2025-05-28 20:21
HOUSTON, May 28 (Reuters) - Natural gas flows to a Freeport liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas declined on Wednesday, likely leading to a reduction in LNG output, two sources said. Freeport is the third largest LNG export facility in the U.S. and has helped the country remain the world's largest exporter of the superchilled gas. Sign up here. It is one of the most closely watched LNG export plants in the world because the start and stop of its operations can often cause price swings in global gas markets. It has a capacity to consume 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day and can produce 16.3 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG. When flows to Freeport drop, gas prices in the U.S. usually decline due to lower demand from the plant for the fuel. Meanwhile, prices in Europe usually increase due to a drop in LNG supplies available to global markets from the plant. Freeport declined to comment. Last Friday, the company experienced a brief power outage to one of its plants, commonly called trains, and had to take the plant out of service to cool down before eventually restarting it, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Freeport reported last Friday's trip was caused by the plant's compressor system, according to the TCEQ filing. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/natural-gas-flows-freeport-lng-export-plant-texas-drop-wednesday-sources-say-2025-05-28/
2025-05-28 20:20
May 28 (Reuters) - China's wariness of bitcoin should encourage the U.S. to embrace the world's largest cryptocurrency and build on its strategic advantage in the digital asset, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday. As the White House pushes for an overhaul of crypto policy, Vance said bitcoin will be a strategically important asset for the United States over the next decade. Sign up here. Speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, Vance applauded President Donald Trump's executive order in March that created a strategic bitcoin reserve with tokens already owned by the government. Crypto trading and mining has been banned in China since 2021. "The People's Republic of China doesn't like bitcoin. Well, we should be asking ourselves, why is that? Why is our biggest adversary such an opponent of bitcoin, and if the communist Republic of China is leaning away from bitcoin, then maybe the United States ought to be leaning into bitcoin," he said. Digital assets have enjoyed a resurgence under President Donald Trump, who courted cash from the crypto industry on the campaign trail by pledging to be a "crypto president." In his first week in office, Trump ordered the creation of a cryptocurrency working group to propose digital asset regulations. In March, he hosted a group of crypto executives at the White House. Congress is considering legislation to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. The crypto industry has lobbied lawmakers to pass legislation creating new rules for digital assets and spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year's elections. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/vance-says-us-should-use-bitcoin-an-advantage-rivalry-with-china-2025-05-28/
2025-05-28 19:58
Morning Standing Repo operations to enhance monetary policy effectiveness Stigma issues haunt Fed's lending operations Thus far, SRF has seen minimal usage even in times of stress May 28 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday that late next month it will add morning offerings for its liquidity providing Standing Repo Facility. The morning Standing Repo Facility, or SRF, operations will join with existing afternoon operations, and will be available starting June 26. "The additional daily morning SRF operations are intended to further enhance the effectiveness of the SRF in its ability to support the effective implementation of monetary policy and smooth market functioning," the bank said in a statement. Sign up here. The SRF was launched in 2021 in a bid to bolster the central bank's ability to provide liquidity to the financial system. It also helps the Fed keep the federal funds rate, its chief tool for influencing the course of the economy, in line with levels targeted by the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. The SRF takes in Treasury and agency securities from eligible firms in exchange for fast cash loans, and essentially makes available on a constant basis liquidity once provided by discretionary Fed repo operations. The tool has essentially gone unused through its lifespan with the exception of modest usage at the end of the third quarter last year, when money markets navigated a short-lived period of stress. Roberto Perli, the New York Fed official responsible for implementing monetary policy for the central bank, had been noting that morning operations would join those offered in the afternoon. "This will be an important step in enhancing the efficacy of the facility," Perli said last Thursday, and a more effective SRF could also allow the Fed to shrink its holdings of bonds by more than would otherwise be the case. He also nudged reluctant financial firms to tap the SRF, saying "I encourage our counterparties to use the SRF when it makes economic sense." The morning SRF availability will kick off on June 26, with the cadence of afternoon operations remaining as they are now. In a statement, the New York Fed said that it will cap total daily SRF operations at $500 billion. The closing time for the morning operations will be 8:30 a.m. ET. Early SRF operations have already been deployed around year and quarter ends, and while they have gone unused, some believe their availability helped bolster market confidence around periods that can be volatile in money markets. The New York Fed's SRF announcement followed closely on the heels of the release of minutes from the Fed's meeting minutes covering its early May Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The minutes weighed in heavily on the unsettled financial conditions that abounded in the run up to that gathering, spurred on by President Donald Trump's global trade war. While stress was real and broad based during that period, the minutes noted that Fed staff as well as policy makers saw orderly trading amid the tumult. Fed officials also signaled some concern on valuation levels in markets. The minutes also touched on the SRF, and noted "market outreach indicated that dealers had a higher willingness to use the facility when early settlement was offered." The minutes also said some Fed officials believed that a move to central clearing for the SRF might bolster usage in times of trouble. The looming launch of early SRF operations may not change much for now, however. Gennadiy Goldberg, head of U.S. rates strategy at TD Securities in New York, said "usage of the regular afternoon SRF currently stands at zero and we don't expect SRF usage to increase simply because of the added operation." "During times of stress, conducting twice daily operations will be helpful in helping to backstop markets," Goldberg said, adding "there will probably still be some stigma in using the facility, which is something the Fed has been battling against in recent years, but the additional operation should eventually prove helpful." Stigma issues have dogged parts of the Fed's lending operations for some time, because many financial firms believe that tapping central bank cash, even when encouraged to do so by central bankers, signals weakness. Stigma issues have been most acute for the Fed's Discount Window lending facility for deposit taking banks, but some have said these concerns extend to the SRF as well. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/new-york-fed-start-morning-standing-repo-facility-operations-next-month-2025-05-28/
2025-05-28 19:33
Glacier collapse buries Swiss village, one person missing Blatten is 90% covered by landslide, mayor vows to rebuild Climate change impact on glacier collapse remains uncertain, experts say GENEVA, May 28 (Reuters) - A huge chunk of a glacier in the Swiss Alps broke off on Wednesday, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock that buried most of a mountain village that had been evacuated due to the risk of a rockslide, authorities said. One person is currently missing, officials said. Sign up here. Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the southwestern village of Blatten, the river running through it and the wooded sides of the surrounding valley. "We've lost our village," Matthias Bellwald, the mayor of Blatten told a press conference after the slide. "The village is under rubble. We will rebuild." Stephane Ganzer, an official in the canton of Valais where Blatten is located, told Swiss media that about 90% of the village was covered by the landslide. "An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley," said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities. One person was missing, Ebener said. Officials gave no further details on the person during the press conference. Officials said millions of cubic metres of rock and soil have tumbled down since Blatten was first evacuated this month when part of the mountain behind the glacier began to crumble, sparking warnings it could bring the ice mass down with it. A video shared widely on social media showed the dramatic moment when the glacier partially collapsed, creating a huge cloud that covered part of the mountain as rock and debris came cascading down towards the village. Experts consulted by Reuters said it was difficult to assess the extent to which rising temperatures spurred by climate change had triggered the collapse because of the role the crumbling mountainside had played. Christian Huggel, a professor of environment and climate at the University of Zurich, said while various factors were at play in Blatten, it was known that local permafrost had been affected by warmer temperatures in the Alps. The loss of permafrost can negatively affect the stability of the mountain rock which is why climate change had likely played a part in the deluge, Huggel said. The extent of the damage to Blatten had no precedent in the Swiss Alps in the current or previous century, he added. The rubble of shattered wooden buildings could be seen on the flanks of the huge mass of earth in the drone footage. Buildings and infrastructure in Blatten, whose roughly 300 inhabitants were evacuated on May 19 after geologists identified the risk of an imminent avalanche of rock and ice from above, were battered by the rockslide, officials said. SRF said houses were destroyed in the village nestled in the Loetschental valley in southern Switzerland. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her solidarity with the local population as emergency services warned people the area was hazardous and urged them to stay away, closing off the main road into the valley. "It's terrible to lose your home," Keller-Sutter said on X. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/glacier-crumbles-above-evacuated-swiss-village-prompting-huge-rock-slide-2025-05-28/
2025-05-28 19:22
May 28 (Reuters) - Mining company Perpetua Resources (PPTA.O) , opens new tab on Wednesday said it has been awarded up to $6.9 million in additional funding from the U.S. Army for its Idaho antimony and gold Stibnite project. The Pentagon-backed mine, which would be the country's first antimony project, has an estimated reserve of 148 million pounds of the metal used in bullets and tanks, as well as in alloys for electric-vehicle batteries. Sign up here. China, responsible for nearly 60% of globally mined antimony in 2024, banned exports of the metal to the United States in December last year, prompting efforts to increase production within the U.S. This supplemental award will allow Perpetua to expand the research and support the U.S. Army's objective of establishing a fully domestic "ground-to-round" antimony trisulfide supply chain. "Advancing America's capabilities to process minerals critical to national defense is essential for our long-term mineral independence and resilience," said CEO Jon Cherry. The company said that with the receipt of this additional funding, its total awards from the Department of Defense exceed $80 million, including the $15.5 million received under an Ordnance Technology Initiative Agreement in August 2023. Last week, the company received the final federal permit, the Clean Water Act Section 404, from the U.S. Army Corps for the project. (This story has been corrected to say U.S. Army, not U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in paragraph 1) https://www.reuters.com/world/us/perpetua-resources-receives-additional-funding-stibnite-project-us-army-corps-2025-05-28/
2025-05-28 19:19
Narrow authorization received by Chevron allows it to preserve assets, staff PDVSA expected to continue overseeing oilfield workers PDVSA also taking over sales of crude produced by joint ventures May 28 (Reuters) - Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab has terminated the oil production, service and procurement contracts it had to operate in Venezuela, delegating its joint-venture governance to its partner, state company PDVSA, but it plans to retain its direct staff in the country, four sources close to the decisions said. A key license for Chevron to operate in Venezuela was revoked by U.S. President Donald Trump's government in March and a two-month period granted to wind down transactions expired this week, putting and end to the license, the company said. Sign up here. However, in recent days the U.S. producer received a narrow authorization from the Trump administration allowing it to preserve assets including its joint-venture stakes and retain staff, which it had expanded in recent years. The guidelines are similar to the terms of a U.S. license Chevron had between 2020 and 2022 before President Joe Biden's administration broadened it to allow the company's expansion in Venezuela and the resumption of crude exports to the U.S. Chevron and several European firms had requested U.S. permits to keep assets in the South American country amid Trump's restrictive policy toward the nation. It was not immediately clear if other companies received similar instructions. Following the new guidelines, Chevron executives this week met with contractors and Venezuelan top officials including oil minister Delcy Rodriguez to inform about the next steps, the sources said. Under the new authorization, Chevron cannot operate oilfields in Venezuela, export its oil or expand activities as its intention is to avoid any possible payments to President Nicolas Maduro's administration. The U.S. Treasury Department did not reply to a request for comment. Chevron said it remains in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including the sanctions framework provided for by the U.S. "Attacks and illegal action against PDVSA have not stopped our growth," the state company said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that output at oilfields was normal. "Our contribution to the economy's growth does not need licenses." Venezuela in April canceled cargoes scheduled to Chevron citing payment uncertainties related to U.S. sanctions, which cut short a May 27 deadline to wind down transactions. Chevron was exporting as much as 290,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil or over a third of the country's total before that. PDVSA, which is the majority stakeholder of the joint ventures, is expected to continue overseeing oilfield workers, though extra compensation bonus Chevron had implemented for its joint-venture workers might be suspended, three of the sources said. The state firm also is taking over sales of crude produced by the ventures, which could lead to a new accumulation of debt owed to its partner. Earlier this month, the state firm began exporting a heavy crude jointly produced. Trump accuses Maduro of not making progress on migrant returns and electoral reforms. Maduro has rejected sanctions by the U.S. and others, saying they amount to an economic war. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/chevron-terminates-contracts-will-keep-staff-venezuela-sources-say-2025-05-28/
