2024-05-21 07:31

NEW DELHI, May 21 (Reuters) - India's Russian oil imports rose a nine-month high in April after shipments on non-sanctioned tankers operated by Russia's largest shipping company Sovcomflot resumed, tanker data obtained from shipping and trade sources showed. Refiners in India briefly stopped importing Russian oil in tankers belonging to Sovcomflot after the company's ships, along with its 14 tankers, were designated by Washington in February as being in breach of Western sanctions. The West has imposed the sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has enacted price caps on oil and oil products loaded at Russian ports aimed at cutting Moscow's oil revenue that funds the war. India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is the top client for Russian seaborne oil. In April, the first month of the fiscal year 2024/25, Indian refiners shipped in nearly 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil, up about 8.2% over the previous month, expanding Russia's share in India to about 38% from 32% in the previous month, the data showed. Overall, India imported 4.8 million bpd of oil in April, a decline of 6.5% from the previous month and marginally higher than April 2023. Russia continued to be the top oil supplier to India followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia. However, increased purchases of Russian oil dented Indian refiners' overall purchase of Iraqi and Saudi Arabian oil during the month, dragging down the share of Middle Eastern oil to 41% from 46% in March, the data showed. Lower imports from the Middle East further reduced the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' share in India's crude basket to 46% in April from 53% in March, the data showed. Higher imports of Russian oil boosted the share of oil from the Commonwealth of Independent States, comprising Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia, in India's imports to 41% last month from 37% in March. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-russian-oil-imports-rise-nine-month-high-april-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 07:13

May 21 (Reuters) - Commuters in Paris faced major disruption on Tuesday as rail workers went on strike to pressure national railway operator SNCF ahead of closely watched labour negotiations for this year's the Olympic Summer Games. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT SNCF, which operates rail traffic around Paris including large parts of the city's RER commuter lines used by millions every day, will meet with unions on Wednesday to seal a deal on working conditions and bonus payments during the Olympics. BY THE NUMBERS The strikes will impact all the RER lines, with one in two trains operating on the RER B north-to-south axis and one or two trains in five operating on the other lines. The RER A line running from west to east is relatively unaffected as it is operated by another company. CONTEXT Labour disputes in crucial infrastructure sectors are among the main headaches for the organisers of this year's Olympic Summer Games in Paris. France's hard-line CGT union earlier this year said public sector workers, including hospital staff, have flagged possible strikes during the Games. The government has been meeting public service unions since last year to try to guarantee cover for the Olympics, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, the middle of France's holiday season. Paris Metro and bus operator RATP have already reached deals with their workers, while France's interior ministry offered police officers bonuses of up to 1,900 euros ($2,063.40) to work during the Olympics. Several Paris airport unions also called for strikes on Tuesday, demanding an "emergency hiring plan" and wage talks, with no major disruption to traffic expected. ($1 = 0.9208 euros) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/paris-railway-workers-strike-two-months-ahead-flame-arrival-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 06:42

Fed caution signals interest rates staying higher for longer US gasoline pump prices fall for four straight weeks - EIA Minutes from Fed's last policy meeting due on Wednesday Weekly API oil inventory data shows gasoline, crude stocks up HOUSTON May 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled 1% lower on Tuesday as lingering U.S. inflation looked likely to keep interest rates higher for longer, weighing on fuel demand. Brent crude futures settled down 83 cents, or 1%, to $82.88 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures for June , which expired on Tuesday, slipped by 54 cents, or 0.7%, to $79.26. The more active July contract settled down 64 cents, at $78.66. Higher borrowing costs can slow economic growth and pressure oil demand. "The market is very focused on gasoline demand in the U.S. because there are signs that consumers are cutting back because of inflation. Unless that turns around, the market is suggesting things could be a little bleak," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group. Ahead of this weekend's Memorial Day holiday, which kicks off the U.S. peak summer driving season, retail gasoline prices fell for the fourth consecutive week to $3.58 per gallon on Monday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its gasoline and diesel fuel update. The U.S. will sell the nearly 1 million barrels of gasoline in a reserve in northeastern states, with bids due on May 28, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday. U.S. diesel prices have also slipped, according to the EIA, down 5.9 cents on the week on Monday, at $3.89 per gallon. Diesel is a key refined product for both the industrial sector and transport. Investors are awaiting minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting due on Wednesday, as well as weekly U.S. oil inventory data from the EIA, also due on Wednesday. "There is nothing in the market right now that is pushing prices higher. If we see a little bit of a stock draw tomorrow that may help push prices back up into the $78.50-$80 per barrel range," said Tim Snyder, economist at Matador Economics. U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories rose last week, while distillates fell, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday. The API figures showed crude stocks were up by 2.48 million barrels in the week ended May 17, the sources said on condition of anonymity. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels, and distillates fell by 320,000 barrels. Two Federal Reserve policymakers on Tuesday said it was prudent for the U.S. central bank to wait several more months to ensure that inflation is back on a path to the 2% target before commencing interest rate cuts. The economic outlook in Europe is more positive. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said in an interview she was "really confident" that euro zone inflation is under control. The ECB has all but promised a rate cut on June 6, so policymakers have shifted their attention to debating where rates will go thereafter. The market appeared largely unaffected by the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner and potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The structure of the Brent contract is weakening in an indication of a softer market and strong supply. The front-month Brent contract's premium to the second-month contract narrowed to 10 cents, its weakest since January. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-fall-fear-high-us-interest-rates-depressing-demand-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 06:39

PERTH, May 21 (Reuters) - Shares of BHP Group (BHP.AX) New Tab, opens new tab touched a three-month high on Tuesday about 36 hours ahead of a deadline to lodge a formal bid for rival miner Anglo American (AAL.L) New Tab, opens new tab, which last week rejected a sweetened $43 billion takeover proposal. The world's largest listed miner's shares are benefiting from good news including fresh stimulus for China's property sector, copper prices reaching record highs and a growing view that BHP will not make another tilt at Anglo, according to Andy Forster, senior investment officer at Argo Investments, a BHP shareholder. "We saw last week that they had a bit of a bounce after rejection by Anglo," he said. "I think they're going to stay disciplined. I'd be surprised if they'd come back at this late stage given the lukewarm response from Anglo's board to the previous offers." Under UK takeover rules, BHP has until 1600 GMT on Wednesday to make a binding bid for Anglo American or it will be forced to walk away for at least six months. If the companies reach an agreement in the meantime, an extension can be granted. BHP declined to comment on Tuesday. Its shares were up 0.5% to A$45.93 in afternoon trading. Anglo's London-listed shares closed 0.1% higher at 26.80 pounds on Monday. Anglo's board has already knocked back two all-share proposals from BHP as inadequate and too difficult to execute and last week unveiled plans for a break-up to focus on energy transition metal copper while spinning out or selling its coal, nickel, diamond and platinum businesses. The copper assets make strategic sense for BHP but the longer the deal takes to close, the more likely it is a competitor lobs a rival bid for some of Anglo's assets, according to Hayden Bairstow, an analyst at Australian stockbroker Argonaut. "The risk of waiting is that Anglo's metallurgical coal assets go to someone else or an interloper like Glencore comes in with a more compelling deal," he said. It would take Anglo a minimum of six to 12 months to run a sales process for the coal assets, according to an Australia-based investment banker who spoke on condition of anonymity. Bankers are now jostling to get business from potential buyers, the person added. Jefferies analysts said last week that BHP could be interested in the coal assets if it did not succeed in its bid for Anglo, given it owns nearby mines. BHP would need to boost its latest offer by about 30% to reflect fair value for Anglo and its key copper assets, JPMorgan analysts said in a note last week. Both of BHP's offers required Anglo divest its platinum and iron ore assets in South Africa, where it employs more than 40,000 people. BHP has told investors it will not drop its requirement for Anglo to demerge those businesses as a condition of the deal. ($1 = 0.7869 pounds) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/australias-bhp-hits-3-month-high-deadline-formal-anglo-bid-looms-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 06:28

U.S. Fed minutes due on Wednesday Gold hit a record high of $2,449.89 on Monday May 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices cooled near a record peak hit in the previous session on Tuesday as the dollar held ground, but stayed afloat at the $2,400 level on support from safe-haven interest and prospects of U.S. interest rates easing this year. Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,420.49 per ounce by 1756 GMT, as the U.S. dollar index (.DXY) New Tab, opens new tab edged up, making bullion more expensive for other currency holders. U.S. gold futures settled 0.5% lower to $2,425.90. As gold scaled a record high of $2,449.89 on Monday, "the general picture has not really changed (since March) ... which is just the backdrop of very attractive global macroeconomic and geopolitical environment for gold," said Nikos Kavalis, managing director at Metals Focus. Concerns about the rapidly rising U.S. government debt as the Federal Reserve tries to make for a soft landing are drivers for some investors. Recent data suggested that U.S. inflation resumed its downward trend, however several Fed policymakers remained cautious on cutting rates too soon but ruled out the need for a hike. Elsewhere in China, where efforts are being made to stabilise its crisis-hit property sector, investors are inclined to invest in safe-haven gold. China itself, officially, has loaded up bullion in the first quarter of 2024. "Gold's key role is to offset risk, whether financial, geopolitical or volatility. That is not new, but sentiment has now realised," StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell said. Global gold physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw net inflows of $1 billion last week - the largest weekly inflow since October 2023, according to the World Gold Council. "More and more investors, including a lot of mainstream investors, like macro funds and the likes, have missed a part of that rally, and are convinced by the case for gold and therefore want to participate," Kavalis said, adding however that the market is ripe for correction before prices could further move up. Investors will keep a tab on minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting due on Wednesday. Silver rose 0.2% to $31.90 after hitting an over 11-year high in the last session. Platinum rose 0.7% to $1,054.00 per ounce and palladium fell 0.1% to $1,025.43 per ounce. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-slips-record-levels-dollar-holds-ground-2024-05-21/

2024-05-21 06:13

BERLIN, May 21 (Reuters) - An international ocean court is expected to issue an advisory opinion on Tuesday on whether countries have a responsibility to reduce emissions and fight climate change - a judgement that could give legal leverage to future climate cases. In its first-ever climate-related judgement, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany, will decide specifically whether carbon emissions absorbed by ocean should be considered marine pollution, and whether nations are obligated to protect marine environments. The court's opinion was requested by a group of island nations facing climate-driven sea-level rise. "This is really an epic David and Goliath contest; it's the smallest of nations on Earth ... invoking the power of international law against the major polluter," said Payam Akhavan, the group's lead counsel in the proceedings, during a news briefing last week. While the tribunal's opinion in the case will not be legally binding, it will be able to help guide countries in their climate policy and will be able to be used in other cases as legal precedent. In the case hearings in September, China, the world's biggest carbon polluter, had challenged the islands' request, arguing that the tribunal does not have general authority to issue advisory opinions, saying its position was taken to avoid the fragmentation of international law. "If ITLOS were to find that such an obligation exists, Beijing's response would most likely be to characterize this as falling outside of its proper scope of authority," Ryan Martinez Mitchell, law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Reuters. A decision that classifies greenhouse gas emissions as a form of pollution could focus attention on states' existing obligations to protect marine environments under U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, Akhavan said. Some activists and environmental lawyers said they hoped for an opinion that pushes countries at the upcoming U.N. climate summit, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, to set more ambitious climate targets. "There will be clarity in terms of international law coming in and saying, well actually, legally, this is also a requirement," said lawyer Lea Main-Klingst for the legal charity ClientEarth. The decision could also influence two upcoming legal opinions by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, and the International Court of Justice - which are also considering states' climate obligations. Already last month, the European Court of Human Rights issued a historic ruling in favour of plaintiffs who argued that Switzerland was violating their human rights by not doing enough to combat climate warming. "This is about making international law work for us," said Vishal Prasad, campaign director for the group Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change. "It's about advancing the gaps that exist in the Paris agreement." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/international-ocean-tribunal-issue-climate-opinion-david-goliath-precedent-case-2024-05-21/