2025-09-19 07:11

Large oil supplies, declining demand push prices lower Refinery turnaround season will also cut demand for crude Benchmarks gain for a second straight week HOUSTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - (This Sept 19 story has been corrected to show Brent and WTI prices fell for the week, not rose for a second consecutive week, in paragraph 3) Oil prices dropped on Friday as worries about large supplies and declining demand outweighed expectations that the year's first interest-rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve would trigger more consumption. Sign up here. Brent crude futures settled at $66.68 a barrel, down 76 cents or 1.1%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures finished at $62.68, down 89 cents or 1.4%. Both benchmarks fell for the week. "Oil supplies continue to remain robust and OPEC is reducing its oil production cuts," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. "We haven't seen an impact on Russian crude oil exports" from sanctions. The Fed cut its policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday and indicated that more cuts would follow as it responded to signs of weakness in the U.S. jobs market. Lower borrowing costs typically boost demand for oil and push prices higher. John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital, said future Fed rate cuts of a quarter of a percentage point would likely not boost oil markets because they would further weaken the dollar, making oil more expensive to buy. "The Fed will have to be more aggressive than they have been," Kilduff said. "We need a 50 (basis-point increase) to boost demand. The Fed's action is not translating to growth for the crude market due to underlying market fundamentals." On the demand side, all energy agencies, including the U.S. Energy Information Administration, have signaled concern about weakening demand, tempering expectations of significant near-term price upside, said Priyanka Sachdeva, an analyst at Phillip Nova. Lipow also saw effects on the demand side. "The refinery turnaround season will further reduce demand," he said. Refineries shut production units in the spring and fall for overhauls, called turnarounds. A higher-than-expected increase of 4 million barrels to U.S. distillate stockpiles (USOILD=ECI) , opens new tab raised worries over demand in the world's top oil consumer and pressured prices. The latest economic data added to concerns, with the U.S. jobs market softening while single-family homebuilding plunged to a multi-year low in August, discouraged by a glut of unsold new houses. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-little-changed-demand-concerns-overshadow-us-rate-cut-buoyancy-2025-09-19/

2025-09-19 07:04

OPEC producer Iraq can't generate electricity 24/7 Turkmen gas swap deal would involve Iran's state-owned firm US ended waivers for Iraqi imports of Iranian power Baghdad in delicate balancing act between US and Iran DUBAI/BAGHDAD, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Iraq's attempt to ease its chronic power shortage with gas from Turkmenistan routed through neighbouring Iran has failed under U.S. pressure, leaving Baghdad scrambling for alternatives to keep the lights on. Oil-rich Iraq has struggled to provide its citizens with power since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, forcing many to rely on expensive private generators, causing economic hardship and sparking social unrest. Sign up here. Hussain Saad, a 43-year-old owner of a butcher shop in the Kasra neighbourhood of Baghdad, is struggling to protect his livelihood and keep his meat from spoiling in the scorching heat. "This isn't just my suffering — it's the suffering of the entire Iraqi people," he said. A deal first proposed in 2023 would have seen Turkmenistan export gas to Iraq through Iran, which lies between the two countries. Under the swap deal, Iran would receive the gas and supply it to Iraq, but this risked violating U.S. sanctions on Tehran - requiring Washington's approval. That approval never came. U.S. President Trump's administration has doubled down on a "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran. CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO ALLIES Reuters spoke to four Iraqi officials and reviewed seven official documents to reveal how Baghdad had sought Washington's approval for months to let it import roughly 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Turkmen gas via Iran. Iraq sought to import 5.025 bcm of Turkmen gas a year, facilitated via Iran's state-owned National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), according to a draft contract of the swap deal seen by Reuters. Iran would receive no money, but would get gas for its own needs amounting to no more than 23% of the overall daily volume coming from Turkmenistan, a document showed. Baghdad also offered to allow a third-party international monitor to oversee the deal's compliance with U.S. sanctions and anti-money laundering rules, the same document showed. But despite months of lobbying, U.S. objections ultimately scuppered the deal as Washington ramps up pressure on Iran over its nuclear plans. That has left Baghdad facing an increasingly difficult balancing act between its main allies in Washington and Tehran. "Proceeding (with the Turkmen deal) could trigger sanctions on Iraqi banks and financial institutions, so the contract is currently suspended," Adel Karim, adviser to Iraq's prime minister for electricity affairs, told Reuters. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment but a U.S. source familiar with the matter said the Trump administration would not approve arrangements that could benefit Iran, though it was working with Iraq on its energy needs. The Iranian government, oil ministry, NIGC and Turkmen foreign ministry did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. IRAQ'S RELIANCE ON IRANIAN GAS Iraq has relied on gas and power imports from Iran for the past decade. Iranian gas covers nearly a third of Iraq's power generation and in 2024 gas imports reached 9.5 bcm, said an Iraqi power official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. "If we lose Iranian gas, we'll face a serious problem in electricity generation," Karim said. Although Iraq is OPEC's second-largest oil producer, it burns off much of the gas it produces alongside oil due to under-investment and lack of infrastructure to capture and process it. The country extracted just 11 bcm of gas in 2023 that could be used for power or industrial needs, according to the IEA. Iraq's gas needs vary seasonally, with demand surging in summer to around 45 million cubic metres (mcm) per day, Karim said, otherwise dropping to 10–20 mcm per day. SANCTIONS SCUPPER TURKMEN DEAL In March, the Trump administration ended a sanctions waiver that since 2018 had allowed Iraq to pay for Iranian power, curtailing imports. The lack of gas supplies from Iran led to a loss of about 3,000 megawatts of power generation since the waivers ended and peak summer demand set in - more than 10% of Iraq's roughly 28,000 megawatts of total capacity, Karim said, enough to impact around 2.5 million homes according to Iraqi electricity officials. Baghdad hoped to diversify its supply and avoid the risk of breaching sanctions with the Turkmen deal, sources said and documents showed. Failing to secure that deal could jeopardise Baghdad's ability to sustain gas plants during peak summer demand, Iraq's electricity ministry warned in a letter to state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) on May 27, three months prior to a nationwide blackout in August. DIVERSIFICATION THROUGH LNG, QATAR With the Turkmen route blocked, Iraq is exploring alternatives to plug its power needs gap, including building infrastructure to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar. Hamza Abdul Baqi, head of the state-owned South Gas Company, told Reuters in March that Iraq would lease a floating LNG terminal to handle Qatari and Omani gas. The government had tasked the oil ministry with finding alternatives to Iranian gas in case the U.S. decided to restrict it, he said. The country has also signed deals with global oil majors such as TotalEnergies, BP and Chevron over the past two years to speed up its gas projects. French oil major TotalEnergies said this week it has launched the second development phase at Iraq's Ratawi field, the final stages of a $27 billion project that aims to boost Iraq's oil, gas and power production. Britain's BP said in March it has received final government approval for the redevelopment of Iraq's giant Kirkuk oilfields, with an initial plan to produce 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent. "We're expanding our gas-fired power plants," Karim said. "We'll need more gas and more sources." https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraq-fails-win-us-approval-import-turkmen-gas-via-iran-2025-09-19/

2025-09-19 06:54

Sept 19 (Reuters) - British online trading platform IG Group (IGG.L) , opens new tab said on Friday it had acquired Australian cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve for A$178 million ($117.41 million), expanding its digital offerings and presence in the Asia-Pacific region. IG said the deal is expected to be accretive to cash earnings per share in the first full financial year after closing it. Sign up here. ($1 = 1.5161 Australian dollars) (This story has been corrected to fix IG Group's ticker symbol in paragraph 1) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/uk-trading-platform-ig-group-buys-australian-crypto-exchange-2025-09-19/

2025-09-19 06:47

CEO Gallagher says key shareholders want him to stay New production in Australia, Alaska set to boost cash flow Santos is open to takeover offers, asset sales and selling down assets, CEO says SYDNEY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Santos (STO.AX) , opens new tab CEO Kevin Gallagher said on Friday he has no plans to retire and expects a sharp jump in cash flow in the next few years to boost the Australian gas producer's shares, after its third suitor in seven years did not proceed with a takeover bid. An $18.7 billion bid for Santos by a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) collapsed on Wednesday over disagreements on commercial terms, which sparked analyst speculation that Gallagher, in the job since 2016, may face pressure to quit. Sign up here. Gallagher said cash flow improvements as two new projects in Australia and Alaska start producing should help Santos' share price, which has significantly underperformed the market in the past three years. "The last three or four years have been tough for Santos. We got smashed in COVID and then of course with the heavy investment period from 2022 through to today and that has suppressed our share price. That's a fact of life," he said. "But I'm looking forward now to a lower capital expenditure intensity over the next two years, higher cash flows from new production from Barossa and Pikka, supplementing the strong portfolio." The $4.5 billion Barossa gas project off northwestern Australia and the $3.1 billion Pikka oil project in Alaska are due to start producing within the next six months. Investment bank Jarden estimates Santos' free cash flow will jump from $293 million in 2025 to $2.45 billion in 2027. Gallagher said while Santos would evaluate any takeover approach, including asset sales or sell-downs, the company did not need to find a buyer. "We're not running a sales process for the company. The reason people are looking at Santos is because we've got a good portfolio," Gallagher told reporters on a conference call. "There's a lot of future value that we want to develop in a disciplined way for our shareholders," he said, highlighting that its assets have development potential close to existing infrastructure. "That's a to-die-for scenario in an industry these days," Gallagher said. He said as long as shareholders and the board wanted him in the job, "I'm happy to stay here," adding that key shareholders were asking him to remain focused on the business. Santos shares closed 0.45% higher on Friday at A$6.77 after falling by more than 13% on Thursday in the first trading session since ADNOC's overseas unit XRG said it was walking away from its proposed takeover offer. XRG baulked after it was revealed capital gains tax payments were due soon on Santos' assets in Papua New Guinea, according to a person familiar with the matter. After the market closed on Friday, Santos announced it had signed a non-binding agreement to supply the Narrabri council with 3.2 petajoules of gas per year for up to 10 years from the company's Narrabri gas project. Santos has yet to make a final investment decision on the A$3.6 billion ($2.37 billion) project in Australia's New South Wales state. ($1 = 1.5170 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/santos-always-prepared-consider-any-takeover-offers-ceo-says-2025-09-19/

2025-09-19 06:42

MUMBAI, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Weakness in Asian currencies persisted on Friday, sparked by a post-Fed rise in the dollar and U.S. yields, leaving the Indian rupee exposed to further losses and a potential record low. The rupee dropped to an intraday low of 88.32 to the U.S. dollar, close to the all-time low of 88.4550 hit last week. The currency was last quoting at 88.30. Sign up here. The rupee is caught "in a whippy down move" and surprisingly is back under pressure after it looked like it was "poised for good days," a currency trader at a private sector bank said. The rupee climbed past 88 on Wednesday, prompting a section of interbank traders to consider that the worst might be over and the currency could enjoy a brief respite. That optimism proved short-lived, however, with weakness in Asian peers after the Fed decision rekindling the downtrend. The Korean won and the Indonesian rupiah were down 0.5% each. While the Fed cut rates and projected more reductions ahead, the reaction in the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields suggested that when combined with Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference, the outcome was on balance more hawkish than initially expected, analysts said. The dollar index , which hit a low of 96.22 on Wednesday’s Fed decision day, has recovered to 97.46. The 2-year Treasury yield is trading more than 10 basis points above Wednesday’s intraday low. The move higher in the dollar and yields was supported by Thursday’s U.S. jobless claims data, which showed a drop in new applications for unemployment benefits last week, reversing the prior week’s increase. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/asia-fx-slide-extends-making-rupee-vulnerable-all-time-lows-2025-09-19/

2025-09-19 06:36

UK borrowing in August 18 bln pounds OBR had expected 21.5 bln pound shortfall Year-to-date borrowing shoots past official forecasts Bigger-than-forecast gap deepens budget challenge for Reeves Sterling falls as tax hike talk grows LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Britain's borrowing has shot past the official forecasts that underpin the government's tax and spending plans, compounding the already big challenge facing finance minister Rachel Reeves in her November budget. Public sector borrowing totalled 83.8 billion pounds ($113.39 billion) between April and August, 11.4 billion pounds more than projected by Britain's fiscal watchdog, official data published on Friday showed. Sign up here. The borrowing was the highest for the first five months of a financial year since 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced the government into huge spending to prop up the economy. Even before Friday's figures, Reeves had been expected to announce new tax increases in her November 26 budget to stay on track to meet her fiscal rules and avoid fresh upheaval in financial markets. Higher taxes are likely to slow Britain's already stumbling economic growth, which Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have promised they will speed up. STERLING FALLS ON NEWS Nabil Taleb, a PwC UK economist, said the government faced a combination of higher debt costs, hot inflation, opposition to spending cuts and the risk of an OBR downgrade to its growth forecasts, which would make Reeves' rules harder to meet. "The chancellor faces tough choices, and the test will be whether she can make them palatable to voters and markets," Taleb said. Sterling fell by half a cent against the U.S. dollar and government borrowing costs rose after the borrowing figures were released along with separate data that showed a stronger-than-expected increase in retail sales volumes in August. In August alone, the government borrowed almost 18 billion pounds, much higher than the estimate of a 12.5 billion-pound overshoot predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility and above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. "Although overall tax and National Insurance receipts were noticeably up on last year, these increases were outstripped by higher spending on public services, benefits and debt interest," Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics, said. The ONS revised up its estimates for borrowing in recent months by almost 6 billion pounds after tax office data showed value-added tax receipts were lower than initially thought. Updated figures from local and devolved administrations also contributed to the worsening of the deficit. Prior to Friday's data release, public sector borrowing had been tracking close to the OBR's forecasts. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said Reeves would probably have to announce fiscal measures, mostly tax increases, worth 28 billion pounds in her budget, approaching the 40 billion pounds of tax hikes in her first budget last year and which she has vowed not to repeat. Earlier on Friday, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said Reeves risked "a major fiscal issue" if she misses her ambitious plans to make public services more efficient, highlighting another risk to her ability to meet her targets. Reeves has said she will balance day-to-day public spending with tax revenues by the end of the decade. Friday's data showed that measure of the public finances was in deficit by 62 billion pounds in the April-August period, more than 15 billion pounds above the OBR's estimate. Reeves and Starmer promised voters before last year's election they would not raise rates of income and value-added tax or social security contributions paid by employees. Employers have expressed concern that they might again bear the brunt of tax hikes in November, having been hit with higher social security bills in Reeves' first budget last year. James Murray, a deputy finance minister, said the government's focus was on economic stability, fiscal responsibility and speeding up growth. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-borrows-1796-billion-pounds-august-ons-says-2025-09-19/