2025-06-20 12:33

KARACHI, June 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan has signed term sheets with 18 commercial banks for a 1.275 trillion Pakistani rupee ($4.50 billion) Islamic finance facility to help pay down mounting debt in its power sector, the power minister said on Friday. The government, which owns or controls much of the power infrastructure, is grappling with ballooning “circular debt”, unpaid bills and subsidies, that has choked the sector and weighed on the economy. Sign up here. The liquidity crunch has disrupted supply, discouraged investment and added to fiscal pressure, making it a key focus under Pakistan’s $7 billion IMF programme. Finding funds to plug the gap has been a persistent challenge, with limited fiscal space and high-cost legacy debt making resolution efforts more difficult. “Eighteen commercial banks will provide these loans through Islamic financing,” Power Minister Awais Leghari told Reuters. “It will be repaid in 24 quarterly instalments over six years.” The facility, structured under Islamic principles, is secured at a concessional rate of 3-month KIBOR, the benchmark rate banks use to price loans, minus 0.9%, a formula agreed on by the IMF. Leghari said it will not add to public debt. Existing liabilities carry higher costs, including late payment surcharges on Independent Power Producers of up to KIBOR plus 4.5%, and older loans ranging slightly above benchmark rates. Meezan Bank (AMZN.PSX) , opens new tab, HBL (HBL.PSX) , opens new tab, National Bank of Pakistan (NBPK.PSX) , opens new tab and UBL (UBL.PSX) , opens new tab were among the banks participating in the deal, he said. The government expects to allocate 323 billion rupees annually to repay the loan, capped at 1.938 trillion rupees over six years. The agreement also aligns with Pakistan’s target of eliminating interest-based banking by 2028, with Islamic finance now comprising about a quarter of total banking assets. ($1 = 283.5000 Pakistani rupees) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/pakistan-signs-45-billion-loans-with-local-banks-ease-power-sector-debt-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 12:22

SINGAPORE, June 20 (Reuters) - Sellers of Iranian oil to China are offering deeper discounts this month as they look to reduce inventories and as independent refiners slow their buying due to a jump in crude prices, traders and analysts said. Iranian Light crude oil is being traded at $3.30-$3.50 a barrel below ICE Brent for July deliveries, compared to a discount of around $2.50 for June, three traders said. Sign up here. Independent refineries, known as teapots, are the main Chinese buyers of Iranian crude. They are currently being squeezed by a $10 a barrel surge in crude prices since the Israel-Iran conflict began last week. Teapots in refining hub Shandong province are incurring their deepest losses this year, traders said. Consultancy Sublime China Information estimates average losses at 353 yuan ($49.15) per metric ton this week. Shandong refinery operations remained low at 51% of capacity as of June 18, down from 64% a year earlier, Sublime data showed. STORAGE RISING Meanwhile, stocks of Iranian oil, including in Chinese storage, in tankers near and off Chinese ports awaiting discharge, and in floating storage near Malaysia and Singapore, amount to roughly 70 million barrels, according to analytics firm Vortexa. That is enough for two months' demand for Iranian oil from China, the biggest buyer. Data from tanker tracker Kpler points to a stockbuild of more than 30 million barrels this year in floating storage. Both Kpler and Vortexa estimate total Iranian oil on the water, including floating storage, at nearly 120 million barrels, the most since at least 2023. Recent U.S. sanctions on three Chinese teapots curtailed buying from several mid-sized independents worried about being designated, Reuters has reported. One trader estimated the volume of Iranian supply to China replaced by non-sanctioned barrels at 100,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2025 - a fraction of the 1.4-1.5 million bpd of Iranian oil being delivered to China. ($1 = 7.1819 Chinese yuan renminbi) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/discounts-deepen-iranian-oil-china-struggling-teapots-slow-buying-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 12:15

June 20 (Reuters) - Britain's Unite union on Friday said that offshore platform workers employed by TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab had overwhelmingly backed a new pay deal, after workers had earlier balloted for possible strike action. "Around 50 Unite members based on the Elgin Franklin and North Alwyn platforms agreed to an enhanced offer which amounts to a 2.25 per cent increase in basic pay alongside a five per cent increase in the offshore allowance," the union said. Sign up here. The union said that the overall pay package is estimated to be worth around an additional 2,500 pounds to the offshore workers. In late April, Unite said that offshore workers employed by TotalEnergies were balloting for a possible strike action to secure a better pay offer. The workers undertake a number of roles on TotalEnergies platforms including skilled engineers, control room and senior operators along with mechanical, operation and production technicians, the union said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/uks-unite-says-totalenergies-offshore-workers-win-boost-pay-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 12:09

MILAN, June 20 (Reuters) - Eni (ENI.MI) , opens new tab intends to set up a new company focused on several assets including oil refineries and fuels storage facilities in Italy, two unions said after a meeting with the state-controlled energy group earlier this week. The new unit, which will likely be named Eni Industrial Evolution (EIE), could take onboard nearly 2,000 employees who work on the sites that will be included in it, the unions said. Sign up here. "EIE will take over the management of traditional refining, primary logistics and the conversion into bio-refineries of the Livorno and part of Sannazzaro plants," FEMCA CISL union said in a statement published on its website on Thursday. Eni declined to comment on the news from the unions, which was first reported by Italian daily Corriere della Sera. The state-controlled group has been splitting some of its operations into separate entities, or satellites, and has clinched deals with investors interested in these units. On the low-carbon front, Eni has created retail and renewable unit Plenitude, biofuel company Enilive and aims to set up a venture dedicated to carbon capture and storage by the end of this year. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/italys-eni-eyes-new-unit-manage-oil-refineries-unions-say-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 11:57

ST PETERSBURG, June 20 (Reuters) - Russia signed an investment agreement with Myanmar on Friday that it said could open up new opportunities for Russian energy companies in the south Asian country. "We especially note the readiness of the Myanmar side to attract Russian companies to the development of offshore oil and gas fields," Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said after signing the agreement in St Petersburg with Kan Zaw, Myanmar's minister of investment and foreign economic relations. Sign up here. Russia said the deal would help accelerate projects including in Myanmar's Dawei special economic zone, where a 660 MW coal-fired thermal power plant is being developed. Russia has been building closer ties with Myanmar's military junta, which seized power in 2021 by toppling the elected government of Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The country is struggling with internal conflict, an economy in tatters, widespread hunger and a third of the nation's 55 million people in need of aid, according to the United Nations. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met Russian President Vladimir Putin in March and signed an agreement on construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar. A month earlier, the two countries signed a memorandum on construction of a port and oil refinery in the Dawei economic zone. Friday's agreement will also facilitate cooperation in areas including transport infrastructure, metallurgy, agriculture and telecommunications, the Russian government said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-signs-investment-deal-with-myanmar-sees-offshore-oil-gas-prospects-2025-06-20/

2025-06-20 11:47

NEW DELHI, June 20 (Reuters) - India's infrastructure output (ININFR=ECI) , opens new tab grew 0.7% year-on-year in May, government data showed on Friday. The index, which tracks activity across eight sectors and makes up 40% of the country's industrial production, grew at a revised 1% in April, compared to the initial estimate of 0.5%. Sign up here. KEY NUMBERS * Crude oil output dropped 1.8% year-on-year in May against a 2.8% fall in April * Natural gas production declined 3.6% year-on-year as against a 0.9% decline in April * Cement output rose 9.2% year-on-year in May compared to a 6.3% rise in April * Steel production increased 6.7% year-on-year against a 4.4% increase in April * Fertilizer production fell 5.9% year-on-year compared to a 4.2% drop in the previous month * Coal production increased 2.8% year-on-year compared to a 3.5% gain in April. * Electricity generation fell 5.8% year-on-year in May against a 1.7% increase in April * Refinery products grew 1.1% year-on-year against a drop of 4.5% in April. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-infrastructure-output-rises-07-year-on-year-may-2025-06-20/