2025-01-07 11:51

Trump likely to appoint crypto-friendly chair Behnam's CFTC pursued lawsuits against major crypto firms Behnam has run the agency since 2021 Jan 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Rostin Behnam will step down when President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, the agency said on Tuesday, paving the way for Trump to appoint his own chief and kick-start a crypto policy overhaul. While the CFTC, which oversees commodity derivatives markets, has traditionally been a junior player in financial policy, it is expected to play a much more prominent role as Trump's administration pushes for more crypto-friendly rules. Trump is expected to initially replace Behnam with one of the agency's Republican CFTC commissioners - Summer Mersinger or Caroline Pham - as acting chair. Trump's transition team has also been considering external candidates, including former Republican CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz as well as former CFTC officials and industry attorneys Josh Sterling and Neal Kumar, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. A permanent chair would need Senate confirmation. Spokespeople for Quintenz and Mersinger declined to comment. Kumar and Sterling as well as representatives for Pham did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Behnam has been a Democratic commissioner at the agency since 2017, and was appointed to run the agency by President Joe Biden in 2021. Prior to his CFTC stint, he was a senior counsel to Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat who chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee. "Since 2017, it has been an honor and a privilege to serve the American public and the CFTC, first as a commissioner, then as chairman," Behnam said in a statement. CRYPTO OVERSIGHT The CFTC under Behnam was seen as softer on the cryptocurrency industry when compared with crypto hardliner and Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler. But Behnam's CFTC still brought numerous lawsuits against cryptocurrency companies, most notably the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX after it imploded in 2022 along with Binance -- the world's largest crypto exchange -- and its founder Changpeng Zhao in 2023. Trump has picked Paul Atkins, a Washington lawyer known for his crypto-friendly stance, as the next SEC chief. Behnam told the Financial Times, which first reported his plans to step down, that regulation for the crypto industry remained insufficient. "You still have a large swath of the digital asset space unregulated in the U.S. regulatory system and it's important ... that we fill this gap," he said. The CFTC remained "well positioned to be a spot regulator for digital commodity assets," he said. Under Behnam, the CFTC squared off with event contract marketplace Kalshi, rejecting the use of derivatives to bet on the outcome of political events such as the U.S. presidential election. But a court ruled in Kalshi's favor, boosting the popularity of election-related betting as Americans headed to the polls in November. Behnam told the FT that he was concerned about the legality and social impact of bets on political and other events. "The line is going to be very blurred about what is legal, what's illegal," he said, as technology and high retail demand drive growth in these markets. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cftc-chair-behnam-step-down-jan-20-ft-says-2025-01-07/

2025-01-07 11:45

AMMAN, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Jordan and Syria have agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling and work to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State militants, the Jordanian foreign minister said on Tuesday. Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon has for years been mass-produced in Syria and that Jordan is a transit route to the oil-producing Gulf states. Jordan's army has conducted several pre-emptive airstrikes in Syria since 2023 that Jordanian officials say targeted militias accused of links to the drug trade, as well as the militias' facilities. "We discussed securing the borders, especially the threat of arms and drugs smuggling and the resurgence of Islamic State. Our security is one, we will coordinate together to combat these mutual challenges," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. Shibani, who was in Amman after visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates following the Dec. 8 fall of President Bashar al-Assad, told Safadi that drug smuggling would not pose a threat to Jordan under Syria's new Islamist rulers. "The new situation in Syria ended the threats posed to Jordan's security," Shibani said. "When it comes to captagon and drug smuggling, we promise it is over and won't return. We are ready to cooperate on this extensively." Answering a question about U.S. sanctions on Syria, Shibani said the latest move by Washington to ease restrictions on humanitarian aid for Syria should be a step towards a full lifting of sanctions, which were imposed to isolate the Assad government over its deadly crackdowns on opponents. He added that existing sanctions posed a major obstacle to the recovery of Syria from 13 years of devastating civil war. Safadi said Jordan is ready to supply post-Assad Syria with electricity immediately and is also working to provide it with gas. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/jordan-syria-combat-arms-drugs-smuggling-resurgence-islamic-state-2025-01-07/

2025-01-07 11:44

Shandong Port Group bans US-sanctioned vessels, traders say Ships cannot dock, unload or receives shipping services Ban on ports including Qingdao, Rizhao and Yantai Ban may slow imports, push up costs for refiners, traders say SINGAPORE/BEIJING, Jan 7 (Reuters) - China's Shandong Port Group issued a notice on Monday banning U.S.-sanctioned oil vessels from calling into its ports on the country's east coast, three traders said. The move comes weeks after Washington imposed further sanctions on companies and ships that deal with Iranian oil and could slow shipments to the world's largest oil importing nation, traders say. It is also expected to drive up shipping costs for independent refiners in Shandong, the main buyers of discounted sanctioned crude from Iran, Russia and Venezuela. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, is expected to further ramp up sanctions on Iran and its oil exports to curb its nuclear programme. The notice, obtained from two of the traders and confirmed by a third, forbids ports to dock, unload or provide ship services to vessels on the Office of Foreign Assets Control list managed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Shandong Port oversees major ports on China's east coast including Qingdao, Rizhao and Yantai, which are major terminals for importing sanctioned oil. Shandong Port did not respond to calls or an email from Reuters requesting comment. In a second notice on Tuesday, also reviewed by Reuters, Shandong Port said it expects the shipping ban to have a limited impact on independent refiners as most of the sanctioned oil is being carried on non-sanctioned tankers. The ban came after sanctioned tanker Eliza II unloaded at Yantai Port in early January, the notice said. In December, eight very large crude carriers, with a capacity of two million barrels each, discharged mostly Iranian oil at Shandong, estimates from tanker tracker Vortexa showed. The vessels included Phonix, Vigor, Quinn and Divine, which are all sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. A switch to using non-sanctioned ships could drive up costs for refiners in Shandong, which have been struggling with poor margins and sluggish demand, traders said. The price of Iranian crude sold to China hit the highest in years last month as fresh U.S. sanctions tightened shipping capacity and drove up logistics costs. Prices of Russian oil, which rose to about a two-year high, could remain supported as the Biden administration plans to impose more sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-shandong-port-group-blacklists-us-sanctioned-oil-vessels-say-traders-2025-01-07/

2025-01-07 11:43

Jan 7 (Reuters) - Senegal's Sangomar offshore oil and gas field raised its output of crude to 16.9 million barrels in 2024, exceeding its initial target of 11.7 million, the West African country's energy ministry said on Tuesday. Discovered 10 years ago about 100 km (62 miles) south of the capital Dakar, Sangomar is expected to produce about 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). A floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the project operated by Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) , opens new tab arrived last year. In a statement published on X, the ministry said that all wells had been brought online by end-2024 with a view to achieving the targeted output of 100,000 bpd. It said Sangomar's output in December reached 2.96 million barrels of crude oil including three cargoes totalling 2.94 million barrels which were exported. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/senegals-2024-oil-output-sangomar-beat-target-ministry-says-2025-01-07/

2025-01-07 11:36

LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Wind power was Britain’s largest source of electricity in 2024, topping gas-fired power plants for the first time, data showed on Tuesday. Britain has almost 15 gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind power and aims to quadruple that to 60 GW by 2030 as part of plans to largely decarbonise its power sector by then. "Wind was the largest source of electricity generation in 2024 for the first year ever, accounting for 30%," the National Energy System Operator (NESO) said. Gas plants accounted for 26.3% of the total electricity mix while imports provided 14.1% and nuclear power plants 14%, the data showed. Britain closed its last coal plant last year as coal accounted for just 0.6% of the country’s electricity. During the year several clean power records were broken, with a maximum wind capacity of 22,523 GW hit on December 18 when wind contributed 68.3% of the country’s electricity. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/wind-britains-top-electricity-source-2024-2025-01-07/

2025-01-07 11:30

Jan 7 (Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will discuss the end of Russian gas transit through Ukraine with representatives of the European Commission on Jan. 9 in Brussels, Slovakia's government office said on Tuesday. Supplies through Ukraine stopped on Jan. 1 after a transit agreement between Ukraine and Russia expired, but Fico had been keen to continue receiving Russian gas through that route and threatened to retaliate against Ukraine for what he said were large economic losses for Slovakia. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/slovak-pm-fico-discuss-gas-transit-with-commission-jan-9-2025-01-07/