2023-11-01 11:37

Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer on Wednesday urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to consider possible anti-competitive harms stemming from recent multi-billion dollar acquisitions by oil and gas giants Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N). Earlier this month, Exxon proposed to buy Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) for $60 billion and Chevron agreed to acquire Hess (HES.N) for $53 billion. The Democratic Senate leader said in a letter that the two of the largest oil and gas deals of this century are "likely to harm competition." The recent oil deals are a financial flex by U.S. oil and gas companies that have kept investing in fossil fuels as European rivals turned their attention to renewable fuels. Chevron and Exxon have accumulated huge profits from strong energy prices and demand since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "By allowing Exxon and Chevron to further integrate their extensive operations into important oil-and-gas fields, these deals are likely to harm competition, risking increased consumer prices and reduced output throughout the United States," Schumer said in his letter. The oil industry last went through an era of major consolidation in the late 1990s when Exxon, Shell (SHEL.L), BP (BP.L) and France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) merged with rivals to create huge integrated companies. The acquisitions followed a collapse in oil prices that weakened many companies. "If anything, the FTC should be investigating the past anti-competitive mergers of Big Oil conglomerates like Exxon Mobil and Chevron to determine whether these energy giants should be broken up once again," Schumer added. Several other Democrats also signed the letter. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/us-senator-schumer-urges-ftc-probe-exxon-chevron-mega-deals-2023-11-01/

2023-11-01 11:31

LISBON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Portugal has kicked off the preparatory process for its first auction of licences to build wind farms off the Atlantic coast by inviting companies to present non-binding declarations of interest by Nov. 14. The environment ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday any interested parties who formalise their interest will be invited to participate in a dialogue phase to discuss options regarding pre-qualification and bidding models. In the initial phase, companies must explain which maritime areas they are targeting, their experience in developing wind energy projects, whether on land or at sea, financing model, among other points. The government has set the capacity on offer in the auction to be launched by year-end at 2 GW in three areas off the country's Atlantic coast. The floating wind farms will be installed in deep waters where winds are stronger and more continuous, allowing the generation of more power than those fixed to the seabed near to shore or those on land. Portugal already has a small, 25 MW floating wind project off its Atlantic coast, which is owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Portugal's main utility EDP (EDP.LS) and French company Engie (ENGIE.PA). A number of other utilities have earlier shown potential interest in the auction, including Germany's BayWa (BYWGnx.DE), the Irish-Spanish consortium IberBlue Wind, fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and a joint venture between Portugal's Galp (GALP.LS) and France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA). Portugal plans to launch successive auctions for a total of 10 GW until 2030. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/portugal-launches-initial-phase-offshore-wind-auction-2023-11-01/

2023-11-01 11:01

U.S. Fed keeps interest steady, future hikes possible Glum factory activity from China adds to fragile recovery fears No disruption to oil supplies from Middle East conflict so far U.S. crude storage build smaller than expected last week - EIA NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices eased about 1% to a three-week low on a rising U.S. dollar and after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady as expected but noted it would keep the door open to possible future rate hikes due to a strong U.S. economy. Interest rate hikes can slow economic growth and dampen oil demand. A strong dollar makes it more expensive to buy fuel using other currencies, pressuring prices. Brent futures fell 39 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $84.63 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 58 cents, or 0.7%, to $80.44. That was the lowest settlement for Brent since Oct. 6 and WTI since Aug. 28. Both contracts settled below their 100-day moving averages, a key level of technical support since July. Trade was choppy, with both benchmarks up over $2 a barrel early on Middle East worries. The Fed, which started raising interest rates in March 2022, held rates steady but left the door open to a further increase due to a strong U.S. economy. The U.S. dollar (.DXY) rose to a four-week high against a basket of other currencies. Crude futures were also pressured by an increase in U.S. crude stocks and gasoline inventories last week as refiners undergoing seasonal maintenance restarted units more slowly than expected to avoid even larger gasoline stock builds. In Europe, October inflation in the Euro zone was at its lowest in two years, a Eurostat flash reading showed, stoking the view the European Central Bank is unlikely to hike interest rates soon. The Bank of England is expected to meet on Thursday. In China, the world's largest oil importer, factory activity unexpectedly contracted in October, a private survey showed, adding to downbeat official figures from a day earlier. MIDDLE EAST WORRIES "The oil market will remain fixated with the deteriorating demand outlook and if any of the latest developments with the Israel-Hamas war will lead to any supply disruptions," Moya at OANDA said. In Gaza, a first group of injured people were evacuated to Egypt, a source and Egyptian media said, as Israeli forces pressed their battle against Hamas militants. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslim states to cease oil and food exports to Israel, demanding an end to its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, state media reported. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), produced around 2.5 million barrels per day of crude in 2022, according to U.S. energy data. Callum Macpherson, head of commodities at Investec, said that if there is no threat to output from the war, "oil may struggle to sustain prices around recent highs without support from OPEC+ into 2024, making their meeting later this month crucial." https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-gains-ahead-fed-meeting-middle-east-conflict-persists-2023-11-01/

2023-11-01 10:59

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The renewables arm of British power generator SSE (SSE.L) has taken an investment decision to build a 320 megawatt (MW) battery storage project in Yorkshire, north England, it said on Wednesday. Britain has a goal to decarbonise its electricity system by 2035 by increasing renewable power generation which will also require a large scale-up of battery storage projects to help balance supply when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. “This is another positive step towards reaching our net zero targets, enabling us to provide stored energy to the grid and provide balancing energy supply to support intermittent renewable energy generation," said Richard Cave-Bigley, director of solar and battery at SSE Renewables. The Monk Fryston battery project will be able to run for two hours at a time and is expected to be operational by spring 2026, SSE said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/sse-build-large-uk-battery-storage-project-2023-11-01/

2023-11-01 10:52

BERLIN, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organisation has extended a deadline for China to adopt WTO rules until May 8, 2024 in a case initiated by Japan over anti-dumping measures on stainless steel products, the body said on Wednesday. This follows an agreement between China and Japan on the length of the time period, the WTO said in a statement, citing information communicated by the delegations of those countries. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/wto-extends-deadline-china-anti-dumping-row-with-japan-2023-11-01/

2023-11-01 10:52

Nov 1 - DuPont (DD.N) on Wednesday trimmed its full-year revenue forecast as the chemical and materials maker struggles with lower demand across its businesses and predicted "additional restructuring actions" in response. Chemical makers had flagged a potential blow in the second half of the year from lower demand in key markets like China and Europe. The company saw "ongoing volume headwinds from channel inventory destocking and continued softness in China" in the quarter, CEO Ed Breen said in a statement. DuPont trimmed its full-year revenue forecast to $12.17 billion from its prior expectations of between $12.45 billion and $12.55 billion. Sales in the company's electronics and industrial segment tumbled 13% in the third quarter while it declined 8% in its water and protection unit. Revenue came in at $3.058 billion, falling short of the company's prior forecast of $3.15 billion and also missing estimates of $3.153 billion, as per LSEG data. On an adjusted basis, DuPont earned 92 cents per share in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with estimates of 84 cents, according to LSEG data. Chief Financial Officer Lori Koch highlighted underlying electronics demand in the final quarter of the year to be similar with the third quarter, expecting some higher sales in its semiconductor technologies. The company's semiconductor business helps in the chip manufacturing processes, packaging and assembly, and device fabrication. DuPont now expects annual earnings per share to be $3.45 per share, compared with prior expectations of between $3.40 and $3.50. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/dupont-beats-third-quarter-profit-estimates-cuts-revenue-forecast-2023-11-01/