2024-01-13 15:02
CAIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The OPEC+ group of oil producers is working to limit the challenges affecting the stability of the global oil market, Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on Saturday. Voluntary output cuts by OPEC+ since November have allowed members states like Iraq to achieve the highest rates of balance between supply and demand, helping them achieve stability in the global oil market, its oil ministry has said. "Iraq's oil ministry is keen to achieve an increase in revenues derived from its oil export revenues despite the challenges facing global markets," Abdel-Ghani added. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraqs-oil-minister-opec-is-working-limit-challenges-affecting-oil-market-2024-01-13/
2024-01-13 14:41
CAIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The U.N. special envoy for Yemen on Saturday urged maximum restraint by all parties involved in Yemen and warned of an increasingly uncertain situation in the region. The envoy, Hans Grundberg, "notes with serious concern the increasingly precarious regional context, and its adverse impact on peace efforts in Yemen and stability and security in the region," he said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-envoy-urges-restraint-over-yemen-region-increasingly-precarious-2024-01-13/
2024-01-13 09:33
ABUJA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery has begun producing diesel and aviation fuel, the company said on Saturday, after years of construction delays at the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant. The refinery, Africa's largest, was built on a peninsula on the outskirts of the commercial capital Lagos at a cost of $20 billion by the continent's richest man Aliko Dangote. Although Nigeria is Africa's top energy producer, it has relied on imports for most of the fuel it consumes. The Dangote refinery is expected to not only make it self-sufficient but also allow it to export fuel to neighbouring West African countries, potentially transforming oil trading in the Atlantic Basin. Company officials told Reuters test runs could begin this week after the refinery received a sixth crude oil cargo on Jan. 8. "This is a big day for Nigeria. We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone," the company said in a statement posted on social media platform X. The plant received 1 million barrels of Nigeria's Agbami crude on Monday, taking the total volume received since December to 6 million barrels. Nigeria's state-owned NNPC Ltd. is expected to supply four crude cargoes to the refinery from its February programme. It could take months after the start up of the refinery's crude distillation unit to move from test runs to the production of high-quality fuels at full capacity, according to experts. Dangote has said it will start by refining 350,000 bpd, hoping to ramp up to full production later this year. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/nigerias-dangote-refinery-starts-production-after-years-delays-2024-01-13/
2024-01-13 08:41
SHANGHAI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - At least 10 people have died and six are missing after a coal mine accident in the city of Pingdingshan, in central China, the local emergency management agency said on Saturday, vowing to continue rescue operations and launch city-wide safety checks. A safety inspection campaign in coal-rich Pingdingshan, in Henan province, could disrupt coal production there and strain coal supplies. Last November, coal prices in China jumped after the country's cabinet vowed to ramp up safety checks as deaths from accidents in top coal producing region Shanxi had sharply risen. Pingdingshan's emergency management bureau said in a statement that the accident occurred around 2:55 p.m. (0655 GMT)on Friday due to a coal and gas outburst at a mine owned by China's Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining (601666.SS). As of 3 p.m. on Saturday, 10 people had been confirmed dead, and six were missing. The agency said it will make concrete plans to rescue the missing and investigate the cause of the accident. The official Xinhua news agency said a total of 425 people were working underground when the accident took place. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-coal-mine-accident-kills-least-10-prompts-safety-checks-2024-01-13/
2024-01-13 05:31
Jan 13 (Reuters) - A winter storm bringing snow, ice and high winds to parts of the U.S. Midwest and Pacific Northwest knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses on Saturday, with a brutal freeze expected to grip numerous states. The National Weather Service said the storm will bring heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions to the Midwest, with dangerous and frigid temperatures expected across the Rockies and Plains. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Saturday said storms continue to cause flight cancellations and delays. Airlines delayed more than 7,600 flights across the U.S. on Friday, including planes grounded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, due to winds and blinding snow. Some 150,000 homes and businesses were without power in Michigan, according to data from power outage tracker PowerOutage.US. Power was out for another 200,000-plus customers in Oregon and Wisconsin. In Iowa, Republican presidential candidates canceled some events ahead of the state's caucuses on Monday, the first of the state-by-state contests in which parties pick their nominees for November's election. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/winter-storm-knocks-out-power-over-100000-michigan-customers-2024-01-13/
2024-01-13 04:03
SYDNEY, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Residents in the state of Western Australia were urged to evacuate their homes on Saturday, as a bushfire burned out of control near the state's capital Perth, amid soaring temperatures. More than 40 bushfires were burning on Saturday in Australia's largest state, with residents in the shire of Chittering, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Perth, at risk from the uncontained blaze, according to fire authorities. Australia is in the grips of a high-risk bushfire season after the onset of an El Nino weather event, associated with extreme events such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts. "You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive. There is a threat to lives and homes," the state's Department of Fire and Emergency Services said on its website regarding the fire in Chittering, a rural area home to around 6,000 people. The emergency alert came amid a heatwave warning in place on Saturday for many parts of the state that lifted the risk of bushfire outbreaks. In Perth, a maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit) was forecast, almost 10 degrees above the city's average January maximum, according to data from the nation's weather forecaster. Australia's last two fire seasons have been quiet compared with the catastrophic 2019-2020 "Black Summer" of bushfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/residents-western-australia-urged-flee-wildfire-rages-2024-01-13/
