2025-12-09 11:57
New plan boosts earnings target for 2024-2030 by $5 billion Exxon Mobil shares up 3% in morning trade CFO Kathy Mikells to retire in February, succeeded by Neil Hansen HOUSTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab is targeting $25 billion in earnings growth from 2024 to 2030 and will increase oil and gas production, the top U.S. oil producer said on Tuesday as it leans on profitable assets in Guyana and the Permian Basin. Exxon also announced that Chief Financial Officer Kathy Mikells will retire effective Feb. 1 due to a non-life-threatening health issue and will be succeeded by Neil Hansen, currently president of global business solutions. Sign up here. The outlook represents a $5 billion increase from its previous plan, although Exxon will not increase its annual project spending from prior guidance. Shares of Exxon were up 3% in morning trading. Exxon said its updated corporate plan reflects its work to cut costs and increase profits even through periods of oil price volatility. Its upstream focus also includes growing its liquefied natural gas business. "We are more profitable than we were five years ago, and we expect that to continue as the advantages we’ve unlocked position us for even greater opportunities in the years ahead," Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in prepared remarks. LOW-COST PERMIAN OIL WILL BOOST PROFITS Upstream production will reach 5.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030, up from a previous forecast of 5.4 million boepd. That will be helped by the Permian Basin, the top U.S. oilfield, where Exxon said it will grow production to 2.5 million boepd, up from the previous goal of 2.3 million boepd. Earnings from the upstream business is expected to grow by more than $14 billion through the end of the decade from 2024. Artificial intelligence is being used to direct drilling paths and Exxon said AI is allowing it to save money across operations. Cost of supply in the Permian is expected to be around $30 per barrel, Exxon said, down $5 from its previous expectation. Capital expenditure will be between $27 billion to $29 billion next year, and $28 billion to $32 billion from 2027 through 2030 as LNG projects develop further. Exxon said it also targets $35 billion in cash flow growth by 2030 versus 2024, representing a $5 billion increase from its earlier outlook. Exxon increased its cost savings plan by $2 billion and now expects to reach $20 billion in reductions by 2030. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exxon-forecasts-higher-earnings-growth-through-2030-2025-12-09/
2025-12-09 11:51
BUDAPEST, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The company operating the TurkStream gas pipeline will be able to conduct business without any problems after its move to Hungary, thanks to an agreement with Washington, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday. Hungary has continued to rely on Russian energy despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and related Western sanctions, prompting criticism from several European Union and NATO allies. Sign up here. "With the operating company's relocation from the Netherlands to Hungary, the TurkStream pipeline will be able to operate without disruption in the coming period despite any legal and financial attacks," Szijjarto said in Moscow during a briefing broadcast on his Facebook page. The agreement ensures that financial transactions related to the operation of Turkstream are not under U.S. sanctions, he said. Last month, the United States granted Hungary a one-year exemption from U.S. sanctions for using Russian oil and gas after Orban pressed his case for a reprieve during a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last month, saying the visit was "to ensure Hungary’s energy supply is secured for the winter and next year." https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/transactions-related-turkstream-not-under-us-sanctions-hungary-says-2025-12-09/
2025-12-09 11:51
COPENHAGEN, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Greenland has issued a 30-year exploitation licence to London-listed GreenRoc Mining Plc (GROC.L) , opens new tab for the Amitsoq graphite deposit, marking the third such permit granted by the Arctic island's government this year amid heightened global demand for critical minerals. Greenland, rich in natural resources, has been slow to develop its mining sector due to regulatory hurdles and limited financing. However, activity has increased this year, following U.S. interest in Greenland under the Trump administration. Sign up here. The project, backed by the European Raw Materials Alliance, aims to produce graphite, a mineral deemed critical for the energy transition and widely used in batteries for electric vehicles and defence technologies. The Amitsoq mine, located in southern Greenland, was last in production in 1922 and holds one of the world's highest-grade graphite deposits and is expected to produce approximately 80,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually, extracted from 400,000 tonnes of ore. Mining operations are set to tap flake graphite with high crystallinity, suitable for lithium-ion battery anodes. "(The) exploitation licence is the result of focused political efforts to make Greenland more attractive for responsible investments, while seriously taking into account the concerns for people and the environment," Mineral Resources Minister Naaja Nathanielsen said in a statement. In June, the European Union granted GreenRoc's Amitsoq project Strategic Project status under its Critical Raw Materials Act. Both NATO and the EU have designated graphite as a critical raw material, particularly as China, which dominates the graphite supply chain, tightened export controls on the mineral last month. "Graphite is an important raw material for the energy transition, and Europe lacks secure access to it," GreenRoc CEO Stefan Bernstein said. The permit was signed on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/greenland-approves-30-year-mining-permit-eu-backed-graphite-project-2025-12-09/
2025-12-09 11:45
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said support for immediately cutting interest rates would be a requirement for anyone he chose to lead the Federal Reserve, according to a Politico interview published on Tuesday. Asked if it was a litmus test that the new central bank chair immediately lower interest rates, Trump told the news outlet "yes". Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-support-interest-rate-cuts-is-key-test-fed-chair-nominee-2025-12-09/
2025-12-09 11:42
Copper mine is key to Teck merger with Anglo American Chilean regulator raised concern over structural issues Teck says there was never any risk to safety SANTIAGO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chilean authorities in August raised concerns over a large crack and leaks at Teck's flagship Quebrada Blanca copper mine and criticized the miner for not immediately reporting the issues, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. The crack and leaks were alarming enough to lead some workers to ask mining regulator Sernageomin to investigate potential safety risks, according to five complaints between July 28 and August 8. Sign up here. The mine has had problems since 2024 at its tailings dam - an embankment that stores mine waste - causing Teck to cut production guidance at Quebrada Blanca. In response to questions from Reuters, Teck said the tailings dam is stable and safe, and construction is proceeding. "There was never any risk to the safety or integrity of the facility or to employees," Teck added. The documents, obtained from Sernageomin through a public records request, also show that Teck responded to the regulator that it had fixed the issues and informed workers they were not at risk. Workers' concerns initially related to leaking in late July. On July 28, a worker wrote to Sernageomin that there were leaks on the dam wall. Sernageomin's inspection on August 1 was in part triggered by that complaint, as well as another complaint over lack of proper personal protective gear, the agency said in a report of its findings. The worker complaints continued in the following days - including, starting August 3, concerns about a large fissure along the top of the wall. "There is a serious problem with the tailings dam wall and the information from the company is not very clear," said one complaint. Another person wrote to Sernageomin: "Teck personnel ignore everything that's happening and just don't want to stop producing ... I beg you to go to the workplace." Sernageomin inspections on August 1 and 2 identified a crack running 240 meters (790 ft) horizontally across the top, or crest, of the main dam wall, leaving an 18-centimeter gap. It also found pools of water at the base of the wall, and rebuked Teck for not swiftly reporting the issues. "The company must immediately or promptly notify the service of any incidents," it said in its inspection report, signed by both Sernageomin and Teck representatives. In a follow-up report dated August 5, Sernageomin said: "This service is concerned about what was observed in the field regarding operational findings on the deposit wall, specifically the water seepage and cracks on the crest." Since early August, Teck has sent weekly monitoring reports to Sernageomin, according to the documents reviewed by Reuters. In its reports, letters and presentations to Sernageomin, as well as minutes of weekly meetings with regulator representatives, Teck said it had held drills for structural collapse scenarios and was preparing an analysis of the root causes of the crack and leaks. Teck told Reuters the cracks that appeared in late July were not unusual for this type of dam construction and were quickly repaired. Around that time, it also resolved a pipeline leak that it said had "resulted in water discharge." "Work is continuing as planned on the facility to enable full ramp-up of QB," Teck said. Analysts view the issues at Quebrada Blanca as a key part of what prompted Teck to seek a merger with rival Anglo American (AAL.L) , opens new tab, which will allow for shared operations with the neighboring Collahuasi mine. Anglo American has said it supports Teck's strategy for Quebrada Blanca and has experience from similar tailings dam problems in the past at its Quellaveco mine in Peru. Teck shareholders are expected to vote on the deal on Tuesday. Failure to get output on track in the next couple of years could weigh on the merged company's valuation, analysts say. Teck has not discussed the Sernageomin inspection, or the crack and leaks, in its financial disclosures. It has, however, addressed why certain core problems at the tailings dam forced the miner to slash Quebrada Blanca's production targets and commit to spending $420 million next year on improvements. Safety standards for tailings have come under increased scrutiny worldwide after the 2019 collapse of the Brumadinho tailings dam in Brazil that killed 270 people. Tailings experts consulted by Reuters said cracks and leaks can be red flags for dam stability, requiring consistent monitoring and identification of the root cause. "They are like symptoms at the doctor's office. They may indicate some underlying, major sickness or disease if not addressed," said Rennie Kaunda, a mining engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chilean-regulator-workers-flagged-risk-tecks-quebrada-blanca-dam-2025-12-09/
2025-12-09 11:39
Dec 9 - What matters in U.S. and global markets today By Mike Dolan , opens new tab, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets Sign up here. Fed week got off to a rocky start in global markets, courtesy of bond market hits across the world, but government debt yields stabilized , opens new tab on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve , opens new tab started its two-day meeting. A sharp jump in yields on U.S. Treasuries, German bunds and Japanese government bonds on Monday was fueled by a slew of factors - some hawkish policy noises from several regions, another heavy week of year-end U.S. debt sales and a likely Bank of Japan interest rate rise next week. The jolt knocked stock markets back and the S&P 500 ended in the red on Monday. Stock index futures held steady on Tuesday. But as a widely expected Fed cut is expected on Wednesday, the picture calmed a bit overnight. The release of October data on U.S. job openings later is likely the last significant labor market update before the central bank decides, with some $39 billion of 10-year Treasury notes under the hammer today too. The latest shakeout in global bonds on Monday was worldwide. European Central Bank board hawk Isabel Schnabel helped push long-dated German yields to 14-year highs by saying the next move in ECB rate will eventually be higher, Fed Chair hopeful Kevin Hassett pointedly did not call for sharp interest rate cuts as he has done previously and the Reserve Bank of Australia overnight ruled out further rate cuts there. Currencies remained relatively steady, however. The dollar was a touch firmer against the yen and euro overnight, but softer against China's yuan and the Aussie dollar. Back on Wall Street, the focus was on the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, with Paramount Skydance launching a hostile move worth $108 billion in a last-ditch effort to outbid Netflix. Shares of Paramount were up 7.3% on Monday, Warner Bros Discovery rose 5.3% and Netflix fell 4%. In an interesting week for Big Tech, with Oracle and Broadcom results due, AI chip giant Nvidia rose 2% out of hours after President Donald Trump said the United States will allow its H200 processors, its second-best AI chips, to be exported to China and collect a 25% fee on such sales. But the European Commission said on Tuesday that Alphabet's Google faces an EU antitrust investigation into its use of web publishers' online content and YouTube videos to train its AI models. In today's column, I take a look at how hawks within the European Central Bank , opens new tab are pointing to a new threat: passive easing.And listen to the latest episode of the new Morning Bid , opens new tab daily podcast. Subscribe to hear Mike and other Reuters journalists discuss the biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week. Today's Market Minute Chart of the day Chinese exports to the United States dropped 29% year-on-year in November, while exports to the European Union grew an annual 14.8%. Shipments to Australia surged 35.8%, and the fast-growing Southeast Asian economies took in 8.2% more goods over the same period. Tumbling exports to the U.S. came despite news that the world's two biggest economies had agreed to scale back some of their tariffs after U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in South Korea in late October. The average U.S. tariff on Chinese goods stands at 47.5%, well above the 40% threshold that economists say erodes Chinese exporters' profit margins. Today's events to watch * U.S. NFIB November small business survey (06:00 EDT), US October JOLTS job openings data (10:00 EDT); Mexico November inflation (07:00 EDT) * U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee starts two-day meeting, decision Wednesday * Bank of England policymakers Clare Lombardelli, Dave Ramsden, Swati Dhingra and Catherine Mann speaking in parliament * U.S. Treasury sells $39 billion of 10-year notes * U.S. corporate earnings: AutoZone, Campbell's Want to receive the Morning Bid in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for the newsletter here. You can find ROI on the Reuters website , opens new tab, and you can follow us on LinkedIn , opens new tab and X. , opens new tab Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles , opens new tab, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/global-markets-view-usa-2025-12-09/
