2025-05-14 23:25

May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas company Venture Global (VG.N) , opens new tab is seeking approval by June 26 to construct its CP2 plant in Louisiana, according to a letter sent to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie on Wednesday. The U.S. is the world's largest exporter of LNG and the construction of the 28 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) plant will help it hold its spot as the leading exporter of the superchilled gas. Sign up here. Venture Global has said it will give the financial go-ahead to the project by the middle of 2025, but does not have authorization to construct the plant because its original approval was rescinded by FERC pending a supplemental environmental study on the plant's effect on air quality. Last Friday, FERC completed its environmental study and found there would be no significant cumulative air quality impacts. "We have clearly made the decision to invest our own capital and do everything we can do to move the Project forward... but we need the Commission to act," Venture Global's CEO Mike Sabel said in the letter to Christie. Venture Global is the second largest U.S. LNG exporter and has been responsible for most of the industry's expansion in the country since 2023, according to LSEG data. If constructed, CP2 will be the largest LNG export facility in the United States. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venture-global-urges-ferc-reaffirm-approval-louisiana-lng-project-2025-05-14/

2025-05-14 23:22

Trump says US close to securing Iran nuclear deal US crude stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week IEA slightly upgrades 2025 oil demand growth forecast LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell by about $2 on Thursday on expectations for a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions being eased, while a surprise build in U.S. crude oil inventories last week heightened investor concerns about oversupply. Brent crude futures were down $1.98, or 3%, to $64.11 a barrel at 1217 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $2, or 3.2%, to $61.15. Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had "sort of" agreed to the terms. An Iranian official told NBC News in an interview published on Wednesday that Iran was willing to agree to a deal with the U.S. in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. "(Any) immediate sanctions relief stemming from a nuclear agreement could unlock an additional 0.8 million barrels per day of Iranian crude for the global market – an undeniably bearish development for prices," SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye said. Washington issued sanctions on Wednesday to target Iranian efforts to domestically manufacture components for ballistic missiles, the U.S. Treasury Department said, following Tuesday's sanctions on some 20 companies in a network that it said has long sent Iranian oil to China. The sanctions followed a fourth round of U.S.-Iran talks in Oman aimed at addressing disputes over Iran's nuclear programme. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed crude stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels to 441.8 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency lifted its oil demand growth forecast in 2025 to 740,000 barrels per day, up 20,000 bpd from the previous report, citing higher economic growth forecasts and lower oil prices supporting consumption. The IEA said economic headwinds and record sales of electric vehicles are expected to reduce demand growth to 650,000 bpd for the remainder of the year, from growth of nearly 1 million bpd in the first quarter. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers, known as OPEC+, has been increasing supply, although OPEC on Wednesday trimmed its forecast for growth in oil supply from the U.S. and other producers outside the wider OPEC+ group this year. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-oil-prices-drop-more-than-1-inventory-build-raises-oversupply-fear-2025-05-14/

2025-05-14 23:15

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Britain will invest 630 million pounds ($838 million) in clean energy upgrades such as solar panels and heat pumps on schools, care homes, community centres and other public buildings, the government said on Thursday. The move was announced as many sectors grapple with high energy prices and the government seeks to curb emissions to help reach its climate targets. Sign up here. The investments will lead to savings in energy costs of around 650 million pounds a year on average over the next 12 years, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a press release. "High energy bills have been a big headache for schools, hospitals, leisure centres and other community facilities in recent years - so it's great to see them being helped to install energy saving measures and other green technology that will cut energy costs," Louise Shooter, policy manager at industry group Energy UK, said in the government press release. Among the areas receiving funding are the Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust, which will receive more than 14 million pounds to replace fossil fuel heating at two sites, and the National Portrait Gallery in London, which has been awarded 5 million pounds to install heat pumps. ($1 = 0.7519 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/britain-invest-838-million-public-building-energy-upgrades-2025-05-14/

2025-05-14 22:24

Indexes mixed: Dow off 0.21%, S&P 500 up 0.10%, Nasdaq up 0.72% American Eagle Outfitters drops after withdrawing FY forecast AMD gains after announcing $6 billion buyback plan May 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 closed slightly higher after flitting between gains and losses during Wednesday's lackluster session as investors waited for the next batch of economic data after a robust start to the week spurred by soft inflation data and a U.S.-China tariff truce. Investors were watching out for more trade developments while President Donald Trump toured the Gulf states and secured $600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia. Some U.S. tech companies rallied after the administration announced artificial-intelligence-related deals in the Middle East on Tuesday. Sign up here. "There's overhanging uncertainty about what world leaders, including President Trump are going to say about trade," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York, noting that while earlier tariff policies were on pause there were no final deals in place. "The recent announcements have been good and that caused a huge rally, but we still have uncertainty," he said. U.S. stocks had rallied sharply on Monday and advanced again on Tuesday after the United States and China hit pause for 90 days on their fierce tariff dispute. And it had also helped that data released on Tuesday showed U.S. consumer prices rebounded moderately in April. Prior to this week, the U.S. announcement of a 90-day tariff pause on April 9 for countries other than China and a limited U.S.-UK trade agreement last week had also helped equities. U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Wednesday that while recent inflation data pointed to progress towards the Fed's 2% inflation goal, the outlook was now uncertain. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said the data did not necessarily reflect the impact of rising tariffs. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak on Thursday, and his comments will be closely watched for clues on how the central bank plans to proceed with monetary policy easing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 89.37 points, or 0.21%, to 42,051.06 and its biggest losers were drug companies Merck & Co (MRK.N) , opens new tab, down 4%, and Amgen (AMGN.O) , opens new tab, which finished down 3%. The S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 6.03 points, or 0.10%, to 5,892.58. This added slightly to its year-to-date gain after closing higher for the year on Tuesday for the first time since February 28. The benchmark is still about 4% below its Feb. 19 record closing high, for its sixth straight day of gains. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 136.72 points, or 0.72%, to 19,146.81. Eight of the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors closed lower with Healthcare (.SPXHC) , opens new tab, down 2.31%, and materials (.SPLRCM) , opens new tab, down 0.96%, the weakest of the bunch. The biggest gainers were communications services (.SPLRCL) , opens new tab, up 1.6%, and technology (.SPLRCT) , opens new tab, which added about 0.96%. With Wednesday being a relatively quiet day for economic data, Andrew Graham, managing partner and founder of Jackson Square Capital, said investors were holding steady before April's Producer Price Index (PPI) and retail sales readings due on Thursday morning. "People are looking for any sort of evidence that the tariff situation has leaked into the real economy," said Graham, but with 90-day pauses to tariff policies in place, he said he is less concerned about April's data readings. Megacap and growth stocks rose, with Nvidia (NVDA.O) , opens new tab the biggest S&P 500 boost, rising more than 4%. Chip designer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) , opens new tab shares rose 4.7% after it approved a $6 billion share buyback program. Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab shares rose 0.6% after state carrier Qatar Airways signed a deal to purchase jets from the U.S. planemaker during Trump's visit to Doha. In individual stocks, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO.N) , opens new tab shares sank 6.4% after the apparel company withdrew its annual forecasts, citing tariff-fueled economic uncertainty. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.97-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 132 new highs and 68 new lows. On the Nasdaq, 1,612 stocks rose and 2,807 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.74-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 104 new lows. On U.S. exchanges 19.73 billion shares changed hands compared with the 16.77 billion average for the last 20 sessions. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-stock-futures-flat-after-stellar-start-week-focus-trade-developments-2025-05-14/

2025-05-14 22:17

NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - Point72 Asset Management’s founder, Steven Cohen, said on Wednesday he believes the U.S. economy will very likely slow down because of tariff threats, but even so the Federal Reserve will not act immediately to cut interest rates. “We don't think the Fed's going to act right away, because they're still going to be worried about inflation from tariffs,” he said at the Sohn investment conference in New York. Cohen said he expects GDP to grow by 1.5% next year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/point72s-cohen-sees-economic-slowdown-amid-tariff-confusion-2025-05-14/

2025-05-14 22:13

SAO PAULO, May 14 (Reuters) - Brazilian power firm Eletrobras , Latin America's largest utility by generating capacity, posted on Wednesday a 354 million reais ($62.8 million) net loss for the first quarter, compared to a 331 million-real profit a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adapted for local regulatory rules, came in at 5.38 billion reais in the three-month period to the end of March, down 4.1% from a year earlier. Sign up here. ($1 = 5.6406 reais) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brazil-power-firm-eletrobras-posts-628-million-loss-first-quarter-2025-05-14/