2024-03-01 22:13

March 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil exports slightly increased in February to some 670,000 barrels per day (bpd), but ongoing shipping delays worsened a bottleneck of tankers waiting to load, according to documents and vessel monitoring data. State-run oil firm PDVSA's customers have rushed to send tankers to Venezuela in recent months to pick up crude and fuel before the United States potentially reimposes oil sanctions. Restrictions could resume on April 18 when an existing license expires, the U.S. has said, with PDVSA struggling to deliver cargoes ahead of the deadline. Deliveries last month to clients including U.S.-based Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab and India's Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) , opens new tab increased from January, but weaker output and a lack of diluents to produce exportable grades prevented PDVSA from raising total exports, the data showed. PDVSA and its joint ventures exported an average 671,140 bpd of crude and fuel, mainly to Asia, a 7.5% increase from January. Venezuela also shipped 197,000 metric tons of oil byproducts and petrochemicals, below the 286,000 tons in January. Chevron's shipments of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. jumped to 184,000 bpd from 107,000 bpd the previous month. Venezuela's shipments to political ally Cuba remained around 34,000 bpd, while deliveries to other Caribbean islands slightly increased. Insufficient inventories of flagship Merey 16 crude and a lack of imported diluents at Venezuela's main oil port, Jose, prevented PDVSA from further boosting exports to fulfill spot supply deals, internal company documents showed. Some large tankers bound for Asia have left Venezuelan ports without loading in recent days after waiting for weeks, according to LSEG vessel monitoring data. The Jose terminal has recovered from power outages and slow oil blending that affected loadings in January, the documents showed. Four out of five crude upgraders and blending stations were in service last month, which could lead to higher exports in March. As of Feb. 29, at least 18 supertankers were waiting to load near Venezuela's Jose and Amuay ports, which handle most of PDVSA's exports, up from about a dozen at the end of November, according to the data. Venezuela's fuel imports rose to 144,000 bpd from 122,000 bpd in January. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/venezuelas-february-oil-exports-rise-shipping-delays-persist-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 21:32

March 1 (Reuters) - Oil producer MEG Energy (MEG.TO) , opens new tab said on Friday that line fill on Canada's long-delayed Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion would start from April. Line fill is the last step before the expanded Alberta-to-British Columbia pipeline begins service, providing additional access for Canadian oil to refineries on the U.S. West Coast and in Asia. The Canadian government-owned pipeline corporation has called for 2.1 million barrels in April and the same amount of oil in May, CEO Derek Evans said on a post-earnings conference call. For much of the last decade, oil companies in the world's No. 4 producing country have been forced to sell their barrels at a steep discount to global prices due to lack of pipeline capacity to export crude. The project will transport extra 590,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, tripling the pipeline's existing shipping capacity to Canada's Pacific Coast once the C$30.9 billion ($22.79 billion) expansion comes in service, expected in the second quarter. Trans Mountain did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. ($1 = 1.3560 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/meg-energy-says-canadas-trans-mountain-start-line-fill-april-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 21:30

March 1 (Reuters) - Nvidia's (NVDA.O) , opens new tab stock market value closed above $2 trillion for the first time on Friday after an upbeat report from Dell Technologies (DELL.N) , opens new tab reignited Wall Street's AI-fueled rally. Nvidia's stock added 4% after Dell, which sells high-end servers made with Nvidia's processors, gave an upbeat forecast late on Thursday, pointing to a surge in orders for its AI-optimized servers. Dell's shares soared as much as 38% to a record high before ending the session with a 32% gain. Friday's rally put Nvidia's market capitalization at $2.06 trillion, making it Wall Street's third most valuable company behind Microsoft and Apple, at $3.09 trillion and $2.77 trillion, respectively. Super Micro Computer (SMCI.O) , opens new tab, another company that sells servers made with Nvidia's chips, jumped 4.5%. Other chipmakers exposed to AI rallied to record highs, with Broadcom (AVGO.O) , opens new tab and Marvell Technology (MRVL.O) , opens new tab each up about 8%, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) , opens new tab climbed over 5%. The PHLX chip index (.SOX) , opens new tab rallied 4.3% to its own record high, lifting its 2024 gain to 18%. Nvidia controls about 80% of the high-end AI chip market, with customers including ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Microsoft (MSFT.O) , opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab snapping up tight supplies of its components to compete in the fast-emerging generative AI sector. The company has recently become Wall Street's most traded stock by value, day to day, replacing Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab. Investors exchanged $36 billion worth of Nvidia's stock on average over the past 30 sessions, compared to $21 billion a day for Tesla. Trading in Nvidia on Friday reached $38 billion worth of shares. On Feb. 23, the Santa Clara, California-based company added $277 billion in stock market value in just one session, a Wall Street record, after it forecast a roughly threefold surge in quarterly revenue. Nvidia's stock has now risen 66% in 2024 after more than tripling last year. Last month, its stock market value overtook Amazon (AMZN.O) , opens new tab and Alphabet. A week ago, Nvidia's stock market value edged above $2 trillion for the first time before receding by the end of the session. Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) , opens new tab has a $2.045 trillion market capitalization, although over 90% of it is closely held by the government of Saudi Arabia and less than 2% of its shares are available for trading by investors, according to LSEG data. https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-set-close-with-2-trillion-valuation-dell-stokes-ai-rally-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 21:23

TSX closes up 0.9% at 21,552.35 Posts highest closing level since April 2022 Energy rallies 2%; oil settles up 2.2% Uranium producers rally; NexGen Energy up 9.5% March 1 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index climbed to a near two-year high on Friday, led by gains for resource and technology shares, as investors grew more optimistic about prospects for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts over the coming months. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) , opens new tab ended up 188.74 points, or 0.9%, at 21,552.35, its highest closing level since April 2022. For the week, the index was up 0.7%. "We are back on that roller coaster ride of interest rate expectations driving the market," said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management. "Today, some of the softer data out of the United States rekindled the fire of expectation for the Fed cut being sooner rather than later." U.S. manufacturing slumped further in February, with a measure of factory employment falling to a seven-month low amid layoffs, but there were signs activity was on the cusp of rebounding. Higher commodity prices boosted resource shares, with gold rising 2%, copper up 0.5% and oil settling 2.2% higher at $79.97 a barrel. "With the expectations of the Fed cutting interest rates, that's putting a little bit of downward pressure on the U.S. dollar and you get the inverse relationship of higher commodity prices," Petursson said. The energy sector and materials, which includes which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, both added 2%. Uranium producers contributed to the rally, with NexGen Energy Ltd (NXE.TO) , opens new tab up 9.5% and Cameco Corp (CCO.TO) , opens new tab advancing 3.5%, after Reuters reported on Thursday that Canada will expedite the approval process for new nuclear projects. The information technology sector also posted strong gains, climbing 1.5% and industrials were up 0.7%. Shares of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc (ATRL.TO) , opens new tab jumped 11.4% after the construction and engineering company reported fourth-quarter results that beat estimates. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/tsx-eyes-upbeat-start-march-oil-gold-prices-climb-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 21:23

HAVANA, March 1(Reuters) - Cuban Luis Collado was pleasantly surprised by the unusually short line - at least by Cuba standards - of just a few vehicles on Havana's waterfront on Friday. He was less impressed with the cost of fuel, he said, which had jumped fivefold overnight as the government made good on the first of a series of price hikes it says are necessary to shore up the communist-run country's collapsed economy. "For me personally, this means I'll have to save more and drive less," Collado told Reuters in an interview from the window of his small gray Kia. Like many in Cuba, the Havana resident and civil engineer said he understood the need for the price rises. "Gasoline in Cuba was the cheapest in the world. ... We were giving it away," he said. "But an increase (in the fuel price) should be accompanied by corresponding increase in salaries." Until Friday, Cuba's fuel was indeed among the cheapest in the world, according to online database GlobalPetrolPrices.com, with a liter of "Special" (94 octane) gasoline selling for 30 pesos, or less than 10 cents, at the current black market exchange rate. Under the new pricing scheme, a single 40-liter (11-gallon) tank of fuel will cost 6,240 pesos, or about $20 at the black market exchange rate, well over the average monthly state salary in 2023 of 4,856 pesos, or $15.66. Officials say the fuel price hikes - which include selling some gasoline in dollars - would help Cuba purchase more fuel to stem long-running blackouts and fuel shortages on the crisis-racked Caribbean island. Cuba in late December announced the hike in the price of gasoline, as well as targeted increases in the price of public transport, electricity and cooking gas, in a bid to narrow a ballooning fiscal deficit. Critics say the policies are inflationary and ill-timed. Officials said they had decided to limit the fuel price rises on March 1 to the retail sector and would continue to subsidize public services such as transportation to soften the blow on consumers. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cubans-resigned-rising-costs-gas-price-soars-overnight-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 21:23

March 1 (Reuters) - Social media platform Reddit is eyeing a valuation of up to $6.5 billion in its initial public offering, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, far less than what it was worth a few years ago. The company is looking to set a price range of $31-$34 per share, the source said. Reddit was valued at $10 billion in a funding round in 2021. The company was seeking to sell about 10% of its shares in the IPO, Reuters had reported in January. Reddit declined to comment. The company, best known for its niche discussion groups and its users voting "up" or "down" on the content posted by other members, last month disclosed that its net loss narrowed to $90.8 million and revenue growth was roughly 21% in 2023. The IPO filing came almost two decades after Reddit's launch and would be a major test for the platform that still lags the commercial success of social media contemporaries such as Facebook and Twitter, now known as X. https://www.reuters.com/technology/reddit-eyes-up-65-billion-valuation-ipo-wsj-reports-2024-03-01/