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US Highway Safety Officials review Tesla's answers on robotaxi deployment plans
The U.S. Highway Safety regulators are reviewing the answers Tesla provided to questions they asked about the safety and reliability of the self-driving robotaxis in bad weather, according to a statement released by the agency on Friday. This is ahead of plans for the vehicles to be deployed as early as this weekend. According to social media posts and screenshots, it was reported on Friday that Tesla had sent out invitations to a select group of people for a limited trial in Austin, Texas, which is set to begin tentatively on Sunday. NHTSA sent a letter to Tesla last month asking it to provide detailed answers by June 19, 2015, on its plans to start a robotaxi service for a fee in Austin, Texas. This was to determine how Tesla's self-driving cars would perform in bad weather. Since October, the NHTSA is investigating Tesla collisions with full self-driving vehicles in low visibility road conditions. The investigation covers 2.4 millions Tesla vehicles with full-self-driving technology (FSD), following four reported collisions including a fatal 2023 crash. In May, the agency stated that it wanted to know more about Tesla's robotaxis and their development "to determine whether the system can react appropriately in reduced visibility conditions", as well as details of the robotaxi deployment plans. NHTSA asked in May how many robotaxis will be available and when the technology would be available for cars controlled by other people than Tesla. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese; David Shepardson)
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Gold to lose a weekly loss as US delays decision on Middle East involvement
Gold prices were stable on Friday, and are expected to fall by a significant amount this week after U.S. president Donald Trump deferred a decision about entering the Israel-Iran war. As of 1742 GMT, spot gold was unchanged at $3,368.68 per ounce as of 0142 EDT. This is its lowest price since June 12. The index fell 1.8% in the past week. U.S. Gold Futures closed 0.7% lower at $3,385.70. Gold is stable as Trump reverses his stance on an "imminent" attack on Iran. Tai Wong, a metals trader, said that for the moment it appears all the bad information is out. The gold rally has seen dips aggressively purchased. The White House announced on Thursday that Trump would decide within the next two weeks if the United States would get involved in Israel-Iran's air war. This will increase pressure on Tehran to engage in negotiations. Iran launched another barrage of rockets against Israel in the early hours of Friday morning, hitting near residential apartments, offices and industrial facilities located in Beersheba, a southern city. Gold has traditionally been considered a hedge in times of political or economic uncertainty. The U.S. Central Bank held rates at the same level on Wednesday. While policymakers still anticipate cutting rates by half a percentage point this year, they slightly slowed the pace from there to a single quarter-percentage-point cut in each of 2026 and 2027. Gold is not a yielding asset and is therefore unfavorable in a high-interest rate environment. Carsten Menke is an analyst with Julius Baer. He said: "We continue to see a strong demand for gold from central banks and safe-haven investors, which should support the current price of gold." Silver spot fell 1%, to $36.02 an ounce. It was down 0.7% on the week. Palladium fell 0.1% to $1.049, but gained 2.1% for the week. Platinum fell 3.1% to $1.266.72, on course for its third consecutive weekly gain. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore, Rod Nickel, and Ashitha Mukherjee in Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Anushree mukherjee.
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Dassault Aviation receives French government support for VORTEX, its spaceplane demonstration demonstrator
Dassault Aviation signed an agreement with the French government on Friday, whereby the French Ministry of Armed Forces will support the development and production of Dassault Aviation’s VORTEX Spaceplane Demonstrator. At the Paris Airshow, French Minister of Defence Sebastien Lecornu signed an agreement with Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier. Dassault Aviation VORTEX, a project of Dassault Aviation, has received government support. This comes after President Emmanuel Macron backed plans to create a European satellite manufacturing leader on Friday. Macron declared that the space is the new arena for the world's power competition at the Paris Airshow. In a press release, Eric Trappier said: "At a crossroads between aviation and space technology, the VORTEX is undoubtedly going to pave the path for a new era of space aeronautics. This will consolidate France's position as the world leader in space."
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US sanctions target Houthi oil traders and those who provide Iran with military equipment
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it had imposed new sanctions against Iran, targeting eight entities and one vessel as well as one individual for their alleged involvement in providing sensitive equipment for Tehran's defence industry. United States The gang is determined to stop any attempt by Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary, said that the U.S. government would "purchase sensitive dual-use components and machinery" to support the regime's ballistic weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles, and asymmetric weapon programs. Treasury will continue to degrade Iran’s ability to manufacture and proliferate deadly weapons that threaten regional stability as well as global security, he said in announcing this action. The statement stated that two of the entities are shipping companies located in Hong Kong, Unico Shipping Co Ltd. and Athena Shipping Co Ltd. The Treasury Department on Friday also issued counterterrorism-related sanctions targeting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis over alleged illicit oil trading and shipping, it said in a separate statement. The department stated that these sanctions were imposed on four individuals, twelve entities and two vessels for importing oil and other illegal goods in support of the Houthis. The Department of State said that the sanctions target four individuals, 12 entities and two vessels over imported oil and other illicit goods to support the Houthis.
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Gold to lose a weekly loss as US delays decision on Middle East involvement
Gold prices remained steady on Friday, and are expected to fall by a significant amount this week after U.S. president Donald Trump deferred a decision about entering the Israel-Iran war. As of 10:17 am EDT (1417 GMT), spot gold was unchanged at $3,372.81 per ounce. This is its lowest price since June 12. The index fell for the second consecutive week, falling 1.8%. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.6% to $3388.90. Gold is stable as Trump reverses his stance on an "imminent" attack on Iran. Tai Wong, a metals trader, said that for the moment it appears all the bad information is out. The White House said that Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether or not to get involved in the Israel-Iran air war. This puts pressure on Tehran to negotiate. The White House announced on Thursday that Trump would decide within the next two week whether or not the United States will be involved in the Israel/Iran air conflict. This will increase pressure on Tehran to begin negotiations. Iran launched another barrage of rockets against Israel in the early hours of Friday morning, hitting near residential apartments, offices, and industrial buildings in Beersheba, a southern city. Gold has traditionally been considered a hedge in times of political or economic uncertainty. The U.S. Central Bank held interest rates at the same level on Wednesday. While policymakers still anticipate cutting rates by half a percentage point this year, they slightly slowed the pace from there to a single quarter-percentage-point cut in each of 2026 and 2027. Gold is not a yielding asset, so a high interest rate environment is not favourable. Carsten Menke is an analyst with Julius Baer. He said that gold prices should continue to be supported by central banks and safe-haven investors. Spot silver dropped 1.1%, to $35.98 an ounce. It was down by 0.8% during the week. Palladium fell 0.7% to $1 043,28, but gained 1.7% for the week. Platinum fell 2.5% to $1268.58, increasing for the third consecutive week. (Reporting and editing by Rod Nickel, AnushreeMukherjee, Sarah Qureshi in Bengalur; Additional reporting by AshithaSivaprasad)
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Dutch Operation Orange Shield Launched to Keep NATO Summit Safe
The Netherlands launched Operation Orange Shield in order to protect the NATO summit next week. They deployed combat helicopters, patrols at sea, more than 10,000 military and law enforcement personnel, bomb squads, and air defence systems. The closed-door event will be held at The Hague World Forum. It will include delegates and leaders of 32 countries including U.S. president Donald Trump, French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keirstarmer. Seven Dutch frigates will be deployed as part of the largest security operation in the country. Dennis Oorburg, commander of Tromp frigate, said, "The goal is to observe all that's going on in the area, both at sea and in the sky." Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the Dutch counterterrorism chief, told Dutch broadcaster NOS about cybersecurity risks being closely monitored. On Monday, heads of state and ministers will arrive at Schiphol Airport and then be escorted via a secure highway to The Hague. The Dutch King Willem-Alexander is hosting a state dinner on Tuesday for NATO leaders. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been invited but has not confirmed his attendance. Mark Rutte, NATO's chief, will officially open the summit on Wednesday. He hopes to achieve consensus among leaders about a target of 5% for defence spending, as demanded by Trump. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, however, has been against the higher target. Protests will be held around the summit. These include a planned blockade of the highway by Extinction Rebellion activists, demonstrations against the conflict in Gaza, and hate speech directed at LGBTI+. The police say that protests are allowed within the "limits of the law". Reporting by Bart Biesemans, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Alison Williams from Scheveningen.
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Kazakhstan's daily oil and condensate output is expected to increase by 6% this June, the ministry reports
The Energy Ministry and the National Statistics Bureau have both reported that the daily production of oil and gas condensate in Kazakhstan is expected to increase by 6% compared to May. The OPEC+ producers have criticized its output for exceeding the quota. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that Kazakhstan's average daily production of oil and gas condensate in June will rise to 285,000 tons or 2,140 million barrels a day. Uses a conversion factor 7.5 barrels to a ton. Output stood at 269,000 tons in May, statistics bureau data showed. The ministry reported that the average daily production of oil and gas condensate for the first 10 days in June was 285,000 tons. It added that it would remain the same if there were no unforeseeable events. The Ministry did not specify the oilfields that were increasing production. Tengiz, a giant oilfield in Kazakhstan, was responsible for a surge in production this year. According to sources familiar with industry data, the production at Tengiz reached 118.100 tons (940,000 bpd) in the first ten days of June compared to 102.160 tons in May. Tengizchevroil is the operator of this field and does not comment about its activities. Alibek Zhamauov, deputy energy minister of Kazakhstan, said in May that production at Tengiz was down due to maintenance. Kazakhstan wants to increase its oil and gas condensate output by almost 10% in 2025, from 87.56 millions tons in 2024. (Reporting and editing by Jason Neely).
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Asian spot LNG price at 4-month-high on supply concerns
This week, Asian spot LNG prices reached their highest level in the past four months due to concerns about disruptions of supply caused by the Israel-Iran war. Average LNG price for August deliveries into North-east Asia According to industry sources, the price of gas was $14.00 per million British Thermal Units (mmBtu), an increase of 11% over $12.60/mmBtu from last week. This is also the highest since February 21. Israel launched an attack on Iran last Friday after claiming that Tehran was close to developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, responded with drone and missile strikes against Israel. Prices have increased sharply in the past few days. Toby Copson is the chairman of Davenport Energy Partners. He said that they are pricing in possible supply disruptions from the Middle East, and that war premiums will continue to rise as long as the conflict continues. He added that "while demand is not high in Asia, some may bid on cargoes for any possible tightening supply." Alex Froley is a senior LNG analyst with data intelligence firm ICIS. He says that Chinese demand in June was around 12% less than the same period last year. Froley stated that "Geopolitics is likely to continue to drive market volatility, but if the physical supply continues to be stable then it could ease off in time." So far, there has been no significant disruption in the physical LNG cargoes. QatarEnergy instructed tankers to stay outside the Strait of Hormuz only until the day before loading. Martin Senior, the head of LNG pricing for Argus, stated that certain buyers could bid higher than European buyers in order to attract Atlantic Basin cargoes because of disruption at Hormuz. Florence Schmit, energy strategist at Rabobank, believes that a complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz is unlikely to happen in the future. The fundamental risk to markets is that the energy infrastructure of Qatar will be caught in the crossfire if there's an escalation. She added that damage to the LNG export infrastructure or gas production sites, as well shipping operations will have a bullish impact on long-term gas prices. Gas prices in Europe at the Dutch TTF Hub eased on Friday, after reaching a new 11-week high Thursday. However, they remain volatile. S&P Global Commodity Insights estimated its daily North West Europe LNG Marker price benchmark (NWM) for cargoes to be delivered in August ex-ship on June 19. This represents a $0.385/mmBtu reduction from the July futures prices at the TTF Hub. This weekly increase of 15.5% is the largest in nearly four months. Spark Commodities set the June price at 13.587/mmBtu. Argus estimated the July price at $13.825/mmBtu. Qasim Afghanistan, an analyst at Spark Commodities, says that the U.S. Arbitrage to North-East Asia via the Cape of Good Hope now points more to Europe while the arbitrage through Panama still points to Asia. On Friday, the LNG market saw its biggest week-on-week rise since October 2023, at $49750/day. Meanwhile, Pacific rates were unchanged at $32,000/day. (Reporting and editing by Nina Chestney; Marwa Rashad)
Serbia's NIS Oil Company seeks fourth waiver of sanctions from the US
The Russian-owned Serbian Oil Company NIS asked the United States on Friday for a 4th waiver from sanctions that could reduce its crude supply.
NIS operates Serbia's sole oil refinery. It is owned by Russia's Gazprom and Gazprom. The refinery has a capacity of 4.8 millions tons per year, which is enough to meet the needs of most Balkan countries.
On January 10, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions against Russia's oil industry and gave Gazprom a 45-day deadline to sell its NIS shares.
NIS has secured three waivers so far, the third of which expires on June 27,
It said that on March 14, NIS sent a request for removal from the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions list.
The company stated in a website statement that "despite the complex environment within which it operates, NIS continues to supply the domestic market regularly with all types of oil derivatives and remains committed to maintaining the social stability of its workers."
Gazprom Neft, in an effort to avoid sanctions, transferred to Gazprom a stake in NIS of approximately 5.15% on February 26.
Gazprom owns 11.3% of NIS. Serbian government holds 29.87% of NIS, while small shareholders hold the remainder.
NIS imports 80% of the oil it needs via Janaf, Croatia's pipeline operator. The rest is covered by the crude oil produced in Serbia.
(source: Reuters)