2026-01-07 20:30

US aims to control Venezuela oil sales to stabilize economy, ensure it acts in American interests US oil companies to discuss boosting Venezuela's production at White House Democrats criticize Trump administration's strategy as akin to stealing oil Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. needs to control Venezuela's oil sales and revenue indefinitely to stabilize that country's economy, rebuild its oil sector and ensure it acts in America's interests, top U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The comments reflect the importance of crude oil to President Donald Trump's strategy in Venezuela after U.S. forces ousted the country's leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a raid on the capital Caracas on Saturday. Sign up here. "We need to have that leverage and that control of those oil sales to drive the changes that simply must happen in Venezuela," U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami. He said the revenues would be used to stabilize Venezuela's economy and eventually to repay oil majors Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips for losses when their assets were nationalized by former President Hugo Chavez nearly two decades ago. U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that controlling Venezuela's oil meant controlling the country. "We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime: 'You're allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America's national interest; you're not allowed to sell it if you can't serve America's national interest," he told the Fox News "Jesse Watters Primetime" program. "And that's how we exert incredible pressure on that country without wasting a single American life, without endangering a single American citizen," he said. Democratic lawmakers criticized this approach, which Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy equated to stealing Venezuela's oil at gunpoint, while industry analysts warned about political instability as the country treads a fine line between denouncing Maduro's capture and appeasing the U.S. The OPEC member nation sits atop the world's largest oil reserves but accounts for only about 1% of global supply after decades of underinvestment eroded production. STORED OIL MOVING TO MARKET FIRST Energy Secretary Wright said the U.S. would market stored Venezuelan oil first and then sell ongoing future production indefinitely with revenues deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government. Such sales already have begun and the U.S. has engaged "the world's leading commodity marketers and key banks" to execute and provide financial support for them, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy. Wright added he was speaking to U.S. oil companies to learn what conditions would enable them to enter Venezuela to help boost the country's production in the longer term. "The resources are immense. This should be a wealthy, prosperous, peaceful energy powerhouse," he said. On Tuesday, Washington announced a deal with Caracas to initially export up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, a sign the government of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez is responding to Trump's demand that it open up to U.S. oil companies or risk more military intervention. Trump said on Wednesday in a post on Truth Social that Venezuela has agreed to use the proceeds from the sale of its oil to purchase American-made goods. "A wise choice, and a very good thing for the people of Venezuela, and the United States," he wrote. Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA said it was progressing in negotiations with the United States for oil sales. PDVSA board member Wills Rangel told Reuters the U.S. will need to buy cargoes at fair market prices. Shares of U.S. refiners Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) , opens new tab, Phillips 66 (PSX.N) , opens new tab and Valero Energy (VLO.N) , opens new tab were up between 2.5% and 5%. WHITE HOUSE MEETINGS Trump is scheduled to meet with the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss ways of raising Venezuela's oil production. Representatives from Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron - the top three U.S. oil companies - would be present, according to a source familiar with the planning. Chevron Vice Chairman Mark Nelson will represent that company at the meeting, another source said. The companies, all of which have experience in Venezuela, have declined to comment. Wright said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday afternoon that he spoke with the CEOs of all three companies immediately after Maduro was seized, and expected them to be engaged in rehabilitating Venezuela's oil sector. "Are they going to put billions of dollars into building new infrastructure in Venezuela next week? Of course not," he said. "But they want to be productive advisers and helpers in that process." Wright also told CNBC that some of the proceeds from Venezuelan oil sales could eventually be used to repay ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil for losses when they exited the country, but only after Venezuela's economy is stabilized. Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab is the only U.S. oil major still operating in Venezuela's oil fields. Venezuela was producing as much as 3.5 million barrels per day in the 1970s. But mismanagement and limited foreign investment have since led to a huge drop in annual production, which averaged about 1.1 million bpd last year. Wright said he believed Venezuelan production could be increased within a short period with an infusion of equipment and technology, but that a bigger recovery to past production levels would take years. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-wants-venezuelan-oil-flowing-again-with-revenues-us-accounts-wright-says-2026-01-07/

2026-01-07 19:49

Jan 7 (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA said on Wednesday it is progressing in negotiations with the United States for oil sales, as a board member for the company told Reuters the U.S. will need to buy cargoes at international prices. On Tuesday, Washington announced a deal with Caracas to get access to up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude, a sign that Venezuelan government officials are responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that they open up to U.S. oil companies or risk more military intervention. Sign up here. Trump has said he wants interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, installed this week after the U.S. deposed President Nicolas Maduro, to give the U.S. and private companies "total access" to her country's oil industry. PDVSA said in a brief statement that the parties have been talking about similar terms as those in place with foreign partners such as Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab, the company's main joint venture partner, which currently controls all oil exports to the U.S. "The process ... is based on strictly commercial transactions under terms that are legal, transparent and beneficial for both parties," the company said. PDVSA board member Wills Rangel, who is also a union leader, told Reuters the U.S. will need to buy cargoes at international prices if the country wants Venezuelan oil. "If they want to buy it, they will have it in due time, sold at the international price," Rangel said. "Not the way (Trump) intends, as if that oil belongs to them because we supposedly owe them. We do not owe anything to the United States." Chevron, which has a special U.S. license to export Venezuelan crude despite sanctions, is the only company currently exporting crude from the South American country, Rangel added, as a U.S. blockade on Venezuela keeps exports bound to China, the main destination of its oil, paralyzed. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuelas-pdvsa-says-oil-supply-negotiations-with-us-progressing-2026-01-07/

2026-01-07 19:04

EU to cut urea, ammonia duties, allow carbon border levy suspensions Italy, French opposition prevented signing in December Italy now expected to back the deal Vote on accord expected on Friday BRUSSELS, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it would cut import duties for certain fertilisers and drive forward a law that could allow temporary suspensions to the EU's carbon border levy as it sought to win over opponents of its free trade agreement with South American bloc Mercosur. The concessions are part of an attempt by the Commission, backed by countries such as Germany and Spain, to garner the majority of 15 EU members representing 65% of the EU population to authorise the signing of the Mercosur deal, possibly next week. It would still need to win the support of the European Parliament to enter into force. Sign up here. European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a news conference that the EU would remove 6.5% standard duties on urea and 5.5% on ammonia and would also encourage legislators to enact a law that could allow temporary exemptions to its carbon border levy. France and Italy both urged the EU executive on Wednesday to exclude fertilisers from the carbon border levy, which came into force on January 1 and imposes CO2 emission fees on imports of steel, fertilisers and other goods to ensure they do not have an unfair advantage over products made in Europe. Proponents of the Mercosur trade deal, which was 25 years in the making, say it would be the EU's largest in terms of tariff reductions and is vital to boosting exports hit by U.S. import taxes and to reducing reliance on China by securing access to critical minerals. European commissioners for agriculture, trade and health sought to reassure ministers at a meeting on Wednesday on future funding for farmers and on a review of import controls, including permissible maximum levels of pesticide residues. ITALY AND FRANCE PREVENTED DECEMBER SIGNING Italy and France, the EU's largest agricultural producers, last month dashed hopes for a December signing, saying they were the pact until farmers' fears of an influx of cheap commodities from Mercosur, including beef and sugar, were addressed. On Tuesday, the Commission appeared to have won the support of Italy after proposing to accelerate 45 billion euros ($52.61 billion) of support for farmers. Poland and Hungary remain opposed to the deal, and France is still highly critical. Ireland, a major beef producer and exporter, has suggested it could back the deal. Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Wednesday that Ireland was working with "like-minded" countries, including Italy and France, and that safeguards against potential import surges were essential to winning support. "There's further work to be done before the discussions across government on this... We have concerns with Mercosur, but a lot of progress has been made over the last 12 months," Martin told reporters on a trip to China. French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard was not convinced, saying the EU needed to weigh up the cost of multiple trade deals on the farming sector. France, she said, would not support the Mercosur accord. ($1 = 0.8554 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/european-leaders-work-dispel-doubts-mercosur-trade-pact-2026-01-07/

2026-01-07 18:28

SANTIAGO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A workers' strike at Capstone Copper's Mantoverde mine in northern Chile will continue after negotiations between the company and the union failed, the union said on Wednesday. The union in a statement said it expected a lengthy strike and that the mine was almost completely shut down. The concentrator was being fed at 30% capacity with stockpiled inventory that will run out in a couple of days, the statement added. Sign up here. The strike began on Friday after Union No. 2, the mine's largest, and Capstone failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement. The union, which represents 645 members, said negotiations fell apart over final demands that it said would have cost the company about $500,000 a year. Vancouver-based Capstone did not immediately respond to a request for comment. After initial negotiations failed, the company said it was open to talks to resolve the dispute and that striking workers represented about 22% of its workforce. Capstone owns 70% of Mantoverde with Mitsubishi Materials owning the remaining 30%. The mine had an expected 2025 production of 29,000 metric tons to 32,000 metric tons of copper cathodes. Chile's total production for last year was projected to amount to 4.4 million tons, according to state copper commission Cochilco. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/strike-continues-capstone-coppers-mantoverde-mine-after-negotiations-fail-2026-01-07/

2026-01-07 17:14

HSG owns just over 11% of the TikTok parent, source says ByteDance valued at as much as $480 billion in November secondary trade, sources say ByteDance profit could reach $48 billion in 2025, sources say HONG KONG, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Venture capital firm HSG, formerly Sequoia Capital China, is raising a continuation fund that will take over some of its ByteDance shares at a valuation of between $350 billion and $370 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said. A continuation fund (CV) is a new vehicle floated by a private equity firm to transfer holdings of existing investments. The valuation is above the level implied by recent share buybacks by TikTok owner ByteDance, but below that signalled by a November stake purchase. Sign up here. HSG aims to move shares in several portfolio companies backed by funds nearing the end of their investment cycle into the CV, said the two sources and a third person with knowledge of the fundraising. Limited partners, or investors in the maturing funds, will have the option to sell their stakes in those portfolio companies during the CV fundraising to other investors. ByteDance shares will dominate the new vehicle, said the three sources, who declined to be named as the information is not public. HSG owns just over 11% of ByteDance as one of the social media giant's largest external shareholders, said one of the people. It is unclear how much of that stake will be rolled into the CV. HSG declined to comment. ByteDance did not respond to a request for comment. Trade publication AVCJ first reported the CV on Wednesday. LEADING PLAYER ByteDance's valuation has soared in the past year, driven by strong revenue growth despite the lengthy TikTok U.S. separation process. ByteDance's first- and second-quarter 2025 revenues both topped those of Facebook and Instagram owner Meta (META.O) , opens new tab, making it the world's No. 1 social media company by sales, Reuters has reported. Revenues continued to grow in the following two quarters and ByteDance's 2025 annual profit could reach about $48 billion, said one of the sources and a separate person familiar with the company's financial details. It also emerged as China's leading player in consumer AI apps in 2025 thanks to its chatbot Doubao, which has the country's largest market share by monthly active users. In November, Chinese venture firm Capital Today won an auction to acquire a chunk of ByteDance shares from Bank of China's private equity arm in the private secondary market, valuing the company at $480 billion, one of the sources and a fifth source said. The two firms did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. ByteDance in the third quarter launched an employee share buyback at a valuation of more than $330 billion, up 5.5% from the previous buyback in March, sources have said. The company in November offered existing investors a new round of share buybacks at a valuation similar to the employee buyback, said a sixth person familiar with the situation. HSG first invested in ByteDance in 2014 when it was part of the Sequoia Capital family in a funding round that valued the firm, then operating only its popular news aggregation app Toutiao, at $500 million, according to previous media reports. HSG separated from Sequoia U.S. in 2024. Its founder and managing partner Neil Shen remains one of ByteDance's five board members. https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/hsgs-continuation-fund-value-bytedance-up-370-billion-sources-say-2026-01-07/

2026-01-07 17:05

Audit court needs more time to assess if liquidation justified Review of central bank documents seen taking about 30 days Investors awaiting potential payouts from deposit guarantee fund BRASILIA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal audit court does not have authority to overturn a central bank decision to liquidate lender Banco Master and needs more time to assess whether the move was justified, the court's head Judge Vital do Rego said on Wednesday. The court, known as the TCU, is reviewing the central bank’s November decision to liquidate the mid-sized lender over liquidity problems and regulatory breaches, but only the Supreme Court could reverse the decision, Rego told Reuters. Sign up here. "The process of undoing the liquidation is up to the Supreme Court, because there is an open case there," he said in an interview. "What TCU can offer, as it has been doing, are elements on the legality of the operation." The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Markets have been monitoring the TCU and Supreme Court work on the case, seen as unusual for a bank liquidation in Brazil, as uncertainty grows over investor compensation. Rego said it was not yet clear whether the liquidation was justified, adding that TCU technicians would need to review central bank documents before reaching a conclusion. He estimated the work would take about 30 days. CENTRAL BANK CHALLENGES AUDIT COURT RULING On Monday, TCU Judge Jonathan de Jesus warned he may consider measures to prevent asset sales during Banco Master's liquidation "to preserve the value of the estate and the usefulness of external oversight." Jesus also ordered an inspection of central bank documents underpinning the decision to wind down Master. Later that day, the central bank challenged the ruling, saying such decisions must be made by the court's panels. Any unilateral move by a single judge would likely be temporary, as it would need confirmation by the court's nine members. Asked if he would back Jesus' stance to potentially block the liquidation, Rego said: "The only thing I'm doing now is defending the court's prerogative, nothing else." LIQUIDITY ISSUES, POLITICAL TIES The central bank ordered Banco Master's liquidation on the same day federal police arrested controlling shareholder Daniel Vorcaro in a probe into fraudulent credit securities. Vorcaro, a banker with strong political ties, was later released with an ankle monitor. Though Banco Master accounts for less than 1% of bank assets in Latin America's largest economy, its collapse has drawn scrutiny because the lender fueled its rapid growth by issuing high-yield debt marketed as covered by Brazil's private deposit guarantee fund (FGC). Investors who financed that expansion are awaiting potential FGC payouts totaling about 41 billion reais ($7.6 billion). Rego defended the TCU's role, saying the court "is rigorously fulfilling its responsibilities as a second-tier watchdog" and that this "should be treated without unnecessary alarm." He also stressed that TCU supports the central bank's autonomy and has often worked jointly with the monetary authority. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-audit-court-chief-says-only-supreme-court-can-reverse-banco-master-2026-01-07/