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Official: US is in process of capturing Olina tanker from the Caribbean
Two U.S. officials confirmed on Friday that the U.S. was in the process to seize?the Olina oil tanker near Trinidad in the Caribbean. This is the fifth interdiction of ships in recent weeks, as part of Washington’s efforts in order to control Venezuelan crude exports. According to an industry source who has direct knowledge of the situation, the Olina had sailed previously from Venezuela, and returned to the area. The British maritime risk management company,?Vanguard, said that the vessel's AIS tracker (location) was last active 52days ago in the Venezuelan EEZ to Curacao's northeast. The seizure comes after a long pursuit of oil tankers associated with Venezuelan oil shipments that were sanctioned in the area. Sources in the oil industry said that the Olina, which left Venezuela fully loaded last week as part of a floating flotilla shortly after the U.S. had seized Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's office on January 3, was returning to Venezuela fully loaded following the U.S. ban of Venezuelan oil exports. The U.S. sanctioned the tanker in January of last year when it was called the Minerva M. Washington claimed that it was part of the shadow fleet, a group of ships with no insurance or regulation. Reporting by Idrees, Phil Stewart and Jonathan Saul. Mark Potter and Hugh Lawson edited the report.
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Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, postpones his visit to Somalia
China's top diplomatic official has delayed what would have been an 'historic visit' to Somalia as part of a 'tour' 'of Africa' aimed at boosting strategic 'trade', the East African nation's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Friday. Wang Yi was to be the first Chinese Foreign Minister since the 1980s. Mogadishu was expected to receive a diplomatic boost after Israel became first country to formally recognize the breakaway Republic of Somaliland. This northern region declared its independence in 1991. Somalia's relationship with the U.S. is also at an all-time low after Washington announced this week that it would stop?further aid to the government over a dispute regarding the demolition of World Food Programme warehouse. Officials from the Somali Foreign Affairs Ministry said that they would provide the reason and future schedule of Wang's trip later. Wang began his annual New Years tour of Africa Wednesday. He focused on strategic trade in?East Africa and Southern Africa, as Beijing sought to secure vital shipping routes?and supply lines for resources. Wang will also travel to Tanzania and Lesotho on the trip that continues until January 12. He called for greater cooperation with Africa's fast-growing economy in areas such as infrastructure, green industries, and digital economy when he met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad on Thursday.
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Nvidia and car suppliers form partnerships to revive the self-driving drive
AI, a network of partnerships, and tech suppliers including Nvidia, are the key to accelerating progress in the self-driving industry. However, many automakers are still unsure. They are concerned about the high costs and scalability but also want to know whether there is enough demand from customers to justify an expensive bet. The advent of vehicles that can drive themselves would revolutionize the world of transportation. However, making this technology safe enough for public roads is proving to be more difficult and expensive than anticipated. While some companies, such as Alphabet Waymo or Tesla, have chosen to develop their own autonomous vehicles in-house, others such as General Motors or Ford Motors have given up on this. AWS and German supplier Aumovio made an announcement at the CES in Las Vegas, this week. Kodiak AI, a company that makes autonomous trucks, and Bosch announced a partnership to increase production of autonomous trucking sensors and hardware. Nvidia, a company that makes AI chips, has released its "next-generation" platform. This platform will be used by Lucid Group and Uber in their robotaxi alliance. Mercedes-Benz announced this week that it would launch an advanced driver-assistance program in the United States this year, powered by Nvidia chips. The system will allow its vehicles to operate autonomously within city streets while under driver supervision. Artificial intelligence, the driving force behind self-driving cars, is now proving to be a powerful tool for development. It could help reduce costs. AI and generative AI are a "big accelerator" for the industry, "because they allow... significant development and validation while using significantly less resources," Ozgur Tohumcu said. He is general manager of Amazon's cloud division Amazon Web Services. Western automakers also face pressure to keep up with China's drive to be the leader in autonomous driving development and adoption. Last month, China approved two cars that have Level 3 autonomy, which allows for hands-free driving. The auto industry has defined five levels for autonomous driving. From 'cruise control' at Level 1, to fully self-driving without the need of a human driver at Level 5, there are five levels. Jochen Hanebeck is the CEO of German chipmaker Infineon. He cautioned against "market fantasies" that fully autonomous cars would be commonplace in a few short years. He said that rather than invest in new investments for fully autonomous vehicles, automakers prefer to use driver assistance technologies, also known as Level 2 technology, which is already available, but requires constant attention from drivers. Hanebeck stated, "I do not see a tsunami moving towards Level 5." There have been a number of announcements of robotaxi deployments in China, Europe, and the Middle East. But Jeremy McClain of Aumovio’s autonomous mobility unit said that to expand the areas covered by these robotaxis, more data is needed, as well as fleets and logistics. "MAKES US FEELS LIKE WE ARE THERE" Self-driving cars are a hot topic. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, promised that the electric car maker would have one million self-driving vehicles on the roads by the end of 2019. Tesla only launched its small robotaxi service last year, six long years after Musk made his bold prediction. It was a problem that self-driving cars are susceptible to a multitude of unexpected events, also known as "edge cases." These can be easily misunderstood by the vehicles. Experts often cite the example of a human driver slowing down when they see a ball roll into the street because a child might be chasing it. But a self driving car would only react if it saw the child. Ford and GM, among others, abandoned their money-losing auto-pilot units after the first bubble burst. The death of GM Cruise was accelerated after it dragged a pedestrian for 20 feet (6 meters) and struck him. Ali Kani is the general manager of Nvidia's automotive team. He said AI enabled advancements to address key flaws in self-driving technologies. Kani says that there are some pieces of foundational technology which make him feel as if he's in the field. Morgan Stanley analysts in a CES note said that Tesla was still years ahead, despite Nvidia’s new Alpamayo self-driving platform giving legacy carmakers a boost and helping them to pressure Tesla. Many in the industry believe that Nvidia's open-source platform, which is a good place for Tesla competitors to gather, will give them a leg up. Russell Ong said, "In a way, it was almost like Apple and Android," referring to Tesla’s proprietary system versus Nvidia’s decision to release Alpamayo, an open-source version. Reporting by Abhirup in Las Vegas, Akash in Bengaluru and Nick Carey. Editing and proofreading by Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis and Matthew Lewis.
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Asia spot prices drop on tepid Demand
Asia spot prices for liquefied gas have been on the decline this week due to a tepid regional demand and ample supply. The average LNG price in February for delivery to?Northeast Asia Industry sources reported that the price of natural gas was $9.50/million British thermal units (mmBtu), which is a?slightly? lower than $9.60/mmBtu in the previous week. "Northeast Asian Demand continues to be weak despite a winter cold snap, with limited restocking on a spot-basis following weak demand in the power sector, with coal being preferred for most generation," Martin Senior, Argus' head of LNG pricing, said. He added that some diverted to South Korea after the record low temperatures recorded in Seoul last month. The demand is likely to have backfilled stocks. S&P Global Energy's daily Northwest Europe LNG Price Benchmark (NWM) for cargoes delivered by February was $9.112/mmBtu in?Europe on January 8th. This is a $0.515/mmBtu reduction from the price at the TTF Hub. The lower temperatures increased LNG consumption and Europe relied on spot cargoes as it had less gas storage. Argus estimated the price to be $8.98/mmBtu while Spark Commodities put it at $9.459/mmBtu. Hans Van Cleef is the head of EqoLibrium's energy research. He said that while temperatures are still lower than the long-term norm in many parts of Europe, it seems likely they will rise next week. He said that as a result of this, the expected gas demand related to temperature is decreasing. Commercial operators also exited their long positions due to the depletion of gas storage, which could lead to a harder time obtaining refills during injection season. According to independent gas analyst Seb K Kennedy, investment funds reduced net short positions on TTF futures as 'colder weather, low volume trading and colder weather pushed up prices for prompt'. Qasim Afghanistan, Spark Commodities analyst, reported that LNG freight rates in the Atlantic fell for the sixth consecutive week, to $48,000/day. Meanwhile, rates in Pacific dropped to $44,250/day. Afghan said that the U.S. front month arbitrage for Northeast Asia via Cape of Good Hope was more strongly pointing towards Europe due to a decline in the JKM/TTF spread.
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Dubai Airports website shows that nearly 20 flights between Dubai, Iran and Iranian cities have been canceled.
The website of Dubai Airports shows that at least 17 flights scheduled by Flydubai for Friday between Dubai and Iranian Cities including Tehran, Shiraz, and Mashhad have been cancelled. The website didn't give a reason for the cancellations. However, a nationwide internet blackout in?Iran was reported on Thursday. It continued?into?Friday as authorities moved to stop growing protests. The protests began at the end December and have shook the nation. Flydubai did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Turkish media reported that Turkish Airlines had cancelled '17 flights and Turkey's Ajet had cancelled six flights. Budget carrier Pegasus Airlines also cancelled flights on Friday to Iranian cities. Hamad International Airport's website shows that at least two flights between Doha, Qatar and Tehran were cancelled on Friday. Reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai, Federico Maccioni and Ezgi Erkoyun from Istanbul and Jan Harvey in Dubai.
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South Korea's MFG purchases approximately 204,000 tons of corn in tender, traders claim
Major Feedmill Group of South Korea (MFG) purchased approximately 204,000 metric tonnes?of animal feeding corn at an international?tender on Friday that sought up to 210,000 metric tons, European traders reported. The 'optional origins' were expected to come from three consignments totaling 68,000 tons, all of which arrived in April in?South Korea. The trading house CHS was said to have 'purchased two consignments. Both consignments were purchased for a combined price of $249.60 per ton, cost and freight included (c&f), plus $1.50 for port unloading and a premium of 189.00 U.S.cents a bushel over the Chicago corn contract for March 2026. Arrival of the CHS consignments in South Korea was scheduled to take place between April 15 and? April 30. Bunge sold a consignment at an estimated $249.94 per ton c&f, plus $1.25 for additional port unloading. The shipment was due to arrive in 'South Korea' around April 25, and Bunge charged a surcharge of $1.25 per ton for the extra?port deloading. Bunge's consignment was estimated by some traders at?65,000 tonnes. The reports reflect the assessments of traders, and it is still possible to estimate prices and volume later. Reporting by Michael Hogan, Hamburg. Mark Potter (Editing)
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Singapore Central Bank seeks feedback to improve dual listing on SGX and NASDAQ
Singapore's central banks launched on Friday a public consultation on proposed changes to the securities laws in order?to facilitate dual listing on the Singapore Exchange and Nasdaq. In a recent statement, the Monetary authority of Singapore stated that the proposed amendments would allow issuers to utilize a single IPO prospectus in both jurisdictions. They also propose to shorten Singapore's registration procedure to align IPO -timelines with those in the United States. According to the statement, they also aim to 'permit certain US-style activities, like forward-looking statements and share buybacks, under safe harbor?provisions. The amendments are intended to make the Singapore Exchange more attractive for issuers by facilitating the formation of the Global Listing Board. Separately the Singapore Exchange's regulatory division also launched a consultation on the listing rules for the Global Listing Board. The'market regulator' is proposing, among other things, that issuers allot a minimum of 5% of their offerings or?S$50,000,000 ($38.9million) to designated retail brokers and that they ensure that disclosures made in America are also published on SGXNet promptly.
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IAG, the owner of British Airways, names Barrionuevo an insider as its new CFO
IAG announced on Friday that British Airways finance chief Jose A. Barrionuevo will be the new group CFO, starting in June. Nicholas Cadbury is being replaced as part of an organized succession plan. The shares of the group which includes Iberia and Vueling, as well as Aer Lingus were down by 1.3% to 430 pence at 0831 GMT. Barrionuevo is taking over at a time of'substantial?weakness' in the U.S. market, which is threatening to undermine overall profits. Luis Gallego, CEO of IAG, said that Barrionuevo has a wealth of experience. "Our focus is on performing for our clients, in transforming the company?for future, and delivering strong shareholder return," Gallego stated. Over the years, he has held a variety of roles at IAG. Barrionuevo became a member of the group when he joined as director of Strategy and Transformation for Spanish airline carrier Iberia in 2013. He then became its CFO. He has served as British Airways' chief?financial and transformation officer for the past three years. Cadbury, the incoming CFO, joined IAG in March 2022. The company has seen the value of its stock triple following the COVID-19 pandemic. He will help Barrionuevo transition until he becomes CEO.
Maguire: Europe's gas-use pace could slow down as the coal switchover kicks in.
Several of the largest economies in northern Europe have increased gas-fired electricity generation by a large amount so far in 2025. This has helped to raise regional gas prices at their highest level since early 2023.
LSEG data shows that the gas-fired production in January was up by more than 10% compared to January 2024 levels, and reached its highest level for the month since at least 2012.
Gas consumption may slow down as gas prices in the region have now risen above coal-fired power generation. This may cause some power companies to reduce gas production and increase coal-fired energy instead.
The switch from gas to coal is most likely in Germany or Poland, where coal-fired electricity makes up a greater share of the national generation system than natural gas.
Gas prices in Europe are currently up 60% from a year earlier.
However, reducing gas usage and increasing coal-fired power generation will have major emissions consequences, since coal emits nearly twice as many carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generated as gas.
GAS BOOM
In January, gas-fired electricity production reached historic highs in Germany as well as the United Kingdom. This was the first time that the monthly totals were so high in either country since the Russian invasion of Ukraine early in 2022 disrupted regional gas markets.
In both the Netherlands as well as Poland, the January 2025 total for gas-fired power was the second highest monthly total since 2022. This highlights the wide-ranging use of gas in Europe over the past few months.
According to LSEG, the TTF facility, Europe's major gas pricing hub, in the Netherlands, reflects the rapid consumption. Prices in January averaged 48.36 euro per megawatt-hour.
This is a 40% increase over the TTF 2024 average and 60% above where TTF was averaged in January 2024. It is also the highest price that the region has seen since February 2023.
SWITCHING OUT
Power producers are being forced to reduce price increases by consumers due to the steep rise in TTF prices.
In 2022 and 2023 the cost of energy for consumers in Europe rose more than it did in the United States or Asia. As a result, European power providers are under heavy societal and government pressure to avoid any further increases.
You can do this by switching to cheaper energy sources whenever possible.
After the dramatic rise in natural gas prices over the last year, coal is now the cheaper source of power generation than gas in Germany and Poland.
Since August 2024, the gas price has consistently been higher than what is called coal switching prices.
The coal-switching rate is the price at which an electricity provider can generate more power economically from coal than gas, provided both fuels are available.
According to LSEG, from August until the end of 2024 the TTF gas price averaged 6.20 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) or 18% above the coal-switching prices.
By 2025, the difference has grown to almost 13 euros/MWh (or 36% above coal switching price).
The spot and forward price of natural gas and thermal coke locally available is a factor for managers of complex energy networks with coal and gas power stations.
The current TTF forward curve indicates that gas prices will remain higher than coal switching price until at least 2026. By then, gas costs are expected to drop again.
The LSEG data on forward curves indicates that TTF will be priced at an average of 14.70 euros/MWh higher than the coal switching prices in 2025. However, the curves will still remain dynamic for gas and coal.
This price outlook for power producers in Continental Europe suggests that firms who can increase output from coal while reducing gas usage may be able reduce operating costs and limit further increases in consumer energy bills.
Any sharp increase in coal-fired production will undermine regional efforts to reduce emissions and could generate criticism from regional emission watchdogs.
The United Kingdom's power firms have no choice but to switch back to coal-fired production after the closure of Britain’s last coal plant, in 2024. However, a sustained increase in wind energy generation in the coming months may reduce the amount of gas-fired electricity required.
The steep rise in gas prices across Europe will force power companies to increase their output using non-gas sources. However, gas-fired stations will still remain an important part of the overall mix.
These are the opinions of the author who is a market analyst at.
(source: Reuters)