2026-01-21 00:12
Oil output at two Kazakh fields to be halted for 7-10 days, sources say Markets await US inventories data HOUSTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices closed 0.5% higher on Wednesday on optimism around tighter supply after a temporary shutdown at two large fields in Kazakhstan and as low volume of Venezuelan oil exports highlighted slow progress in reversing output cuts in the South American country. Brent futures settled up 32 cents, or 0.5%, to $65.24 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude contract rose 26 cents, or 0.4%, to $60.62 a barrel. Sign up here. Both contracts closed about 1.5% higher in the previous session after OPEC+ producer Kazakhstan halted output at its Tengiz and Korolev oilfields on Sunday due to power distribution issues. Elsewhere in the country, oil from the vast Kashagan field has been diverted to the domestic market for the first time due to bottlenecks at the Black Sea CPC terminal, four industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday after equipment at the terminal was seriously damaged in drone attacks. Reuters reported on Wednesday that the operator of the Tengiz oilfield, TCO, has declared force majeure on crude oil deliveries into the CPC pipeline system, citing a TCO letter. Oil production at the two Kazakh fields could be halted for another seven to 10 days, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three industry sources. The volume of Venezuelan oil exported under a flagship $2 billion supply deal with the U.S. reached about 7.8 million barrels on Wednesday, vessel‑tracking data and documents from PDVSA showed, highlighting the slow progress that has prevented the state-run oil company from fully reversing recent output cuts. U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles were expected to have risen by about 1.7 million barrels last week, while distillate inventories likely fell, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Tuesday. The International Energy Agency also revised its 2026 global oil demand growth forecasts higher on Wednesday in its latest monthly oil market report, suggesting a slightly narrower surplus for the market this year. The increased geopolitical tensions, which add pressure to the oil markets as tariffs could slow economic growth, prompted risk-off sentiment, said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS. The American Petroleum Institute's weekly inventory data is due at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Wednesday, and government figures are due at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) on Thursday, both a day later due to a U.S. federal holiday on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/wti-oil-prices-fall-risks-kazakh-production-halt-subside-2026-01-21/
2026-01-20 23:20
Deal values Australian Strategic Materials at $300 million Represents a 121% premium on ASM's close from January 20 Government policy expected to drive more sector consolidation U.S. seeking deals to bolster access to rare earths MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. uranium producer Energy Fuels (UUUU.A) , opens new tab has agreed to pay a large premium for Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) (ASM.AX) , opens new tab, as the United States bolsters efforts to secure Western supply chains for rare earth elements. Energy Fuels will acquire the rare earths firm in a deal valuing the Australian firm's equity at A$447 million ($300.9 million), the two parties said in separate statements on Wednesday. Sign up here. The deal, which represents a 121% premium on ASM's close from January 20, sent shares of the Australian producer soaring as much as 126% to A$1.63. The buyout is significant for the U.S., which is looking to lock in Western supply for the metals used in applications such as wind farms, mobile phones and missiles. Australia and the U.S. signed a framework agreement for cooperation around critical minerals including rare earths last year, each pledging to invest $1 billion. That investment, which will cut the risk for other stakeholders, is part of a suite of government policies that are expected to spur more sector consolidation, said law firm White and Case in a report this week. "We are already seeing it (consolidation), and we're going to continue to see it, because everyone recognises that...rapid establishment of the supply chain you are going to need multiple parties who are working together," ASM CEO Rowena Smith told Reuters in an interview. Under the deal, shareholders of ASM would receive 0.053 Energy Fuels shares for each ASM share held, along with a special dividend of up to A$0.13 per ASM share, representing a total implied value of A$1.60 per ASM share. ASM's board has unanimously recommended that ASM shareholders vote in favour of the transaction in the absence of a superior proposal, it said. Upon completion, the transaction will combine ASM's operating Korean metalisation plant and its planned American metals plant with Energy Fuels' existing rare earth oxide production at its White Mesa Mill in Utah. It will also have a number of development projects. In Australia that will include ASM's Dubbo rare earths project in New South Wales, the Donald project in Victoria, as well as the Vara Mada project in Madagascar and the Bahia project in Brazil. They are all intended to supply feed materials for the planned expansion of the company's White Mesa Mill to produce 6,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), 240 tpa dysprosium, and 66 tpa terbium oxides. Prices of rare earths have been rising as Western countries scramble to reduce dependence on China. In response, Australia has been considering setting a price floor and new international partnerships to support rare earths projects and build alternative supplies. Australia's Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX) , opens new tab is the world's largest rare earths producer outside China. It produced 10,462 tons of rare earth oxides in the 2025 financial year. ($1 = 1.4857 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-fuels-buy-australian-strategic-materials-300-million-deal-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 22:49
WELLINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Authorities urged evacuations in some low-lying areas of New Zealand's North Island on Wednesday and police searched for a missing man who was swept away in a river after continued heavy rain and strong winds triggered flooding, swollen rivers and landslides. Local councils across the north asked residents in flood-prone areas to move to higher ground and others to prepare to evacuate if needed. Several roads were closed because of slips and flooding, the New Zealand Transport Agency said. Sign up here. Images shared on news sites showed flooded farmland and surface water across roads. Police said a man was missing after he was washed away with his vehicle during a river crossing near Warkworth earlier on Wednesday. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell told Radio New Zealand he was most concerned about the Northland region, including the town of Oakura and surrounding areas. "They're basically fully saturated in terms of the ground ... and we've got more coming," Mitchell said. National forecaster MetService issued warnings for much of the top half of the North Island, saying there was a threat to life from dangerous river conditions, significant flooding and landslides, with travel disruption likely and some communities potentially isolated. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/severe-weather-new-zealands-north-island-prompts-evacuations-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 22:46
Jan 20 (Reuters) - Blackstone (BX.N) , opens new tab is in talks to sell its Beacon Offshore Energy, which operates oil and gas assets in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, for more than $5 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg News reported that Blackstone has begun early discussions with investment banks about a potential initial public offering of the Houston-based company as soon as the first quarter. Sign up here. The company is expected to attract interest from major Gulf of Mexico producers, the report said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/blackstone-weighs-5-billion-sale-beacon-offshore-bloomberg-news-reports-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 22:38
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 20 - A flood of new issuance is likely to widen U.S. bond spreads modestly in 2026 while U.S. equities and the dollar will bear the brunt of weaker foreign inflows, fund managers at Guggenheim Partners Investment Management said. "This year we're likely to see a little bit more supply of credit, which could put some modest pressure on credit spreads," Steven Brown, chief investment officer for fixed income at Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum , opens new tab. Sign up here. Markets have already absorbed nearly $300 billion in investment-grade supply this year, helped by issuers' flexibility on timing, Brown said while attending the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. While rates have stabilized, they are still higher than much of the past decade, allowing companies to issue opportunistically rather than out of need, he added. That has created a generally more constructive backdrop for investors, with monetary policy no longer the main driver of the asset class. In lockstep with bonds, Guggenheim also warned of headwinds for U.S. equities and the dollar, as investors steer capital to more lucrative non-U.S. assets. "We've certainly seen sovereign nations that previously invested, say for example in U.S. Treasuries, move money into gold, silver and other precious metals or into other alternative investments, which then also has an impact on the currency," said Anne Walsh, chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management. The cautious outlook follows a strong 2025, when Fed easing and a resilient economy delivered the market's best returns since 2020. Now, investors are gauging whether a slower-moving Fed and easier fiscal policy could stall that momentum and weigh on total returns. While the fundamental story is a good one, supply and demand from foreign flows might weigh on returns, Guggenheim's fund managers said. "I think it's going to be a good year for returns for everything, as is our base case, but returns are probably going to be a little bit lower than they were last year," Brown said. (Join GMF on LSEG Messenger for live interviews: https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/guggenheim-warns-softer-returns-across-us-assets-2026-2026-01-20/
2026-01-20 22:33
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Alternative asset manager SkyBridge Capital is tilting further towards macro strategies as policy uncertainty under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration fuels market swings, founder Anthony Scaramucci said in Davos, Switzerland. "Because of the volatility, the macro traders have done better," Scaramucci told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. Sign up here. Scaramucci, a staunch crypto advocate whose firm has invested heavily in digital assets, believes bitcoin's long-term story is intact despite a sharp pullback from last year's record highs. "This is more of a timing issue than a direction issue. I don't think the fundamental story for bitcoin has changed. If anything, you've seen a lot of consolidation," he said. His U.S.-based firm's September 2025 filings , opens new tab showed its SkyBridge Opportunity Fund, focused on alternative investment strategies, shifting to a heavy macro weighting of 69%, from its March 2025 weighting of 65% in cryptocurrency and digital assets. Bitcoin saw a tumultuous 2025, with the world's largest cryptocurrency hitting an all-time high of over $126,000 in October, followed by a subsequent crash that led to more than $19 billion worth of liquidations across leveraged crypto market positions, the largest liquidation in crypto history. "I would like to see bitcoin back to $125,000 to $150,000," Scaramucci said. "But it's bitcoin ... (it) does whatever it wants." Bitcoin was hovering below $90,000 on Tuesday, about 28% lower than its October 2025 record high. Scaramucci, who in 2024 predicted that bitcoin would hit $170,000 by late 2025, said: "All of us in the bitcoin community got overly enthusiastic about the end of repressive regulation in digital assets ... and none of that happened," he said, referring to the stablecoin legislation, the Genius Act, and crypto market structure bill, the Clarity Act, under consideration by the U.S. Congress. The stablecoin legislation was ratified in July last year. Meanwhile, the Clarity Act, which would define when crypto tokens are securities, commodities or fall into other categories, is under consideration in the U.S. Senate. "I'm cautiously optimistic. I think we'll have an OK year," he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/skybridge-bets-rising-volatility-cautiously-optimistic-bitcoin-scaramucci-says-2026-01-20/
