2025-06-16 12:27

Air India crash latest challenge for struggling airline Chairman holds town hall after plane crash Asks staff to stay resolute amid criticism Incident most heartbreaking´ä crisis of his career, chair says NEW DELHI, June 16 (Reuters) - Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday told staff that last week's plane crash that killed at least 271 people should be a catalyst to build a safer airline, urging employees to stay resolute amid any criticism. In a town hall held at the headquarters of the Tata Group-owned airline near New Delhi and attended by 700 staff, Chandrasekaran said the crash was the "most heartbreaking" crisis of his career, a spokesperson told Reuters. Sign up here. "I've seen a reasonable number of crises in my career, but this is the most heartbreaking one," he said, according to a Tata Group spokesperson. "We need to use this incident as an act of force to build a safer airline," Chandrasekaran told the meeting. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London began losing height seconds after take-off in Ahmedabad on Thursday, and erupted in a huge fireball as it hit buildings below. All but one on board were declared dead in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade, and around 30 people died on the ground. The airline and the Indian government are looking at several aspects of the crash, including the plane's engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open as the plane took off and then came down. "We need to wait for the investigation ... It's a complex machine, so a lot of redundancies, checks and balances, certifications, which have been perfected over years and years. Yet this happens, so we will figure out why it happens after the investigation," Chandrasekaran, 62, said during the staff meeting. He is also the chairman of the Tata Group conglomerate. The crash poses a new challenge for both Air India which has for years been trying to revamp its ageing fleet, and Boeing, which is trying to rebuild public trust following a series of safety and production crises. After taking the carrier over from the government in 2022, the Tata Group unveiled its investment plans to create a "world-class airline" after years of financial losses, persistent flight delays and poor maintenance under government ownership. On Monday, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for New Delhi returned to its origin of Hong Kong shortly after takeoff following a technical issue. "It's not easy to face criticisms," Chandrasekaran said. "We are going to get through this. We need to show resilience." In Ahmedabad, dozens of anxious family members have been waiting to collect bodies of relatives killed in the crash, as doctors worked to gather dental samples from the deceased and run identification checks. Only 99 samples have been matched so far, and 64 bodies have been handed over to the families, Rakesh Joshi, Medical Superintendent of a civil hospital in the city, said. Authorities late on Sunday also said both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been located and secured, which will be key in the investigation. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/air-india-chairman-says-crash-should-drive-effort-build-safer-airline-2025-06-16/

2025-06-16 12:07

LONDON/MOSCOW, June 16 (Reuters) - OPEC said on Monday it expected the global economy to remain resilient in the second half of this year despite concerns about trade conflicts and trimmed its forecast for growth in oil supply from producers outside the wider OPEC+ group in 2026. In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left its forecasts for global oil demand growth unchanged in 2025 and 2026, after reductions in April, saying the economic outlook was robust despite trade concerns. Sign up here. "The global economy has outperformed expectations so far in the first half of 2025," OPEC said in the report. "This strong base from the first half of 2025 is anticipated to provide support and sufficient momentum into a sound second half of 2025. However, the growth trend is expected to moderate slightly on a quarterly basis." OPEC also said supply from countries outside the Declaration of Cooperation - the formal name for OPEC+ - will rise by about 730,000 barrels per day in 2026, down 70,000 bpd from last month's forecast. Lower supply growth from outside OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies, would make it easier for the wider group to balance the market. Rapid growth from U.S. shale and from other countries has weighed on prices in recent years. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-sees-solid-second-half-2025-world-economy-trims-2026-supply-2025-06-16/

2025-06-16 12:04

VIENNA, June 16 (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi provided an update on Monday on the situation at Iran's nuclear facilities after Israel launched military strikes and said there was no sign of further damage at the Natanz or Fordow enrichment sites. Grossi and the International Atomic Energy Agency he heads had previously reported that the smallest of Iran's three enrichment plants, an above-ground pilot plant at the sprawling Natanz nuclear complex, had been destroyed. Sign up here. While there was no sign of a physical attack on the bigger underground enrichment plant at Natanz, its power supply was destroyed, which may have damaged the uranium-enriching centrifuges there. No damage was seen at the Fordow plant dug into a mountain. "There has been no additional damage at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant site since the Friday attack, which destroyed the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant," Grossi said in a statement to an exceptional meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. Having said over the weekend that Israeli strikes damaged four buildings at the Isfahan nuclear facilities including the uranium conversion facility that processes "yellowcake" uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges, so it can be enriched, he elaborated on the damage there. "At the Esfahan nuclear site, four buildings were damaged in Friday's attack: the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) to EU metal processing facility, which was under construction," he said. "The (International Atomic Energy) Agency is and will remain present in Iran. Safeguards inspections in Iran will continue as soon as safety conditions allow, as is required under Iran's NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) safeguards obligations," he added. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/iaea-chief-says-no-further-damage-iranian-enrichment-facilities-2025-06-16/

2025-06-16 12:02

BEIJING, June 16 (Reuters) - China's market regulator has granted conditional approval for global agribusiness Bunge Global SA's (BG.N) , opens new tab merger with Glencore-backed grain handler Viterra, it said on Monday, clearing the final hurdle for the $34 billion mega-deal announced two years ago. Confirmation came after Bunge announced it had received regulatory approval from China last Friday. Sign up here. The regulator said the merged company's increased market share and control could potentially reduce competition in China's imported soybean, barley, and rapeseed markets, and thus approved the deal with conditions. Under these conditions, Bunge and Viterra committed to five obligations, including a requirement to report quarterly sales volumes to Chinese customers within 30 days after each quarter’s end. They must also maintain a "timely, stable, reliable, and sufficient" supply of soybeans, rapeseed, and other agricultural products, "making every effort" to uphold this during global crop shortages. China's approval was the last regulatory green light Bunge needed after conditional approvals from Canada, the European Union, and other markets in recent months. The deal will create a global crop trading and processing giant rivaling Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) , opens new tab and Cargill, though competition concerns and regulatory scrutiny delayed the closing by nearly a year. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-grants-conditional-approval-bunges-merger-with-viterra-2025-06-16/

2025-06-16 11:44

HOUSTON, July 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. court officer has selected miner Gold Reserve's (GRZ.V) , opens new tab$7.38 billion bid as the preliminary winner of an auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum, following heavy competition for the seventh largest U.S. refiner. Court officer Robert Pincus, who oversees the auction, made his recommendation on Wednesday after evaluating a total of five offers submitted in the "topping" period of the bidding round, completed in late June. Sign up here. The auction stems from an eight-year-old case that Canadian miner Crystallex initiated in Delaware against Venezuela. The federal court found Citgo's parent, PDV Holding, liable for Venezuela's debts and past expropriations, paving the way for over a dozen other creditors to pursue compensation of nearly $19 billion. The bidding round initiated this year is expected to be completed soon if Judge Leonard Stark approves the bid next month, following a string of delays. The final hearing on results is set for August 18. A $3.7 billion starting bid by Contrarian Funds' affiliate Red Tree Investments, which included a separate $2 billion agreement to pay holders of a defaulted Venezuela bond, kicked off the round in March. Rivals began placing their offers in April. Rival bidders included the group led by Gold Reserve's Dalinar Energy Corporation; a consortium led by private equity firm Black Lion Capital Advisors; and a group led by commodities house Vitol, according to court filings and sources. Some bidders' names were not revealed by the court, and some offers received did not meet the requirements to qualify. Pincus had said the recent resolution of parallel legal cases in pursuit of the same assets was encouraging new bids. Even though the cash component of Gold Reserve's winning bid seems lower than rival offers, it covers 11 of the 15 creditors in the auction, including its own $1.18 billion claim for the expropriation of assets in Venezuela. Pending claims by oil producer ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , opens new tab, miners Rusoro (RML.V) , opens new tab and Crystallex and conglomerates Koch, OI Glass (OI.N) , opens new tab and Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) , opens new tab would also be compensated. The Gold Reserve group's offer did not include an agreement to pay holders of a Venezuelan defaulted bond, which could ultimately delay or interfere with the distribution of auction proceeds, according to bidders and analysts. How big a loss could this be for Venezuela? If Venezuela, which owns 100% of the refiner and its U.S.-based parent companies, fails to retain some equity, it would lose its most significant overseas asset. The country, with foreign debt reaching $150 billion, has already lost other assets in Europe and Asia to creditors. Judge Stark has left open a possibility for parties representing Venezuela to submit an offer. But boards supervising the refiner would need to secure backing from politicians in both Caracas and Washington, a challenge given U.S. sanctions on the OPEC nation and otherwise strained ties. Prior to the sanctions, Citgo's 807,000-barrel-per-day refining network was a primary processor of Venezuela's heavy sour crudes. Since Citgo cut ties with its ultimate parent, Caracas-based state-run oil company PDVSA, in 2019, Venezuela has struggled to find new markets for its oil, while the Houston-based refiner has resorted to other crude suppliers. Venezuela's opposition, which through its Congress majority in 2019 appointed the boards that now supervise the refiner, has worked for years to retain Citgo, including funding legal defenses and lobbying in Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department, which has shielded Citgo from creditors in recent years, must approve the auction's eventual winner. Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have said Citgo could aid the nation's economic recovery if democracy is restored. Maduro's officials have rejected U.S. sanctions and called the auction the robbery of a sovereign asset. Can creditors claim post-auction compensation? Yes. Many creditors including ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , opens new tab, which holds the largest claims of almost $12 billion, and Gold Reserve, have pursued legal action outside of the U.S. to seize Venezuela-owned assets, such as bank accounts, tankers and PDVSA-controlled storage facilities. The creditors, who rejected the outcome of a bidding round last year due to conditions imposed by the winner, Elliott Investment Management's affiliate Amber Energy, can submit objections if dissatisfied with its results. They and other creditors outside the Delaware case can also continue parallel cases in other U.S. courts, which so far have not significantly progressed to enforce bond-related claims or prove that PDVSA's U.S. subsidiaries should be liable for Venezuela's debts, a necessary step to pursue Citgo's assets. Accumulating legal costs and uncertain recovery prospects led three of the 18 creditors originally cleared by the court to withdraw. Others, including an owner of artifacts that belonged to Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar, did not fulfill all court requirements to participate. Will all creditors be compensated? Unlikely. Citgo was valued in up to $13 billion as part of the Delaware case, but offers in all bidding rounds have remained below $11 billion. The refiner's profit plummeted to $305 million last year from $2 billion in 2023. These factors suggest that a portion of the 15 registered creditors, collectively claiming $18.9 billion, may not receive distributions from the auction. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/qa-is-venezuela-about-lose-citgo-its-most-prized-foreign-asset-2025-06-16/

2025-06-16 11:43

LAGOS, June 16 (Reuters) - The Dangote Oil Refinery will in August begin directly begin supplying fuel to retail stations, manufacturers, telecoms firms, and other large users, a move that could enhance supply but puts it in direct competition with local fuel traders. Africa's biggest refinery with 650,000 bpd capacity began processing gasoline for the local market last year and has allowed local fuel traders lift products from its refinery. Now it seeks to take on distribution. To facilitate the undertaking, the refinery said in a statement on Sunday that it had procured 4,000 new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered trucks, and will build over 100 CNG refuelling stations across the country. The refinery said it will also offer a credit facility, allowing purchases of 500,000 liters to access an additional 500,000 liters on credit for two weeks under bank guarantee. Dangote's planned deployment of 4,000 trucks is more than double the number of trucks currently in operation and this is unsettling local fuel traders. "In one fell swoop, he's trying to wipe us out," said Billy Gillis Harry, head of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN). The group comprising over 6,700 members said introducing cheaper CNG trucks poses a threat to the livelihood of truckers and will erode the businesses of traders supplying the telecom companies, retail stations and industries. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nigerias-dangote-refinery-supply-fuel-directly-challenging-local-traders-2025-06-16/