2024-06-06 21:09
COTONOU/NIAMEY, June 6 (Reuters) - A prosecutor in Benin said authorities had detained on Wednesday five Niger nationals for allegedly entering Benin's Seme-Kpodji pipeline terminal under false pretences, deepening a dispute over exports of crude oil from Niger via Benin. In a statement on Thursday, special prosecutor Mario Metonou said the group had entered the terminal clandestinely and accused at least two of the detainees of being agents of Niger's ruling military junta. "Investigations are ongoing to determine the real motives ... in a context where recurring information suggests the planning of acts against the security of the state of Benin," Metonou said. On Thursday, Niger's Oil Minister Mahamane Moustapha Barke Bako rejected the prosecutor's allegations, telling a press conference in Niamey that those arrested were inspectors supervising the loading of crude oil in line with an agreement with Benin. Relations between the West African neighbours have been strained since Benin blocked crude exports via its port from landlocked Niger in May, demanding the junta reopen its border to Benin's goods and normalise relations before shipments can restart. On May 15, Benin provisionally reversed the export block and agreed to hold a meeting between the two countries, but a long-term solution has not yet been agreed. At the Niamey press conference, Nigerien Justice Minister said they would refer the issue to the arbitration court of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa. The tensions go back to the July 2023 coup in Niger, which led the regional bloc ECOWAS to impose strict sanctions for more than six months. Trade flows in the region were expected to normalise after the bloc lifted sanctions, but Niger has kept its borders closed to goods from Benin. Benin's crude blockade jeopardised Niger's plan to start exports from its Agadem oilfield via the pipeline under a memorandum of understanding with Chinese state-owned oil giant China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) worth $400 million. The nearly 2,000 km (1,243-mile) PetroChina (601857.SS) New Tab, opens new tab -backed pipeline was officially launched in November linking Niger's Agadem oilfield to Benin's coast. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/benin-niger-spat-deepens-with-arrests-crude-pipeline-terminal-2024-06-06/
2024-06-06 21:02
HOUSTON, June 6 (Reuters) - Element Fuels Holdings, a Dallas-area startup proposing to build the first all-new U.S. oil refinery in nearly 50 years, on Thursday said it was relaunching efforts to build a large plant in South Texas. The Brownsville, Texas, project has been proposed by entrepreneur John Calce at least twice before by his ARX Energy, and JupiterMLP startups, with one leading to a bankruptcy filing. The project was originally owned by a holding company that also owned Centurion Terminals. Element is looking to raise funds for the first phase, which will allow the refinery to process about 50,000 to 55,000 barrels per day of naphtha feedstock into gasoline. The company estimates the initial phase will cost about $1.2 billion, Calce said. The company said it was in talks with banks, private credit funds as well the U.S. Department of Energy for funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. Earlier efforts under JupiterMLP failed "for a host of reasons," said John Calce, CEO of Addison, Texas-based Element Fuels, which holds a Texas state permit authorizing construction of the plant. The refinery eventually will process U.S. shale oil from fields in West and South Texas, Calce said in an interview. In comparison, U.S. Gulf Coast refineries largely process medium to heavy crude. "We had conviction around the U.S. shale oil market," he said on why he has stuck with the project, adding the country was "very, very long, light crude and short refining capacity." Element plans to build an on-site power plant, with 165 megawatt capacity, powered by hydrogen produced by the refinery. It is in negotiations with a credit counterparty for the refinery, and has a long-term off take contract with a counterparty on the power side, he said, without naming either. "The hardest thing (for a new refinery) to get is financing," said John Auers, managing director of refining consultancy Refined Fuels Analytics. He said new refining projects could have a limited life with demand for gasoline expected to peak in 2030-2031, and for middle distillates such as diesel and jet fuel after 2040, Auers said. Element Fuels could turn its refinery into a petrochemicals plant down the road if such demand destruction occurs, or export the refined products to countries with less electric vehicle adoption, Calce said. The refinery is also designed with flexibility to produce various fuel grades, Calce added. (This story has been officially corrected to fix the capacity of planned power plant to 165 megawatts, not 165 megawatt per day, in paragraph 8) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/texas-startup-hopes-4th-times-charm-build-first-big-us-oil-refinery-since-1977-2024-06-06/
2024-06-06 21:00
NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - New York's electric grid will face supply shortfalls if the rate of retiring old fossil fired power plants continues to quickly outpace the addition of clean new energy supply at the same time demand rises, the state's grid operator said on Thursday. New York has set a goal for 100 percent clean energy on its grid by 2040 to reduce carbon emissions and slow the progress of climate change. The effort that will require a wide roll-out of renewable energy and the axing of power plants fueled by fossil fuels like natural gas. In the five years since New York set its clean energy targets, the state lost 5,207 megawatts of fossil-fired power supply versus gaining 2,256 megawatts of clean energy sources like wind and solar, the New York Independent System Operator said in its annual reliability report. At the same time traditional supply shrinks, demand from energy-intensive data centers and manufacturing, along with the climate-driven electrification of cars and buildings, is on the rise. New York has at least 10 very large power load projects, including data centers and semiconductor factories, expected to be up and running in the next two years, NYISO said. They include the Micron NY Semiconductor plant, which will require 480 megawatts of capacity, or enough to power about 400,000 homes, the report said. Increasing demand and shrinking power supply could pose a problem to New York's grid as early as this summer if the state faces prolonged heat waves, specifically temperatures of 95 degrees Fahrenheit lasting three days or more. In the heat wave scenario, total grid supply would sit at about 34,500 megawatts and demand would rise to 33,300 MW, leaving the system well short of the 2,600 megawatts of operating reserves needed to stay reliable, NYISO said. New York can deploy emergency power supply provided by so-called peaker plants, the grid operator said, but peakers are generally fired by fossil fuels and are expensive to run. The grid operator said more investment in transmission and other elements of the state's electrical network, and streamlining the regulatory process to build that infrastructure, would be part of what is needed to avoid blackouts and rising power costs over the next decade. (This story has been refiled to change the name from 'New York Independent Grid Operator' to 'New York Independent System Operator' in paragraph 3) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ny-power-grid-faces-shortfalls-new-energy-supply-lags-operator-says-2024-06-06/
2024-06-06 20:29
TSX ends up 0.4% at 22,229.10 Materials group gains 2.5% as metal prices rise Energy adds 1%; oil settles 2% higher Technology loses 0.4% June 6 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, led by gains commodity-linked shares, as long-term borrowing held near their lowest levels in months ahead of the release of U.S. and Canadian employment reports. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) New Tab, opens new tab ended up 84.08 points, or 0.4%, at 22,229.10. Data due on Friday is expected to show Canada's economy adding 22,500 jobs in May and the unemployment rate ticking up to 6.2% from 6.1%. U.S. jobs data for May is also due, expected to show an increase of 185,000. Weaker-than-expected U.S. data could see U.S. bond yields extend their recent move lower, said Mike Archibald, a portfolio manager at AGF Investments. "If that's the case then that likely means the (U.S.) dollar is moving lower and commodities would do ok in that environment," Archibald said. Bond yields have moved lower in recent weeks as investors raised bets on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates as soon as September. The U.S. 10-year rate was trading on Thursday at about 4.28%, nearly its lowest level since April 1. The Bank of Canada on Wednesday became the first G7 central bank to ease rates. Next in line was the European Central Bank, which cut on Thursday. The materials group (.GSPTTMT) New Tab, opens new tab, which includes metal miners and fertilizer companies, rose 2.5% as gold and copper prices climbed. The energy sector (.SPTTEN) New Tab, opens new tab, which had weighed on the TSX earlier this week, added 1% as the price of oil settled 2% higher at $75.55 a barrel. Among the sectors that lost ground was technology (.SPTTTK) New Tab, opens new tab. It was down 0.4% along with declines for U.S. tech shares. Heavily-weighted financials (.SPTTFS) New Tab, opens new tab also ended lower, falling 0.3%. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/tsx-futures-muted-commodities-gain-rate-cut-bets-2024-06-06/
2024-06-06 20:23
CAIRO, June 6 (Reuters) - A merchant vessel reported an explosion took place near it in the Red Sea on Thursday about 19 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port city of Mokha, British security firm Ambrey said. Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had been informed of two explosions near a vessel 27 miles south of Mokha. There was no damage reported, all crew were safe and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call, the UKMTO said in a statement. It was unclear whether the incidents reported by Ambrey and UKMTO were the same. The vessel described by Ambrey fit the target profile of Yemeni Houthi militants, who have attacked ships off the country's coast for several months, it said in a note. It was en route from Europe to the United Arab Emirates and was not transmitting an Automatic Identification System signal at the time, Ambrey said. It gave no other details. The U.S. military said on Thursday it successfully destroyed eight drones and two uncrewed surface vessels launched by the Houthis in the Red Sea over the past 24 hours. It also said the Houthis launched one anti-ship ballistic missile over the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships, it added. Houthis have made repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November. This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the Middle East. The Houthi militia, which controls the most populous parts of Yemen and is aligned with Iran, says it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in Gaza. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/explosion-near-vessel-red-sea-off-yemen-security-firm-says-2024-06-06/
2024-06-06 20:17
BRASILIA, June 6 (Reuters) - Fires in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands have surged nearly tenfold so far this year to the highest levels since 2020, when the biome suffered its worst blazes on record. Satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) showed a 980% increase in the number of fires in the Pantanal through June 5, compared with the same period of last year. The figures have raised alarms as the region heads into the riskiest season for wildfires, which usually starts in July and peaks in August and September. "It's one of the worst starts of year in terms of hot spots since the beginning of the historical series in 1998," said Vinicius Silgueiro, territorial intelligence coordinator at local NGO Instituto Centro de Vida. The Pantanal wetlands, roughly 10 times the size of the Florida everglades, are home to jaguars, tapirs, caimans, anacondas and giant anteaters. Weak rains since late last year have disrupted the usual seasonal flooding, leaving more of the region vulnerable to fires. "What's most worrying is that even in the rainy season we had this increase in fires," Silgueiro said. He warned that the Pantanal is likely to face another strong drought this year, after a wet season with rains 60% below the average, according to data from Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology (INMET). The latest surge in fires comes after atypical blazes at the end of 2023, when the El Nino climate phenomenon delayed the rainy season, leading to 4,134 fires registered in November, compared with an historical average of 584 for the month. Brazil's government signed a pact on Wednesday with state governors in the Pantanal and Amazon regions to fight wildfires. Mato Grosso do Sul, a state containing most of the country's Pantanal, has already declared an environmental emergency. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/fires-brazilian-wetlands-surge-980-extreme-drought-expected-2024-06-06/
