2024-06-27 22:48

TOKYO, June 28 (Reuters) - Citadel will buy Japanese power firm Energy Grid in its first acquisition in Japan and the first major U.S. investment in Japan's wholesale energy market in recent years, billionaire investor Kenneth Griffin's hedge fund said in a statement. The privately held Energy Grid provides power price risk management services to Japanese companies and the deal will give Citadel direct access to the Japanese power market. Since Energy Grid's establishment in 2021, the power market in resource-poor Japan has been volatile due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which precipitated a global energy crisis. Japan, which imports most of its energy resources, was already in a precarious position following the March 2011 earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster, when many of its major nuclear power stations were shut down. The deal will "broaden the delivery of hedging solutions to Japanese energy producers and consumers", Sebastian Barrack, head of commodities at Citadel, said. Energy Grid will expand trading volumes and "offer longer-term risk management opportunities to more market participants", said Yohei Jozaki, chief executive officer of Energy Grid. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, subject to conditions. The deal size has not been disclosed. Miami, Florida-based Citadel manages approximately $63 billion in assets and its flagship fund has gained more than 7.5% so far in 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/citadel-buy-power-firm-energy-grid-first-japanese-acquisition-2024-06-27/

2024-06-27 22:04

LAS VEGAS, June 27 (Reuters) - Lithium developer Lake Resources (LKE.AX) New Tab, opens new tab is laying off staff and selling assets as low prices for the electric vehicle battery metal hamper efforts to find customers and investors for its flagship Kachi project in Argentina, its CEO said. The move is the latest blow to the lithium industry and its struggling producers after the more than 80% drop in prices for the ultralight metal in the past year, a fall fueled by Chinese oversupply and concerns the EV industry is not growing as fast as previously expected. Australian-listed Lake is developing Kachi in Argentina's mountainous Catamarca province with tech startup Lilac Solutions. The project attracted preliminary interest from Ford (F.N) New Tab, opens new tab and others, but operating at the remote site fueled extensive cost overruns that became untenable once lithium prices began to slide. "Everything today is just drive by lithium prices," Lake CEO David Dickson said on the sidelines of the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas this week. "The standard (lithium) price needs to be a lot higher for projects to move forward." Prices for lithium carbonate, a common type of the metal, are trading below $15,000 per metric ton, according to Fastmarkets data. Dickson said he believes many in the lithium market need to sign supply contracts with price floors of at least $15,000 to $20,000 per metric ton in order to make projects economic. Lilac Solutions, which agreed in 2021 to invest $50 million in Kachi to showcase its version of direct lithium extraction technology, was not immediately available to comment. Lake is cutting most of its 180 workers but plans to keep a skeleton staff of roughly 20, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Dickson declined to provide specific numbers, but acknowledged Lake "is in a process of cost cutting and resizing the company for where we're at now." The move is the second blow to the Kachi project in the past year after the company said last June it would delay first production of 25,000 metric tons of lithium by three years to 2027 and more than doubled its capital cost estimate to $1.38 billion. Lake is now looking to sell four lithium-rich acreage positions it controls elsewhere in Argentina and is likely to move out of its Houston offices to a smaller location, Dickson said. The company hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N) New Tab, opens new tab last year to find either a customer for the Kachi project or an investor, a process that had been set to finish by December. That now likely will bleed into at least 2025, he said. "We've got to find offtake partners and equity partners," said Dickson, who joined Lake in 2022 after more than 30 years in the oil and gas industry. The company is now working on obtaining environmental approvals from regulators in Argentina. Lake, which has roughly a dozen staffers maintaining the Kachi site, still plans to open the project by 2027 if lithium prices rebound, Dickson said. "As soon as lithium prices go up, that's when we'll start to see movement," he said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lake-resources-cuts-staff-eyes-asset-sales-amid-low-lithium-prices-2024-06-27/

2024-06-27 21:51

WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. is bidding to eventually buy up to $2.7 billion of domestically-supplied enriched uranium, in an effort to boost the supply chain for the nuclear reactor fuel and steer the country away from buying it from Russia, the Energy Department said on Thursday. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? The $2.7 billion in funding was unleashed by legislation, signed by President Joe Biden in May, that also imposed a ban on imports of enriched uranium from Russia, as part of sanctions on the country for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia, the world's top seller of enriched uranium, had been supplying about 24% of the fuel used by U.S. reactors. BY THE NUMBERS The Department of Energy plans to award two or more contracts, which will last for up to 10 years, depending on the availability of funding. The sources can include new enrichment facilities or projects that expand the capacity of existing enrichment facilities. The move could benefit Centrus Energy (LEU.A) New Tab, opens new tab and Urenco, a British and Dutch, German company with operations in New Mexico. Proposals are due on August 26. KEY QUOTES "DOE is helping jumpstart uranium enrichment capacity here in the United States, which is critical to strengthening our national security and growing our domestic nuclear industry," said U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Lindsey Geisler, a spokesperson for Centrus, said: "This request for proposal is a critical step toward restoring America’s nuclear fuel supply chain with U.S. technology built by American workers. We look forward to submitting a compelling and competitive proposal to do just that." Urenco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-start-buying-up-27-billion-domestic-nuclear-reactor-fuel-2024-06-27/

2024-06-27 21:48

June 28 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. A mood of caution hangs over Asian markets on Friday, the last trading day of the quarter and half-way point in the year, with investors likely to keep risk exposure to a minimum ahead of U.S. inflation data later in the day and ahead of the weekend. That wariness may be enforced by headlines from the U.S. presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump late on Thursday, particularly on trade protectionism and tariffs on imports from China. Friday's Asian economic calendar is packed with top-tier releases, including: Tokyo inflation, Japanese unemployment and industrial production, South Korean industrial output and retail sales, and trade and current account figures from Thailand. Top among them is probably Tokyo inflation, which will give an insight into wider price pressures in Japan and what the Bank of Japan might do at its July 30 to 31 policy meeting. Pressure is mounting on the BOJ to raise rates again or taper its bond purchases, if for no other reason than to cool some of the selling pressure on the yen and lift the currency from the 38-year low it hit against the dollar this week. Policymakers have warned that tightening policy too much could harm consumer spending and economic growth. But they also continue to express their displeasure with the yen's relentless depreciation. They can't have it both ways. Japanese authorities have not yet intervened to support the yen this time around, but traders will be on high alert for action, especially in the least liquid parts of the global trading day. Economists polled by Reuters reckon core Tokyo inflation edged up to 2.0% in June from 1.9% in May. Officials would probably be comfortable with that, but so might yen bears, and renewed selling is bound to sound the intervention alarm. China's currency, meanwhile, also reaches the mid-year point on the defensive, and on Thursday slipped to a new low for the year. Chinese stocks are in a similar boat, hugely underperforming their regional and global peers. The wider mid-year report card in Asia is mixed. Japan's Nikkei massively outperformed, in large part thanks to the weak yen, Japanese bond yields have hit multi-year highs, but the specter of deflation has pushed Chinese bond yields to historic lows. Most currencies are down against the U.S. dollar although nowhere near as much as the yen. The Indonesian rupiah is at multi-year lows, while India's rupee is at a record low but spared further weakness by official intervention. A snapshot of M&A activity in the January-June period on Thursday may be more revealing about investor sentiment across the continent. LSEG data shows that the value of announced transactions dropped 25% year-on-year to $317.5 billion, and M&A fees fell to $1.5 billion. Both are the lowest in 11 years. Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: - Tokyo inflation (June) - Japan unemployment (May) - U.S. presidential debate Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/global-markets-view-asia-graphic-pix-2024-06-27/

2024-06-27 20:56

GEORGETOWN, June 27 (Reuters) - A proposed large natural gas project in Guyana by U.S. energy developer Fulcrum LNG includes partnerships with U.S. oil service company Baker Hughes (BKR.O) New Tab, opens new tab and engineering firm McDermott (MCDIF.PK) New Tab, opens new tab, the country's vice president said on Thursday. Guyana's President Irfaan Ali last week said Fulcrum LNG had been chosen from among 17 companies to help Guyana develop a plan to design, finance, construct and operate gas processing facilities. The project will involve between $10 billion and $15 billion in investment. Fulcrum LNG is expected to work with a consortium led by Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) New Tab, opens new tab, which controls all crude and gas production in the country, and the government on the project. Guyana has been pressing the Exxon-led group to come up with a plan to develop the country's offshore gas reserves or relinquish areas where gas has been discovered so they can be developed by others. The South American country is estimated to have some 16 trillion cubic feet of gas off its coast, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Besides pairing with U.S. oil service and engineering firms, Fulcrum LNG's proposal would include financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the participation of private equity firms and an environmental partner, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told a media briefing. Fulcrum LNG is led by a former Exxon top executive in Guyana, Jesus Bronchalo. The executive had resigned from Exxon by the time Fulcrum LNG's proposal was submitted, Jagdeo added. "We don't have a conflict of interest," Jagdeo said. "Now, if he has a conflict of interest with Exxon, that's a different matter." An oil consortium by Toronto-listed producer Frontera Energy (FEC.TO) New Tab, opens new tab and its affiliate CGX Energy (OYL.V) New Tab, opens new tab "will not play the government of Guyana" and must specifically show how they intend to develop their offshore oil project and what financial support they have, the vice president also said. The group, which is looking for a new partner to develop the Corentyne block, recently submitted a notice of potential commercial interest for their latest oil discovery, a step needed to apply for extra time to appraise it and evaluate its viability. "I have not examined it (the notice) as yet, but we'll do so, and next week it will go to the Cabinet... For a very long time, they have been jerking people's string," Jagdeo said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/fulcrum-lng-pair-with-mcdermott-baker-hughes-guyana-gas-project-2024-06-27/

2024-06-27 20:37

SAO PAULO, June 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday there is always room to cut government spending, after his remarks this week pushing against spending cuts had weighed down the real. In an interview with a local radio station, Lula said the government intends to cut social benefits from people who are ineligible, but reaffirmed there is no intention of reducing social-benefit programs in general. Lula also dubbed the central bank's monetary policy director, Gabriel Galipolo, "a golden boy", saying he has the qualifications to be chief of the monetary authority. However, Lula clarified he has not spoken with Galipolo about the job, adding that he is in no rush to name the next central bank chief. Galipolo, who is seen as close to the government after previously working for the finance minister, is expected to be one the main candidates for the job. The term of Brazil's current central-bank chief Roberto Campos Neto -- who has been a target of Lula's criticism amid high interest rates -- ends later this year. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-lula-says-there-is-always-room-cut-spending-2024-06-27/