2024-03-17 18:40
CAIRO, March 17 (Reuters) - British security firm Ambrey said on Sunday that it had received a report that a Yemeni fishing vessel had been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden. "Crew on board the fishing vessel were off-boarded in Bosaso, Somalia. One crew member was shot," Ambrey said in an advisory note. Ambrey does not assess a heightened threat posed by this vessel, as it is believed the incident was related to a row between two parties. "Ambrey understands that the incident was not Somali piracy-related, but related to a dispute between Yemeni fishermen and a local armed group operating west of Bosaso," it updated later. "The Yemeni crew member shot during the incident has since died in Bosaso," it said, adding that the vessel, which has 21 Yemenis aboard, is expected to return to Yemen on March 18. The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have launched exploding drones and missiles at commercial vessels, transiting the Red Sea, since Nov. 19 as a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/ambrey-says-has-report-hijacked-yemeni-fishing-vessel-gulf-aden-2024-03-17/
2024-03-17 18:37
March 17 (Reuters) - Payments processor Shift4 Payments' (FOUR.N) , opens new tab Chief Executive Officer Jared Isaacman said bids from potential contenders have failed to "sufficiently value" the company, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. The board determined that none of the "multiple offers" received by Shift4 adequately valued the business or the company's future, even though the offers were above its Shift4's current share price, the report said, citing a memo to the company's staff on Friday. Shift4 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Bloomberg report. Reuters had reported in February that Fiserv (FI.N) , opens new tab and Amadeus Group (AMA.MC) , opens new tab are competing to acquire Shift4 Payments, which has a market value of nearly $7 billion. Shift4 collects fees from clients, ranging from restaurants, casinos and hotels, to sports teams like the San Francisco 49ers, to facilitate their payments. It processes more than $200 billion worth of annual transactions for over 200,000 customers, according to its website. 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/us/shift4-ceo-tells-staff-potential-bids-fail-sufficiently-value-firm-bloomberg-2024-03-17/
2024-03-17 14:45
HOUSTON, March 17 (Reuters) - Top oil executives and ministers descend on Houston this week for one of the world's biggest energy conferences emboldened by blockbuster mergers, stable oil prices and less pressure for a large-scale move to clean fuels. Global oil prices have remained in a range between $75 and $85 per barrel, a level fueling profits but not hurting economic growth, despite war in Eastern Europe and turmoil in the Middle East. Stock markets continue to spur deals, making Big Oil even bigger. The annual CERAWeek conference comes as demand for oil and gas continues to rise alongside solar, wind and biofuels. Energy markets have accommodated a reordering of global flows as customers turn more to regional energy suppliers or live with longer seaborne supply chains. "A remarkable thing is the (price) stability, given the geopolitical turmoil," said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of conference organizer S&P Global and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author on global energy. Unlike past conferences where conversations were dominated by market-share battles between U.S. shale oil producers and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, talk of price wars have been supplanted by energy security issues, Yergin said. "When demand was down and prices were down, it was very easy to see a way towards energy transition, but with Russia/Ukraine (war) and price shocks, energy security is back on the table," Yergin added. More than 7,200 people are expected to hear the latest outlook on energy markets from the heads of top producers' BP (BP.L) , opens new tab, Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) , opens new tab, Sinopec (600028.SS) , opens new tab and Petronas (PETR.KL) , opens new tab. Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments and U.S. climate policies will be a major topic in separate sessions by big exporters Cheniere Energy (LNG.N) , opens new tab and Venture Global LNG, while U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and White House adviser John Podesta press the administration's climate goals. While oil prices are strong, natural gas has been overwhelmed by a production glut. But "this year will be a transition year to a much more bullish gas and power market next year," said Vikas Dwivedi, an energy strategist at financial firm Macquarie Group. Notably absent this year, which occurs during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, are top oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. No officials from Russia are expected after they did not attend last year. OPEC's absence comes with global prices hovering around $85 a barrel, a level that Dwivedi said helps cover its members' budgets, but does not accelerate transition to electric vehicles and renewable fuels. OPEC forecasts relatively strong oil demand and economic growth, a view that encourages more oil and gas activity and mergers. Last year's more than $250 billion in U.S. energy deals stirred fears of concentration and a slowing of regulatory approvals. Climate concerns are reflected in the conference sessions on carbon sequestration technology and hydrogen fuels, which have become two of the oil industry's favorite means of addressing global warming. The role of artificial intelligence in energy production and carbon emissions are prominent sessions this year. Energy consumers' willingness to pay up for clean fuels or for new technologies to address emissions "is a growing issue, as is the ability to generate adequate return on investment" by energy companies, said Joe Scalise, consultancy Bain & Co's head of energy and natural resources. A constant topic at the CERAWeek conference in the last decade has been the ups and downs of U.S. shale, which revolutionized energy markets and turned the United States into the world's No. 1 crude producer and a top exporter. This year, acquisitions by Chevron, ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , opens new tab and Exxon Mobil will turn the trio into the largest producers in the top U.S. shale field. That shift promises to tame what was a wild card in global oil production. Big Oil's investments and production methods may steady shale's ultra boom-bust cycles. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/ceraweek-oil-mergers-clean-fuels-vie-attention-houston-energy-conference-2024-03-17/
2024-03-17 13:49
KYIV, March 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Sunday it does not plan to prolong a five-year deal with Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) , opens new tab on the transit of Russian gas to Europe or to sign another one. Despite Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian gas is still being transported across the country to Europe, where countries are working to replace fuel originating in Russia with alternative supplies and renewable energy. Under an agreement agreed between Moscow and Kyiv in 2019, Russia pays Ukraine to export gas to Europe via its pipeline network. The deal expires at the end of December 2024. "I can confirm that we have no plans to enter into any additional agreements or extend this (current) agreement," Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said. A stress test last year of Ukraine's gas transmission system and underground gas storage facilities proved that its gas system "can function without transit", he said in a statement. Having enough pressurised gas in the pipelines is a prerequisite for guaranteeing gas supplies and the stress test was to ensure that Ukrainian consumers would still receive the fuel if there was no longer any flowing from Russia to Europe. Moscow has said that Russia would use alternative routes and sea-borne liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the event that Ukraine did not extend the pipeline deal. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying in January that Moscow was ready to hold talks with the European Union on natural gas supplies. 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/ukraine-has-no-plan-extend-russian-gas-transit-deal-2024-03-17/
2024-03-17 12:35
KYIV, March 17 (Reuters) - Long-range Ukrainian attack drones launched by the SBU domestic security service have hit 12 Russian oil refineries during the war so far, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters on Sunday. Officials in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said Ukrainian drones had attacked the Slavyansk oil refinery, 70km (45 miles) north of the regional capital, overnight. The Ukrainian source said the refinery, which processes about 4.5 million metric tons of crude a year and produces fuel mainly for exports, had been attacked in an operation staged by the SBU security service and other Ukrainian forces. "The agency is continuing to implement a strategy to undermine the economic potential of Russia and reduce the flow of petro dollars that the enemy directs to the war," the source said. "In total, SBU drones have recently successfully attacked 12 oil refineries in Russia." The figure did not include operations conducted by Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, which has also been attacking refineries with drones, a second intelligence source said. Russia accuses Ukraine of using "terrorist activities" to try to disrupt its three-day presidential election. Official Russian media has reported that drones have attacked refineries in many regions in recent weeks, including refineries owned by Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab. Oil and petroleum products are an important sources of revenue for Russia, which exports them to dozens of countries around the world. Ukraine has developed and used long-range drones to try to strike back at Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been conducting long-range aerial attacks with missile and drones throughout the war. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-drones-have-hit-12-russian-oil-refineries-kyiv-source-says-2024-03-17/
2024-03-17 10:36
March 17 (Reuters) - Lava flows from a volcano in southwest Iceland that had lit up the night sky on Saturday slowed on Sunday while man-made barriers appeared to be successful in steering the lava away from infrastructure including a nearby fishing town. The eruption - the fourth since December - began on Saturday evening, sending fountains of molten rock soaring from a roughly 3 km-long (1.9 mile) fissure, roughly the same size and at the same place as the last eruption in February. "The eruption was quite energetic, and there was a lot of material coming out, more than in the previous eruption. So lava was flowing quite fast," Halldor Geirsson, associate professor at the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, told Reuters. Authorities had warned for weeks that an eruption was imminent on the Reykjanes peninsula just south of Iceland's capital Reykjavik, as magma had been accumulating underground. Livestream video early on Sunday showed lava flowing just a few hundred metres from Grindavik, a fishing town of some 4,000 residents that was evacuated during an eruption in November and again for the last eruption in February. A few residents who had since returned home were evacuated on Saturday, public broadcaster RUV reported. "The rate of the lava flow is getting lower and lower," said Geirsson. "Most of the flow is going east of the town towards the sea, so it looks like the barriers are doing the job they were designed for." Authorities were also monitoring lava flowing towards the peninsula's Svartsengi geothermal power plant, The Icelandic Meteorological Office said. Volcanic outbreaks in the Reykjanes peninsula are so-called fissure eruptions, which do not usually cause large explosions or significant dispersal of ash into the stratosphere. Around noon on Sunday (1200 GMT), the activity on the fissure had decreased and lava was flowing from three places, the met office said in a statement. Keflavik Airport and regional airports in Iceland were not impacted and remained fully operational, airport operator Isavia's website showed on Sunday. The nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland's major tourist attractions, closed as it did during previous eruptions. The February eruption cut off heating to more than 20,000 people as lava flows destroyed roads and pipelines. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/iceland-lava-flows-slow-after-fourth-eruption-since-december-2024-03-17/
