2025-08-01 19:31

OTTAWA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A proposed U.S.-Canada trade deal could still be weeks away, Ottawa's chief negotiator said on Friday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed higher tariffs on imports from Canada. Trump - who had set an August 1 deadline for an agreement - signed an executive order increasing tariffs on Canadian goods to 35% from 25% on all products not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Sign up here. Prime Minister Mark Carney insisted on the talks to reset bilateral relations, saying Trump's tariffs have upended decades-old trading and security ties. The negotiations, though, have so far produced little. Although over 90% of Canadian exports enter the United States without duties, the tariffs apply to crucial sectors such as steel, aluminum and automobiles. Federal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc, in charge of U.S. trade relations, said Canada had always made clear it would only accept a good deal. "At the end of business yesterday that agreement was not yet in sight ... there remain sectors the Americans are targeting which are essential for the Canadian economy," he told public broadcaster Radio-Canada. "Over the coming weeks we will ... continue talks with the Americans in an attempt to find a deal that would put us in a better position." Separately, LeBlanc told reporters in Washington that he would speak to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick next week and hoped to meet him in August. "The doors aren't closed, the doors are open, the conversations are ongoing," he said. The White House cited what it said was Canada's failure to stop fentanyl smuggling and address U.S. concerns about trade barriers. Washington is also unhappy about Canada's refusal to drop its own countermeasures, which were first imposed by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He resigned in March to be replaced by Carney, who won an April election promising to stand up to Trump. In June, Carney had threatened to ramp up counter tariffs in July unless there was progress on the deal. A statement he issued on Friday did not mention retaliation. Brian Clow, who was in charge of U.S. relations inside Trudeau's office for several years, noted Trump had announced deals with nations that declined to impose counter tariffs. "Unfortunately, Canada stands on its own right now, along with China, because many other countries ... refused to stand up to this President," he said by phone. "So I'm not sure that further retaliation is the way to go." Carney's talk about standing up to Trump cannot hide the divisions between those advocating for a hard line and those who worry about the potential economic damage. Goldy Hyder, president of the Business Council of Canada lobby group, said Canada was struggling at the talks and urged a new approach. "As someone said to me, Canada is playing chess, but there's nobody playing chess with it at the other end," he said. "We've got to make sure that we are thinking through: 'What have we been doing and what do we need to do?'," he told CBC News. "We've got to move with greater urgency, because our own economy is very fragile." https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/proposed-canada-us-trade-deal-could-still-be-weeks-away-says-ottawa-2025-08-01/

2025-08-01 19:26

New model to include royalties in kind from crude output or diluent imports PDVSA's European partners await authorized to resume operations Rebound to volumes earlier this year not seen soon, analyst says HOUSTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab expects its exports of Venezuelan crude to the United States to resume this month, the U.S. oil producer's CEO said on Friday, following a restricted license received this week from the Treasury Department to operate in the sanctioned country and do oil swaps. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth also said in a call to disclose the company's quarterly results that the exports will begin with a "limited amount," and added that he does not expect the flows to have a material impact on third-quarter results. Sign up here. Chevron's exports of Venezuelan oil have been suspended since April, when state-owned oil firm PDVSA canceled cargoes it had scheduled for its joint-venture partner over payment problems related to U.S. sanctions on the OPEC country. In March, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration revoked a license granted to Chevron under former President Joe Biden. Trump's administration gave Chevron and a handful of PDVSA partners until late May to wind down transactions. Last month, Washington agreed to reinstate Chevron's license after a successful prisoner swap with Venezuela. Members of the U.S. Congress also urged granting the oil authorizations again to prevent Venezuelan barrels from going to China. PDVSA's European partners have not yet been authorized to resume operations in Venezuela or export oil to their refineries, according to company sources. Before the licenses were canceled, Chevron exported some 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude in the first quarter, according to data based on vessel movements. That represented 29% of the country's total exports. The new authorization is similar to the Biden-era license, but it prohibits payments to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's administration in any currency, according to sources and information provided by U.S. officials. Since the license was greenlit by Washington, Chevron has been negotiating a new off-taking mechanism with cash-strapped PDVSA. The arrangement is expected to include payments of mandatory royalties and taxes to Venezuela in kind, which could come from a portion of crude jointly produced or through oil swaps with Chevron supplying Venezuela with diluents, the sources said. Chevron's Venezuela unit also ordered new inspections of PDVSA's loading terminals, ahead of any vessel chartering contracts, shipping sources said. U.S. Gulf Coast refiners snapped up higher volumes of Middle Eastern and South American crudes in July to offset the loss of Venezuelan barrels, ship tracking data showed. "Although we expect deliveries to return to the U.S. in short order, comments from CEO Mike Wirth indicate we shouldn't expect a rebound to the volumes seen earlier in the year any time soon," said Matt Smith, a lead oil analyst at Kpler. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chevrons-exports-venezuelan-oil-expected-resume-this-month-ceo-says-2025-08-01/

2025-08-01 19:25

Oil prices head for weekly gain US tariffs on dozens of countries take effect on August 1 Investors weigh impact from Trump threats over Russian oil HOUSTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices $2 a barrel on Friday because of jitters about a possible increase in production by OPEC and its allies, while a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report fed worries about demand. Brent crude futures settled at $69.67 a barrel, down $2.03, or 2.83%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $67.33 a barrel, down $1.93, or 2.79%. Sign up here. Brent finished the week with a gain near 6%, while WTI rose 6.29%. Three people familiar with discussions among OPEC members and allied producers said the group may reach an agreement as early as Sunday to boost production by 548,000 barrels per day in September. A fourth source familiar with OPEC+ talks said discussions on volume were ongoing and the hike could be smaller. The U.S. Labor Department said the country added 73,000 jobs in July, lower than economists had forecast, raising the national unemployment rate to 4.2% from 4.1%. "We can blame U.S. President Donald Trump with the tariffs or we can blame the Federal Reserve for not raising interest rates," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. "It looks like the Fed misjudged their decision on Wednesday." On Wednesday, the Fed voted to keep interest rates unchanged, drawing criticism from Trump and a chorus of Republican legislators. Oil traders have focused for much of the week on the potential impact of U.S. tariffs, with tariff rates on U.S. trading partners largely set to take effect from next Friday. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on U.S. imports from dozens of countries and foreign territories that failed to reach trade deals by his Aug. 1 deadline, including Canada, India and Taiwan. Partners that managed to secure trade agreements include the European Union, South Korea, Japan and Great Britain. "We think the resolution of trade deals to the satisfaction of the market – more or less, barring a few exceptions – has been the key driver for oil price bullishness in recent days," said Suvro Sarkar at DBS Bank. Prices were also supported this week by Trump's threats to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russian crude buyers as he seeks to pressure Russia into halting its war in Ukraine. This has stoked concern over potential disruption to oil trade flows and the removal of some oil from the market. On Thursday, JP Morgan analysts said Trump's threatened penalties on China and India over their purchases of Russian oil potentially put 2.75 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian seaborne oil exports at risk. China and India are the world's second and third-largest crude consumers respectively. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-falls-2-barrel-worries-about-opec-supply-us-jobs-data-2025-08-01/

2025-08-01 19:11

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Four Democratic U.S. senators on Friday slammed last month's directive by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum requiring his office to review decisions on every wind and solar power project on federal lands, saying it will lead to delays and discourage private investment as power demand rises. The lawmakers said the directive creates a bottleneck that will block progress on wind and solar energy, which accounted for the vast majority of new U.S. power generation added to the grid last year. Sign up here. "Rather than ensuring an efficient permitting process for all energy resources, it appears this directive actively disfavors renewable projects in favor of more expensive, and more polluting, technologies" such as fossil fuels, said the letter to Burgum from Senators Martin Heinrich, Ron Wyden and two others. They urged Burgum to rescind the directive and restore a transparent and timely permitting framework for renewable energy. The Interior Department did not comment on the letter. But a spokesperson said the "enhanced oversight will ensure all evaluations are thorough and deliberative." President Donald Trump has called wind and solar unreliable and expensive, and has pushed policies to boost U.S. production of oil, gas and coal. Heinrich, ranking Democrat on the Senate energy committee, represents New Mexico, which has bountiful oil, gas, wind and solar resources. Interior has said the reviews would apply to rights-of-way, leases, construction and other permitting activities. Trump has ordered several measures aimed at restricting wind and solar. His spending law accelerated by several years the phase-out of tax credits for the renewable power sources. Solar and wind companies have said Interior's directive was at odds with Trump's broader goal to slash burdensome regulations and boost energy for new data centers and artificial intelligence, which are hiking U.S. power demand for the first time in two decades. Former President Joe Biden's Interior Department had been reviewing more than 65 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects, with nearly 200 more in the queue, the senators said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/democrats-decry-extra-us-scrutiny-solar-wind-projects-public-lands-2025-08-01/

2025-08-01 18:46

CALGARY, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Construction costs at Canada's Woodfibre LNG project have increased, driving up capital costs for all partners involved, Canadian pipeline company Enbridge (ENB.TO) , opens new tab reported on Friday. The Woodfibre LNG project is a 2.1-million tonne liquefied natural gas export facility under construction near Squamish, British Columbia. The project is one of several new LNG facilities planned for Canada's Pacific coast, and is expected to be complete in 2027. Sign up here. The project's capital cost was initially estimated at US$5.1 billion. But Enbridge, which owns a 30% stake in the project, said Friday on a conference call that costs have recently increased due to permit delays, building code changes, a second floating hotel to accommodate workers, and challenging on-site conditions. "Our share of the project costs have increased from US$1.5 billion to US$2.9 billion, and our partners' proportionate share has increased similarly," an Enbridge spokesperson said in an email. The 70% remaining stake in the Woodfibre project is owned by Pacific Energy Corp Ltd, which is part of the Singapore-based RGE Group of companies. Woodfibre LNG did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Enbridge said Friday it is still expecting low double-digit returns from the project, relatively consistent with what it had initially expected. The company remains excited about the project and the LNG market, Enbridge's spokesperson said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/construction-costs-rise-canadas-woodfibre-lng-project-2025-08-01/

2025-08-01 16:42

Strong corporate earnings boost market confidence AI-driven companies lead market gains Short-term volatility expected, but long-term outlook positive NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - With more than half of second quarter earnings reported and stocks near record highs, company results have reassured investors about the artificial intelligence trade that has energized Wall Street, even if tariff worries curtailed buying. With results in from 297 of the S&P 500 companies as of Thursday, year-on-year earnings growth for the second quarter is now estimated at 9.8%, up from 5.8% estimated growth on July 1, according to LSEG data. Sign up here. Next week investors will get a peek at earnings from Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab constituents Disney (DIS.N) , opens new tab, McDonald's (MCD.N) , opens new tab and Caterpillar (CAT.N) , opens new tab, for a look at the broader economy. Strong profit reports for these companies could propel the Dow, trading just shy of its December record high, to a fresh peak. Some 81% of the companies have beaten analyst expectations on earnings, above the 76% average for the past four quarters. "The earnings season has been unambiguously better than expected," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth in Boston, said. The strength of corporate earnings is particularly reassuring for investors after the pummeling sentiment took in the prior quarter due to the twin threats of tariffs and worries over flagging economic growth. "The first quarter was a bit more mixed and you had some questionable economic data ... which I think gave the market some pause," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. "But the second quarter seems to have just been a turnaround," Ghriskey said. The strength of results for names linked to the artificial intelligence trade - the investment thesis that AI will be a transformative force, driving a significant portion of future economic growth and company profits - is particularly heartening, investors and analysts said. "Overall it has been mega caps, growth/technology/AI that is driving a lot of the results," Ghriskey said. "This is where we want to be exposed in terms of companies ... we're at maximum equity exposures and we're comfortable there." Having boosted the market for several quarters, the trade ran into rough waters at the start of the year as the emergence of Chinese-founded artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek rattled investors, stoking concerns over heightened competition that could disrupt the dominance of established tech giants at the heart of the AI trade, including Nvidia. Strong results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab reassured investors that massive bets on AI are paying off. Worries over AI demand appear overblown, Macro Hive research analyst Viresh Kanabar said. The trade related tumult earlier this year prompted many investors to pare equity exposure, particularly to higher-risk growth stocks. Even after the market rebound - the S&P 500 is up about 6% for the year and near a record high - institutional investors have been slow to return to equities. Overall, investors' equity positioning is still only modestly overweight, according to Deutsche Bank estimates. Strength in earnings from AI and technology names could draw more investors and lift markets further in coming weeks, analysts said. "If you are trying to beat your benchmark and you were underweight any of the AI names you have to chase them," B. Riley Wealth's Hogan said. After S&P 500's 2.2% gain in July, the seasonally volatile months of August and September, markets might face some short-term turbulence, Hogan said. Historically, August has marked a pick-up in stock market gyrations that peaks in October. August kicked off with stocks selling off sharply on Friday as new U.S. tariffs on dozens of trading partners and Amazon's unimpressive earnings weighed on sentiment, while a weaker payrolls report added to risk aversion. But any near-term market pullback should be seen as a buying opportunity, especially in some of the mega-cap, technology names, Hogan said. With big AI names, Alphabet, Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta Platforms and Amazon, commanding about a quarter of the weight in the S&P 500, the health of the AI trade bodes well for the market at an index level, analysts said. "We're not saying the weakness isn't there in other parts of the economy," Kanabar said. "We're just saying at the index level, the largest companies dominate to such an extent (that) it doesn't matter to some at the moment." https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-st-week-ahead-ai-gains-strong-earnings-support-wall-street-tariff-woes-2025-08-01/