2025-12-15 19:46

Attack was a ransomware that hit PDVSA's administrative systems, source says Chevron-chartered tankers continue sailing under US authorization PDVSA orders workers to disconnect from systems Dec 15 (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has been subject to a cyberattack, it said on Monday, adding its operations were unaffected, even though four sources said systems remained down and oil cargo deliveries were suspended. Tensions are high between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments, amid a large-scale U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, U.S. strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats and comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that land operations may begin soon in Venezuela. Sign up here. The Venezuelan government has said the U.S. is seeking regime change to take over the country's vast oil reserves. Last week the U.S. Coast Guard seized a very large crude carrier (VLCC) carrying some 1.85 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy oil sold by PDVSA. PDVSA and the oil ministry blamed the U.S. for the cyberattack on Monday, saying it was carried out by "foreign interests in complicity with domestic entities who are seeking to destroy the country's right to sovereign energy development." They alleged the attack was part of U.S. efforts to control Venezuela's oil through "force and piracy." However, a PDVSA source said the company had detected a ransomware attack days ago, and the antivirus software it used to try to fix the problem affected its entire administrative system. In a ransomware attack, malicious software encrypts a victim's files or locks its computer, with attackers sometimes also stealing data and threatening to leak it. These cyberattacks happen via phishing, malicious downloads or infected websites and can cause severe disruptions. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PDVSA provided no further details, although the company said it had recovered from the attack. Venezuela's government regularly blames problems like blackouts on conspirators from the opposition and foreign entities like the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, without giving evidence. Sources said the effects were ongoing. "There's no delivery (of cargoes), all systems are down," one company source said. A shipper involved in Venezuelan oil deals confirmed that all loading instructions for the export market remained suspended. Oil output, refining and domestic distribution were not affected, the sources said, but the company on Monday failed to restart administrative systems, forcing workers to keep written records of operations. Two other sources said PDVSA ordered administrative and operational workers to disconnect from the company's systems and to limit access of indirect workers to the company's facilities. TANKERS TURN AROUND Last week's VLCC seizure was the first interception of a tanker or cargo coming from Venezuela, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019, and a sign of growing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro. The seizure has already led to a sharp fall in Venezuelan oil exports, also hitting crisis-stricken Cuba, which is facing daily power cuts. More than 11 million barrels of oil are stuck on board other vessels in Venezuelan waters since last week. Among the few tankers setting sail are the ones chartered by oil firm Chevron, one of PDVSA's key partners, which continue departing to the U.S. under an authorization previously granted by Washington, according to shipping data. At least one crude tanker per day bound for Asia has been able to set sail since last week from Venezuelan waters in "dark mode," which means it navigates with all its localization systems off, the PDVSA source said. But a tanker carrying Russian naphtha for PDVSA and at least four supertankers due to pick up crude cargoes in Venezuela have made u-turns, ship monitoring data showed on Monday. Benin-flagged tanker Boltaris, which was carrying some 300,000 barrels of Russian naphtha bound for Venezuela, made a u-turn late last week and is now heading for Europe without having discharged, according to LSEG vessel monitoring data. At least four VLCCs that were in PDVSA's schedules to load crude at Venezuelan ports in the coming weeks have also made u-turns in recent days, monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said. Venezuela's crude output averaged 1.17 million barrels per day last month according to official figures, while oil exports rose to some 952,000 bpd, according to shipping data. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuelas-pdvsa-says-operations-unaffected-by-cyber-attack-blames-us-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 19:22

Dec 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Monday that the agency and 21 states, along with the District of Columbia, have filed an amended complaint against ride-hailing app Uber (UBER.N) , opens new tab, alleging it engaged in deceptive billing and cancellation practices. The updated lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claims that Uber charged consumers for subscriptions without consent, failed to deliver promised benefits such as zero-dollar delivery fees and monthly savings, and made it difficult for users to cancel. Sign up here. Shares of Uber fell more than 3% following the news. The FTC first sued Uber in April over similar allegations. The amended complaint seeks civil penalties for alleged violations of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act and state consumer protection laws. Uber One, marketed as a monthly or annual subscription, promises perks including $0 delivery fees and up to $25 in monthly savings. But the FTC said many consumers reported paying delivery fees despite the promise and not receiving the advertised savings. The complaint also alleges that Uber enrolled users in the subscription without their knowledge, including those who signed up for free trials, and then charged them before the trial ended. Uber denied the allegations and said it does not sign up or charge consumers without their consent. Cancellation was also described as "exceedingly difficult," with users forced to navigate up to 23 screens and take as many as 32 actions to cancel, according to the filing. "The majority of cancellations take 20 seconds or less and can be done in the app anytime," Uber said in emailed statement, adding that "Prior to December 2024, as explained during sign up, consumers within 48 hours of their next billing period had to contact Support in order to cancel." States joining the FTC include California, New York, Texas and Illinois. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-ftc-21-states-file-amended-complaint-against-uber-alleging-deceptive-billing-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 19:21

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said Monday a changing inflation outlook tilted her toward supporting last week’s central bank interest rate cut. “I supported last week’s {Federal Open Market Committee) decision to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, although for me, it was a close call,” Collins said in a statement from her bank. “Available information suggested the balance of risks had shifted a bit” and “scenarios with a notable further rise in inflation seem somewhat less likely.” Sign up here. Collins weighed in after last week’s move by the Fed to lower its target rate range to between 3.5% and 3.75%, as the officials work to balance ongoing inflation risks and rising softness in the jobs market. The Fed’s decision to cut rates was fractured: two policymakers wanted the Fed to hold steady while a third wanted a larger cut than the one policymakers opted for. Ahead of the Fed meeting, comments made by Collins suggested her inflation concerns would put her in the camp of dissenters against a rate cut. Collins has been consistently worried about too high levels of inflation and the length of time they’ve been above the Fed’s target. Collins’ unexpected dovishness did not translate into a new outlook for monetary policy. “It was important to me that the forward guidance in the Committee’s statement now echoes language in the December 2024 statement, which preceded a pause in cutting rates,” the official noted. “Given a policy stance that is at the lower end of a range I view as mildly restrictive, I would want greater clarity about the inflation picture before adjusting policy further, to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee’s 2 percent objective,” she said. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/feds-collins-says-supported-rate-cut-it-was-close-call-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 19:04

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury has rejected an offer from a group led by U.S. bank Xtellus Partners for the foreign assets of Russian oil company Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab, four people close to the matter told Reuters. Xtellus had been competing against U.S. oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab and Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab, Abu Dhabi group International Holding Company (IHC.AD) , opens new tab, Hungary's MOL (MOLB.BU) , opens new tab and U.S. private equity firm Carlyle (CG.O) , opens new tab, all of which still remain in the race. Sign up here. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment. Lukoil offered to sell the assets after the U.S. imposed sanctions on it and Kremlin-controlled rival Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab in October to try to push Russia towards a peace deal with Ukraine. More than a dozen companies have bid for Lukoil's assets, which are valued at about $22 billion. The assets include upstream oil and gas projects, refining and more than 2,000 filling stations across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. Xtellus had offered to organise a swap of Lukoil securities held by U.S. investors in a cashless deal to return them to Lukoil in exchange for the Russian company's global assets, sources told Reuters. The sources said Lukoil had favoured the Xtellus bid but it was complex to execute. Xtellus is advising bid partners American billionaire Todd Boehly and Emirati investor group Allied Investment Partners. One of the sources said Lukoil and the Xtellus-led group have already signed a share purchase agreement. The Treasury told the group that it doesn't have permission to use sanctioned securities in a transaction and that was why their proposal was rejected, the source said. Now the plan is to try to escalate their offer to a more senior decision-maker and get the rejection reversed. The group will also apply for a license to access these securities, they said. U.S. investment funds own large holdings of Lukoil shares that were frozen and written down after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, losing the funds billions of dollars. The idea was to transfer the shares back to Lukoil in exchange for the assets, sell the assets to energy companies and pay the investors. Last week the U.S. extended the deadline for negotiations with Lukoil to January 17. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-treasury-rejects-xtellus-bid-russias-lukoil-assets-sources-say-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 18:51

Right winger Jose Antonio Kast will be next president of Chile Has pledged crime crackdown, spending and regulatory cuts Markets have rallied as investors bet on pro-market shift Will be constrained by divided Congress SANTIAGO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Kast secured a commanding runoff win against leftist candidate Jeannette Jara on Sunday that will give him momentum, but he faces a balancing act to move quickly on his promises while building needed support among more moderate lawmakers. Kast - whose margin of victory was some 16 percentage points over government-backed Jara, a member of the Communist Party - ran on a law-and-order platform that pledged a crackdown on rising crime and a tougher stance towards unchecked migration at Chile's porous northern border. Sign up here. "We are going to work tirelessly to recover tranquility, to recover order, to recover growth and to recover hope because Chile has given us a clear mandate that admits no excuses," Kast said in a victory speech at his party headquarters on Sunday evening. He did, however, repeatedly warn that there were no quick fixes and asked voters for patience. He will take over in March from leftist President Gabriel Boric, with whom he met on Monday to discuss the transition. On Tuesday, Kast is set to travel to neighboring Argentina to meet with President Javier Milei. Kast's economic plan bears some similarities with Milei's, involving more flexible labor laws, corporate tax cuts, less regulation, and a deep reduction in spending. He has also said he will seek to encourage investment in the copper industry in the world's No.1 supplier, but has indicated no plans for major changes to its governance. There was little movement in either the Chilean peso or stock market on Monday. Both had made strong gains in the run-up to the second round and Kast's win was largely priced in, said Capital Economics in a note. 'MORE LIKE MIKE PENCE THAN DONALD TRUMP' Kast has been on the right-wing fringes of Chilean politics for years, with two previous failed presidential runs under his belt and both personal and family support for the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in his past. He has frequently railed against crime, migrants and abortion. However, he has struck a more moderate tone in campaigning in recent months and was notably conciliatory towards opponents in his victory speech. "This is going to be 'Make Chile Boring Again' and I think that's good news because there were a lot of people who were afraid he was going to be an authoritarian, populist, radical president," said Patricio Navia, a Chilean professor of liberal studies at New York University. Kast - a Catholic with nine children - wears suits and eschews the fireworks of populist regional leaders like Milei, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro or U.S. President Donald Trump. "He doesn't have that aggressive style of Milei or President Trump," Navia said. In his speech, "he seemed much more like Mike Pence than Donald Trump." CRIME FEARS The biggest topic of the election campaign was fears over crime, immigration and organized gangs that have taken root in recent years. Chile remains one of Latin America's safest countries. But shootouts in broad daylight, brutal contract killings and extortion kidnappings, long a reality in other parts of the region but previously very rare in Chile, have shocked the nation and even stunted economic growth as people adjusted their daily habits. "If he (Kast) can credibly signal that he is doing something about improving people's perception around the security situation, I think then we are heading into a phase of political stability there which would be rewarded by markets," said Witold Bahrke, Senior Macro & Allocation Strategist at Global Evolution emerging markets fund. Kast's proposals include building walls, trenches and electric fences along the border and forming a police force similar to the U.S.'s Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and expel migrants. He's also vowed to expel all migrants in the country illegally and encouraged them to leave before he takes office. However, while there is broad political support to tackle security issues, Kast will be conscious of the need to work with a Chilean Congress that is divided and may not support his more radical proposals. The Senate is evenly split between left- and right-wing parties, while the swing vote in the lower legislative body belongs to the populist People's Party. A strict austerity agenda could also risk triggering protests, analysts at Oxford Economics said. In his favor, there are already signs that sectors like construction and retail are recovering after a tough few years, while inflation has been cooling. But debt is high, said University of Chile economist Jorge Berrios, and his first 100 days will be key. "There are a lot of expectations in relation to the future government and high expectations can cause problems if they are not fulfilled," said Berrios. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chilean-investors-cheer-election-kast-president-2025-12-15/

2025-12-15 16:35

PARIS/ROME, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed on the need to delay a final European Union vote on the Mercosur trade deal, two sources familiar with the discussion told Reuters on Monday. France has been trying to rally other EU countries to form a blocking minority against the deal negotiated by the European Commission. A vote was expected in Brussels this week. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-italy-aligned-need-delay-final-mercosur-vote-say-sources-2025-12-15/