2024-05-07 11:55
LONDON May 7 (Reuters) - Octopus Energy's valuation has risen by 15% to $9 billion after two shareholders increased their stakes in the energy and technology group, it said on Tuesday. Generation Investment Management has raised its stake to 13% and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake to 12%. Last month Octopus Energy overtook Centrica's British Gas to become Britain's largest domestic electricity supplier by customer numbers, having acquired Shell Energy late last year. The investments will help to drive the company's plans to extend its Kraken energy software technology into U.S. markets, Octopus said. Since launching eight years ago, Octopus has raised more than $2 billion from global investors and expanded into 18 countries, it said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/octopus-energys-valuation-hits-9-bln-2024-05-07/
2024-05-07 11:50
OSLO, May 7 (Reuters) - Moldova will not obstruct the supply of Russian gas to its breakaway Transdniestria region after a transit deal with Ukraine expires this year, the Moldovan energy minister said on Tuesday. Kyiv has no plans to extend an agreement to transport Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine that expires by the end of 2024, meaning that supplies to Transdniestria could also stop. The unrecognised statelet, which borders Ukraine to the east, has maintained autonomy from Moldova for three decades with support from Moscow, which has more than a thousand troops stationed there. Ex-Soviet state Moldova, which has denounced Russia's war in Ukraine, aims to join the European Union. Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov told Reuters during a state visit to Norway to boost cooperation, including over energy, that Moldova's government would not stand in the way of Transdniestria receiving gas from Russia. "We will not obstruct the supply of Russian gas to the region. We believe that together with Ukraine, we can find a way to keep things calm in the Transdniestria region," he said. He later told a meeting with Norwegian government officials and businesses that Transdniestria "would collapse" if gas flows stopped. "We will take it slow, we don't want to blow things up," he said. In the past, Moldova relied almost exclusively on Russian gas under a deal with Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) New Tab, opens new tab but stepped up efforts to diversify sources in the wake of the Ukraine war, and today imports gas via Romania. The country has also built a power interconnector to Romania, but still gets most of its electricity from a large gas-powered plant in Transdniestria at a relatively low, fixed price. Norway already provides financial support to Moldova through its multi-billion-dollar Ukraine aid programme, the latter included 400 million Norwegian crowns ($36.87 million) for the purchase of gas in 2023. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/moldova-says-it-wont-obstruct-russian-gas-flows-its-breakaway-region-2024-05-07/
2024-05-07 11:33
CORDOBA PROVINCE, Argentina, May 7 (Reuters) - Global warming has brought Argentina's corn farmers a dangerous new enemy: a yellow insect just four millimeters (0.16 inch) long that thrives in hotter temperatures and is threatening harvests of the crop. Meet the leafhopper. The world's No. 3 corn exporting country has slashed millions of tons from its harvest projections for the current crop due to a rare plague of the insect that can carry a stunt disease that damages the cobs and kernels of the plant. Farmers fear such infestations could become more regular, with fewer frosts in recent years to check the insect's spread, and forecasts for a warm winter ahead, farmers, weather experts and data analyzed by Reuters showed. Some farmers already have said they will sow less corn for next season in favor of other crops such as soy, the South American country's main cash crop, which is not affected by the bugs. "Many are going to reduce their hectares of corn to zero," said Anibal Cordoba, a producer in northern Chaco province, adding a hard freeze this winter is needed or leafhopper numbers will explode again next season. "You normally found leafhoppers in the bud of the plants if you looked. But this year you go to the field and you find clouds of leafhopper. It's just crazy." Agriculture and climate experts linked the unusual outbreak to rising global and local temperatures. "The number of days with frost is becoming less frequent due to global temperatures rising," said climate change specialist Matilde Rusticucci at the University of Buenos Aires, adding minimum temperatures in the country had "increased steadily". "The year 2023 was declared the warmest year in history," Rusticucci said. This helped leafhoppers spread far beyond the warmer northern regions where they usually thrive and where farmers have adapted. Some 10 million tons of Argentine corn production has been lost already, and analysts say it could fall further. "We should be talking about an Argentine production of more than 60 million tons of corn and because of this insect we are talking about 50.5 (million tons)," said Cristian Russo, head of agricultural estimates at the Rosario grains exchange (BCR). "We all suspect that it still could get much worse than what we're seeing," he added. "It's a big blow to corn." According to Russo, leafhopper numbers in northern Argentina are 10 times the normal level, while the insect has been found nearly 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) south of traditional areas, where previously it had been too cold. Argentina's government, which did not respond to a request for comment on this story, has looked to speed authorization for pesticides to fight leafhoppers and recently met with farm associations to coordinate how to mitigate leafhopper damage. 'THIS IS A REAL, REAL PROBLEM' In parts of Argentina, frosts have actually increased in recent winters, but some key farming areas have had a substantial decline. Nationally, minimum temperatures have been rising and cold nights decreasing over decades. A study New Tab, opens new tab by scientists at Argentine universities and state institutes showed that from 1963 to 2013 the average number of cold nights decreased from 15 days per year to around eight. Fewer frosty nights help leafhoppers, which cannot tolerate temperatures below 4 degrees Celsius, said Fernando Flores, entomologist at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA). "One of the most important causes of the big increase in (insect) numbers was the decrease in the number of frosts in the country the previous winter," Flores said. In western central Cordoba province, the main corn region of Argentina, the provincial grain exchange has estimated leafhopper-related corn losses of $1.13 billion. Data from the Cordoba observatory show frosts down steadily over decades. "What was planted late towards the end of December, beginning of January, was where the greatest damage was seen," said Ramón Garcia, a farmer from the Cordoba farm town of Marcos Juarez. "There was a significant drop in yield." The outlook ahead is tough. Rusticucci said January, February and March 2024 already set records for global maximum temperatures. Michael Cordonnier, Illinois-based agronomist at consultancy Soybean and Corn Advisor Inc, said what had happened with corn in Argentina was "very unusual" and it would take time for farmers there to adapt, as farmers in warmer corn-growing areas like Brazil have adapted over years. "This is a real, real problem. Going forward, they will be able to solve this a few years down the road by getting hybrids that are more tolerant to corn stunt disease and registering more insecticides for this specific problem," he said. "But for the time being it's just terrible." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/climate-shifts-leafhopper-bug-plagues-argentinas-corn-fields-2024-05-07/
2024-05-07 11:17
WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - Nearly 75 U.S. lawmakers from President Joe Biden's Democratic party on Tuesday praised his pause on approvals of exports of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, saying it would protect Americans from pollution and potential higher prices. Senators Jeffrey Merkley, Edward Markey and Representative Jared Huffman spearheaded a letter to Biden saying the pause allows the government to study whether the additional exports could saddle U.S. households and businesses with higher natural gas bills, boost climate changing emissions and lead to greater pollution in communities near LNG export plants. The pause on approvals of exports to countries with which Washington does not have a free trade agreement allows U.S. labs to study the effects of the booming business. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT It's the biggest show of support yet in Congress for the pause. Biden put a hold on reviews in January after environmentalists, an important part of his base, protested approvals for fossil fuel projects. The pause is expected to last through the Nov. 5 election. Republican opponents have called the pause politically motivated. Even a few Democrats have either opposed the move or said they would fight it if it hurts energy jobs. BY THE NUMBERS Despite the pause, the U.S. is still increasing LNG exports on prior approvals. An additional 48 billion cubic feet per day of exports have been authorized by the Energy Department, more than triple the current U.S. export capacity. The U.S. overtook Qatar and Australia last year to become the world's top LNG exporter. KEY QUOTES "With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment," the lawmakers said. "This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether the LNG export boom creates value for the American people or, as we suspect, results in harm while primarily benefiting oil and gas companies that want to ship American LNG overseas for higher profits." WHAT'S NEXT U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has said the study on LNG exports will be complete close to the end of this calendar year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nearly-75-democratic-lawmakers-support-bidens-lng-pause-2024-05-07/
2024-05-07 11:06
WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - Two influential Republican U.S. lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to prevent a French company from working on civil nuclear power projects with Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, saying doing otherwise would help fund Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. In a letter seen by Reuters, Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Biden to not waive sanctions on Russia, saying it would allow French-owned Electricite de France, or EDF, to engage in nuclear power projects with Rosatom. The sanctions, which Biden issued by executive order in 2021 and later amended, address national security threats posed by foreign activities of the Russian Federation. "This waiver will result in more money in Putin's coffers to fund his brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and suppression of democracy," the lawmakers said in the letter, dated May 6. "We urge you to reject this proposal." "We believe the only way to influence the administration’s decision is to go public," a spokesperson for Risch told Reuters. Biden last month signed into law an aid package with nearly $61 billion in military assistance for Ukraine. He is expected to sign a ban recently passed by Congress on imports of Russian enriched uranium. The lawmakers said exempting EDF from U.S. sanctions would allow it to purchase a subsidiary of a U.S. company that had been engaged in nuclear power projects with Rosatom in Hungary, Turkey and Egypt, projects that have been suspended for years due to sanctions. The lawmakers said over-dependence on Russian energy poses a threat to transatlantic security, and "it is incomprehensible that your administration would consider actively perpetuating this dependence." The White House's national security council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-urge-biden-prevent-french-work-with-russian-nuclear-power-company-2024-05-07/
2024-05-07 11:06
TARBES, France, May 7 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Pyrenees mountains on Tuesday on the second day of a trip during which Xi showed little sign of being ready to offer major concessions on trade or foreign policy. Macron and his wife, Brigitte, who greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the Tarbes-Lourdes Pyrenees airport in windy, cold weather, took them to have lunch in the mountains dear to Macron as the birthplace of his maternal grandmother. Macron, Xi and their wives, accompanied by translators, will eat lamb, cheese and blueberry pie in a traditional restaurant high up in the mountains, about an hour's drive from the airport. The two couples were taking separate cars. Advisers to the French president described the Pyrenees trip as breaking with protocol for a chance for one-on-one direct chats with Xi, without scores of aides on either side. One of Macron's main objectives is to convince Xi to reduce the trade imbalance between the two regions, with better access for European firms in China and fewer subsidies for Chinese exporters. Macron has a history of trying to establish outside-of-protocol personal relationships with his counterparts, even those he strongly disagrees with, in often not very successful bids to obtain more from them. The French leader is keen to embrace, hug, wink at or slap his counterparts on the back - which he did not chance with Xi, who is not a hugger. Macron did do so at the time with then U.S President Donald Trump and with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the Ukraine war, and more recently with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, much to the pleasure of social media commentators. Xi's Pyrenees invite has echoes of Trump joining Macron in 2017 to watch the Bastille Day parade, or Putin's 2019 trip to the French president's Bregancon fortress summer retreat, in southeast France. "Emmanuel Macron attempted this narcissistic diplomacy of 'I flatter the tyrant' with Vladimir Putin for five years, with the Bregancon fort ... the camaraderie," Raphael Glucksmann, who leads the French Socialists' European Parliament ticket, told RTL radio. "And all that ended with what, the invasion of Ukraine and the threats to our democracies," Glucksmann said. The European Union's 27 members ran a trade deficit of 396 billion euros ($426.25 billion) with China in 2022, according to European Commission data, compared with a 250.3 billion deficit a year earlier. French and Chinese companies concluded some agreements on Monday ranging from energy, finance and transport on the sidelines of Xi's visit, but most were agreements to cooperate or renewed commitments to work together, and there were no significant deals. European hopes of an Airbus plane order to coincide with Xi's visit appear to have been disappointed, with the two sides agreeing only to expand co-operation. Industry sources say the two sides have been in negotiations on a new plane order for months. China has historically signalled large jet orders timed to coincide with state visits, but the negotiations between Airbus and China's CASC buying agency are likely to go down to the wire and are not guaranteed to result in a deal, sources said. However, French cognac makers rallied on Tuesday as Xi presented what Macron described as an "open attitude" towards a trade dispute between the two countries. A French diplomatic source said China would not impose taxes or customs duties on French cognac, pending the investigation. Xi did not comment on this during his many public statements on Monday. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/macron-seeks-charm-xi-into-trade-concessions-pyrenees-jaunt-2024-05-07/
