2025-07-29 00:42

July 29 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it will take over operatorship of the Bass Strait oil and gas assets from ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, unlocking an estimated $60 million in synergies. The Bass Strait portfolio includes the Gippsland Basin and the Kipper Unit joint ventures. Woodside and ExxonMobil each hold a 50% stake in the Gippsland Basin, while they own 32.5% each in the Kipper Unit. ExxonMobil had been the operator of these assets until now. Sign up here. The change in operatorship will not affect the companies' equity interests or existing decommissioning plans and provisions, Woodside said. The company flagged future development potential under its capital allocation framework, identifying four possible wells that could supply up to 200 petajoules of gas to the domestic market. The announcement comes just weeks after the Australian government said it was considering a gas reservation policy for the east coast to help avert supply shortfalls. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/australias-woodside-energy-takes-operatorship-bass-strait-assets-exxonmobil-2025-07-29/

2025-07-29 00:26

Brent crude hits highest level since July 18 on Monday US and China officials at Stockholm for trade talks Trump's shorter deadline for Russia on Ukraine war raises oil flow concerns July 29 (Reuters) - Oil extended gains on Tuesday, lifted by hopes of improved economic activity after the U.S.-EU trade deal, a potential U.S.-China tariff truce and President Donald Trump's shorter deadline for Russia to end the Ukraine war. Brent crude futures were up 24 cents, or 0.34%, to $70.28 a barrel by 0000 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.93 a barrel, up 22 cents, or 0.33%. Sign up here. Both contracts settled more than 2% higher in the previous session, and Brent touched its highest level since July 18 on Monday. The trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, while imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, sidestepped a full-blown trade war between the two major allies that would have rippled across nearly a third of global trade and dimmed the outlook for fuel demand. Oil prices were also supported by news of a possible extension of the trade truce between the U.S. and China, with top economic officials from both countries having met in Stockholm on Monday for more than five hours of talks. The discussions are expected to resume on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Trump set a new deadline on Monday of "10 or 12 days" for Russia to make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine or face sanctions. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. "Trump's comments reignited fears that Russia's oil flows would be impacted," ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes wrote in a note. "This also comes on the back of the latest sanctions package by the EU against Russia, including a lower price cap on the country's crude and the import of refined products made from Moscow's oil in other countries," Hynes added. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-climbs-eu-trade-deal-potential-us-china-tariff-truce-extension-2025-07-29/

2025-07-28 23:51

BEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) - Thirty people were killed in Beijing as of midnight on Monday as rain hit the Chinese capital, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. The fatalities were reported in Beijing's mountainous northern districts, with 28 in Miyun and two in Yanqing. State media did not specify when or how the deaths occurred. Sign up here. Heavy rain started over the weekend and intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday, with the capital getting rainfall of up to 543.4 mm (21.4 inches) in its northern districts, Xinhua said. Beijing also relocated 80,322 residents as the rain hit, Xinhua reported. Roads and communication infrastructure were damaged, and 136 villages were left without power as of midnight Monday. Late on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered "all-out" search and rescue efforts to minimise casualties. Beijing issued its highest-level rain and flood alerts on Monday, advising residents to not leave their homes. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/thirty-dead-beijing-following-heavy-rain-xinhua-reports-2025-07-28/

2025-07-28 23:10

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - British shop prices rose by the most in more than a year in the 12 months to July and food prices grew more strongly, according to a survey that adds to other inflation signals and underscores the Bank of England's interest rate dilemma. Overall shop prices in July rose by 0.7% in annual terms - the largest rise since April 2024 - after a 0.4% rise in the 12 months to June, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday. Food prices jumped by 4.0%, speeding up from a 3.7% rise in June, up by the most since February 2024. Sign up here. "Families will have seen their food bills increase as food price inflation rose for the sixth consecutive month," Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said. Prices of staples such as meat and tea were pushed up sharply due to tighter supplies on global markets although discounts in fashion and furniture offered some relief to consumers, the organisation said. Last week separate data from Worldpanel showed a 5.2% annual rise in grocery prices in the four weeks to July 13, the biggest increase since February 2024. Britain's headline rate of inflation - which covers a broader range of goods and services - sped up to 3.6% in June from May's 3.4%, threatening to rise above the BoE's forecast for it to peak at around 3.7% in September. The central bank expects inflation to fall back to its 2% target only in 2027. It is expected to cut borrowing costs on August 7 for the fifth time since August last year but stick to its "gradual and careful" message about further reductions in interest rates. The Confederation of British Industry said on Monday its gauge of retail sales fell for a 10th month in a row in July - although less sharply than in June - with consumers feeling the strain of rising prices. The BRC data was based on prices collected between July 1 and July 7. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-shop-prices-rise-by-most-since-april-2024-british-retailers-say-2025-07-28/

2025-07-28 22:57

SANTIAGO, July 28 (Reuters) - Chile expects U.S. copper tariffs to be discussed within broader U.S. trade talks in Washington this week, Finance Minister Mario Marcel said on Monday in an interview with local radio program Duna. Marcel added that Chile would ask for any tariffs to be included within a broader trade agreement with the United States. President Trump's administration has said it will impose 50% tariffs on copper imports as of August 1. Sign up here. Chile is the world's top supplier of the red metal and is also the biggest provider of refined copper to the U.S., although it sends much higher volumes to China. Monday marks the start of a second round of talks between Chilean officials and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "What we hope is that these conversations we're starting today in Washington will also cover the issue of copper," Marcel said. "Because it wouldn't be very useful for us to have a trade agreement that excludes more than half of our exports to the U.S., such as copper and wood." When asked if Chile would seek an exemption to the U.S. copper tariffs imposed by Trump, the minister said they would seek for any tariffs to be included in a broader trade pact. "We want it to be part of the agreement, within the broader commercial discussions with Chile — not something handled separately — because it's a very central issue," the minister said. Marcel noted that other countries have included exemptions and carve-outs in their trade agreements. (This story has been corrected to say that Chile's talks with the USTR are in the second round, not the third, in paragraph 4) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-will-ask-us-include-copper-within-us-chile-trade-deal-2025-07-28/

2025-07-28 22:35

Trump administration is focused on rare earths, China competition Some Trump allies wary of intervening in conflict Myanmar mines heavy rare earths that are processed in China WASHINGTON/BANGKOK, July 28 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has heard competing proposals that would significantly alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Myanmar, with the aim of diverting its vast supplies of rare earth minerals away from strategic rival China, four people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. Nothing has been decided and experts say there are huge logistical obstacles, but if the ideas are ever acted upon, Washington may need to strike a deal with the ethnic rebels controlling most of Myanmar's rich deposits of heavy rare earths. Sign up here. Among the proposals are one advocating talks with Myanmar's ruling junta to get a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army rebels and another calling for the U.S. to instead work directly with the KIA without engaging the junta. Washington has avoided direct talks with the country's military leaders following their overthrow of the country's democratically elected government in 2021. The ideas have been proposed to administration officials by a U.S. business lobbyist, a former adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, in indirect talks with the KIA and some outside experts, the sources said. The conversations have not previously been reported. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion. So-called heavy rare earths are used to build fighter jets and other high-performance weaponry. The U.S. produces very small amounts of heavy rare earths and is reliant on imports. Securing supplies of the minerals is a major focus of the Trump administration in its strategic competition with China, which is responsible for nearly 90% of global processing capacity, according to the International Energy Agency. Engaging the junta would be a sharp departure for the United States, given U.S. sanctions on the military leaders and the violence committed against the Rohingya minority that Washington calls genocide and crimes against humanity , opens new tab. Last week, the Trump administration lifted sanctions designations on several junta allies, but U.S. officials said this does not indicate any broader shift in U.S. policy toward Myanmar. The ideas pitched to the U.S. administration also include easing U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 40% tariffs on the country, pulling back sanctions against the junta and its allies, working with India to process some heavy rare earths exported from Myanmar, and appointing a special envoy to execute these tasks, people familiar with the matter said. Some of these suggestions were discussed in a July 17 meeting in Vice President JD Vance's offices that included Adam Castillo, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar who runs a security firm in the country, a person close to Vance's office said. Among those present were advisers to Vance on Asian affairs and trade. Vance himself did not attend, the source said. Castillo told Reuters he suggested to U.S. officials that the United States could play a peace-broker role in Myanmar and urged Washington to take a page out of China’s playbook by first brokering a bilateral self-governance deal between the Myanmar military and the KIA. Myanmar's ruling junta and the KIA did not respond to a request for comment. While Vance's office declined to comment on Castillo's visit to the White House, one person familiar with the situation said the Trump administration has been reviewing policy on Myanmar, also known as Burma, since Trump's January inauguration and had weighed direct discussions with the junta over trade and tariffs. The White House declined to comment. REVIEWING MYANMAR POLICY The White House discussions were described as exploratory and in early stages by people familiar with them, who added the talks may result in no shift in strategy at all by Trump, given the administration's wariness about intervening in foreign conflicts and in Myanmar's complex crisis. "The officials took this meeting as a courtesy to the American business community and to support President Trump’s efforts to balance the U.S. $579 (million) trade deficit with Burma," a senior administration official said when asked about the July 17 meeting. Castillo, who describes Myanmar's rare earth deposits as China's "golden goose," said he told U.S. officials that key ethnic armed groups - particularly the KIA - were tired of being exploited by China and wanted to work with the United States. Mines in Myanmar's Kachin region are major producers of heavy rare earths that are exported to China for processing. He said he had repeatedly urged officials in Washington to pursue a deal with the KIA that includes cooperation with U.S. partners in the Quad grouping - specifically India - for resource processing and eventual heavy rare earths supply to the United States. The so-called Quad grouping brings together the United States with India, as well as Australia and Japan. India's Ministry of Mines did not respond to an email seeking comment. An Indian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of whether the Trump administration had communicated any such plan to India but stressed that such a move would take several years to materialize because it would require infrastructure to be built for processing rare earths. Another pitch to the White House was more in line with the Myanmar policy Trump inherited from former President Joe Biden. Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to Suu Kyi, whose government the junta toppled in 2021, said his rare earths proposal was to encourage the Trump administration to continue supporting Myanmar's democratic forces. In a visit to Washington earlier this year, Turnell said he met with officials from the State Department, the White House National Security Council and Congress, and urged continued support for the country's opposition. "One of the pitches was that the U.S. could access rare earths via KIA etc," he said, adding that the group wants to diversify away from China. There have also been multiple discussions between U.S. officials and the Kachin rebel group on rare earths through interlocutors in recent months, said a person with knowledge of the talks, which have not previously been reported. OBSTACLES In the years since the coup, Myanmar has been ravaged by civil war and the junta and its allies have been pushed out of much of the country's borderlands, including the rare earths mining belt currently under control of the KIA. A rare earths industry source said that U.S. officials had reached out around three months ago, following the Kachin takeover of the Chipwe-Pangwa mining belt, to ask for an overview of the Kachin rare earths mining industry. The person added that any new, major rare earths supply chain, which would require moving the minerals out of remote and mountainous Kachin State into India and onward, may not be feasible. Swedish author Bertil Lintner, a leading expert on Kachin State, said the idea of the United States obtaining rare earths from Myanmar from under the nose of China seemed "totally crazy" given the unforgiving mountainous terrain and primitive logistics. "If they want to transport the rare earths from these mines, which are all on the Chinese border, to India, there’s only one road," Lintner said. "And the Chinese would certainly step in and stop it." For its part, the junta appears eager to engage with Washington after years of isolation. When Trump threatened new tariffs on Myanmar's U.S.-bound exports this month as part of his global trade offensive, he did so in a signed letter addressed personally to the junta's chief, Min Aung Hlaing. Min Aung Hlaing responded by lavishing praise on Trump for his "strong leadership" while asking for lower rates and the lifting of sanctions. He said he was ready to send a negotiating team to Washington, if needed. Senior Trump administration officials said the decision to lift some sanctions was unrelated to the general's letter. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-team-hears-pitches-access-myanmars-rare-earths-2025-07-28/