2024-03-29 11:10

Russia focuses on cuts in oil output, not exports in Q2 Russia to reduce oil output to 9 mln bpd in June - JPM Government orders firms to cut oil output to meet OPEC+ target MOSCOW, March 29 (Reuters) - Russia has decided to focus on reducing oil output rather than exports in the second quarter in order to evenly spread production cuts with other OPEC+ member countries, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. Earlier this month, Russia said it would cut its oil output and exports by an additional 471,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter in coordination with some OPEC+ participating countries. Novak also told reporters that Russian oil companies will reduce production in proportion to their share of the country's total oil output. Russia plans to gradually ease export cuts: in April, it will reduce output by an extra 350,000 bpd, with exports cut by 121,000 bpd. In May, the extra output cut will be 400,000 bpd and exports cut by 71,000 bpd. In June, all the additional cuts will be from oil output. The world's second-largest global oil exporter has been cutting crude oil and fuel exports by a combined 500,000 bpd in the first quarter, in addition to its previous pledge to curtail production alongside other members of the OPEC+ grouping. Russia's move to reduce more oil production, not exports, was an unexpected move. JP Morgan, which earlier this month called it a surprising shift in strategy, said if Russia delivered on the promised cuts, the country's production of crude oil should decline to 9 million barrels per day (bpd) by June, matching Saudi Arabia's output. Russia currently produces around 9.5 million bpd of crude oil. "This is a measure (deepening of production cuts) is taken so that all the countries contribute equally (to production cuts under the OPEC+ deal)," Novak said. "As you remember, we did not reduce (production) by the volume, by the percentage that other countries reduced. We had a reduction in exports. The moment has come when, instead of exports, we are reducing production," he added. Industry sources told Reuters on Monday that Russia's government has ordered companies to reduce oil output in the second quarter to ensure they meet a production target of 9 million bpd by the end of June in line with its pledges to OPEC+. The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/novak-russia-will-cut-oil-output-q2-catch-up-with-other-opec-countries-2024-03-29/

2024-03-29 10:59

ANTANANARIVO, March 29 (Reuters) - A tropical cyclone that swept across the island of Madagascar this week killed at least 18 people and displaced thousands more, the country's disaster management office said on Friday. Tropical cyclone Gamane, which crossed the northeast of Madagascar on Wednesday and Thursday, displaced more than 20,000 people, the National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) said in a report. Three others were injured and four were still missing, it added. Gamane made landfall north of Vohémar in northeast Madagascar on Wednesday morning with average winds of 150 km per hour and gusts of 210 km per hour, BNGRC said late on Thursday. It slowly dissipated on Thursday afternoon while still over land, the disaster management office said, having dumped heavy rain and caused flooding in many localities. Roads and bridges collapsed in the north of Madagascar, BNRGC said. Photographs posted on the disaster management office's Facebook page showed its personnel wading in knee-deep water as they helped residents retrieve belongings from their flooded homes. Gamane is the first this year in Madagascar's cyclone and storm season. Early last year, cyclone Freddy and tropical storm Cheneso killed at least 37 people and forced thousands from their homes. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/madagascar-cyclone-gamane-kills-least-11-displaces-thousands-government-says-2024-03-29/

2024-03-29 10:12

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The United States speaks regularly with the Democratic Republic of Congo's state miner Gecamines, a senior State Department official told Reuters, as Washington seeks to deepen relationships with key suppliers of cobalt and copper across the African continent. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Chinese aggressive investment across Congo, Zambia and elsewhere in Africa - which holds massive supplies of minerals used to make electric vehicles and other electronics - has for some time raised concern in Washington. Jose Fernandez, the U.S. State Department's under secretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, said in an interview this week that conversations with Gecamines center on supply deals and potential new mines or other projects the company is considering. Conversations take place on average every four to six weeks, he said. The Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), a multinational collaboration of more than a dozen countries and the European Union to invest in a global supply chain, announced a deal with Gecamines and Japan's JOGMEC in February. That deal was a product of those conversations, Fernandez said. KEY QUOTES "Be it China or anybody else, it's just not good to have one single supplier of anything," Fernandez said. "(Host countries) do not want an investment system where investors bring in their own workforce, do not clean up their environmental damage. They've experienced that and that's not what they want." Fernandez declined to comment on whether the U.S. government would seek to buy all or part of Canadian miner First Quantum's (FM.TO) , opens new tab Zambian assets. First Quantum has been seeking fresh sources of cash , opens new tab amid an unrelated dispute with Panama's government that closed one of the company's key copper mines. CONTEXT Fernandez said that the United States continues to work with Zambia and Congo on mining and regulatory structures. Despite Washington's efforts in recent years, the United States has lagged behind China in securing access to minerals across the African continent needed for the production of products like EV batteries and solar panels. Washington's goal is not to offset China's influence in Africa's critical mineral sector but to diversify its own supply chains and encourage African partners to boost their mining standards, Fernandez said. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-talks-often-with-congos-gecamines-cobalt-copper-official-says-2024-03-29/

2024-03-29 08:44

TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average ended higher on Friday, driven by chip-related heavyweights, and posted a record fiscal-year gain in terms of points amid heavy foreign buying. The index hit successive record highs this month, after breaking levels on Feb. 22 last seen in 1989 during the country's bubble economy. The rally was supported by foreign buying on a weaker yen and expectation that the Bank of Japan will stick with loose monetary policy. The index rallied 12,328 points in the fiscal year ending on Friday, marking its biggest gain on an absolute basis. It rose 44% in the year, the most since the financial year ended March 2021. On Friday, the Nikkei (.N225) , opens new tab ended up 0.5% at 40,369.44, recouping some of the previous session's losses. "Investors remain cautious over a possible intervention in the currency market but overall they take the weak yen as a positive factor for domestic stocks," said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities. The yen fell to a 34-year low against the dollar this week, prompting local authorities to hold an emergency meeting, a sign Tokyo is moving closer to intervening in the market. The Japanese yen was last flat at 151.40 per dollar. Chip-related Tokyo Electron (8035.T) , opens new tab and Advantest (6857.T) , opens new tab rose 0.79% and 1.85%, respectively. The property sector (.IRLTY.T) , opens new tab jumped 1.96%, adding 16% this month, the most among sectors. The sector has been underpinned by a government survey released this week that showed land prices in the country rose at the fastest pace in 33 years in 2023. Optimism that the Bank of Japan will not raise interest rates rapidly supports their stock prices, Okasan Securities Matsumoto said. The broader Topix (.TOPX) , opens new tab rose 0.61% to 2,768.62 on Friday. Get a look at the day ahead in Asian and global markets with the Morning Bid Asia newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japans-nikkei-posts-biggest-point-gain-fiscal-year-2024-03-29/

2024-03-29 06:58

KYIV, March 29 (Reuters) - Massive Russian missile and drone attacks hit thermal and hydro power plants in central and western Ukraine overnight, officials said on Friday, in the latest barrage targeting the country's already damaged power infrastructure. Kaniv hydropower plant was among the targets along with Dnister plant, which is located on the Dnister River, flowing through neighbouring Moldova, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. "The terrorist state of Russia wishes to repeat the ecological disaster in the Kherson region following Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka HPP (blown up by Russian forces last year). This time, not only Ukraine but also Moldova are at risk," he said on X. Last week, Russia also hit Ukraine's largest dam, the DniproHES in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, eight times during a massive overnight attack. "We urge our partners to respond quickly and decisively to Russia's intensified bombing campaign against Ukraine's critical infrastructure," Zelenskiy said in a call for more air defences. A senior official at the Centrenergo generating company reported that the 10-unit Zmiivska thermal plant in northeastern Kharkiv region, an area subject to many Russian attacks, had been destroyed in a big wave of strikes on March 22. "The consequences were destructive, the station is destroyed," Andriy Hota, chairman of the company's supervisory board told Interfax Ukraine news agency. "There were many direct hits. Everything we repaired in preparation for the winter was destroyed." The wave of attacks on March 22 was described by Kyiv officials as the most intense since the February 2022 invasion. Regional officials said Russian forces had also attacked infrastructure overnight into Friday in the Kamianske district near the city of Dnipro. At least one person was wounded. Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said power facilities in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Cherkasy had similarly come under attack. "Electricity generation facilities were targeted by drones and missiles," Gelushchenko said on Facebook. DAMAGE IN SIX REGIONS Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said energy facilities in total of six regions had been damaged. "Again, the attack was directed both against electricity generation facilities and against its distribution system," he added. Power grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram it had to apply power cuts schedules up till the evening in three regions - Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kirovohrad. The largest private power firm, DTEK, said its three thermal power plants had come under attack on Friday, and equipment was severely damaged. "Attacks destroyed half of DTEK’s available generating capacity. Five of the six DTEK power stations that had been operating prior to this week have now sustained serious damage," it said in a statement. It added that Russian strikes on energy facilities were becoming more "accurate and concentrated". The Ukrainian military said its air force had destroyed 58 Russia-launched attack drones overnight from a total of 60, along with 26 of 39 missiles of various types. Reuters could not independently verify the report. Ukrainian television said explosions were heard in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi regions and in the city of Dnipro as Russian cruise missiles were spotted. Ukrainian power distributor Yasno said this week that DTEK lost about half its capacity after missile and drone strikes. Ukrainian state-run Naftogaz oil and gas firm said its facilities had come under attack on Friday morning. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/blasts-reported-several-ukrainian-regions-amid-russian-missile-attack-2024-03-29/

2024-03-29 06:27

TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday there were "speculative" moves behind recent yen declines, suggesting authorities remained on stand-by to intervene in the market to address any excessive falls in the currency. Suzuki also said authorities were watching the speed, rather than the levels, of the yen's moves. He repeated Tokyo's recent warnings that authorities would not rule out any steps to respond to disorderly currency moves. "Given how the yen's declines are continuing despite the interest rate gap narrowing, albeit modestly, suggest that there are speculative moves in the market," Suzuki told parliament. "It's important for currency rates to move stably, reflecting fundamentals. Excessive volatility is undesirable, and we are watching market moves from this perspective," he said. With the BOJ's policy rate still stuck around zero, expectations the gap between U.S. and Japanese interest rates will remain wide are giving traders an excuse to keep selling yen, analysts say. The yen has been on a downtrend since the Bank of Japan's decision last week to end eight years of negative interest rates and roll back its radical stimulus programme. The Japanese currency hit a 34-year low against the dollar at 151.975 this week, as markets interpreted the BOJ's dovish guidance as suggesting that rate hikes will be slow in forthcoming. It has recouped some losses to stand at 151.35 on Friday. Japanese policymakers have historically favoured a weak yen as it helps boost profits at the country's big manufacturers. But the yen's sharp declines have recently added to headaches for Tokyo by inflating the cost of raw material imports, hurting consumption and retail profits. Get a look at the day ahead in Asian and global markets with the Morning Bid Asia newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-flags-speculative-yen-moves-signals-chance-intervention-2024-03-29/