2023-12-22 21:47
CARACAS/HOUSTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A natural gas project to be developed in Venezuelan waters by Shell (SHEL.L) and Trinidad and Tobago's state firm National Gas Company (NGCTT.UL) could achieve first output in the next two years if a positive investment decision is made, Trinidad officials said on Friday. Venezuela and Trinidad on Thursday signed a 30-year license granting Shell and NGC the rights to produce the gas and export it to Trinidad. The agreement followed months of negotiations since the United States authorized the project in January. The U.S. approval and the license came after the parties had unsuccessfully tried in previous years to come to an agreement for joint offshore gas development. Dragon and a gas project nearby called Manatee which resides in Trinidad's waters are expected to contribute up to 1 trillion cubic feet of gas in its first phase, Trinidad's Energy Minister Stuart Young said. Both fields will compete to inaugurate production. The Venezuelan license granted this week provides for an initial output of 185 million cubic feet per day of gas to be sent to Trinidad for producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemicals, Venezuela's state company PDVSA said on Friday. Trinidad has been trying to gain access to its neighbor's vast gas reserves as its own output dwindles. On its side, Venezuela is looking for a fresh source of cash from exports. "What we have done is to find additional resources, and fortunately, we have been able to get an agreement with the government of Venezuela," Prime Minister Keith Rowley said in a broadcast press conference. Shell will operate the Dragon project and a 18-kilometer pipeline that will link Dragon to its Hibiscus production platform in Trinidad, Young said. Had Trinidad and Tobago not maintained a close relationship with Venezuela, Shell would not have been given the opportunity to participate in the project, Rowley said. Some U.S. sanctions on Venezuela were eased in October to encourage free elections in the country next year. "We have been speaking to Venezuela on all issues", Rowley said, referring to controversial topics including a territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. "But at the end of the day, Trinidad and Tobago stands on its principles." Dragon and three neighboring offshore gas fields were discovered by PDVSA and its reserves confirmed over a decade ago. The company installed some infrastructure, did production tests and began building a gasline to Venezuela's shore. But the project was not commercially developed due to lack of partners, investment and, more recently, U.S. sanctions. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/first-output-venezuelas-dragon-gas-field-expected-2-years-trinidad-2023-12-22/
2023-12-22 21:30
KINSHASA/BENI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday released a few early results from general elections after an unscheduled day-long ballot extension that has prompted some opposition candidates to cry foul and call for a rerun. The provisional results from the few thousand voters in the Congolese diaspora showed President Felix Tshisekedi with a comfortable lead over challengers. The CENI election commission said results cast within Congo by its around 44 million registered voters would be released from Saturday. At a press conference in the capital Kinshasa, CENI President Denis Kadima again rejected criticism by the opposition and independent observers that the extended vote had been chaotic and lacked credibility. Disputed elections have often sparked unrest in Africa's second-largest country, which is also the world's third-largest copper producer and the top producer of cobalt, a key component in electric car batteries. The presidential and legislative elections on Wednesday were derailed by delays in delivering election kits and malfunctioning equipment. People also struggled to find their names on registers, while violence disrupted the poll in other places. Highlighting the scale of the delays, small-scale protests broke out in eastern Lubero territory on Friday where a failure to deploy voting materials to remote areas had left 17,000 people still unable to vote. A CENI representative for Lubero told Reuters voting would take place on Saturday. Commenting on the election for the first time on Friday, U.S. election monitoring group, the Carter Center, noted "there was a lack of confidence in the process, stemming in part from previous elections, as well as from gaps in transparency, especially regarding the voter register". Voting for some was extended into Thursday, prompting five opposition presidential candidates to call for a new election, saying the extension was unconstitutional. Both opposition and Congolese independent observer groups have said voting unfolded in a way that could affect the credibility of results. The CENI set up a results centre in Kinshasa called Basolo - Truth in the Lingala language - where it says results from each polling station will be shared publicly as they come in. This has been a key demand of the opposition and civil society, who say the lack of transparency at previous elections enabled fraud. The CENI has set a Dec. 31 deadline for the release of full provisional results, but it is not clear if this will change due to the unexpected voting extension. The Carter Center called on the commission to post results at a local level and upload polling station results to its website to ensure the credibility of the process. Speaking on radio station Top Congo FM, the vice president of the commission, Didi Manara, said on Thursday the logistical setbacks on election day were out of the CENI's control and had nothing to do with bad planning. He noted that Congo had extended voting to a second day in parts of the country during the 2011 election. The tumultuous election day capped a campaign that was also marred by violence that led to the deaths of at least 19 people, according to figures from the Carter Center. Opposition presidential candidate Moise Katumbi, whose team has been monitoring the vote-count, said on Thursday that results so far showed him in the lead. The observer mission from the Congo's powerful Catholic Church has deployed more than 25,000 observers to do its own compilation of election results. They did the same during the 2018 election, when they contested the results of the CENI's vote count. The vote will determine whether Tshisekedi serves a second term after a first five years in office marked by economic hardship and spiralling insecurity in Congo's rebel-plagued east. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congo-awaits-first-provisional-election-results-after-messy-vote-2023-12-22/
2023-12-22 21:19
Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. SEC officials met on Thursday with representatives of at least seven companies hoping to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to spot bitcoin early in 2024, and told at least two to submit final changes by the end of next week, according to public memos and two people familiar with the discussions. Among those holding discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission were representatives from BlackRock (BLK.N) and Grayscale Investments, as well as ARK Investments and 21 Shares. The SEC is due to decide whether to approve or reject the joint proposal from ARK and 21 Shares by Jan. 10. Most issuers expect the SEC will likely give the green light to several applications at the same time in the days leading up to that deadline. Executives from two of the firms that met with regulators -- speaking on background because of the confidential nature of the discussions -- said the SEC set a deadline for final updates to their filings of Dec. 29. Regulators told attendees at the meetings that any issuer that doesn't meet that deadline will not be part of a first wave of potential spot bitcoin ETF approvals in early January, both executives said. The Dec. 29 deadline was first reported by Fox Business. Representatives of the exchanges on which the new products might trade, including Nasdaq and Cboe, as well as lawyers for the issuers, also attended the meetings, according to meeting memos. The SEC has rejected multiple applications to launch spot bitcoin ETFs in recent years, arguing that the cryptocurrency market is vulnerable to manipulation. The only cryptocurrency ETFs the agency has approved are tied to bitcoin and ethereum futures contracts that trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In recent months, however, there have been increasing signs that regulators are prepared to sign off on at least some of the 13 proposed spot bitcoin ETFs. Some say the catalyst was a federal appeals court decision in August that the SEC erred in rejecting Grayscale's proposed conversion of its trust into an ETF. The two executives who participated in Thursday's meetings with SEC officials said the agency indicated it could grant approval in the first few business days of 2024. Regulators would do so by informing issuers directly of what date their request to launch the ETF would be "effective;" each proposed ETF could be rolled out on that date. An SEC spokesperson said the agency does not comment on individual filings. A number of issuers have made changes to the technical details of their ETF proposals in recent days. Both BlackRock and ARK updated their filings earlier this week to allow cash redemptions, a change requested by regulators, according to people familiar with the matter. Any final alterations likely would include details of fees. ARK and 21 Shares are the only issuers to have disclosed the fee they propose to levy on their joint ETF, at 0.80%. Final updates also would include information about the sums that issuers plan to use to "seed" the new ETFs. These are likely to be relatively small amounts, according to those involved in the discussions, but to increase substantially once the ETFs have begun trading. These "seeds" provide capital required for marketmakers to ensure that the initial market for new ETFs is liquid. https://www.reuters.com/technology/sec-tells-spot-bitcoin-etf-hopefuls-make-final-changes-by-year-end-sources-2023-12-22/
2023-12-22 20:48
CAPE TOWN, Dec 22 (Reuters) - French energy firm TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) plans to restart its long-delayed $20 billion Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the first quarter of next year, two sources told Reuters late on Friday. Work on the project has been halted since 2021 when a violent insurgency led by Islamic State-linked militants threatened the Cabo Delgado site, leading to TotalEnergies declaring force majeure and halting construction. In September, chief executive officer at TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, said the company planned to restart before the end of this year, as the security situation improved with the support a regional military force including Rwanda. "TotalEnergies have indicated that they want to restart their Mozambique LNG project in January 2024," a government source close to the process said, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter. The ongoing violence in the northern Mozambican province has claimed thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017, disrupting multibillion-dollar investments including the $20 billion LNG project in which TotalEnergies has a 26.5% stake. "TotalEnergies has asked funders to get approval for the restart of the Mozambique LNG project in the first quarter of 2024," said a second funding source with direct knowledge of the project. The project, which will help transform the economic fortunes of the impoverished southern African country, has faced criticism from environmental activists who last month urged funders to withdraw their financial support. TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to an out-of-office request for comment. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-restart-its-delayed-mozambique-lng-project-early-2024-sources-2023-12-22/
2023-12-22 20:44
LAGOS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Nigeria on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to OPEC, its junior petroleum minister said, a day after Angola said it would leave the Saudi-led oil producer group that has in recent months sought to rally support for more output cuts to prop up prices. Africa's biggest oil producer, Nigeria and Angola, were among several countries given lower output targets for 2024 after years of failing to meet the previous ones. Angola said on Thursday OPEC no longer served the country's interests. But Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri said in a statement that the country's commitment to OPEC remained unwavering. "Our collaboration within the organisation remains pivotal in fostering stability and sustainability in the oil market," Lokpobiri said in a statement. "We are resolute in our dedication to OPEC's objectives while actively engaging with the organisation to address concerns that resonate not only within our nation's borders but across the entire continent." Nigeria was given a 2024 target of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) but says it plans to produce at least 1.8 million bpd. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-petroleum-minister-reaffirms-commitment-opec-2023-12-22/
2023-12-22 20:44
March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a second week in a row for the first time since mid-January, energy services firm Baker Hughes (BKR.O) , opens new tab said in its closely followed report on Thursday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by three to 621 in the week to March 28. , , Baker Hughes released its North American rig count a day earlie4r than usual due to the Good Friday holiday. The total count was down 134 rigs, or 18% below this time last year, according to the company. Baker Hughes said oil rigs fell three to 506 this week, while gas rigs were unchanged at 112, holding at their lowest since January 2022. Drillers cut one rig in the Niobrara shale in Colorado and Wyoming, bringing the total count there down to 11, its lowest since December 2021. The Niobrara is one of seven shale basins that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports on in its monthly Drilling Productivity Report. The basin produces about 712,000 barrels per day, making it the fourth biggest shale oil producing region in the EIA report. For the month, the total rig count fell by five, with the oil count rising by three, and gas down by eight, the biggest monthly decline since August. In the first quarter, the total rig count slipped by one in its fifth quarterly loss in a row. The oil rig count rose by six, the first quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2022, while gas was down by eight. The oil and gas rig count dropped about 20% in 2023 after rising by 33% in 2022 and 67% in 2021, due to a decline in oil and gas prices, higher labor and equipment costs from soaring inflation and as companies focused on paying down debt and boosting shareholder returns instead of raising output. U.S. oil futures were up about 15% so far in 2024 after dropping by 11% in 2023. U.S. gas futures , meanwhile, were down about 31% so far in 2024 after plunging by 44% in 2023. 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-drillers-cut-oil-gas-rigs-second-week-row-baker-hughes-2024-03-28/
