2025-02-26 12:20
BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday proposed sweeping changes to EU green rules, scrapping sustainability reporting requirements for thousands of companies and delaying its due diligence policy by a year. Under the proposals, only companies with over 1,000 employees would be obliged to report on their environmental and human rights impact. The rules currently target firms with over 250 employees, and the commission said the change would exempt 40,000 companies - or 80% of all firms the policy was originally designed to apply to. The proposals will need to be negotiated and approved by the European Parliament and EU member states. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/eu-proposes-cutting-back-sustainability-laws-companies-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 12:17
KYIV, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Russia attacked Ukraine with nearly two hundred drones overnight, targeting mostly the Kyiv region and energy facilities in the east in strikes that killed two people, authorities said on Wednesday. Russia has stepped up drone strikes with attacks on Ukraine every night in recent weeks, and on Sunday the number of drones was a record 267 in three years of warfare. Ukraine's air defences shot down 110 of 177 drones launched by Russia in the overnight attack, the air force said. It said 66 other drones were "lost", in reference to Ukraine's use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad and Sumy regions were targeted by strikes. Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, said its energy facility in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region was damaged, without providing details. Russia focused its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's electricity sector last year but in recent months has sharply stepped up attacks on gas storage facilities and production fields. A drone attack on the Kyiv region killed two, wounded at least two and set several houses on fire, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said. The body of one civilian was found in a house that caught fire as a result of the attack, Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of the region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The emergency service posted several photos and video on Telegram of firefighters battling flames at night in what appeared to be residential buildings and garages in the Bucha district of Kyiv region. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, which began in February 2022 with Russia's full-scale invasion. But thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian. Throughout the night, Reuters witnesses said they heard blasts in and around Kyiv and what sounded like air defence systems in operation. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/one-injured-russia-drone-attack-kyiv-region-governor-says-2025-02-25/
2025-02-26 12:07
BP boosts oil and gas investment to $10 bln annually Cuts transition spending by over $5 billion yearly Reviewing Castrol, targets $20 billion in divestment Feb 26 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) , opens new tab slashed planned investment in renewable energy and said on Wednesday it would increase annual oil and gas spending to $10 billion, in a major strategy shift aimed at boosting earnings and shareholder returns. The oil major cut planned annual investment in energy transition businesses by more than $5 billion, from its previous forecast, to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion per year. "We will grow upstream investment and production to allow us to produce high margin energy for years to come. We will focus our downstream on markets where we have leading integrated positions," CEO Murray Auchincloss said in a statement. Under Auchincloss' predecessor, Bernard Looney, BP pledged in 2020 to cut oil and gas output by 40% while rapidly growing renewables by 2030. BP lowered the reduction target to 25% in 2023. BP now aims to grow oil and gas production to between 2.3 million and 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2030. Across the energy sector, major companies that shifted their position in response to the need to lower carbon emissions and curb climate change have returned the focus to oil and gas, where returns have become easier as fossil fuel prices have rebounded from COVID-19 pandemic lows. "We will be very selective in our investment in the transition, including through innovative capital-light platforms. This is a reset BP, with an unwavering focus on growing long-term shareholder value," Auchincloss said. BP is seeking to regain investor confidence after underperforming its peers and has come under added pressure to make transformative changes after activist investor Elliott Investment Management built a stake in the company. Its shares were down 1% by 1151 GMT. "The refocus on hydrocarbons is positive for BP as is the overall lower spending, which is driven by lower renewable spending," said Allen Good, director of equity research at Morningstar. "Along with the asset divestitures it should improve the balance sheet and returns. However, there still is little, if any, production growth, and BP's repurchase rate has been reduced materially," Good said. BP plans to raise its dividend by at least 4% per share annually and expects first-quarter share buybacks of $750 million to $1 billion, a downward revision from its previous $1.75 billion forecast. It said it was reviewing its lubricants business, Castrol, and targeting $20 billion in divestments by 2027. BP plans to spend between $13 billion and $15 billion annually through 2027, trimming $1 billion to $3 billion from 2024 levels, with 2025 capital expenditure expected at around $15 billion. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/bp-ramps-up-oil-gas-spending-10-billion-ceo-rebuilds-confidence-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 12:06
BRASILIA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank said on Wednesday that caution and diligence were needed as credit expands despite high borrowing costs and rising debt levels among households and businesses. In the minutes of the latest meeting of its Financial Stability Committee (Comef), the bank noted that bank lending growth continued to accelerate for small and medium-sized businesses, a segment already showing high debt levels and materializing risks. It also pointed to a pickup in household lending in riskier segments, with a "slight deterioration" in the quality of non-payroll-deductible loans. "Households are facing high and rising debt burdens across all income brackets," it said. Policymakers also highlighted that capital markets continue to grow at a faster pace than bank credit, with no signs of a reversal in that trend. When the central bank raised interest rates by 100 basis points to 13.25% in late January and signaled another matching hike for its March meeting, it warned that a combination of a strong labor market, expansionary fiscal policy and "robust broad credit growth" was supporting consumption and aggregate demand, putting pressure on inflation. Consumer price growth in Latin America's largest economy reached 4.96% in the 12 months to mid-February, exceeding the 3% official target. "The committee maintains that macroeconomic policies enhancing fiscal predictability, reducing risk premiums, and lowering asset volatility contribute to financial stability and, consequently, improve borrowers' repayment capacity," the central bank added on Wednesday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/brazil-central-bank-urges-caution-credit-expands-amid-high-debt-levels-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:56
Lenders say renegotiations harm investor confidence Government seeking to rein in high power prices Denies military coercion in renegotiation process Karachi, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan's unilateral renegotiation of clean power contracts will undermine investor confidence and be detrimental to the long-term future of the sector, a group of eight development finance institutions said. Pakistan said last year it was renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in "unsustainable" electricity tariffs. The World Bank's International Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and five other institutions said in a letter that Pakistan was renegotiating wind and solar power contracts with independent producers to bring down energy costs in "a non-consultative manner". The move "will be detrimental to the long-term development of the sector, undermining investor confidence and discouraging much-needed future private investment," the institutions said in the letter, seen by Reuters and sent to the country's finance and power ministers, and the prime minister's energy advisor. The Financial Times, which first reported on the letter dated February 18, said last month that power contract renegotiations were being led by the country's powerful military. The military's media wing did not respond to a request for comment. No MILITARY COERCION The prime minister's advisor on power, Muhammad Ali, denied military coercion in the government's renegotiations with power plants, calling discussions "very cordial and amicable". Ali assured lenders they won't be affected, thanks to the government's sovereign guarantee. He also noted that some wind plant owners may have misled lenders about the financial impact of the renegotiation, and announced plans for a forensic audit of some plants due to suspected inflated costs. The International Finance Corporation declined to comment, while the Islamic Development Bank didn't immediately respond. A source at the Asian Development Bank confirmed the letter, declining official comment. In the letter, the institutions said they had invested around $2.7 billion in the clean energy sector over the past decade and the power producers they had financed were "not permitted to agree to changes to any major project document" without prior approval. An advisor to Pakistan's finance minister, Khurram Schehzad said short-term energy sector adjustments may raise concerns, but will yield long-term benefits, attracting investment and driving economic growth. By tackling legacy issues, the government aims to create a stable and transparent market, boosting investor confidence. A decade ago, Pakistan approved dozens of private projects by independent power producers, financed mostly by foreign lenders, to tackle chronic shortages. But the deals, featuring incentives such as high guaranteed returns and commitments to pay even for unused power, resulted in excess capacity after a sustained economic crisis reduced consumption. The letter comes after IFC chief Makhtar Diop told Reuters last week that the lender was increasing equity investments and eyeing large-scale infrastructure financing, including power, in Pakistan, in an investment plan that could unlock $2 billion annually over a decade. Pakistan is currently hosting an International Monetary Fund delegation to discuss around $1 billion in climate financing, adding to a $7 billion IMF program that has been central in easing an economic crisis. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/world-bank-unit-other-lenders-criticise-pakistans-energy-negotiations-2025-02-26/
2025-02-26 11:55
BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday its Affordable Energy Action Plan, which aims to cut industrial and household bills by tens of billions of euros and speed up the decarbonisation of power markets. As previously reported by Reuters, the Commission aims to save Europeans 45 billion euros ($47.25 billion) in 2025 and 260 billion euros ($273.03 billion) by 2040. The Commission said it will look at investing in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects abroad as part of plans to "immediately engage" with reliable suppliers to try to lower energy prices. Further, it will look to aggregate LNG demand from European companies to help them secure long-term deals as a shelter from short-term volatility. In addition, the Commission will recommend that member states lower electricity taxes as well as increase scrutiny of gas markets. ($1 = 0.9523 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-commission-proposes-aggregate-eu-lng-demand-with-reliable-suppliers-2025-02-26/
