 2020 and pharmacy-chain. CVS Health Corp's $69-billion acquisition of health. insurer Aetna Inc. . Cybersecurity JOSHUA STEINMAN A protégé of previous Trump National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn, Steinman played a crucial function in the first Trump. administration's aggressive position on government hacking. operations and is a contender for a senior cybersecurity. position. Federal Communications Commission BRENDAN CARR One of two Republican members of the Federal . Communications Commission, Carr is a most likely choice for acting. chair of the FCC- and a possible irreversible chair. He has been. an advocate of Elon Musk's efforts to win aids for. broadband internet service and criticized NBC for letting Vice. President Kamala Harris appear on Saturday Night Live just. before the election.
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Peru and China to sign strengthened free-trade contract in Xi's APEC go to
Peru and China will sign an updated freetrade agreement throughout President Xi Jinping's. upcoming check out to the Andean nation that would improve commerce by. a minimum of 50% in between the countries, Peru's foreign minister stated. on Friday. In an interview with Reuters, Minister Elmer Schialer stated. the Chinese president would travel to Peru with a delegation of. 400 service individuals thinking about buying infrastructure. and innovation tasks in the nation. The free-trade agreement was initially checked in 2009 and. the optimized version will be signed together with 30 other. contracts created to enhance cooperation in between the. countries. China is our primary trading partner, professionals state this will. increase that dynamism by a minimum of 50%, Schialer stated. Bilateral trade between the 2 countries reached almost $36. billion last year according to data from the Peruvian Ministry. of Commerce. China has large mining and facilities jobs in the. country, consisting of the Chancay mega port by Cosco Shipping Port. The port will launch Peru to another level of trade,. Schialer said. The port will be practically inaugurated by. Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and Chinese President Xi. Xinping from the federal government palace in Lima on Nov. 14. Schialer added that Peru's portfolio of mining projects. overalls $54 billion while its infrastructure jobs yet to be. developed total $157 billion. He kept in mind that China is. especially interested in these projects. The minister said he does not anticipate changes with the United. States provided the current election of President-elect Donald. Trump. The only thing we wish for and make certain that will happen is. an expansion of the United States' presence in financial investments, he. said, including that both the outbound and incoming US. administration have provided us clear signals of interest in. regards to financial investment.
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US firm raises issues about Tesla Complete Self-Driving social media posts
The National Highway Traffic Security Administration raised concerns about Tesla social media posts that recommended its Full SelfDriving software application can be used as a robotaxi and does not need driver attention. NHTSA in October opened an examination into 2.4 million Tesla automobiles with FSD software after 4 reported crashes, including a 2023 fatal crash, throughout conditions including sun glare, fog, and air-borne dust. In a May 14 email revealed on Friday, NHTSA told Tesla its social media postings might encourage individuals to see FSD as a. robotaxi instead of a partial automation/driver help system. that needs persistent attention and periodic intervention. by the motorist. NHTSA cited Tesla posts on X consisting of reposting the. story of an individual who chose to use FSD to drive him 13. miles (21 km) from his home to the emergency room throughout a heart. attack, along with another portraying a 50-minute drive home. utilizing FSD from a sporting event. Our company believe that Tesla's postings dispute with. its specified messaging that the driver is to keep continued. control over the vibrant driving job, NHTSA wrote, asking. Tesla to review its communications. Tesla, which met with the company in May about the social. media posts, told NHTSA that its owner's handbook and in other. places tells drivers that the car is not autonomous which. they need to remain watchful. Tesla did not instantly talk about Friday. Elon Musk is CEO. of Tesla and owns X, the social networks website formerly known as. Twitter. NHTSA on Friday released a letter dated Monday to Tesla. seeking answers to questions in its examination by Dec. 18,. including the motorist help system's prospective failure to. perform, consisting of identifying and reacting properly in. specific circumstances where there is decreased street exposure. that may restrict FSD's ability to securely run. NHTSA added that its examination will think about the. adequacy of feedback or information the system offers to. chauffeurs to allow them to make a decision in genuine time when the. ability of the system has been surpassed. A 71-year-old female who exited a lorry following a. rear-end collision with 2 other vehicles was eliminated in. Rimrock, Arizona when she was struck by a Tesla in FSD mode with. a motorist fighting sun glare who was not charged. In December 2023, Tesla consented to recall over 2 million. cars in the U.S. to install brand-new safeguards in its Autopilot. innovative driver-assistance system under pressure from NHTSA,. which is still considering the adequacy of the safeguards.
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American Airlines loses United States appeal of judgment disallowing JetBlue alliance
A U.S. appeals court declined on Friday a bid by American Airlines to overturn a judge's. choice that agreed the U.S. Department of Justice and. declared that its nowscrapped U.S. Northeast partnership with. JetBlue Airways was anticompetitive. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concurred. with the lower-court judge that the airlines' Northeast Alliance. joint endeavor that permitted the 2 carriers to coordinate. flights and pool revenue breached federal antitrust law. American Airlines and JetBlue did not right away respond to. requests for remark. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin sided in May 2023 with the. Justice Department and 6 states in a suit challenging the. joint endeavor that American and JetBlue entered into in 2020. Through their partnership, American, the nation's largest. airline, and JetBlue, the sixth-largest, joined forces for. flights in and out of New York City and Boston, coordinating. schedules and pooling revenue. Following Sorokin's ruling, JetBlue terminated the alliance,. as it unsuccessfully sought to reinforce its efforts to win. approval for its now-dropped $3.8-billion purchase of Spirit. Airlines, which the Justice Department also challenged. American Airlines, however, pushed ahead with an appeal,. stating the judgment would prevent the company from participating in. any similar future arrangement for 10 years, including with. JetBlue.
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Freeport LNG hits gas-processing record after plant overhaul
Freeport LNG drew record natural gas volumes on several days today, according to financial firm LSEG, following conclusion of an overhaul that increased processing capacity. Freeport LNG drew a record 2.414 billion cubic feet (bcf) of feedgas on Friday, preliminary LSEG data revealed. That volume continued a series of record gas pulls that each topped the plant's previous record of 2.261 bcf, which was reached in April 2023. Freeport LNG had actually announced in April that a debottlenecking meant to enhance processing likely would add an additional 1.2 million metric heaps per annum (MTPA) of LNG capability. The plant's capability was then 15.3 MTPA. A spokesperson decreased to comment on Friday. Texas-based Freeport LNG has actually suffered numerous outages, consisting of one a week ago due to a power interruption. The interruptions have end up being less frequent in the last two months, LSEG data show. High feedgas is driven by the debottlenecking efforts in July pertaining to fruition and including an additional 1.5 MTPA of capacity, scientists at monetary company Tudor Pickering Holt stated on Friday. Freeport exported 20 freights of LNG in both September and October from its Quintana, Texas, center. In the first eight days of November, it exported 10 freights, according to LSEG information.
Slovakia, Hungary threaten Ukraine with court fight over blocked oil
Hungary and Slovakia have threatened to take Ukraine to court for blocking materials of oil by Russian manufacturer Lukoil through the Sovietbuilt Druzhba (Relationship) pipeline, the last remaining path for Russian crude to Europe.
The following sets out the relevant realities.
RUSSIA'S REMAINING OIL LINK TO EUROPE
After Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union (EU), which used to purchase up to a third of its fuel from Russia, enforced sanctions and stopped buying Russian oil.
Nevertheless, it offered 3 member states - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - exemptions from sanctions because of their dependence on Russian oil and minimal options.
Russia for that reason continued to deliver some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil - equal to around 0.3% of international supplies - to eastern Europe by means of the southern leg of Druzhba.
Germany and Poland, which utilized to get oil by means of Druzhba's. northern branch, stopped purchases of Moscow's oil in 2023, and. Russia has considering that rerouted most of those volumes to Asia.
China has ended up being Russia's biggest oil purchaser, receiving some. 2.14 million bpd via various routes.
TRANSIT CONCERNS
The southern Druzhba path links Russian oilfields with. refineries controlled by MOL in Hungary and Slovakia. and PKN Orlen in the Czech Republic.
The pipeline crosses Belarus and Ukraine before branching. into Slovakia and Hungary. It is fed oil by Russia's Transneft,. Belarus' Gomeltransneft, Ukraine's Ukrtransnafta and Slovakia's. Transpetrol.
Transneft and Ukrtransnafta have a transit agreement on. products through Druzhba. Other Russian business, including Lukoil,. are not a party to the deal, though Ukrtransnafta gets. details on who supplies the pipeline.
Exports by means of Druzhba have actually been suspended repeatedly over the. in 2015 because of the complex relationship in between suppliers,. pipeline companies and buyers. In 2022, supplies briefly stopped. after sanctions left Transneft unable to pay transit fees.
Ukrtransnafta raised costs several times during 2022 and. 2023, pointing out the requirement to preserve facilities.
Russian market sources have stated greater costs have actually made the. Druzhba route among the least lucrative.
UKRAINIAN SANCTIONS
Personal oil company Lukoil offers some 50% of the oil shipped. southern Druzhba. Other providers consist of Russian state-owned. Tatneft, Gazprom Neft, private Russneft. and little manufacturers.
In June 2024, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Lukoil, making it. impossible for it to ship through Druzhba.
Ukraine has actually provided little info on the new sanctions. and has actually not said why they target Lukoil rather than other. Russian companies.
MINIMAL ALTERNATIVES
Hungary and Slovakia are land-locked, which restricts their. access to alternative shipments of oil.
Hungary, however, can import oil from the port of Omisalj in. Croatia. Given That April, MOL has actually imported some 500,000 metric lots. of oil each month (120,000 bpd) by means of Croatia.
Slovakia can just import oil through a pipeline connected to. Hungary, which is not big enough to offset lost Russian. oil.
Around 30% of the oil Slovak refiner Slovnaft, owned by MOL,. processed in 2023 was non-Russian, the greatest percentage yet,. according to Slovnaft.
The Czech Republic can import oil by means of the Transalpine (TAL). pipeline connecting Italy's port of Trieste to the IKL pipeline. in Germany's Ingolstadt. It wants to fully switch to non-Russian. materials next year.
Ukraine also depends on Hungary and Slovakia for energy. They send out Kyiv fuel and power that is typically produced from. Russian resources.
Hungary's foreign minister stated today the nation. offered 42% of Ukraine's power imports in June.
(source: Reuters)