London - Royal Dutch Shell is looking to slash up to 40% off the cost of producing oil and gas in a major drive to save cash so it can overhaul its business and focus more on renewable energy and power markets. Shell's new cost-cutting review, known internally as Project Reshape and expected to be completed this year
Madrid - After securing a generous portion of European Union recovery funds for the coronavirus crisis, Spain faces an unlikely problem - how to make use of all the money, government sources told: "This is not a crisis of dough (money), it is a crisis of ideas," one of the sources said, referring to concrete investment projects to help the economy out of a record recession. In a country that has not managed to approve a full-year budget since 2016
London - Global oil refiners reeling from months of lackluster demand and an abundance of inventories are cutting fuel production into the autumn because the recovery in demand from the impact of coronavirus has stalled
Beijing - The chairman of cash-strapped HNA Group has been barred from taking flights and high-speed trains and going on vacations due to the Chinese conglomerate's failure to pay a court-ordered $5,300 in a lawsuit
China has been actively offering vaccines that are still undergoing late-stage trials to people facing high infection risk and considering expanding the programme to prepare against a potential resurgence, raising safety concerns from experts
In April, a court convicted 12 people of smuggling the drugs, but the two alleged kingpins of the operation remain at large
Oil major BP has provisionally chartered a supertanker to store crude oil off Malaysia at this year’s lowest rate yet, according to industry sources and data on Refinitiv Eikon
European Union leaders should impose “severe” economic sanctions on Turkey for a limited time if Ankara does not remove its military vessels and gas drilling ships from waters off Cyprus
Oslo - Norway's quarterly public spending exceeded the government's overall income for the first time in 25 years during the three months from April to June, Statistics Norway (SSB) said on Wednesday. The unusual deficit, amounting to $9.5 billion, came as the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp fall in tax revenue and in the price of crude oil
Beijing - China is planning a set of new government policies to develop its domestic semiconductor industry and counter restrictions imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump
Dubai - Dubai is seeking to attract wealthy foreign retirees as the economy of the Middle East trade and tourism hub reels from the coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices, prompting many expatriates to leave
A study undertaken in April by Cologne University's energy economics institute (EWI) showed that consumers would benefit from a 5% gas price discount if Nord Stream 2 materialised
China’s crude oil imports in August climbed 13% from a year earlier, buoyed by hefty orders placed earlier this year when global oil prices collapsed and as cargoes previously delayed by congestion at arrival ports finally cleared customs
The pandemic will not finish this year as the virus has spread from big cities to other parts of the country, Randeep Guleria, the director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, said in an interview with India Today TV
To comply with ECB demands, Monte dei Paschi last week issued 300 million euros in second-tier capital, offering an 8.5% return
In the municipality of La Spezia, one of the most important Italian ports, the sick people are 387 (they were 318 yesterday), the hospitalized are 47 (they were 41)
Istanbul - Turkey's economy contracted by 9.9% in the second quarter as a coronavirus lockdown brought activity to a near standstill, according to data on Monday that showed its worst year-over-year performance in a decade
Ottawa - The Royal Canadian Navy is ditching the term “seaman” in favour of the gender-neutral “sailor,” the organization said Thursday: “By adopting gender neutral designation for junior members of the Royal Canadian Navy, we demonstrate to all Canadians that the Canadian Armed Forces will welcome anybody who wants to serve their country and uphold the values of inclusion and diversity"- Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement
Seoul - The economy of isolated North Korea grew for the first time in three years in 2019 as better weather conditions boosted crop yields, but sanctions imposed to stop its nuclear ambitions kept factory output weak, South Korea's central bank said. Gross domestic product (GDP) in North Korea last year rose 0.4%
Tel Aviv - The president of the United Arab Emirates has issued a decree cancelling a law on boycotting Israel and allowing trade and financial agreements between the two countries. The decree from UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan aims at "supporting bilateral cooperation in order to arrive at (the establishment) of bilateral relations"
By ASLA - Associazione degli Studi Legali Associati
Trieste - On 1 September 2020, the EuroScience Open Forum - Esof, the largest interdisciplinary scientific meeting in Europe, will begin in Trieste. An extraordinary event dedicated to scientific research and innovation
Athens - Greece's conservative government has drafted a bill which overhauls its insolvency code, seeking to help over-indebted households and businesses make a fresh start after a crippling decade-long debt crisis. More than one million individuals and 300,000 businesses owe money to banks and the state, legacy of a decade-long financial crisis that shrank the country’s economy by a quarter
Amsterdam - Investors may struggle to find new southern European government bonds for the next two years, as the European Union's support programmes could cover much of the new funding needs of countries worst hit by the pandemic. Together with ongoing European Central Bank bond buying, the net supply of new sovereign Italian bonds to the open market may even shrink
Beijing - When the government of the south China city of Zhongshan heard that watchmaker Kam Yuen Group was furloughing more than 100 workers, it brokered a deal to shift the surplus staff to another manufacturer - a growing practice The arrangement will see Guangdong Welland Technology Co, which makes smart-watches and weighing scales, take on 140 Kam Yuen workers over the next six months
Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the Kremlin had set up a "reserve police force" to support Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, although it would not be deployed unless unrest there got out of control, Interfax news agency reported. The remarks were the strongest signal the Kremlin has given yet that it is prepared to use force if needed in Belarus
Beijing - China bought only 5% of the targeted $25.3 billion in energy products from the United States in the first half of 2020, falling well short of its trade deal commitments at a time when relations between the two top economies are already sour. China's imports of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), metallurgical coal and other energy products totalled around $1.29 billion this year through June
Washington - Top U.S. and Chinese trade officials reaffirmed their commitment to a Phase 1 trade deal, which has seen China lagging on its obligations to buy American goods, giving a boost to financial markets on Tuesday. The pledge was made in a telephone call between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He
Stockholm - Sweden is beefing up its military presence in the Baltic Sea amid concerns over increased Russian activity in the region and heightened tensions in Belarus following a disputed election. Sweden has been rearming in recent years after running down its military following the end of the Cold War
Any reduction in Turkey's energy imports would also boost government finances and help ease a chronic current account deficit that has helped drive the lira to record lows against the dollar
Cyprus on Monday criticised European Union partners over what it said was diffidence amounting to “a policy of appeasement” in dealing with Turkey
The 19 million acre (7.7 million hectares) refuge is home to wildlife populations including Porcupine caribou and polar bears and has been off-limits to drilling for decades
London - Britain's economy shrank by a record 20.4% between April and June, when the coronavirus lockdown was tightest, the largest contraction reported by any major economy so far, according to official figures published on Wednesday. The data also showed the world's sixth-biggest economy entered a recession as it shrank for a second quarter in a row
London - Wind turbines and solar panels produced a record 10% of the world’s electricity in the first half of 2020 as coal-power declined, but steeper change is needed to meet targets set under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a report said on Thursday. Scientist say huge cuts to greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector are required over the next decade to limit global warming and curb the worst impacts of climate change
Paris - The French government's economic recovery plan, which will be unveiled later this month, will entail three billion euros ($3.5 billion) in aid for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Sud Ouest reported citing Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire:"A lot of the SMEs were in good financial health before the crisis
Jakarta - Indonesian Sofa Arbiyanto had a manufacturing job in South Korea two years ago when he learned about the high price of vanilla on the global market, and decided to try his luck at growing it. Now he has 2,000 vanilla vines on a 1,200-sq-metre (0.3-acre) farm in Blora, Central Java, started after he did some internet research and joined online groups of vanilla farmers
Beijing - China hopes the United States will stop taking restrictive and discriminatory action against Chinese firms and create conditions for the implementation of a Phase 1 trade deal, Assistant Minister of Commerce Ren Hongbin said on Thursday. Senior U.S. and Chinese officials are due to review the deal during a video conference this weekend
Ankara - Turkey wants to resolve its dispute with Greece over energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean through dialogue, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday, while vowing to defend Turkey's coastal interests
Beijing - A city in China's eastern Anhui province found the novel coronavirus on the packaging of shrimps from Ecuador, state media reported on Wednesday, in the latest instance of the virus being detected on imported products
Zurich - The Swiss federal government expects a deficit of $22.87 billion for 2020, it said on Wednesday, as the country's coffers are hurt by lower receipts and costly programmes to offset the new coronavirus's hit to the economy. The shortfall results from an ordinary budget deficit of 3.1 billion francs, as well as extraordinary spending to combat the COVID-19 pandemic projected at 17.8 billion francs
Beirut - Lebanon may be in line for $298 million in emergency aid after the Beirut port blast, but the more than $30 billion some estimate it may need to rebuild its shattered economy will not be forthcoming without reform
Manila - The Philippine economy fell into recession for the first time in 29 years with a record slump in the second quarter, as strict lockdown measures ravaged economic activity
La Paz - Bolivia's government said on Monday it had ordered police and military to protect key installations and the transport of medical oxygen after clashes broke out over protests and roadblocks by opposition supporters demanding a quick election. Tensions are brewing as the South American nation heads for a key presidential election on Oct. 18, which has been delayed due to COVID-19
Milan - Italian eyewear tycoon Leonardo Del Vecchio is planning to raise its stake in financial group Mediobanca to 13-14% after he receives an approval from the European Central Bank later this month, two Italian dailies reported on Tuesday. Del Vecchio, founder of Ray-Ban owner Luxottica, sought ECB clearance in June to spike his Mediobanca holding above 10% and up to 20%
Fuel spilling from a Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius two weeks ago is creating an ecological disaster
Istanbul - Turkish central bank head Murat Uysal has stuck to the rate-cutting script since President Tayyip Erdogan hired him to lift Turkey out of a recession and currency crisis. A year later with the COVID-19 pandemic now crushing the lira, some traders and analysts say they think Uysal will instead hike rates to head off a deeper crisis
London - Euro zone manufacturing activity expanded modestly last month, its first growth since early 2019, and Asia's pain eased as the contraction slowed in export-reliant nations, adding to hopes the sector is emerging from the hit of the coronavirus pandemic. Just over 18 million people have been infected by the coronavirus and the hit from lockdowns and social distancing policies to contain its spread have had a devastating impact on global growth
London - Chocolate fans will not necessarily benefit from predictions of a fall in cocoa prices this year. A Reuters poll of London cocoa futures published on Monday forecast cocoa would cost 10% less at the end of the year
Manila - Tens of millions of people in and around the Philippine capital will go back to a strict lockdown from Tuesday, threatening incomes and hopes for reviving a once dynamic economy as authorities take drastic measures to halt surging virus cases. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippines was one of Asia's fastest growing economies
Baku - Azerbaijan has lowered its economic outlook, projecting its oil-driven economy will shrink by 5% this year from an earlier forecast of 3.8%, the finance ministry said on Saturday. Its updated budget will be discussed next week. The ministry also lowered its 2020 oil price forecast, which it uses to calculate its budget
Vienna - The Austrian economy shrank 10.7% in the second quarter, marking its biggest contraction since the data series began after World War Two, as the coronavirus pandemic hit both domestic and foreign demand
London - The trading units of European oil and gas majors have shielded their second-quarter results from the full force of the corona-induced collapse in demand for fuel, but big writedowns showed the scale of the challenge ahead, results showed on Thursday. France's Total and Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell scraped out small profits against expectations of losses
Madrid - Spain recorded a historic fall in GDP in the second quarter of the year, with the 18.5% drop wiping out all the post-financial crisis recovery of the last six years, data from National Statistics Institute showed on Friday
London - British officials have seized about £15.2m ($19.4m) worth of cocaine hidden in the floor of a refrigerated container at the London Gateway port in Essex. Border Force officers found 380 kg of the drug in a container carrying bananas from Costa Rica to Germany, after an X-ray revealed an anomaly in the insulation cavity
Congestion at China’s east coast oil ports that is adding to costs for shippers and importers is likely to run well into August, with crude shipments set to hit another record high this month
Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras said on Friday it has approved the start of a tender to build three new floating platforms, known as FPSOs, in the Buzios oilfield
Rio Tinto on Friday reported a 1.5% rise in iron ore shipments for the second quarter and said demand for the steelmaking ingredient was improving in China as its economy recovers from the coronavirus outbreak
Shipments of Russian diesel from Baltic to Mediterranean region opened in July as refinery run cuts in Europe and low freight rates offered opportunities for arbitrage trade
The slump in China’s exports likely eased in June as some countries reopened their economies, while imports contracted less sharply on higher crude oil and commodities purchases, a Reuters poll shows
Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel said on Sunday that around 45 tonnes of aviation fuel had leaked from its pipeline in the Arctic
Iran is determined to develop its oil industry in spite of U.S. sanctions imposed on the country
Nicosia - Cyprus takes its first step into the natural gas era on Thursday when President Nicos Anastasiades lays the foundation stone of the island’s first LNG terminal at Vasiliko, Larnaca. The €289 mln project is considered to be Cyprus’ largest energy venture and features an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a jetty, mooring facilities, a pipeline, and other onshore and offshore related infrastructure
Oil prices rose nearly 2% on Wednesday following a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories from record highs and a string of positive manufacturing data, but a surge in coronavirus cases tempered gains
State conglomerate Dubai World, whose assets include global port operator DP World, said on Tuesday it had made a final payment of $8.2 billion to creditors
China’s environment ministry said it would keep up its system of approving import quotas for solid waste, including scrap metal, until the end of 2020
Chesapeake Energy, the emblem of the American revolution for shale, is facing bankruptcy following the collapse of oil and gas prices linked to coronavirus
Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices remained steady this week on a continued stream of spot supply even though traders continued to cancel cargoes loading from the United States due to poor economics
Poland has signed contracts worth 1.9 billion zlotys ($483 million) to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Swinoujscie to 8.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2023 from 5 bcm now in response to increasing domestic demand.
London - The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), in conjunction with the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) have published an updated edition of the International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals (ISGOTT). The seminal text has been updated and enhanced
Teheran - Another Iranian oil tanker is en route to Venezuela, as the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to defy the sanctions put on both the nations (Iran and Venezuela) by the United States of America’s (USA). As per various reports received, the Iran-flagged "Golsan" is en route to Venezuela and is expected to dock soon
Tripoli - 14 Ukrainian seafarers who were arrested off Libya in 2017 have finally returned home. None of them were ever formally charged with a crime, but officials in Tripoli held them for more than three years. The Ukrainian crew and their ship, the product tanker "Ruta", were intercepted by Libyan Navy forces in April 2017 and detained for allegedly smuggling a cargo of diesel
Buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are expected to cancel 40 to 45 cargoes for August loading from the United States due to a slow recovery in Asian gas demand and record high European gas stocks
Iran could send two to three cargoes a month in regular gasoline sales to ally Venezuela, sources say, helping offload domestic oversupply but risking retaliation from U.S. President Donald Trump who has sanctions on both nations.
Bruxelles - The European Commission has approved the prolongation until the end of 2023 of various Italian support measures for maritime transport under Italy’s International Registry scheme
The Kinisis, a ship carrying liquefied natural gas from Trinidad, arrived at Dominion Energy Inc’s Cove Point LNG plant in Maryland on Saturday as some energy firms look to send cargoes to the United States with stockpiles in Europe filling fast
U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran’s shipping network took effect on Monday, months after they were announced in December following accusations of supporting proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
More than 70 ships are lined up at Brazil’s port of Santos to load sugar for export in a queue that may take a month to clear after buyers worldwide scrambled to get ahead of possible disruption caused by the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic
Trondheim - A drone has successfully inspected a 19.4 meter high oil tank on board a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel. The video shot by the drone was interpreted in real-time by an algorithm to detect cracks in the structure. It is the latest step in a technology qualification process that could lead to tank inspections becoming safer and more efficient
Shanghai - Hu Wenming, the former chairman and Party chief of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), is under investigation for "suspected serious violations of discipline and law," according to Chinese anti-corruption investigators
The government is offering debt and tax holidays and an $80 cash handout to needy families. "Losses of firms are being assessed. We are ready to provide financial support. Even self-employed people such as taxi drivers and hairdressers will be helped," Tebboune said
Hamburg - DNV GL, the world’s leading classification society, has launched a new certification in infection prevention for the maritime industry. The release of this custom certification aims to help the maritime industry resume operations better prepared for COVID-19 or other emerging pathogens. Genting Cruise Lines is the first customer working towards the CIP-M certification for their vessel “Explorer Dream”
Panama City - Panama’s maritime authorities issued a stern warning to all Panamanian flagged vessels seen as another crackdown on common tactics used by ships trying to avoid international restrictions or hide their activities. Panama’s directive follows the United States that recently highlighted the tactics used by illegal shippers and rogue nations
Doha - Qatar has signed a deal worth around $20 billion with South Korean shipbuilders to help cement its position as the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas. The Gulf emirate entered into agreements with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co
Ship assessors are resorting to virtual inspections of oil tankers to keep vessels afloat, as the coronavirus pandemic makes physical visits to check for seaworthiness tougher and a slump in fuel demand increases the need for ships as storage
The first of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel to Venezuela has moored at a port serving the South American country’s El Palito refinery, the nation’s oil minister said Monda
China is targeting a 2020 budget deficit of at least 3.6% of GDP, above last year's 2.8%, and fixed the quota on local-government special bond issuance at 3.75 trillion yuan ($527 billion), up from 2.15 trillion yuan, according to Li
Guaido said the fact President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government is importing fuel shows its mismanagement of the country's oil industry. Venezuela's refining network has 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of capacity, but has collapsed after years of underinvestment
U.S. crude prices settled about 3% lower on Tuesday after data showing domestic stockpiles didn’t rise as high as had been expected given tightening storage, despite pledges to cut production from May 1.
Saudi Arabia is looking into re-routing millions of barrels of oil onboard tankers sailing to the United States if President Donald Trump decides to block imports of crude from the Kingdom, shipping and trade sources say
Seoul - President Moon Jae-in said Thursday that South Korea’s shipping sector has set sail toward a renaissance with the introduction of the world’s largest container ship. He was attending a ceremony to christen the 24,000-TEU vessel, the "Algeciras", for use by the South Korean shipper HMM
London - Preliminary first -quarter GDP estimates for several euro zone member countries and for the currency area itself will make the coming week extremely busy. We expect the numbers to be awful. Whole swaths of the European economies were forced to shut down in March owing to the COVID -19 crisis
Norway plans to extend its no-go zone for oil exploration in the country's Arctic waters but stopped short of areas for which licences have already been granted to oil companies
Tim Walters, who was part of a "Reopen Maryland" protest over the weekend in which hundreds of people drove through the state capital Annapolis, said concerns about the virus must be kept in perspective and weighed against the economic toll of lockdowns
Behind a Saudi-Russian truce to stabilise oil markets with a record output cut, market players are seeing the two production heavyweights still trading blows in the physical market
Washington - The U.S. Energy Department is negotiating with nine companies to rent about 23 million barrels of oil storage capacity in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a Trump administration bid to help drain the country’s growing glut of crude
Having been in a stand-off with western nations from 2014 on everything from Crimea's annexation from Ukraine to allegations of election meddling, Moscow has sought to rebuild ties since the coronavirus outbreak. It sent medical support to Italy and the United States to fight the pandemic and has supported the historic oil supply pact
Tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) are on their way to China after Beijing started granting tax waivers to some importers, shipping and trade sources sai
On Monday, it reported 637 fatalities in the previous 24 hours - a 5% increase in total and less than half the pace recorded a week earlier
A supply deal between OPEC, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, that had propped up oil prices for three years collapsed in March, just as the impact of lockdowns to limit the spread of the new coronavirus destroyed demand
A shareholder of Inovio Pharmaceuticals filed a class action complaint on March 16 against the company and its chief executive, citing "misstatements" that the company had developed a coronavirus vaccine in three hours
