2025-08-06 07:23
Oil prices rebound amid supply disruption concerns API crude draw data supporting prices, analysts say LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded from the previous session's five-week low on Wednesday, as traders focused on U.S. President Donald Trump threatening India with higher tariffs over its Russian crude purchases, and a larger-than-expected U.S. crude draw. Brent crude futures gained $1.11, or 1.6%, to $68.75 a barrel by 1119 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.12, or 1.7%, at $66.28 a barrel. Sign up here. Both oil contracts fell by more than $1 on Tuesday to settle at their lowest in five weeks, marking a fourth session of losses. "Prices bounced up on the potential higher tariffs on India but the market is waiting for some sort of a formal implementation as well as which elements in the market are to be affected," said Rystad analyst Janiv Shah. Trump renewed threats to impose higher import tariffs on Indian goods over the country's buying of Russian energy. India, along with China, is a major buyer of Russian oil. "Expectations appear that India may reduce its buying of Russian crude, but I can't see them doing so entirely as they have been making supernormal profits on buying cheap Russian crude," said Ashley Kelty, an analyst at Panmure Liberum. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Wednesday on a last-minute mission to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war, two days before the expiry of a deadline set by Trump for Russia to agree to peace or face new sanctions. Rystad's Shah said that although the meeting could lead to some concessions, a planned supply increase from the OPEC+ group would offset a potential decline in Russian oil supply. The market was also finding support from a fall in U.S. crude inventories last week, analysts said, as sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures said on Tuesday that stockpiles had fallen by 4.2 million barrels. That compares with a Reuters poll estimate of a 600,000 barrels draw for the week to August 1. "For all that has been thrown the oil market's way geopolitically, Brent futures have struggled to even hold the floor at $70 a barrel for any convincing length of time," said independent analyst Gaurav Sharma. Brent is down 9.4% so far this year, which Sharma said was due to the market remaining well supplied at a time of uncertain demand. That, along with a cloudy macro-economic outlook, made the case for any lasting bullishness in crude unlikely, he added. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-rebounds-trump-threats-russian-crude-buyers-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 07:18
NEW DELHI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - India's exports of refined fuel are in the spotlight after last month's European Union sanctions while U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a tariff hike over its oil purchases from Russia. The South Asian nation became the top buyer of Russian seaborne crude after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Private refiners Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) , opens new tab and Nayara are Russia's top Indian oil clients, trade data shows. Sign up here. India's state refiners have stopped Russian oil purchases as the discounts narrowed and Trump warned countries not to by Moscow's oil, industry sources said. From January 21, the EU will stop direct imports of fuels made from Russian oil. Here are details of fuel exports from India's two big private refiners. NAYARA ENERGY Nayara, recently sanctioned by the European Union, exported nearly 3 million tons of refined fuel in the first half of 2025, data from trade sources showed, or 30% of its total output. Swiss-based trader Vitol was the top buyer of refined products from Nayara, including diesel and gasoline, for discharge in the United Arab Emirates and West Africa, the data showed. Other buyers included Aramco Trading, Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab, and BP (BP.L) , opens new tab. Nayara was forced to cut output at its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery at the western port of Vadinar due to difficulties in securing ships for exports after the sanctions, Reuters reported. The refiner, majority-owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab, sells about 70% of its refined fuels in India through more than 6,600 retail outlets, it said in a Delhi court filing. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Reliance, operator of the world's largest refining complex at Jamnagar, is a much bigger exporter. Controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Reliance exported 21.66 million tons of refined products in the first six months of 2025 to buyers such as BP (BP.L) , opens new tab, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab, Glencore(GLEN.L) , opens new tab, Vitol and Trafigura, the data showed. Europe takes the biggest chunk, or 28%, of Reliance's exports, according to the data analysed by Reuters. The table shows exports by Nayara Energy and Reliance Industries between January and June 2025, according to data obtained from sources. Units are 1,000 tons. Note: Totals may not tally due to rounding-off. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exports-oil-products-by-private-indian-refiners-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 07:04
MUMBAI, August 6 (Reuters) - India’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $688.9 billion as of August 1, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Wednesday. The forex reserves fell $9.3 billion compared to the previous week, which economists said reflects the central bank's defence of the rupee amid tariff-related uncertainties. Sign up here. Detailed data on forex reserves will be released later this week. The rupee slid 1.18% against the dollar in the week through August 1, marking its sharpest weekly decline in nearly three years. It has lost another 0.2% so far this week and would likely have breached its record low if not for the Reserve Bank of India’s intervention to support the currency, according to traders. India faces the imposition of a 25% tariff on its shipments to the U.S. from Friday, and President Donald Trump has warned of "very substantial" additional levies because of New Delhi's oil imports from Russia. The RBI kept its growth forecasts unchanged at its policy review on Wednesday and left rates unchanged. "Given that the Indian rupee is weakening and narrowing of the global interest rate differentials, the scope for rate reduction was slim," said Umesh Kumar Mehta, chief investment officer at SAMCO Mutual Fund. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-fx-reserves-drop-9-billion-about-689-billion-reflecting-tariff-driven-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:59
TOKYO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Japanese oil and gas explorer Inpex Corp (1605.T) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it has awarded additional contracts for early-stage design work on its $20 billion Abadi liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia's Masela block. In April, the firm launched a front-end engineering design (FEED) process to assess technical details and costs to build the facilities needed to extract and process natural gas from the Abadi gas field and convert it to LNG at an onshore plant. Sign up here. Following its announcement of some initial awards on Monday, Inpex said that two contractor consortiums - one led by Japan's JGC Holdings (1963.T) , opens new tab and the other by U.S. engineering firm KBR (KBR.N) , opens new tab - have been selected to conduct FEED work for the onshore LNG facility. The two groups will work in parallel under a so-called "dual FEED" framework to foster competition. The consortium that provides the better technical and commercial proposal will be awarded the subsequent Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract, Inpex said. The FEED scope also includes work related to carbon capture and storage (CCS), it said. The move signals progress toward a final investment decision on the project, which is expected to produce at its peak 9.5 million metric tons of LNG a year. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/inpex-awards-more-contracts-engineering-design-indonesias-abadi-lng-project-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:54
PARIS, Aug 6 (Reuters) - One person has died as a result of a wildfire in the Aude region in southern France, the local authority said on Wednesday. The Aude prefecture said in a statement the fire was progressing "very quickly" and that 1,820 firefighters were trying to get it under control. Around 2,500 households in the area were currently without electricity, it said. Sign up here. President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X late on Tuesday that all of the government's resources were being mobilized to tackle the Aude fire. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/wildfire-southern-france-kills-one-progressing-quickly-2025-08-06/
2025-08-06 06:48
Trump set to fill Fed board vacancy by week's end Traders see 88% chance of Fed rate cut in September Perth Mint's July gold sales slump 33% Aug 6 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower on Wednesday due to a slightly firmer dollar, while investors held back from making big bets ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on appointments to the Federal Reserve. Spot gold was down 0.1% at $3,376.69 per ounce, as of 0631 GMT, after hitting a near two-week high on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $3,432.40. Sign up here. The dollar (.DXY) , opens new tab rebounded from a one-week low hit in the previous session following weak U.S. jobs data that raised rate-cut hopes in September, reducing gold's appeal to holders of other currencies. "Gold has been caught between conflicting forces. The drop in yields has helped, but the U.S. dollar has managed to hold up well despite Friday’s selloff. That has produced the range we’re now seeing, as prices wait for conviction across the catalysts," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. Trump on Tuesday said he would soon announce a short-term replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who announced her resignation on Friday, as well as his pick for the next Fed chair. The CME FedWatch tool , opens new tab now puts the odds of a September cut at nearly 88%, after Friday's weaker-than-expected employment growth data, following which Trump fired the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). On the trade front, Trump again threatened to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, while New Delhi called his attack "unjustified" and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening the trade rift between the two countries. Elsewhere, Perth Mint's gold product sales fell 33% in July from the previous month, while silver sales slipped to a six-month low, the refiner said on Wednesday. Spot silver was steady at $37.85 per ounce, platinum slipped 0.1% to $1,319.35 and palladium fell 0.6% to $1,168.17. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/gold-inches-lower-dollar-gains-markets-await-fed-appointments-2025-08-06/
