2023-12-18 22:38
Dec 18 (Reuters) - Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) said on Monday it expects capital spend of C$1.7 billion ($1.27 billion) for 2024, same as the company's forecast for 2023. For 2024, Imperial Oil forecast upstream production to be between 420,000 and 442,000 gross oil equivalent barrels per day. Imperial also said it expects next year's throughput from its downstream operations to be between 385,000 and 400,000 barrels per day. ($1 = 1.3398 Canadian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/imperial-oil-sees-13-billion-capital-spending-2024-2023-12-18/
2023-12-18 22:34
MANAMA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday announced the creation of a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea following a series of missile and drone attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Austin, who is on a trip to Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's headquarters in the Middle East, said participating countries include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain. He said they would conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. "This is an international challenge that demands collective action. Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative," Austin said in a statement early on Tuesday. Austin's statement leaves many questions unanswered, including whether those countries are willing to do what U.S. warships have done in recent days -- shoot down Houthi missiles and drones, and rush to the aid of commercial ships under attack. The Houthis have waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict by attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and even firing drones and missiles at Israel more than 1,000 miles from their seat of power in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. Just hours before Austin's announcement, the Houthi group said it launched a drone attack on two cargo vessels in the region. The Houthis have threatened to target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports. About 15% of world shipping traffic normally transits via the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, passing then as well into the Red Sea waters off Yemen. But the unrest has disrupted maritime trade, as freight firms reroute around Africa instead, adding costs and delays which are expected to be compounded over coming weeks. Combined, the companies that have diverted vessels "control around half of the global container shipping market," ABN Amro analyst Albert Jan Swart told Reuters. Oil major BP (BP.L) temporarily paused all transits through the Red Sea and oil tanker group Frontline (FRO.OL) said on Monday its vessels would avoid passage through the waterway, signs the crisis was broadening to include energy shipments. Crude oil prices rose on those concerns on Monday. During a visit to Israel on Monday, Austin squarely blamed Iran for the Houthi attacks. "Iran's support for Houthi attacks on commercial vessels must stop," he said. At a news conference in Tel Aviv, Austin said: "As we are driving to stabilize the region, Iran is raising tensions by continuing to support terrorist groups and militias." https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-launches-new-multinational-operation-safeguard-red-sea-commerce-2023-12-18/
2023-12-18 22:03
SAN SALVADOR, Dec 18 (Reuters) - El Salvador's state energy authorities announced on Monday that legal reforms to boost oil and gas exploration have been presented to lawmakers for approval. The measures aim to lure investment and modernize the sector's legal framework in the country, the Central American country's energy authorities said in a statement. Under the new framework, contracts would allow data firms to look into existing projects and then sell the information they gather to oil companies. The government is seeking to enter into partnerships with experienced companies to map out the resources in the country and reduce costs, the statement added. In 2008, El Salvador enacted a law that opened the doors for oil and gas exploration but there have been few recent projects. El Salvador imports most of its fossil fuels, which power over half of the country's energy needs. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/el-salvador-announces-reforms-boost-oil-gas-exploration-2023-12-18/
2023-12-18 21:51
Dec 19 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. The Bank of Japan While markets reckon the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England are at the end of their hiking cycles and pivoting toward interest rate cuts next year, the BOJ is only just emerging from years of negative rates and ultra-loose policy. While no one is expecting the BOJ to raise rates on Tuesday, the landmark move could come sooner than many expect - the BOJ has already surprised markets with tweaks to its 'yield curve control' policy and intervened in the FX market buying yen, so who's to say it won't raise rates in January? On Monday Japan's yen weakened, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index fell and 10-year Japanese Government Bonds rose, which pushed the yield down around 4 basis points. The yen has been one of the best-performing G10 currencies this month on growing hawkish speculation around the BOJ, appreciating almost 4% against the dollar since the turn of the month. This follows a 2.5% rise last month too. Further yen strength will help the BOJ in its fight to get inflation sustainably back toward its 2% target, and households will welcome the downward pressure on import prices, but it will hurt exports, traditionally a major engine of economic growth. Hedge funds have been net short the yen since March 2021, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data, but a shift is underway ahead of that seismic shift on rates from the BOJ, whenever it comes. The latest CFTC figures show that funds' net short position is now the smallest in four months at 81,000 contracts. That's an aggregate $7 billion bet against the yen, down from $11 billion only a few weeks ago. Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia publishes the minutes of its last policy meeting, when it held rates at a 12-year high of 4.35%. Asian stocks fell 0.5% on Monday, the steepest decline in two weeks, but that was perhaps to be expected given the 3% surge late last week after the Fed signaled U.S. rate hikes are over and attention is now on when the easing cycle starts. On the corporate front, Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) on Monday clinched a deal to buy U.S. Steel (X.N) for $14.9 billion in cash, a bet that U.S. Steel will benefit from the spending and tax incentives in President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill. While Nippon Steel's shares are off some 15% from their recent peak, they have rallied around 50% over the past 12 months. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday: - Bank of Japan policy decision - Reserve Bank of Australia minutes - New Zealand trade (November) https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-pix-2023-12-18/
2023-12-18 21:47
Dec 18 (Reuters) - Global grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) said on Monday it will acquire Revela Foods, a Wisconsin-based developer and manufacturer of dairy flavor ingredients and solutions, to bolster the company's flavors portfolio. ADM has been diversifying its traditional grain handling business into flavors and nutrition foods over the years, and has acquired multiple flavor companies since its acquisition of WILD Flavors for $3 billion in 2014. "Our flavors business is an important pillar of our Nutrition growth strategy, and we are continuing to add to our flavors pantry to ensure we remain the partner of choice for customers around the globe," said Ian Pinner, president of ADM's Nutrition business. The company said that with Revela's projected sales of almost $240 million in 2023, it would add new capabilities to ADM's global flavors portfolio in the $1.8 billion global dairy flavors segment. The deal is expected to close in early 2024. ADM did not provide any financial details of its deal to buy Revela. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/adm-acquire-dairy-flavor-firm-revela-foods-2023-12-18/
2023-12-18 21:26
Dec 18 (Reuters) - The average wage U.S. employers were willing to offer new workers surged to record levels in November, a report from the New York Federal Reserveshowed on Monday. The average full-time annual wage offer moved to $79,160 in November from $69,475 in July, the regional Fed bank said in its Survey of Consumer Expectations Labor Market Survey. The wage in November was the highest ever in a survey that dates back to 2014 and likely reflects ongoing labor market tightness, with firms being forced to come up with higher levels of cash to secure employees. Workers in the survey also trimmed their so-called reservation wage, which is the minimum pay level someone will take for a new job. That dropped to $73,391 as of last month, from $78,645 in July. The report also showed that churn in the job market may be set to increase. Some 23.1% of respondents said they'd searched for a new job in the last month, compared to 19.4% who said the same thing in July. Meanwhile, the expected likelihood of moving to a new job rose to 12.3% in November, from 10.6% in July. The report also found a record 3.5% of respondents said it was likely they would move out of the labor force, which was the highest reading ever for the survey. Market participants and central bankers are all scanning the labor sector for signs of weakness in the wake of an aggressive string of Fed rate hikes since the U.S. central bank kicked off its tightening cycle in March 2022. The Fed has strongly signaled it is likely done pushing up short-term borrowing costs in its bid to lower inflation, and central bank officials are now actively weighing whether ebbing price pressures will allow them to lower the policy rate next year. Some of the confidence that inflation will continue to retreat is tied to the view that labor market conditions are becoming more balanced. That could reduce upward wage pressures and, in turn, help guide overall inflation back to the Fed's 2% target. But it remains a process that is still playing out. "Labor demand still exceeds the supply of available workers" although the balance between those who are hiring and those who are looking for work is continuing to equal back out, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference last week after the end of the central bank's final policy meeting of the year. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/ny-fed-finds-new-workers-offered-record-average-wages-november-2023-12-18/
