2023-11-12 19:46

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A toxic haze began to circulate in New Delhi on Sunday as people in the city of 20 million, which has struggled with heavy pollution recently, defied a ban on firecrackers on the night of Diwali, the annual Hindu festival of light. Smoke plumes were visible across the sky as revellers let off firecrackers in the evening to mark the country's biggest festival. Every year government authorities or India's Supreme Court impose bans on firecrackers - but only rarely do those bans appear to be enforced. The Air Quality Index (AQI) across all 40 monitoring stations in the capital averaged 219 on a scale of 500, according to the federal pollution control board data, indicating "poor" conditions that can affect most people on prolonged exposure. The AQI data also showed that the concentration of "PM2.5" poisonous particulate matter in a cubic metre of air was around 100 micrograms per cubic meter - 20 times higher than the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended maximum. Globally, air pollution was the worst in India's eastern city of Kolkata, while Delhi was the fifth-most polluted, according to Swiss group IQAir. Doctors say the air quality is likely to worsen on Monday as smoke from firecrackers lingers in the air, potentially causing itchy eyes and irritation in the throat. "I can see my patients are getting distressed. As a society we have not understood the value of clean air," said Desh Deepak, a senior consultant at Delhi's Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Some Hindus resent the Diwali firecracker bans, which they see as an attempt to interfere with them observing their religious festivals. Earlier in the day, Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai had urged citizens to steer clear of firecrackers to prevent citizens from having breathing problems later. Just before the weekend, a spell of rain had brought some relief to the city, where the AQI dipped below 160 after hovering around the 400-500 level over the past week. The world's most polluted capital typically experiences heavy smog in the winter months as particulate matter gets trapped in the cold air, leading to spikes in cases of respiratory distress. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/smoky-skies-indian-capital-diwali-revellers-defy-firecracker-ban-2023-11-12/

2023-11-12 18:37

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The United States and Indonesia on Monday will discuss how to advance a potential minerals partnership aimed a stimulating trade of the electric vehicle (EV) battery metal nickel, according to three people with direct knowledge of the conversations. Next steps that could move the countries toward formal negotiations on the partnership will be discussed when Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits the White House for a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday, according to one of the people. The Biden administration is still concerned about environmental, social and governance standards in Indonesia and is examining how a deal might work, the sources said. The administration also plans further consultations with U.S. lawmakers and labor groups in the coming weeks, one of the sources said. "There's a lot of work to do before we are able to formally announce negotiations on a critical minerals partnership," the person said. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Indonesia, which has the world's biggest nickel ore reserves, in September asked the United States to begin discussions for a trade deal for critical minerals so that exports from the Southeast Asian country can be covered under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Most of Indonesia's nickel is processed into crude metal but the government is keen to develop an EV supply chain to use the vast reserves of nickel, which can be processed into battery materials. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT The Biden administration discussions, which include U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai as well as the White House, focus on making sure that any potential nickel supply be produced with as little environmental impact as possible, according to one of the sources, who directly advised the administration and was not authorized to speak publicly. "The overall momentum is promising, but (we) don't want to minimize the fact that there is a fair amount of work to be done here," one of the people said. Indonesia's nickel supplies are the world's largest and nickel mining there has been blamed for heavy deforestation and water pollution. Under guidelines for the U.S. law issued in March, Washington has required that a certain amount of critical minerals in EV batteries be produced or assembled in North America or a free trade partner, for EVs sold in the United States to be eligible for tax credits. Indonesia does not have a free trade agreement with the United States. The Biden administration is also discussing ways to carve out any nickel that is extracted from Indonesia but processed in China from receiving the IRA credits, one of the sources added. One estimate puts the global market value for the nickel industry at $33.5 billion in 2022, though the market is over-supplied. The only U.S. nickel mine is set to close in a few years, and the country has no nickel smelter, a risk to Biden's goal for the United States to lead in EV manufacturing. The government last year gave nearly $115 million to Talon Metals (TLO.TO), to partially fund a nickel processing plant in North Dakota that will supply Tesla Inc (TSLA.O). Talon is seeking permits for its proposed Minnesota nickel mine, but has faced opposition from Indigenous people. Many U.S. miners have said that the Biden administration should focus more on approving domestic projects than seeking international supply. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-indonesia-discuss-potential-deal-ev-minerals-sources-2023-11-12/

2023-11-12 18:27

ABUJA, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC Ltd said on Sunday it had restored 275,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production at its joint venture unit with Total Energies (TTEF.PA) after negotiating an end to industrial action by workers. NNPC said in a statement that an agreement to suspend the action had been signed between TotalEnergies, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, which represent senior and junior workers in the industry. "The unions have agreed to suspend ongoing industrial action leading to immediate restoration of 275,000 barrels of oil per day production," NNPC said. NNPC did not disclose the nature of the dispute or the workers' demands, which had not been previously announced. Nigeria's oil production stood at 1.49 million barrels per day in October, according to data from the petroleum regulator, still below the 2023 budget target of 1.69 million bpd. Although production has been improving this year in Africa's biggest oil producer, crude theft, illegal refining and lack of investment in the sector have hobbled output, which has remained below its OPEC quota of 1.74 million bpd. That has led to fears that NNPC may struggle to supply crude to the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery, which has missed several targets to start production. NNPC Ltd will supply the Dangote refinery with up to six cargoes of crude oil in December to be used in test runs, industry sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/nigeria-restores-275000-bpd-production-totalenergies-jv-2023-11-12/

2023-11-12 09:52

Iraq reached understanding with Turkey on oil exports Baghdad seeks deal to adjust KRG oil contracts BAGHDAD, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani expects to reach an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and foreign oil companies to resume oil production from the Kurdish region’s oilfields within three days, he said on Sunday. Abdel-Ghani said during a visit to Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan, that Iraq has reached an "understanding" with Turkey in relation to resumption of northern oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. Turkey halted 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of northern exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline from March 25 after an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration ruling. The ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of about $1.5 billion for unauthorised exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018. Abdel-Ghani and top federal oil officials on Sunday started meetings with the KRG's ministry of natural resources and senior Kurdish energy officials to discuss the matter. "The purpose of this meeting is to resolve all issues to facilitate resumption of oil production and exports," Abdel-Ghani told reporters in Erbil. "First step is to agree with the region and companies on adjusting their existing contracts to be consistent with Iraq's constitution. We could reach a deal in three days." Iraqi government oil officials met representatives of the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) for the first time on Wednesday to discuss a resumption of flows to Turkey. APIKUR's members include international oil and gas companies that have a direct or indirect interest in upstream oil or gas contracts in Iraq's Kurdistan region, many of which have had to stop output because of the pipeline closure. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraq-expects-deal-resume-kurdistan-oil-output-within-three-days-2023-11-12/

2023-11-12 06:20

Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ukraine will have enough energy resources to get through the coming winter, but an expected surge in Russian attacks may disrupt the supply networks, Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said late on Saturday. "We have enough energy resources, in this regard we feel at peace," Galushchenko told Ukraine's public television. "The question is how much future attacks can affect supplies." In the past few weeks, Russia attacked Ukrainian infrastructure 60 times, Kyiv said on Wednesday, raising concerns that Moscow may have already started a targeting the power grid for a second winter at war. Last winter, thousands of Russian drones and missiles hit power infrastructure, causing sweeping blackouts. Galushchenko said Ukraine expects Russia to restart mass drone and missile attacks on energy infrastructure once temperatures fall and stay below zero degrees Celsius (32F). "Low temperature adds harm, of course," Galushchenko said. "Any sub-zero temperature already increases risks." So far this autumn, Ukraine has enjoyed unseasonably warm weather, but temperatures are expected to drop below zero degrees Celsius in Kyiv and other places in the coming week. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-has-enough-energy-resources-get-through-winter-energy-minister-2023-11-12/

2023-11-12 06:03

SYDNEY, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The Australian government on Sunday described as "serious and ongoing" a cybersecurity incident that forced ports operator DP World Australia to suspend operations at ports in several states since Friday. DP World Australia, which manages nearly half of the goods that flow in and out of the country, said it was looking into possible data breaches as well as testing systems "crucial for the resumption of normal operations and regular freight movement". The breach halted operations at the containers terminals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Western Australia's Fremantle since Friday. "The cyber incident at DP World is serious and ongoing," Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. A DP World spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on when normal operations would resume. The company, part of Dubai's state-owned DP World, is one of a handful of stevedore industry players in the country. The Australian Federal Police said they were investigating the incident, but declined to elaborate. Late on Saturday, the National Cyber Security Coordinator Darren Goldie, appointed this year in response to several major data breaches, said the "interruption" was "likely to continue for a number of days and will impact the movement of goods into and out of the country". In the Asia-Pacific region, DP World says it employs more than 7,000 people and has ports and terminals in 18 locations. https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/police-investigate-cyber-incident-australia-ports-operator-2023-11-11/