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Temasek supports Singapore Airlines' Air India Investment amid growing scrutiny
Singapore's state-owned investor Temasek - the majority shareholder of Singapore Airlines -- backed its investment in Air India on Saturday, as questions grew about the airline’s stake in the Indian carrier. This week, the first report on Air?India's request to Tata Sons for $1.5 billion of new equity was published. Singapore Airlines holds 25.1%, while Tata owns the remainder of India's largest airline. Kenneth Tiong of Singapore's Workers' Party opposition, who learned about the funding request, called for Temasek's money not to be used in order to support the Indian carrier. Singapore's Business Times also published a comment arguing that Singapore Airlines couldn't realistically sell its Air India stake and that?Tata was the only viable buyer. The newspaper questioned the value of its 25,1% stake beyond a seat on the board and a share in the losses, but maintained that the strategic logic behind the investment was still valid. Juliet Teo of Temasek Singapore's joint head of Portfolio Development wrote to the newspaper in response to this?commentary. She said that Temasek supported Singapore Airlines decision to invest into Air India and viewed it from a longer-term perspective. In the letter, it was stated that Air India's transformation involved multi-year, complex operational and integration challenges. The outcomes were shaped by external factors, such as industry developments, geopolitical changes, and fuel price volatility. It said that "efforts of this magnitude take time and cannot be expected to be linear." Temasek has not stated whether it would support any capital contributions by Singapore Airlines to Air India. Tata has been in charge of Air India since 2022, when it was formerly owned by the state. Air India was hit by the ban on Indian carriers in Pakistani airspace, the U.S./Israeli conflict with Iran and the fallout of a fatal crash that occurred last year. The airline's?budget division Air India Express and the airline itself posted combined losses of $2.33billion in the year up to March. This weighed on Singapore Airlines' profits. Singapore Airlines announced on Thursday that its board will carefully review any requests from Air India for additional capital, taking into account the group's capital requirements as well as Air India's strategy.
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Boeing and union negotiators will meet on Monday to restart stalled contracts negotiations
A spokesman from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees Association said that Boeing's negotiators and its largest union, SPEEA, plan to meet on Monday to resume contract negotiations. SPEEA members rejected Boeing's offer by a large majority last week. In a recent survey conducted by SPEEA, union members including engineers and technical workers said that they want Boeing to guarantee them immediate and larger wage increases. According to the survey results, shared by SPEEA, more money for annual performance-based increases is the?second highest priority. According to the survey, the?third-highest priority was better annual cost-of living adjustments. Boeing's spokesman said, "We are looking forward to reaching an agreement with SPEEA before the current contract ends and we look forward to finding a resolution at the bargaining table." The company declined further comment. Tuesday, the planemaker advertised?contractor positions in apparent preparation for a strike after the current contract expires Oct. 6. SPEEA members are essential to Boeing's efforts to certify the 737 -MAX 10 and 787-9, which both are years behind schedule. Work stoppages would further delay the two aircraft's entry into service. Airlines are still waiting for their delivery. Reporting by Dan Catchpole, Seattle. Editing by Nick Zieminski & Chizu Nomiyama.
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Tennessee Governor: Nashville airport will be named after Dolly Parton
Tennessee plans to name Nashville International Airport after country music icon Dolly Parton. The singer passed away in the 'country music capital' earlier this week at age 80. After Parton's death, fans launched a social media campaign to change the name of the airport. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee discussed the change with Parton's staff this week, according?to statements from the airport and Lee’s office. Lee stated in the statement that "Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life will forever be woven into the fabric of our State." Nashville International Airport is named after 'our favorite daughter' Dolly Parton, who has left a legacy of generosity, faith and kindness. According to a statement, the proposal to rename Nashville Airport and the current Metro Nashville Airport Authority naming policy will both be discussed at a meeting scheduled for September 17. The New York Times reported that the current policy does not allow naming a property after someone who hasn't been deceased for two years. Parton was born in 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee. She grew up in an?unique?cabin? in the?neighborhood of Locust Ridge. At age 13, she was performing on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating high school, she moved to Nashville and pursued a career in music. With songs like "Jolene," "Coat of many?Colors," and "I Will Always Love You," Parton became one of the best-selling female musicians of all time. She sold over 100 millions records. She was awarded 11 Grammy Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Trans Mountain CEO: US trade dispute adds urgency to Canada’s oil pipeline plans
According to the CEO of Trans Mountain, the government-owned pipeline company, Friday's?collapse in trade talks? with the United States created an urgency? to?plan a?new oil pipeline? for Canada's West Coast. Although the project is still in its conceptual stage, both the oil producing province of Alberta and the Canadian government believe it to be in the national interest. Trans Mountain CEO Mark Maki said that the need for this project became apparent in recent weeks. Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world. It exports 90% of its oil to the U.S. but tensions are rising between the two countries. Last week, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of?50% on $20 billion in Canadian goods. He also angered Canadians with an executive order declaring Lake Ontario, the body of water that spans the Canada-U.S. boundary, to be known as Lake America. Maki stated that the situation highlighted the need for Canada to diversify their exports. The west coast pipeline project would achieve this by increasing Canadian oil ships' access to Asia. "Events in the world around us have made it (the pipeline on the west coast) more urgent and I actually think that is good. He said, "It's very helpful." The 890,000-barrel-per-day Trans Mountain pipeline is the only east-west oil export pipeline in Canada. The Canadian government tripled the capacity of this pipeline in 2024. However, Canadian oil production is still growing and it's already nearly full. Trans Mountain Corp. would build and develop the proposed west-coast pipeline on a route similar to its existing pipeline with financial assistance from Alberta's Petroleum Marketing Commission and the Pembina Pipeline. The project proponents are asking Ottawa to declare the pipeline a national interest project, which will allow regulatory approvals to be expedited. Maki said Trans Mountain had to move quickly to consult Indigenous Communities and plan the route to be able to apply for regulatory approval in early 2019. Trans Mountain also works to optimize the existing pipeline by using drag-reducing agents in order to add?90,000. bpd to the capacity of the pipeline by the end of this year. The company will make a final decision on investment by the end 2026 to build more pumping station to increase 210,000 bpd capacity by the 2028. (Reporting and editing by Rod Nickel in Calgary)
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Trump Administration appeals $16 Billion Hudson Tunnel Funding Order
The Trump administration appealed on Friday a court order that required it to pay for the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project?after losing their latest bid to halt funding for 'the New York - New Jersey Rail Link. The project will build a new commuter train tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey, and repair an old tunnel that is used daily by over 200,000 passengers and 425 trains. The funding dispute is a new clash between the Trump administration and the congressional Democrats on one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country. Trump has stated that he is against the tunnel which received federal support of about $15 billion under former president Joe Biden. The?U.S. The Transportation Department abruptly halted grant funding for the project on 1 October in response to a partial government shutdown that President Donald Trump blamed congressional Democrats. A U.S. court?ordered that the payments resume in February. Trump announced in October that he terminated the project citing U.S. backing. Chuck Schumer is a New York Democrat who expressed concerns over potential cost increases. The Department, which didn't comment immediately on Friday, had said that the freeze was imposed to ensure compliance with regulations prohibiting improper use of "diversity equity and inclusion" policies when funding. The heavily damaged tunnel from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 needs frequent repairs, which disrupt travel on the nation's busiest passenger rail line. Construction was temporarily halted in February, but resumed when the Trump Administration released funding that it had been withholding since October. The Gateway Development Commission which oversees the?project for New York and New Jersey has sued the Transportation Department separately in the U.S. Court of Claims, to ensure that the funds aren't frozen. Trump offered to unfreeze funds in January if Democrats would support his proposal to rename Washington Dulles Airport, and New York Penn Station. Democrats criticised the idea. The federal funding for the project has already been spent on around $2 billion.
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Serbia obtains additional sanctions waiver for Russian owned NIS oil company
On Friday, energy minister 'Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic' wrote on Instagram that?Serbia had secured a further waiver of sanctions from the United States until September 30 for its Russian-owned NIS Oil firm. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has granted a waiver to NIS, the operator of Serbia's sole oil refinery. This will allow NIS to continue importing oil until the Russian majority stake is sold by MOL, a Hungarian oil company, for a total of 51%. "The extended license allows us to continue supplying the market, while at same time working on an long-term solution (for NIS),"?Djedovic handanovic said. OFAC imposed sanctions against NIS in October last year as part of broader measures targeting Russia's energy sector due to the conflict in Ukraine. They demanded that Gazprom and Gazprom divest their combined 56% stake. This waiver is vital for Serbia, as the NIS refinery supplies around 80% or its demand. The Balkan country's other fuel imports fell to 25% of its monthly target in July due to record-low water levels on the River Danube forcing barges and tanks to operate at only a third their cargo capacity. Djedovic Handanovic said that negotiations between MOL & Gazprom Neft were in the final phase. She said without further explanation that "the new?licence is a sign of progress and a desire to provide the extra time necessary to complete this complicated transaction." OFAC granted NIS several waivers of sanctions allowing it import crude via Croatia’s Janaf pipeline while MOL completed the?acquisition following a provisional agreement in January. The Serbian Government owns 29,9% of NIS. Small shareholders and employees hold the rest. (Reporting and editing by Louise Heavens and Kirby Donovan; Aleksandar Vasovic, Angeliki Koutantou)
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Kremlin: Putin and Xi will discuss Power of Siberia 2 next week
Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, said that the Russian president?Vladimir Putin would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping?on a side-line?of??the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit?? in Bishkek?, Kyrgyzstan?s capital. Ushakov stated that the leaders will discuss the?planned 2,600-km (1.616-miles) Power of Siberia?2 system, which is expected to transport 50 billion cubic meters (bcm),?of gas a year?to China via Mongolia?from the Arctic Gasfields. Power of Siberia 2 is stalled because of price disagreements, and the pipeline talks have been going on for many years. Putin will also meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoan, and he is expected to discuss with him the situation in Ukraine and at the Black Sea. The Kremlin's aide confirmed that Putin would also meet with the?Indian PM Narendra Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. (Reporting and writing by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Written by Vladimir Soldatkin)
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In a stepped-up attack on logistics, Russia destroys Ukrainian food stores
Kyiv’s agriculture minister revealed on Friday that recent Russian air strikes?have destroyed 90% of retailers' logistics for food, Kyiv's agricultural ministry said. This reveals?the extent of Moscow's mounting attack on Ukrainian logistics. Both countries have intensified their strikes over the past few weeks, focusing on economic targets such as major retailers. Specifically,?Russia has targeted warehouses of Ukraine's top supermarket chains, its top?postal services?and its home-goods shops. Ukrinform reported that Taras Vysotskyi, the farm minister, said, "As it stands today, 90 percent of retail food chains are destroyed. But this does not mean Ukrainians won't have food." The comments he made to reporters in Kyiv were the most honest official assessment of the impact of Russia's escalating attacks on Ukraine's fragile economy, in its fifth year of war. Strikes at the logistics depots for food retailers have caused?fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, sugar and other foods to disappear from some Kyiv supermarkets. Ukraine's long range attacks have also targeted energy infrastructure, oil tankers and the Black Sea's Black and Azov Seas. ATTACKS ON LOGISTICS Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi stated that Russia launched jet-powered drones across Ukraine almost non-stop over the past two weeks, especially in Kyiv and its surrounding area, where the situation was the most challenging. He said on Telegram that 16 people were killed in Ukraine over the last day. Vyhivskyi stated that the attackers are targeting civilian businesses such as food?warehouses and hypermarkets. They also target postal terminals and warehouses where books were stored. Tymur Tkachenko, the governor of Kyiv, confirmed that Russian drones attacked more than 12 warehouses in the region on Friday, causing one death. The company also reported that the strikes destroyed the sorting centres of Ukraine's leading private courier Nova Poshta in Kyiv, and Sumy (northern city) as well. Ivan Fedorov, the governor of Zaporizhzhia in the south, said that a Russian drone ripped into a major home improvement store, Epicenter, and injured at least four people. Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv, said that Russia had also attacked a shopping centre in the city. This was the second attack in just two days. A Russian drone also destroyed on Friday a Kyiv-region warehouse for a major book retailer, which shipped thousands of titles every day. GOAL TO 'PARALYZE' KYIV Frequent sirens blared 'throughout Kyiv' into the afternoon of Friday, a day after a missile and drone assault on Ukraine which targeted major retailers and consumer logistic in Kyiv as well as elsewhere. The attacks on Friday appeared to be a bid to prolong the chaos caused by strikes a day before, which had delayed trains in several regions and left many passengers stranded. Andriy Kovalevko, the head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation(CCD), an arm of the National Security Council, said: "The enemy is sending small numbers of UAVs with jet engines in waves to paralyse Kyiv." The aim is to wear down?air defences as well as the population. Ukraine's State Railway said on Friday that although delays are decreasing, the effects of frequent strike and air-raid warnings will be felt for at least one more day. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that Kyiv was under an air-raid warning for nearly 15 hours on Thursday. Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka from Gdansk; additional reporting by Yuliia Dia, Jekaterina Glubkova from Tokyo; editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Christopher Cushing.
Ukraine continues to attack Russian energy sites. What has been struck?
In recent weeks, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian energy installations as peace talks failed to make progress.
Here is a brief summary of the recent attacks and their impact.
NORSI NORSI is Russia's fourth largest oil refinery and owned by Lukoil. It suspended operations after a drone attack in Ukraine on April 5, according to two industry sources.
NORSI is Russia's second-largest gasoline producer. It can process up to 16 million metric tons of oil each year or 320,000 barrels of fuel per day.
Sources say that KIRISHI Russia’s?Kirishi refinery could partially restart in a month after processing was halted at the end March due to Ukrainian drone attacks which caused fires. Sources say that three of the four main units, which make up around 60% of the refinery’s nominal capacity, are expected to resume operations.
Kirishi produced 2.1 million tons last year of gasoline, 7.7 million tons diesel, 6.1 millions tons of fuel oil, and 600,000 tonnes of bitumen.
UST-LUGA PLANT - The Russian energy company Novatek suspended the processing of gas condensate and exporting naphtha from its Ust-Luga Complex after drone attacks caused an fire, according to three sources in the market. Three processing units at the Ust-Luga Complex, each with 3 million ton capacity, are used to refine stable gas condensate and turn it into jet fuel, heavy naphtha and gasoil. According to company data, in 2025 the complex will have processed 8.0 millions tons of gas condensate.
UFA Ukraine’s military stated that it struck Russia's Bashneft Novoil oil refinery last week, more than 1,400 km (870 mile) from the Ukrainian borders.
The plant can process up to 7 million tonnes of oil a year.
SARATOV REFINERY According to sources, the Saratov refinery controlled by Rosneft was attacked on March 21, allegedly by a drone. The crude distillation unit of the refinery has since been shut down.
The refinery will process?5,8 million metric tonnes of oil in 2024, which is 2.2% of all Russian oil refining.
ILSKY REFINERY On February 17, a fire broke out in the Ilsky oil refining plant, located in southern Russia. The cause was drone attacks. According to officials in the region, the fire was completely extinguished on February 18.
Exports are the main focus of Ilsky's refinery. It has a processing capacity of 6 million tons of crude oil per year.
VOLGOGRAD RIFINERY According to sources, drone attacks caused the Volgograd refinery owned by Lukoil to be completely shut down as of February 11, 2016. Drones targeted, amongst other facilities, CDU-1, the refinery’s primary oil processing unit, whose daily capacity is 18,600 tons. The Volgograd refinery will process 13.7 million tonnes of oil in 2024.
UKHTA RIFINERY According to officials in the region, a drone attack led to an explosion at the Lukoil-owned Ukhta Refinery on 12 February.
Sources claim that the CDU-1 primary oil processing unit caught fire. The unit's capacity is approximately 6,000 tons per a day or one third of the refinery.
The Ukhta Refinery in northern Russia will process around 3 million tons of oil by 2025.
AFIPISKY REFINERY According to officials in the region, drone attacks caused a fire at the Afipsky Refinery located in southern Russia on 21 January.
Exports are the main focus of the refinery. In 2024, it will process 7.2 million metric tons (144,000 barrels) of crude oil.
PORTS AND TTANKERS
The Russian defence ministry announced on Monday that Ukraine had?attacked facilities at the maritime transit complex in the Port of Novorossiysk over night, causing damage to a mooring for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium as well as causing fires in four oil reservoirs.
After Russia's report, Kazakhstan reported that CPC oil exports via the Black Sea were stable. ?U.S. The oil major Chevron announced on Tuesday that crude oil exports had continued uninterrupted from the vast Tengiz oil field.
On Monday, Ukrainian drones started a fire in the Sheskharis Oil Terminal located in Russia.
Alexander Drozdenko, the local governor, said that a drone attack from Ukraine damaged a portion of a pipeline in Russia's Baltic Sea Port of Primorsk.
In a drone attack last month, Primorsk lost 40% of its storage capacity, despite being one of Russia's biggest export gateways. Primorsk can handle up to 1 million barrels of oil per day. Reporting by:
(source: Reuters)