2025-11-18 07:40
SINGAPORE, Nov 18 (Reuters) - India's Reliance (RELI.NS) , opens new tab has purchased 1 million barrels of heavy crude from Kuwait Petroleum Corp via a tender, four trade sources said. Last week, KPC issued a tender to sell crude oil that the Al-Zour refinery is unable to process because of unplanned maintenance after a fire. Sign up here. The cargoes - 500,000 barrels of Kuwait Heavy Crude for loading on December 6 to December 7 and the same volume of Eocene crude for loading on December 8 to December 9 - were awarded to Reliance, the people said. The prices for the purchase were not immediately clear. Reliance halted Russian oil purchases last month after Russian producers Rosneft and Lukoil were sanctioned by the United States. The Indian refiner has bought at least 12 million barrels of spot crude from the Middle East and the Americas, Reuters has reported. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/reliance-buys-1-million-barrels-crude-kuwaits-kpc-trade-sources-say-2025-11-18/
2025-11-18 07:27
Trump says administration is interviewing for new Fed chair US Treasury says sanctions are squeezing Moscow's revenue Russian oil loadings at Novorossiysk resume after Ukraine attack Oil prices to fall next year, says Goldman Sachs HOUSTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Tuesday after a choppy session as traders weighed the impact of Western sanctions on Russian oil flows, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump saying his administration had started interviewing for the next Federal Reserve chair. Brent crude settled up 69 cents, or 1.07%, at $64.89 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 83 cents, or 1.39%, to $60.74. Sign up here. U.S. crude futures briefly rose by more than $1 a barrel in afternoon trade to a session high of $60.92 after Trump announced the Federal Reserve chair interviews. Trump has been vocally critical of current Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates more quickly. “I think this news is supportive of the market because it is obvious what kind of person Trump will bring in for that job. This gave a risk-on type of nudge to the market," said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. Lower borrowing costs typically boost demand for oil and push prices higher. TREASURY SAYS SANCTIONS SQUEEZING RUSSIA The U.S. Treasury said sanctions imposed in October on Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab are already squeezing Russia's oil revenue and are expected to curb its export volumes over time. "Traders weighed the impact of a growing global surplus against U.S. sanctions that are disrupting Russian crude flows," said MUFG analyst Soojin Kim. A senior White House official said Trump was willing to sign Russian sanctions legislation as long as he retains final authority over its implementation. Trump said on Sunday that Republicans were drafting a bill to impose sanctions on any country doing business with Russia, adding that Iran could also be included. “This Russia sanctions legislation they are kicking around is exactly the type of secondary sanction that could make a real difference. The risk of losing Russian supplies is supportive and it has the attention of the market,” said Kilduff. Russia's Novorossiysk port resumed oil loadings on Sunday after a two-day suspension triggered by a Ukrainian missile and drone attack, according to two industry sources and data compiled by LSEG. Exports from Novorossiysk and a nearby Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, together representing about 2.2 million barrels per day, or roughly 2% of global supply, were halted on Friday, pushing crude prices up more than 2% that day. Oil prices are expected to decline through 2026, Goldman Sachs said on Monday, citing a supply wave that keeps the market in surplus. However, it noted that Brent could rise above $70 a barrel in 2026/2027 if Russian output falls more sharply. Meanwhile, U.S. crude and fuel stocks rose last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks rose by 4.45 million barrels in the week ended November 14, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.55 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose by 577,000 barrels from a week earlier, the sources said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-slips-loadings-resume-russian-hub-markets-weigh-sanctions-impact-2025-11-18/
2025-11-18 07:15
Nov 18 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Barry Callebaut (BARN.S) , opens new tab said on Tuesday it would partner with Chilean start-up NotCo AI to utilise artificial intelligence in recipe development, as it battles high cocoa prices and weakening demand for its cocoa products. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Chocolate makers are looking for new ways to cut costs, including tweaking their recipes to use less cocoa, as prices of the raw material float near record highs, while the "Make America Healthy Again" movement spearheaded by U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr brings about new cost pressures. Sign up here. KEY QUOTES "This collaboration enables us to test how AI can enhance process efficiency and scale our innovation efforts," Barry Callebaut CEO Peter Feld said in a statement. The company remains committed to traditional chocolate while exploring cocoa alternatives to boost resilience, global head of corporate communications Kai Hummel said. The platform that NotCo developed, labelled Giuseppe, scans products to help identify and potentially replace certain ingredients, NotCo CEO and co-founder Matias Muchnick told Reuters in an interview. It also analyses a database of thousands of ingredients that could be artificially simulated to find a replacement that results in something similar to the target ingredient, he said, adding that this way a company can "avoid the trial and error". CONTEXT Barry Callebaut is not the first consumer goods firm to use AI. NotCo's platform is used by Unilever's (ULVR.L) , opens new tab Magnum, one of Barry Callebaut's customers. The start-up has also worked with Kraft Heinz (KHC.O) , opens new tab and Nutella-maker Ferrero. Oreo-maker Mondelez (MDLZ.O) , opens new tab said last month it was using a new generative AI tool to cut costs for the production of marketing content by 30% to 50%. BY THE NUMBERS Barry Callebaut, whose ingredients are present in one out of four chocolate and cocoa products consumed worldwide, did not specify what kind of financial benefit it expects from implementing NotCo's platform. "While we see strong potential, it’s too early to guarantee specific outcomes," Hummel said. https://www.reuters.com/business/barry-callebaut-use-notco-ai-develop-chocolate-recipes-2025-11-18/
2025-11-18 07:14
Nov 18 (Reuters) - An accident occurred on an underground section of a gas pipeline in Russia's Omsk region, the regional governor, Vitaly Khotsenko, said on Tuesday. Emergency services were dealing with the incident, Khotsenko said on the Telegram messaging app. Sign up here. "There is no danger to residents of the Omsk district or other localities in our region," he said. Russia's TASS state news agency, citing the Omsk region's security services, or FSB, said a fire on a gas pipeline near the village of Rostovka occurred during repair work. "The blaze has been contained," TASS cited FSB as saying. "There were no casualties. The circumstances and causes of the incident are being investigated." Omsk lies in southwestern Siberia, about 2,200 km (1,370 miles) east of Moscow. https://www.reuters.com/world/gas-pipeline-accident-reported-russias-omsk-region-governor-says-2025-11-18/
2025-11-18 07:11
Nov 18 (Reuters) - Imperial Brands (IMB.L) , opens new tab reported a nearly 5% rise in annual adjusted operating profit on Tuesday, narrowly beating consensus estimates, supported by higher prices of its tobacco products and growing demand for smoking alternatives. The maker of Davidoff cigarettes and blu e-cigarettes has promised , opens new tab 3%-5% annual profit growth and a share buyback programme every year until 2030, as it builds scale in smoking alternatives under new CEO Lukas Paravicini, who replaced , opens new tab Stefan Bomhard in October. Sign up here. Imperial, which also owns nicotine pouch brand Zone and heated tobacco device Pulze, said its adjusted operating income came in at 3.99 billion pounds ($5.25 billion) for the year ended September 30, compared with a consensus estimate of 3.98 billion pounds. ($1 = 0.7606 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/business/imperial-brands-annual-profit-rises-46-2025-11-18/
2025-11-18 07:03
TotalEnergies acquires 50% in Czech energy company EPH's power business French company aims to grow power business while also increasing oil and gas Strategy contrasts with Shell and BP that scrapped most renewables plans LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab is betting big on power and renewables, positioning itself to ride the global electricity demand wave and offer investors a clear alternative to rivals doubling down on oil and gas. European oil companies' strategies have seesawed since 2022, when Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the related sanctions created an energy shock that made governments focus more on near-term energy security than the long-term energy transition. Sign up here. The changing landscape led Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and BP (BP.L) , opens new tab to ditch plans to plough billions of dollars into renewables and instead refocus on their legacy operations, aligning with U.S. rivals Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab and Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab . At the same time, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne defied investor pressure and largely stuck to a strategy first outlined in 2020 that strikes a balance between growth in core oil and gas operations and diversification into power and renewables. That strategy was on full display on Monday when TotalEnergies announced the acquisition of a 50% stake in Czech energy company EPH's Western European power generation platform in a 5.1 billion euro ($5.92 billion) all-stock transaction. EPH, majority-owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, has more than 14 gigawatts of flexible capacity in operation or under construction, including gas-fired and biomass power plants and battery systems in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Britain. The deal more than doubles TotalEnergies' gas and biomass generation capacity to 13.5 GW, making it one of the largest producers in Europe. The company expects the deal to boost cashflow by $750 million per year over the next five years while also reducing annual capital expenditures by $1 billion to between $14 billion and $16 billion, as the French energy major will not need to invest in building new power capacity. POWER PLAY TotalEnergies aims to generate 100 to 120 terawatt hours of electricity globally by 2030, compared with 41 TWh in 2024, mainly by expanding solar and wind power. That equates to over 4% of the European Union's annual consumption. To be sure, TotalEnergies has slowed investments in renewables and power in recent years in the face of soaring oil and gas prices and weakening returns on solar and wind. The company in September said it will cut annual spending on its integrated power business by 20-40% to between $3 billion and $4 billion. And TotalEnergies' power business is still far smaller than its core oil and gas businesses, which accounted for around 88% of adjusted net income of $4.7 billion in the third quarter. But when it comes to growth rates, power takes the prize. While oil and gas production is expected to increase by 3% per year by 2030, TotalEnergies aims to grow its gross installed renewables power generation , opens new tab three-fold from current levels to 100 GW by the end of the decade. In Europe alone, following the EPH deal, TotalEnergies aims to grow gas and biomass generation by 40% between now and 2030 to 35 TWh and more than triple current renewables and batteries capacity over the same period to 20 GW and 7 GW, respectively. By comparison, Shell and BP have sold or spun off most of their renewable power generation assets in recent years. Shell had a mere 4 GW of net renewable generation by the end of September, compared with 19 GW for TotalEnergies. Exxon and Chevron have modest plans to invest in gas-fired power generation in the United States. Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab, like its French rival, has stuck to its energy transition strategy, though it took a unique path by spinning off its renewables and retail arm into a standalone business to attract external investment. The business, Plenitude, aims to almost triple its renewables generation capacity to 15 GW by 2030. ‘IT TAKES TIME’ Investors have so far responded coolly to TotalEnergies' strategy. Its shares have risen some 14% since 2020, compared with gains of 67% for Exxon, 29% for Chevron and 27% for Shell, while BP's shares lost 3% over the period. Pouyanne recently said he aims to increase TotalEnergies' power business “step by step” in order to keep pace with the expected growth in electricity consumption from electric vehicles and data centres. “The transition will happen, but it takes time,” Pouyanne told the Energy Intelligence Forum in October. TotalEnergies has never had the flashiest clean energy strategy – as it has always sought to continue growing its legacy oil and gas business even as it pivots to power and renewables. But that steady realism may be just what the energy transition needs. Want to receive my column in your inbox every Monday and Thursday, along with additional energy insights and links to trending stories? Sign up for my Power Up newsletter here. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), , opens new tabyour essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI , opens new tab can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/totalenergies-power-play-teaches-big-oil-how-energy-transition-can-work-2025-11-18/
