2023-12-24 06:57

BEIJING, Dec 24 (Reuters) - China's capital Beijing has broken its record for hours of sub-zero temperatures in December dating back to 1951, after a cold wave swept swathes of the country and brought blizzards in its wake, sending temperatures towards historic lows. Northern and northeastern parts of the country have experienced a record-breaking chill since last week, with some areas in the northeast hitting minus 40 Celsius and Fahrenheit and below, as biting cold air flowed down from the Arctic. As of Sunday, a weather observatory in Beijing had recorded more than 300 hours of below-freezing temperatures since Dec. 11, the most for the month since records began in 1951, according to state-backed Beijing Daily. The capital has also endured nine consecutive days of temperatures below minus 10 C (14 F) in this period, the Beijing Daily added. Several cities in the central Chinese province of Henan, southwest of Beijing, are in the grip of a winter heating supply crunch, with thermal power suppliers in the city of Jiaozuo under pressure to ensure supplies. Heating boilers at JiaoZuo WanFang Aluminum Manufacturing (000612.SZ), one of the major suppliers in the city, have broken down, leaving some areas in urgent need of more heat supply, state media reported on Sunday. The supplier is scrambling to fix the malfunction and expects to resume supply on Dec. 26, state media reported, without specifying the number of boilers that have broken down. JiaoZuo WanFang Aluminum did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters. The city will suspend heat supply for most businesses except essential service providers such as hospitals and senior centres to prioritise residential heat usage. However, some residential compounds will still be affected during the device maintenance period, the media reports added. Two other cities in Henan - Puyang and Pingdingshan - have already suspended heat supply to government departments and administrative institutions to prioritise residential usage, the local governments said, citing extremely cold weather. The weather forecast shows temperatures in the three cities hitting sub-zero on Sunday. Temperatures in several other areas in Henan would plunge to a low of minus 15 C (5 F) over the weekend, the central province's weather authority said on Saturday. Warm air is expected to flow from the country's north to south lifting temperatures from the weekend. As of 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday, temperatures in many areas in central and eastern China had rebounded somewhat, with temperatures in some areas rising by more than 10 C, China's weather authority said. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-henan-province-hit-by-shortage-winter-heating-after-cold-wave-2023-12-24/

2023-12-24 06:10

SYDNEY, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Large parts of Australia on Sunday sweated through heatwave conditions as authorities warned of a high bushfire risk in many parts of the country's vast Western Australia state. The nation's weather forecaster on Sunday issued heatwave alerts for the western state, the neighbouring Northern Territory and the eastern Queensland state, warning temperatures in some regions could hit around 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). In Perth, the capital of Western Australia, the nation's largest state, a maximum temperature of 35 C (95 F) was forecast for Sunday, more than five degrees above the December mean, forecaster data showed. Australia's east was this month scorched due to El Nino, a climate pattern in which unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures cause heatwaves, cyclones, droughts and wildfires. In Western Australia, more than 20 bushfires were burning on Sunday, the state's emergency services agency said on its website, including an uncontrolled one near Pemberton, a town of around 5,000 residents, about 320 km (198 miles) south of the state capital Perth. A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson said in a statement the agency was expecting "more difficult fire weather" from Sunday afternoon as hot, dry and windy conditions hit a large section of the state, including Perth. The agency warned of a high fire danger for many areas of Western Australia and said more than 1,000 firefighters had been fighting blazes statewide over the past five days. "Weather conditions over the next few days will put pressure on containment lines and potentially increase fire activity," the spokesperson said. Much of Australia's east coast was in line for torrential rain, with the weather forecaster issuing flood alerts and a severe thunderstorm warning late on Sunday for parts of New South Wales, the country's most populous state with Sydney as its capital. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/large-parts-australia-endure-heat-wave-lifting-bushfire-risk-2023-12-24/

2023-12-23 21:44

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Waves of Russian shelling and drone attacks struck the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Saturday, killing one person and injuring seven, officials in the region said. Russian forces also shelled a power station closer to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, injuring five workers and knocking out electricity to the town of Kurakhovo. Russian forces a year ago abandoned positions on the western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region but constantly shell areas there from new positions on the eastern bank. Ukrainian troops have established beachheads on the eastern bank. Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a drone attack killed a man in the town of Stanislav, southeast of the city of Kherson, which for the past year, has been under Ukrainian control but subject to constant Russian shelling. The city came under several Russian attacks throughout the day, including one sustained assault on residential areas in the early evening, and Prokudin said seven residents were hurt. In the east, Russian shelling of a thermal power station in the town of Kurakhove injured five workers and triggered a power cut, the head of the local administration, Roman Padun, told the Suspilne public broadcaster. Residents were leaving the town en masse, he said. Kurakhove is a short distance from Maryinka, a town on the 1,000-km (600-mile) long front line virtually reduced to rubble after months of heavy fighting. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Ukrainian forces had repelled two attacks on the town and more than more assaults on the nearby town of Avdiivka, focus of steady Russian attacks since mid-October. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-shelling-kills-one-injures-seven-southern-ukraine-officials-2023-12-23/

2023-12-23 16:45

OTTAWA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Canadian government is backing up to C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) in new commercial loans for Trans Mountain Corp (TMC), the crown corporation building an over-budget and long-delayed oil pipeline expansion to the Pacific coast. Information posted on Export Development Canada's website on Friday showed a C$1.75 billion to C$2 billion loan guarantee for TMC was signed on Nov. 30. The government's backing lowers the risk to lenders and would help TMC secure loans at lower interest rates. Before the latest guarantee, Ottawa had backed up to C$6 billion in loans for government-owned TMC in 2023. Last year, TMC secured C$10 billion in government-backed financing to help cover the expansion of a pipeline that will nearly triple the flow of crude from landlocked Alberta's oil sands to the Pacific coast province of British Columbia. The expansion project is meant to unlock Asian markets for Canadian oil, which is mostly exported to the United States now. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government bought the troubled project in 2018 to ensure its completion. The project has been hampered by regulatory obstacles, environmental opposition and construction delays, and costs have ballooned to C$30.9 billion, more than quadrupling the C$7.4 billion budgeted in 2017. In the latest setback, the Canada Energy Regulator said on Wednesday it denied a variance request for the project because TMC's application did not adequately address concerns about pipeline integrity and environmental protection impacts. TMC has asked the regulator to reverse its variance decision on the grounds it could cause a "catastrophic" two-year delay and billions of dollars in losses. The expanded pipeline is meant to start shipping crude by the end of the first quarter of 2024. The risk of further delays is weighing on Canadian crude prices. ($1 = 1.3272 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/canada-commits-backing-another-c2-bln-loans-trans-mountain-corp-2023-12-23/

2023-12-23 16:17

CONAKRY, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Supplies of fuel to gas stations in Guinea is expected to improve significantly following an oil terminal blast, the government said, as it introduced new top-up limits for vehicles from Saturday. The Dec. 18 blast killed 23 people and damaged most of the fuel tanks at the West African nation's main oil terminal that handles its fuel imports, leading to widespread shortages. "The government is pleased to announce to the population that, thanks to diplomatic efforts with neighbouring countries, fuel supply in gas stations will see a marked improvement," it said late on Friday. The news could reassure global markets, which saw Chinese alumina futures surge to record highs due to concerns that fuel shortages in Guinea, the world's third-largest bauxite producer, could curb its exports of the alumina feed material. The government said from Saturday gas stations would limit sales to 25 litres per car, 5 litres per motorcycle, while filling fuel cans is prohibited. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/guinea-fuel-supplies-improving-since-oil-storage-blast-2023-12-23/

2023-12-23 15:32

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Congo on Saturday reaffirmed its commitment to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), days after neighbor Angola decided to leave the organization. "The Republic of Congo reaffirms its steadfast commitment to the strategic policy defined by the Secretary-General of OPEC and OPEC+," Congo's hydrocarbons minister Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua said in a LinkedIn post. "Congo is committed to continuing close and constructive collaboration with all member countries." The development comes after Nigeria on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to OPEC, with minister of state for petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri saying that his country's position remained unwavering. Congo, which became a full member of OPEC in 2018, has been set a target of 277,000 barrels per day (bpd) for 2024 by the Saudi-led oil producer group. Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest oil producer, and Angola were among several countries given lower output targets for 2024 after years of failing to meet previous ones. Angola's Oil Minister Diamantino Azevedo said on Thursday that OPEC no longer served the country's interests. It joins other mid-sized producers Ecuador and Qatar that have left the organization in the last decade. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/congo-reaffirms-commitment-opec-oil-minister-says-2023-12-23/