2024-10-10 12:14

DUBAI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Thursday that it has restored production close to levels before the country's central bank crisis, reaching 1.22 million barrels per day (bpd) on Thursday. Libya's eastern-based government and Tripoli-based NOC announced last week that all oilfields and export terminals had been reopened after a dispute over leadership of the central bank was resolved. Oil and condensate production levels reached 1.217 million bpd on Thursday, up from 1.158 million bpd on Wednesday, NOC said. NOC says that Libya produced about 1.3 million barrels per day before output at the Sharara, El Feel and Essider oilfields was halted in late August and early September. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/libyas-national-oil-corporation-restores-output-close-normal-levels-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 12:09

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Investment firm Appian Capital Advisory said a High Court in London has ruled that Sibanye Stillwater (SSWJ.J) , opens new tab must compensate it for losses which arose after the South African miner terminated a $1.2 billion deal to buy its Brazilian nickel and copper mines. A hearing to deal with the amount of compensation will take place in November 2025, Appian said in a statement. The advisory firm lodged the case against Sibanye seeking compensation after the Johannesburg-based precious metals producer cancelled a deal to acquire Santa Rita and Serrote mines in Brazil in January 2022. Sibanye confirmed in a separate statement that a trial to determine potential damages it may be required to pay to Appian would be held in November next year. Judge Christopher Butcher ruled that Sibanye was "under an obligation to close" the deal to acquire the nickel and copper mines and had no grounds to terminate the purchase. Appian said it would seek to recover losses from the failed deal "in full, including the significant interest that would have accrued since January 2022." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/sibanye-liable-pay-damages-failed-12-billion-brazilian-mines-deal-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 12:08

MOSCOW, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not expected to attend the Russian-hosted BRICS summit later this month, according to the Kremlin, which said the world's biggest oil exporter would be represented by the Kingdom's foreign minister. BRICS, originally Brazil, Russia, India and China, has expanded in recent years to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said that nine of the 10 BRICS member states would send their leaders, though Saudi Arabia would send its foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, to the summit in the Russian city of Kazan. He did not give a reason for the expected absence of the crown prince, known as MbS. Ushakov said "BRICS is a structure that cannot be ignored". He said BRICS members accounted for 45% of the world's population, about 40% of oil production and about a quarter of global goods exports. The term BRIC was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in 2003 to describe how the four rising economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China are likely to rival and overtake many of the West's leading economies over the next half century. In the two decades since then, the group has formed into an official structure though its economic weight is largely made up by China, the world's second largest economy, and critics say the major members of the grouping have contradictory aims. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/saudis-mbs-will-not-attend-russias-brics-summit-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 11:41

At least 19 tornados destroyed homes in multiple counties Hurricane weakened as it reaches Florida's east coast Governor DeSantis: Florida avoided worst-case scenario Over 3.2 million homes and businesses without power FORT PIERCE, Florida/ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Hurricane Milton plowed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after cutting a destructive path across Florida that spawned tornados, killed at least 10 people and left millions without power, but the storm did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared. Governor Ron DeSantis said the state had avoided the "worst-case scenario," though he cautioned the damage was still significant and flooding remained a concern. The Tampa Bay area appeared to sidestep the storm surge that had prompted the most dire warnings, though the barrier islands along the shore south of the city endured extensive flooding. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a White House briefing that there were reports of 10 deaths thus far, adding it appeared they were caused by tornados. At least 27 twisters touched down in Florida, he said. In St. Lucie County on Florida's east coast, a spate of tornados killed five people, including at least two in the senior-living Spanish Lakes communities, county spokesperson Erick Gill said. On Thursday, snapped concrete electric poles and overturned trucks in ditches offered evidence of the twisters' power. Crystal Coleman, 37, and her 17-year-old daughter hid in the bathroom during the storm as a tornado began peeling the roof off her Lakewood Park house. "It felt like I was in a movie," she said. "I felt like I was about to die." More than 3.2 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power on Thursday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. At least some had already been waiting days for power to be restored after Hurricane Helene hit the area two weeks ago. Milton shredded the fabric roof of Tropicana Field, the stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, but there were no reported injuries. The ballpark was a staging area for responders, with thousands of cots set up on the field. In downtown St. Petersburg, dozens of onlookers came out in the bright sunshine to look at a fallen crane that sliced off a corner of the Johnson Pope building on First Avenue South, home also to the Tampa Bay Times. The crumpled boom stretched from one end of the street to the other. "That, to me, is shocking and crazy to see," said Alberta Momenthy, 27, who lives nearby. "It looks like it kind of keeled over, and the building caught it and got a little destroyed." Steven Cole Smith, 71, an automotive writer and editor who lives in Tampa about seven miles (11 km) from the Gulf Coast, rode out the storm with his wife. He said the wind shook the windows so hard he thought they would shatter. "We really didn't have anywhere else to go," Smith said of their decision not to follow evacuation orders. He has a house in central Florida, but said the forecast for that area looked as bad as where he was staying. "I spent yesterday scavenging for supplies, fuel for the generator, everything we'd need," he said. "I have a chainsaw too." Luckily, he said, Tampa was spared a direct hit. Ken Wood, 58, a state ferryboat operator in Pinellas County, fled his Dunedin home on Florida's Gulf Coast with his 16-year-old cat Andy, after making the "harrowing" mistake of riding out Hurricane Helene two weeks ago in his mobile home. They heeded evacuation orders and headed north but only made it as far as a hotel about an hour's drive away when he decided the roads were no longer safe. "It was pretty loud, but Andy slept through it all," he told Reuters by telephone. He is worried about his home but was awaiting official word that roads are clear before returning. Helene destroyed about a third of his neighborhood, and the streets were still piled with rubble that could have become wind-driven projectiles. 'INSTANTANEOUS' The state was still in danger of river flooding after up to 18 inches (457 mm) of rain fell. Authorities were waiting for rivers to crest, but so far levels were at or below those after Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said on Thursday morning. Most of the severe damage reported so far stemmed from the tornados, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency head Deanne Criswell, who was in Tallahassee on Thursday. "The evacuation orders saved lives," she said, noting that more than 90,000 residents went to shelters. In Fort Myers on the southwest coast, resident Connor Ferin surveyed the wreckage of his home, which had lost its roof and was full of debris and rainwater after a tornado hit. "All this happened instantaneous, like these windows blew out," he said. "I grabbed the two dogs and ran under my bed and that was it. Probably one minute total." President Joe Biden, who postponed an overseas trip to monitor Milton, said on Thursday he believes the U.S. Congress should come back into session to address disaster relief funding needs following the storm. He said he had not spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson on the subject of Congress returning. Members of the House of Representatives and Senate are not scheduled to return to Washington until after the Nov. 5 election. The storm hit Florida's west coast on Wednesday night as a Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, with top sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph). While still dangerous, Milton had weakened from a catastrophic Category 5 status as it trekked over the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hurricane-milton-weakens-it-marches-across-central-florida-homes-destroyed-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 11:29

LAGOS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Nigeria's state-owned oil company, NNPC Ltd, has increased petrol prices by over 15%, marking the second hike in less than a month and the exit from a costly subsidy programme that has strained its finances. At NNPC fuel stations in Lagos the price of gasoline rose to 998 naira per litre ($0.6257) from 858 naira, while in Abuja the price increased to 1,030 naira per litre from 950 naira. Long queues formed as customers came to terms with higher prices. NNPC, the country's sole importer of refined products, can now recover its costs in full, having bought gasoline from the Dangote Oil Refinery at 898 naira per litre. This is the first time in three decades that Nigeria is selling gasoline at full market prices, relieving the treasury of the heavy cost of subsidies, projected to cost the government at least $3.7 billion this year. President Bola Tinubu scrapped a costly but popular subsidy on petrol last year when he took office, to cut government expenditure. But he reintroduced subsidy partly after inflation skyrocketed, worsening a cost of living crisis and stoking tension among the population. By September, NNPC said it faced severe financial strain, admitting it was unable to continue importing fuel after weeks of scarce supplies at its petrol stations. The price increase has sparked criticism from labour unions to manufacturers, who warn that it will worsen the cost-of-living crisis. Gasoline prices are a particularly sensitive issue in Nigeria, where millions of households and small businesses rely on generators powered by fuel due to the country’s creaking national electricity grid. Last week, Nigeria began selling crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in naira, with the understanding that the refinery would fully meet the country’s fuel needs. This month, NNPC is supplying the refinery with 13 cargoes of crude oil. Edwin Devakumar, head of the Dangote Refinery, said the facility now has the capacity to meet all of Nigeria's needs. Industry insiders say that with gasoline now being sold at market rates, NNPC will no longer be the sole buyer of products from the Dangote Refinery. "We have applied to buy directly from the Dangote Refinery, but this hasn’t been finalised yet. For now, we are still buying through NNPC," said Billy Gillis-Harry, head of a local fuel traders association. ($1 = 1,595.0000 naira) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nigerias-nnpc-raises-fuel-prices-it-ditches-costly-subsidies-2024-10-10/

2024-10-10 11:27

Oct 10 (Reuters) - More than 3 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power on Thursday, after Hurricane Milton tore across Florida overnight, destroying homes and killing at least ten people, according to data from PowerOutage.us. Milton made landfall around 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT) on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 kph) near Siesta Key, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Milton plowed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. Milton has became a post-tropical cyclone on Thursday afternoon, with gradual weakening expected during the next several days, NHC added. The utility with the most customers hit was Florida Power & Light Company, with 989,230 clients without power, followed by Duke Energy, which has 926,387 clients without power. Meanwhile, over 93,000 customers in Georgia and North Carolina were still without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people across six states, and was the deadliest named storm to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 1,400 people in 2005. Here are the major outages by State: Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/over-13-million-florida-customers-without-power-due-hurricane-milton-2024-10-10/