2025-08-04 22:05

Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. pipeline operator ONEOK (OKE.N) , opens new tab reported a rise in second-quarter profit on Monday, boosted by additional contributions from acquisitions. Late last year, the company acquired a 43% controlling interest in Enlink Midstream for about $3.3 billion in cash, boosting its presence in the Permian Basin. Sign up here. ONEOK completed the acquisition of the remaining publicly-held shares of EnLink Midstream on January 31, 2025. The company's second-quarter adjusted core profit for its natural gas gathering and processing segment jumped nearly 46% to $540 million from a year earlier, driven by the acquisition. ONEOK has further expanded its portfolio through other acquisitions, including Medallion Midstream and an NGL pipeline system from Easton Energy. "Our recent strategic acquisitions are delivering synergies and strengthening our position as a leading midstream player," CEO Pierce Norton II said in a statement. The company had entered the refined products and crude transportation market in 2023 after acquiring rival Magellan Midstream in an $18.8 billion deal. Earnings were also boosted as Rocky Mountain natural gas liquids (NGL) raw feed volumes increased by 11% compared to the prior year. ONEOK operates a 60,000-mile network of pipelines, transporting natural gas, NGLs, refined products and crude oil. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company reported net income attributable to shareholders of $841 million, or $1.34 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, up from $780 million, or $1.33 per share, in the same period a year earlier. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oneoks-quarterly-profit-climbs-acquisition-gains-2025-08-04/

2025-08-04 21:57

Trump has not yet been able to reach trade deal with India Trump recently criticized India over Russia ties and BRICS India says it is protecting its own interests, calls its targeting unreasonable WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump again threatened on Monday 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. In a social media post, Trump wrote, "India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine." Sign up here. "Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA," he added. A spokesperson for India's foreign ministry said in response that India will "take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security." "The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable," the spokesperson added. Trump has said that from Friday he will impose new sanctions on Russia as well as on countries that buy its energy exports, unless Moscow takes steps to end its 3-1/2 year war with Ukraine , opens new tab. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no public sign of altering his stance despite the deadline. Over the weekend, two Indian government sources told Reuters that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump's threats. India has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. New Delhi has resisted, citing its longstanding ties with Russia and economic needs , opens new tab. Trump had already in July announced 25% tariffs on Indian imports, and U.S. officials have cited a range of geopolitical issues standing in the way of a U.S.-India trade accord. Trump has also cast the wider BRICS group of developing nations as hostile to the United States. Those nations have dismissed his accusation, saying the group promotes the interests of its members and of developing countries at large. CRUDE BUYER India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by trade sources. India began importing oil from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, the Indian spokesperson said, calling it a "necessity compelled by global market situation." The spokesperson also noted the West's, particularly the European Union's, bilateral trade with Russia: "It is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia." Despite the Indian government's defiance, the country's main refiners paused buying Russian oil last week, sources told Reuters. Discounts to other suppliers narrowed after Trump threatened hefty tariffs on countries that make any such purchases. Indian government officials denied any policy change. The country's largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp, has bought 7 million barrels of crude from the United States, Canada and the Middle East, four trade sources told Reuters on Monday. India also has been frustrated by Trump repeatedly taking credit for an India-Pakistan ceasefire that he announced on social media in May, which halted days of hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbors. The unpredictability of the Trump administration creates a challenge for Delhi, said Richard Rossow, head of the India program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "India's continued energy and defense purchases from Russia presents a larger challenge, where India does not feel it can predict how the Trump administration will approach Russia from month to month," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/trump-again-threatens-india-with-harsh-tariffs-over-russian-oil-purchases-2025-08-05/

2025-08-04 21:55

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Libya's National Oil Corporation said on Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab after a decade of activity halt in the North African country due to security reasons. NOC in a statement said the MoU focuses on conducting detailed geological and geophysical studies to identify the hydrocarbon resources in four offshore blocks located off the northwest coast and the country's Sirte Basin. Sign up here. In 2013, ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly-traded energy company, decided to cut back its staff and operations in Libya as growing instability no longer justified a major presence. The company's decision then came amid growing concern among international oil companies that the returns on offer in Libya may not justify the security and political risks that had grown since the 2011 uprisings that swept the Middle East. Libya's oil output has been disrupted repeatedly in the chaotic decade since 2014, when the country divided between two rival authorities in the east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/libyas-noc-signs-memorandum-understanding-with-exxonmobil-after-decade-2025-08-04/

2025-08-04 21:49

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday allowed six additional states to bar participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from using their benefits to buy certain processed foods, such as sodas and candy. The SNAP waivers for West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas amend the statutory definition of food for purchase and put an end to the subsidization of popular types of junk food beginning in 2026. Sign up here. The administration of President Donald Trump has encouraged all states to take such measures as part of its "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, named for the social movement led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The USDA had so far signed waivers to allow six states — Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska — to place similar purchasing restrictions on SNAP recipients. "I hope to see all 50 states join this bold commonsense approach. For too long, the root causes of our chronic disease epidemic have been addressed with lip service only," said the U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the additional waivers at an event at the USDA headquarters in Washington. "These state waivers promote healthier options for families in need," said Secretary Rollins. More than 42 million people receive SNAP benefits, sometimes called food stamps, as part of the nation's largest anti-hunger program. The massive tax cut and spending bill signed by President Trump in July makes significant changes to the SNAP program, including expanding work requirements and shifting more spending for the program to states. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-farm-agency-allows-six-more-states-bar-some-items-food-aid-2025-08-04/

2025-08-04 21:25

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 summer Olympic games, an administration official told Reuters. The task force, made up of members from Trump's cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said. Sign up here. It also will "streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media," the official said in an email. The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the World Cup. "During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America's bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday. Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule . The city had also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984. "The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,” Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/sports/trump-sign-order-creating-olympics-task-force-ahead-2028-games-2025-08-04/

2025-08-04 21:20

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Argentine President Javier Milei on Monday vetoed a pension boost and a bill strengthening protections for people with disabilities, which lawmakers had passed in July, saying that they put fiscal balance at risk. The decision to veto the bills had already been announced by Milei last month, although Congress - where the libertarian president does not have a majority - can still overturn the vetoes. Sign up here. The vetoes come less than three months before Argentina's mid-term elections, seen as a gauge of approval for the Milei administration, which has managed to reduce triple-digit annual inflation but whose austerity policies have had a social impact. After the publication of an executive order with the vetoes, the Argentine presidency said in a statement that the bills had been approved by Congress in an irresponsible manner, without identifying funding sources. "This president prefers to tell an uncomfortable truth rather than repeat comfortable lies: there is no money," the statement said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/there-is-no-money-argentinas-milei-vetoes-pension-boost-passed-by-congress-2025-08-04/