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Serbian President says Russia is seeking a partner for the US-sanctioned NIS Oil firm
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Wednesday that Russia was seeking partners to help resolve the dispute with the United States regarding ownership of NIS, a Serbian oil company sanctioned by the United States. NIS, the company that operates Serbia's only refinery, is owned by Russia's Gazprom, 44.9%, and by Gazprom, 11.3%, with 29.9% by the Serbian Government. In January, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury placed sanctions against Russia's oil industry. However, for NIS these sanctions were repeatedly delayed and came into force on October 8th. The banks have stopped processing NIS payment and Croatia's JANAF pipeline has stopped delivering crude to NIS. Vucic made the remarks in an interview with the pro-government Informer TV. He said without giving any details: "I think that we can resolve this together with our American friends and our Russian friends, which will be a great relief for our nation." Vucic said that he would have "important meetings" in the coming two days with officials from the European Union (EU) and Russia to discuss the fate NIS. Dubravka Handanovic, Serbia's Energy Minister, said that the NIS refinery, which is capable of producing 4.8 million tonnes of crude oil annually and meets most of Serbian needs, would be able operate without any new supplies until November 25, 2009. The refinery can be found in Pancevo, just outside of the capital Belgrade. (Reporting and editing by Joe Bavier, Conor Humphrey and Aleksandar Vasovic)
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Belgium scrambles for solutions to airport closures due to drones
After drone sightings on Tuesday night forced the closure of airports, a military base and an airbase, the Belgian government called for an emergency meeting with key ministers. Drones are causing major disruption Europe In recent months, airports have been forced to temporarily close in several countries. Several officials have attributed the incidents to "hybrid war" by Russia. Moscow denies any involvement in the incidents. Skeyes, the Belgian air navigation company, said that Brussels airport, Belgium’s busiest airport, was shut down at 8 pm (1900 GMT), after three drones flew above its perimeter. Around the same time drones were seen over airports in Antwerp and Liege, forcing those airports to close until early Wednesday morning. According to the Defence Ministry, drones were also seen hovering above Florennes Air Base. After two hours the airport briefly reopened, but was then closed again when at least one drone appeared. Around 2 am, the suspension of flights was lifted. Theo Francken, the Minister of Defence, told a committee in parliament that it appeared as if the incidents were coordinated to cause disruption and involved large drones flying together. It is similar to hybrid techniques used in other countries. It's not someone flying a drone randomly over an airport or military site... There are several indications that it was planned in a structured manner." Brussels Airport reported that 81 flights were cancelled and 24 diverted since the initial shutdown. Nearly half of the cancellations happened after the airport reopened Wednesday morning due to planes being in the wrong places. The first flight on Wednesday was at 6.30 am. The major cargo hub of Liege Airport reopened its doors at 3 am, almost seven hours after being closed. Five flights were cancelled, 37 were delayed, and eight flights had to be diverted. The authorities in Denmark, Norway, and Germany are investigating the drone sightings which have temporarily grounded airport air traffic in Oslo, Copenhagen, and Munich since September. However, so far, little information has been made public about what happened in these cases. Reporting by Inti, Charlotte, Blenkinsop, and Tierney Kugel. Editing by Mark Heinrich.
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UPS Worldport, Louisville: A nerve center for global logistics
United Parcel Service has halted its cargo sorting operations at Louisville International Airport following the wide-body freighter. burst into flames On Tuesday evening, nine people were killed, including three crewmembers, shortly after the takeoff. The airport has reopened for air traffic and is now home to UPS's biggest package-handling operation. It also serves as a hub for UPS's global air-cargo operations. UPS also expects to resume its cargo operations by Wednesday morning. However, the company has not yet issued an official update. A prolonged closure at the facility known as Worldport could have cascading effects on the U.S. logistic network, possibly delaying deliveries and disrupting the supply chain. Here are some key facts about this facility and its importance in global trade. LOCATION AND SIZE The Worldport facility at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is about 5.2 millions square feet or 90 football fields in size. It serves as UPS' global air logistics nerve centre. CAPACITY Handles about 2 million packages per a day. The automated sorting system is capable of processing up to 420,000 letters/packages per hour. DAILY OPERATIONS - An average of 360 flights per day inbound and outbound, connecting over 200 countries and regions. This compares to about 150 passenger flights from and to the airport. STRATEGIC IMMPORTANCE The hub is the central part of UPS's network for overnight deliveries, connecting North America, Europe and Asia. Delivery giant UPS is a major logistics partner of e-commerce giant Amazon, as well as the United States Postal Service. History UPS began operations in Louisville in the early 80s with a small facility that sorted about 2,000 air parcels per day. In 2002, 2010, and 2022 the company added two healthcare logistic facilities and a brand new aircraft hangar. (Reporting and editing by Arun K. Koyyur in Bengaluru, with Shivansh Tiwary from Bengaluru)
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The death toll from the Louisville UPS plane crash has risen to nine
Officials from Louisville and Kentucky said that the death toll has now reached nine. The UPS cargo plane crashed into a fireball just moments after taking off in Louisville on Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board investigators will be at the scene on Wednesday to start the process of determining what went wrong after the MD-11 cargo aircraft, which is 34 years old, caught fire at 5:13 pm. ET on Tuesday, and then crashed. The crash site was reported by Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg as having nine bodies. Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, said via social media that it is possible that there will be more deaths. Officials reported that 11 victims were taken to hospital on Tuesday. Officials said that the airport international in Louisville, Kentucky reopened for air traffic on Wednesday morning, but the runway where the accident occurred is expected to be closed for at least another 10 days. UPS announced Tuesday that it had stopped package sorting at its airport facility. The company didn't say whether it resumed its package sorting on Wednesday. The plane had enough fuel for an eight-and-a-half-hour flight to Honolulu. UPS reported that it had a three-person crew. Officials said that none of the crew survived. The crash was the first UPS cargo aircraft to occur since August 2013 when an Airbus plane crashed on the landing approach at Birmingham International Airport, Alabama. Both crew members were killed. After the crash, thick black smoke rose into the evening skies from several buildings that were on fire in an industrial area just beyond the runway. A person who was briefed in the matter, and showed video images of debris on the airfield, said that the key question for the investigators was why it appeared as if one engine had separated from the aircraft before the crash. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Heavens; Reporting by David Shepardson)
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Europe probes Chinese bidder in Lisbon railway project over possible market distortion
The European Commission announced that it had opened an investigation on possible market distortions by China's state owned CRRC, in a bid to build railways in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. According to a preliminary investigation, the Commission found that the Portuguese subsidiary of the Chinese rolling-stock manufacturer may have received foreign subsidies for its participation in a bid in April to build Lisbon's "violet line", a surface section linked to the city underground. According to Metropolitano de Lisboa (the issuer), the tender attracted four bids ranging between 599 million Euros ($698.55 millions) and 716 million Euros. The winner has not yet been selected. The bidders were not listed as Chinese. Portugal CRRC Tangshan Rolling Stock has not responded to a comment request immediately. The Commission announced that it would launch an in-depth investigation into CRRC, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation system of the EU, following preliminary findings. It will then decide whether it accepts remedies from the firm, bars it from winning or decides not to object. Stephane Sejourne, European Commissioner for Industry, said that protecting the single market (EU) from distortions was essential to ensuring fair competition, supporting companies who competed on merit and safeguarding the Union's security economic.
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Sources claim that Trafigura has flooded LME Malaysia with aluminium.
Three sources with knowledge of the matter said that Trafigura had delivered large quantities to London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses in Malaysia to take advantage of a financial agreement. Sources said that they did not know the details of the deal, which could have been incentives or rent deals. Trafigura has declined to comment. On October 30, the LME-registered warehouses at Port Klang in Malaysia saw an increase of nearly 100,000 metric tonnes in their stock of aluminium. The total now stands at 366,850 tonnes. Sources said that Trafigura had put the majority of this aluminum on LME warrants, which are title documents that confer ownership. Metal on LME warrant rent is much higher than metal stored in storage without warrant. The companies that offer metal for rent do not need to own the metal. Instead, they receive a portion of the rent paid by new owners as long as the metal remains in the warehouse. Aluminium rent is 56 cents per ton in Port Klang, or $56,000 a year for 100,000 tons. Sources said Trafigura would also be able to benefit from incentives. If the metal is waiting to leave the warehouse, LME allows operators the option to charge for rent up to 80 days. The incentive is calculated based on the free-on-truck rate (FOT), and the potential rent. Incentives for owners of metals to place it on LME warrant rather than offer it to the market would need to be higher to reflect the supply, demand, and costs, including freight and taxes. Typically, consumers buy metal in contracts that include both the physical market premium and the LME benchmark. If they are short on metal, they can also purchase it from the physical market. (Reporting and editing by Alexander Smith; Pratima Deai)
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After Russian strikes, Ukraine imports gas from Greece via the Balkans to keep its system running
Ukraine has resumed imports of gas from a pipeline which runs from the Balkan Peninsula to Greece to keep its heating systems and electric system running throughout the winter, after extensive damage caused by intensified Russian airstrikes. In October, Russia intensified its strikes against Ukraine's gas industry, causing it to lose at least half of the country's own production and force Ukraine to import 4 billion cubic meters of additional gas to compensate. According to data from Ukrainian gas transit operator, Ukraine is expected to receive 1.1 million cubic meters (mcm), after importing 0.78 mcm Tuesday. The Transbalkan route connects Ukraine with LNG terminals in Greece via Moldova, Romania, and Bulgaria. ExPro, a Ukrainian energy consultancy, said that Greek DEPA Commercial and D.Trading (a subsidiary of Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK) had booked the capacity to import gas to Ukraine from Greece with a daily quantity of 0.6 millions cubic metres. Ukraine imports approximately 23 mcm per day, which includes nearly 10 mcm each from Hungary, 8 mcm each from Poland, and 5 mcm each from Slovakia. Transbalkan routes were not operated in September or October and only July and August prior to this. Gas transit costs were high across all four countries, including Ukraine. ExPro stated that tariff reductions by Moldovan operators and Romanian operators helped to boost bookings of capacity in November. Long Recovery Gas pipelines must maintain high pressure, and the Transbalkan route import is one element that will help the Ukrainian system stay operational when the domestic production cannot pump enough gas in the pipes. Oleksandr Kharchenko said that Russian attacks damaged a large number of gas compressions, which complicated the restoration of Ukraine's power system. Kharchenko said in a television briefing that the compressor stations had been destroyed. "We won't be able to restore 30-40% (of the destroyed capacity) for the heating season." He said that gas compressors are very expensive and not available anywhere in the world due to the high demand. "The (Gas) Production has been Affected, and Restoring the Compressors is Not a Matter of Months." Kharchenko said that the restoration of production would take between 15 and 18 months. Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Peter Graff
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Tesla's German auto sales fell by more than half in October, as EV sales grew across the board
The German road traffic agency KBA reported on Wednesday that Tesla's German sales volume had more than halved from the same period last year. However, sales of battery-electric vehicles were up overall. KBA reported that Tesla sold 750 vehicles in Germany in October. This is a 53.5% decrease from the previous year. Teslas were sold at a 50.4% lower rate in January-October, to 15,595 cars, than the same period a year ago. KBA said that the number of electric vehicles registered in October increased by 47.7% to 52.425 units. Tesla's sales in October fell in several European countries, including Spain and the Netherlands. The latest indication that the U.S. electric car maker continues to struggle on the continent is the drop in sales in October in Spain. The German agency said that sales of electric vehicles manufactured by BYD in China increased ninefold from October 2013 to October 2014, and have reached 15,171 units.
Pembina Pipeline will supply LNG to Malaysian PETRONAS for 20 Years
The Canadian company Pembina Pipeline announced on Wednesday that it would supply Malaysia's PETRONAS with 1.0 million tonnes of liquefied gas per year.
The agreement marks an important milestone in the $4 billion Cedar LNG Project and reinforces Canada's efforts to become a global supplier of LNG to Asia.
The company stated that it would give PETRONAS an additional outlet to export natural gas for its Canadian upstream investments, while also providing Pembina a stable and long-term revenue source.
Cedar, a joint-venture between Haisla First Nation, an Indigenous community, and Pembina would produce 3.3 millions tons of timber per year after its completion in 2028.
Canada, the sixth largest natural gas producer in the world, has not been able to build a strong LNG industry as other gas-producing countries have. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore in Bengaluru. Katha Kalia is based in Bengaluru.
(source: Reuters)