2025-02-03 23:07
RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA) , opens new tab reported on Monday a 10.5% decrease in its total fourth-quarter oil and gas production from a year earlier, while also experiencing lower sales and exports. Petrobras, Latin America's largest oil producer, posted total oil and gas output of 2.63 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) for the three-month period ended in December. The company reported total sales of oil, gas and derivatives in the quarter that were around 8% lower than a year earlier, totaling 2.83 million barrels per day (bpd). The firm's oil production in Brazil fell 11.5% in the same period, to 2.09 bpd. Petrobras said last month that 2024 production would be around 2.7 million boed, 3% lower than in 2023, but within the goals outlined in the firm's strategic plan. The company said last year's production was impacted by maintenance and unplanned stoppages at offshore production platforms, the natural decline of mature fields and a strike at Brazil's environmental agency Ibama. The start of operations of two new platforms partially offset that loss, Petrobras said. Brazil's oil and gas production as a whole went down by 0.5% in 2024, the country's oil regulator ANP said on Monday. Petrobras' exports in the fourth quarter were 692,000 bpd, nearly 22% lower than in the same period of 2023, the firm said. Europe is becoming a more lucrative destination for Petrobras' exports, the company said, receiving 38% of all its oil exports in the fourth quarter, up from 28% a year earlier. About 30% of oil exports from Petrobras went to China in the same period, down from 44% in 2023. Petrobras is expected to present its fourth-quarter financial earnings on Feb. 26. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/petrobras-total-q4-production-falls-105-2025-02-03/
2025-02-03 23:06
IAEA head Grossi says substations critical to Ukraine's grid Grossi to visit Russia later this week President issues new appeal to return occupied Zaporizhzhia plant to Ukrainian hands KYIV, Feb 4 (Reuters) - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday and inspected an electricity distribution substation, warning that attacks on Ukraine's power grid could pose a risk of a nuclear accident by disrupting supply. "I’m at Kyivska electrical substation — an important part of Ukraine’s power grid essential for nuclear safety," Grossi wrote on X. "A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption." Grossi posted pictures of him visiting the substation alongside Energy Minister German Galushchenko, and being shown what appeared to be defences against Russian strikes. Moscow has regularly bombarded Ukraine's energy infrastructure, including substations, throughout its nearly three-year-old invasion, although it has avoided direct strikes on Ukraine's nuclear plants. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said he and Grossi discussed the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, seized by Russia in the early weeks of Moscow's February 2022 invasion. Zelenskiy said the IAEA should play an active role to "secure the release" of people he described as "hostages" living near the plant -- a probable reference to staff at the station obliged to work for Russian managers now running it. He issued a fresh call for the plant to be returned to Ukrainian control. Each side routinely accuses the other of staging attacks on the station and risking a nuclear accident. Zelenskiy said he and Grossi agreed the IAEA would expand its activity at Ukraine's nuclear facilities and other infrastructure sites. Grossi said he would visit Russia later this week to discuss the situation in Ukraine and at the Zaporizhzhia plant. "It's essential that I, in the discharge of my obligations, keep channels of communication constantly," Grossi told a news briefing. Last week, the IAEA said in a statement that Grossi would visit Kyiv for high-level meetings to ensure nuclear safety in the war that Russia started in February 2022. In September, Ukraine and the IAEA agreed that the agency's experts would monitor the situation at key Ukrainian substations in addition to monitoring nuclear plants. More than half of the electricity consumed in Ukraine is generated by three nuclear plants. Russian missile and drone attacks on substations threaten the plants' stable operation, according to Ukraine's nuclear inspector's office. The Kyivska substation allows excess capacity from Ukraine's west to be transferred to central regions thanks to the Rivne-Kyiv transmission line which extends for hundreds of km (miles), helping with power supply to Kyiv and the surrounding region. "An increasingly fragile grid poses a growing risk to all NPPs", Grossi said on X, referring to nuclear power plants. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/iaeas-grossi-heads-kyiv-crucial-nuclear-safety-inspection-2025-02-03/
2025-02-03 23:03
BRUSSELS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Investors with 6.6 trillion euros in assets under management have urged the European Union not to weaken its sustainability rules, as Brussels draws up plans to cut red tape around green finance. The European Commission will publish a proposal this month to simplify reporting requirements under sustainability policies that some businesses have complained are overly complex. In a joint statement on Tuesday, the investor groups including the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, the European Sustainable Investment Forum and the Principles for Responsible Investment said a full-scale reworking of the rules could backfire, by hampering the investments in industries that Europe is trying to attract. "Reopening these regulations in their entirety risks creating regulatory uncertainty and could ultimately jeopardise the Commission's goal to reorient capital in support of the European Green Deal," said the statement, also signed by investors including AXA Investment Managers and L&G Asset Management. The Commission plans to simplify the EU's corporate sustainability reporting rules, its due diligence rules - which require companies to check human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains - and a third policy which classifies climate-friendly investments. The move aims to present a counter-offer to U.S. President Donald Trump's promise to scrap regulation, and respond to calls from struggling industries to cut red tape. EU officials have said the proposals will include limited changes to ease the reporting burden for small businesses. But some member states, including Germany and France, want the EU to go further and delay the implementation of the regulation. Leo Donnachie, senior policy manager at IIGCC, said losing access to information on companies' sustainability credentials could be a barrier to investment as Europe races to compete with China and the U.S. in clean technologies. "Investors need access to this information to make our decisions," he said. Other industry players disagree. The current data requirements are "too much of a bureaucratic burden to the industry," said Patricia Volhard, head of European Funds Regulatory practice at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has said the EU needs up to 800 billion euros in annual investments to keep pace with economic rivals. Donnachie said Brussels should consider streamlining technical parts of the sustainability rules, but that delaying or overhauling them would create unwelcome instability. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/investors-with-6-trillion-euros-warn-eu-not-weaken-green-rules-2025-02-03/
2025-02-03 22:42
Ontario freezes threat to cancel Starlink contract Tariffs would devastate Ontario's economy, says premier Trump backs off threat to impose 25% tariff on Canadian imports OTTAWA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Ontario on Monday said it was pausing a number of planned retaliatory measures against the United States, including the cancellation of a C$100 million ($68.12 million) contract with Elon Musk's Starlink. Premier Doug Ford made the announcement after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was postponing by 30 days a series of tariffs against imports from Canada. Earlier in the day, Ford had also said Ontario would ban U.S. companies from provincial contracts and order the province's liquor board to remove all American products from its shelves starting on Tuesday. "We have some good news today. We have temporarily averted tariffs that would have severely damaged our economy, giving time for more negotiation and time for cooler heads to prevail," Ford said in a post on X. "With the U.S. pausing tariffs, Ontario will also pause our retaliatory measures." Ontario is the most populous of the 10 provinces and Canada's industrial heartland. Under the terms of the deal, which Ontario signed last November, Starlink was to provide high-speed internet access to 15,000 eligible homes and businesses in more remote communities. Musk, a close Trump ally, is heading the U.S. President's drive to shrink the federal government. Musk had shrugged off Ford's threat, saying "Oh well" in a post on X. Trump had said he would impose a 25% tariff on virtually all Canadian imports except for oil, which faces a 10% surcharge. If prolonged, such measures would trigger a recession. The move generated widespread shock across Canada, which has traditionally prided itself on being a close U.S. ally and trading partner. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday announced Canada would impose 25% tariffs on C$155 billion of U.S. goods in response to the U.S. measures. "Make no mistake, Canada and Ontario continue to stare down the threat of tariffs ... so long as our trading relationship with our largest trading partner is up in the air, we will continue to see many potential projects frozen and projects that were already under way put at risk," said Ford. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ontario-cancels-starlink-contract-latest-canadian-tariffs-protest-2025-02-03/
2025-02-03 21:58
OTTAWA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will postpone threatened tariffs on Canadian imports for at least 30 days, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on X on Monday. Trudeau, speaking after his second conversation of the day with Trump, also said Canada had committed to creating the post of a special czar to combat the smuggling of fentanyl and would ensure permanent monitoring of the shared border. Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian imports unless Ottawa cracked down on fentanyl smuggling and the flow of illegal migrants across the border. "Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together," Trudeau said. Trump had earlier agreed a 30-day exception for tariffs he said he would slap on Mexico. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trudeau-says-trump-will-pause-canada-tariffs-least-30-days-2025-02-03/
2025-02-03 21:47
Feb 4 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. First the stick, then the carrot. Investors breathed a sigh of relief on Monday after some of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs announced over the weekend were put on ice, allowing stocks and non-dollar currencies to claw back losses and regain some poise. This should help bring some degree of calm to markets in Asia on Tuesday, assuming there is no left-field announcement from Trump in the next few hours. Given the events of the few days though, that may be a risky assumption. The steep fall across Asian markets on Monday was understandable after Trump on Saturday slapped 25% import tariffs on goods from Mexico, the same levy on non-energy imports from Canada and 10% duties on purchases from China. U.S. markets were then whiplashed later in the day after Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the Mexican tariffs would be put on hold for a month while talks between the two countries towards a "deal" got underway. There's unlikely to be any official reaction from Beijing to the unilateral tariffs before Wednesday, when China reopens after the Lunar New Year holiday. China's U.N. envoy Fu Cong did say on Monday, however, that China could be forced into taking counter measures. One option many observers say Beijing may pursue is allowing its currency to fall significantly, which would offset the tariffs. Pressure on the yuan could be pretty intense when trading reopens later this week - the offshore yuan traded in Hong Kong hit a record low against the dollar on Monday before clawing back some of these losses. Asian stocks got beaten down pretty badly on Monday. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index, the Nikkei 225 and other major benchmark indices posted their biggest declines in several months, but Japanese futures are pointing to a rebound of more than 1% on Tuesday. For what it's worth, market expectations for U.S. interest rates this year have not budged much at all. Investors still expect two more quarter-point cuts, the first coming in July rather than June. U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday, surprising some analysts who would have expected the opposite reaction due to the expected inflationary impact of tariffs. A lower dollar and U.S. bond yields should bode well for Asia on Tuesday. Markets in Asia could get some direction from Japan, where the corporate reporting season is underway. The list of companies releasing results on Tuesday include heavyweights Panasonic, Nintendo, Mitsui, Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - U.S. tariff fallout - Japan corporate earnings - Offshore Chinese stocks, yuan trading in Hong Kong Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphics-2025-02-03/
