2023-11-25 10:46
NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - India will start blending compressed biogas with natural gas to boost domestic demand and cut reliance on natural gas imports, the government said in a statement on Saturday. The mandatory phased introduction will start at 1% for use in automobiles and households from April 2025, it said. The share of mandatory blending will then be increased to around 5% by 2028. India, which is one of the world's largest importers of oil and gas, ships in about half of its overall gas consumption and wants to cut its imports cost. The government also aims to have 1% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in aircraft turbine fuel by 2027, doubling to 2% in 2028. The SAF targets will initially apply to international flights, the statement said. The steps are aimed at helping India achieve net zero emissions targets by 2070. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-announces-phased-introduction-biogas-blending-domestic-use-2023-11-25/
2023-11-25 10:16
COLOMBO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will likely approve on Monday a proposal from Chinese state refiner Sinopec to build a $4.5-billion-dollar refinery, the South Asian island nation's energy minister said on Saturday. "It's on the agenda for Monday. Once the cabinet gives approval, we will invite them to sign the agreement," Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera told Reuters. Sri Lanka, trying to recover from its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years, is hungry for new investment and local fuel supplies. Sinopec's investment of at least $4.5 billion "will go up in value as and when they do additions, but they must first come and sign the agreement for us to give any more details," Wijesekera said. For Sinopec, the world's top refinery by capacity and one of the largest petrochemical makers, the investment would mark a breakthrough in a long effort to expand beyond China's borders. It owns refinery assets in Saudi Arabia and petrochemicals production in Russia. The Sri Lanka investment follows state-run China Merchant Port Holdings' 99-year lease at Hambantota port and a $392 million deal to build a logistics and storage hub in Colombo port, Chinese state media reported in April. That fits into Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, billed as recreating the ancient Silk Road to boost global trade infrastructure, experts say. Sinopec will start basic engineering design, including finalising the size of the refinery and technical configuration, after getting official approval, a senior company official told Reuters this month. The investment will add to Sinopec's recently started fuel retailing business, the third international company with a foothold in Sri Lanka, with a license to operates 150 petrol stations. In August Sinopec and commodities trader Vitol were shortlisted by the Sri Lankan government to bid for the refinery. Vitol subsequently dropped out, the Sinopec official said. The refinery may target markets beyond Sri Lanka, where local fuel consumption is low, and use its partnership with China Merchants Port to expand bunker fuel supply at Hambantota, a deep-sea port near busy shipping lanes between Europe and Asia, analysts say. Sinopec's fuel oil division, which runs the retail business there, began in 2019 supplying marine bunker fuel at Hambantota, another Sinopec official said. Sri Lanka's refinery at Sapugaskanda, commissioned in 1969, can process 38,000 barrels of oil a day. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/sri-lanka-ok-sinopecs-45-bln-refinery-proposal-monday-minister-2023-11-25/
2023-11-25 09:51
FRANKFURT, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Signa Real Estate Management confirmed its bankruptcy filing in a letter to employees on Friday evening, German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported on Saturday, citing a copy of the letter. In the document, Signa REM Germany informed its employees about the company opening insolvency proceedings. Der Spiegel first reported the court filing at the Berlin Charlottenburg district court on Friday. Signa declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. A provisional insolvency administrator will "probably be appointed by the local court at very short notice," the letter stated. https://www.reuters.com/business/signa-unit-confirms-bankruptcy-filing-letter-employees-wirtschaftswoche-2023-11-25/
2023-11-25 06:59
TOKYO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Japan detected the first case of highly pathogenic H5-type bird flu this season at a poultry farm in the south of the country, public broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday. The local government in Saga prefecture will cull about 40,000 birds on the farm, NHK said, citing agriculture ministry officials it did not name. Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment outside of business hours. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will convene relevant cabinet ministers to discuss measures to prevent spreading of the virus, NHK said. The virus was detected as a result of genetic testing conducted after some poultry birds were found dead at the farm on Friday, the report said. Highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread around the globe in recent years, leading to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds. In Japan a record 17.7 million poultry birds were culled last season, prompting the authorities to stay on high alert. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-detects-seasons-first-bird-flu-case-cull-40000-birds-nhk-2023-11-25/
2023-11-25 06:46
SYDNEY, Nov 25 (Reuters) - A climate change protest off Australia's east coast disrupted operations at the country's biggest coal export port on Saturday, the port operator said. Climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the action, said around 1,500 people were at the protest, 300 of them in the shipping channel near the Port of Newcastle, as part of a 30-hour blockade set to run until 4 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Sunday. Climate change is a divisive issue in Australia, the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal behind Indonesia, and the top exporter of coking coal, used to make steel. The Port of Newcastle, some 170 km (105 miles) from New South Wales state capital Sydney, is the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast and Australia's largest terminal for coal exports, according to the state government. "At present, due to the number of people currently in the shipping channel, all shipping movements have ceased due to safety concerns, irrespective of the cargo they are carrying or intend to load," a Port of Newcastle spokesperson said in a statement. Rising Tide spokesperson Zack Schofield said no coal shipments had entered or exited the port since 10 a.m. on Saturday. "So far it's holding true," he said of the blockade by a flotilla of kayaks. In April, 50 of the group's activists were charged by police with an unlawful protest near the same port. The group wants to block 500,000 tonnes of coal from leaving the port during the blockade, it said in a statement. State police said no arrests had been made in relation to Saturday's protest. Australia's centre-left Labor government does not support a ban on all new fossil fuel projects but sees "safeguard mechanism" reforms as key to cutting emissions by 43% by 2030 in a country that ranks as a leading global carbon emitter per capita. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-climate-change-activists-disrupt-shipping-coal-port-2023-11-25/
2023-11-25 00:56
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Argentina President-elect Javier Milei said on Friday he had spoken with the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, regarding plans to adjust the country's fiscal policy and monetary program. "The Fund showed itself to be collaborative in looking to find the structural solutions Argentina needs," Milei said on social media network X. Georgieva later said the two discussed the "significant challenges ahead" for Argentina's economy and the "decisive" policy actions needed. The country is currently facing inflation nearing 150%, a looming recession and net reserves seen at negative $10 billion. Argentina is tied up by a $44 billion loan program from the IMF that has veered off track. "The IMF is committed to support efforts to durably reduce inflation, improve public finances and raise private-sector-led growth," Georgieva said on X. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentinas-milei-imf-discuss-fiscal-adjustment-plan-monetary-program-2023-11-25/
