2025-10-30 07:50
MOSCOW, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab, under pressure from U.S. sanctions, said on Thursday it had accepted an offer from Gunvor trading house to sell Lukoil International GmbH, which controls the oil major's foreign assets. Lukoil said on Monday it would sell its international assets following sanctions over Ukraine announced last week by the United States. Sign up here. The planned sale of the assets is the most consequential action so far by a Russian company in the wake of Western sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022. "The key terms of the transaction were previously agreed upon by the parties. Lukoil, for its part, accepted the offer, agreeing not to negotiate with other potential buyers," Lukoil said about the Gunvor offer. Gunvor has confirmed it was in talks with Lukoil about the possible acquisition of Lukoil's foreign assets. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russias-lukoil-accepts-offer-gunvor-buy-its-foreign-assets-2025-10-30/
2025-10-30 07:44
LAGOS, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Nigerian state-owned oil firm NNPC Ltd is seeking technical equity partners to help revive three of its refineries which have remained idle despite significant , opens new tab investments, its chief executive said on Thursday. The refineries, with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, alongside the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, could help Nigeria end its reliance on imported fuel and become a net exporter. Sign up here. "We are looking ahead with optimism to ensure our refineries operate effectively. We are dedicating significant time to a detailed review and are eager to implement our insights," NNPC CEO Bayo Ojulari said in a post on X. Former NNPC head Mele Kyari had also pursued external partnerships after securing $2.5 billion in contracts to rehabilitate the refineries. Still, the facilities remain non-operational as the Nigerian government struggles to let go of non-performing assets. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nigerian-oil-firm-nnpc-seeks-equity-partners-revive-refineries-ceo-says-2025-10-30/
2025-10-30 07:24
Zelenskiy says Russia launched 650 drones, 50 missiles Ukraine calls for more air defences, sanctions DTEK CEO says Russia aims to destroy energy system KYIV, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine's energy infrastructure and other targets, forcing nationwide power restrictions and killing seven people, including a seven-year-old girl, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Moscow of targeting Ukrainian people and power supplies as the cold winter months approach. Sign up here. "Its goal is to plunge Ukraine into darkness. Ours is to preserve the light," Svyrydenko said on the Telegram app. "To stop the terror, we need more air defence systems, tougher sanctions, and maximum pressure on the aggressor." Regional officials said two men were killed in the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, and a seven-year-old girl from the central Vinnytsia region died in hospital from injuries sustained in the attacks. The regional governor said a later drone strike on a village south of Zaporizhzhia killed one person and injured another. In Sumy, a city near the northern border with Russia, the regional governor wrote on Telegram that 10 Russian drones had attacked the city in an hour early on Friday. He said two people were injured when two apartment buildings were hit and pictures posted online showed several apartments ablaze. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that a bomb attack on a thermal power plant in Sloviansk in eastern Donetsk region killed two people and injured a number of others. Prosecutors in Donetsk region said Russian attacks on dwellings in the city of Kramatorsk killed one person and injured three. Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are considered key future targets in Russian troops' slow advance westward through Donetsk region. Russia's defence ministry said its forces launched a strike on facilities of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex overnight. Moscow denies targeting civilians and has said its strikes are responses to Ukraine's attacks on Russian infrastructure. Ukraine has launched regular drone attacks on military and oil sites as it fights Russia's almost four-year-old invasion. Zelenskiy said Russia launched more than 650 drones and 50 missiles in the attacks. Most of the drones were neutralised and two-thirds of the missiles were downed, he said. Air defence units shot down 592 drones and 31 missiles, the air force said. UKRAINE ANNOUNCES LIMITS ON POWER SUPPLY The attacks hit energy facilities in central, western, and southeastern regions, Ukrainian officials said. The government announced nationwide limits on electricity supplies to retail and industrial consumers. In some regions, water supplies and heating were also disrupted. Regional officials said two energy facilities in the western Lviv region had been damaged. DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, said its thermal power stations in a number of regions were under attack. "(T)his attack is a bad blow to our efforts to keep power flowing this winter," said Maxim Timchenko, DTEK's CEO. "Based on the intensity of attacks for the past two months, it is clear Russia is aiming for the complete destruction of Ukraine's energy system." Six children were among the 17 people wounded in strikes on Zaporizhzhia, its governor said. Four people were injured in the Vinnytsia region, officials said. Air alerts lasted nearly the entire night in Kyiv, where residents took shelter in deep underground metro stations. "There's nothing good in it. We are doing our best to hide," Viktoria, 39, mother of a six-year-old boy, told Reuters at a metro station. "There's a lot of stress involved. When you wake your child in the middle of the night, he cries because he doesn't understand why he has to do it." https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-curbs-power-supplies-after-attack-energy-facilities-kyiv-says-2025-10-30/
2025-10-30 07:22
PARIS, Oct 30 - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab reported a 2.4% drop in third-quarter earnings on Thursday, meeting expectations as higher upstream production and improving crude refining margins partially offset lower oil prices. Adjusted net income slipped to $4.0 billion from the $4.1 billion for the same period last year, in line with an analysts' consensus compiled by LSEG. Sign up here. While oil prices in July-to-September dropped about 14% from the same quarter last year, European margins on refining fuels have soared more than 300% as the EU's ban on fuel imports made from Russian oil restricted supply just as diesel demand rose during the holiday driving season. That pushed Total's downstream results $462 million higher than last year - helping to offset lower liquefied natural gas income caused by maintenance-related outages. Total is under pressure from investors to lower its debts after buying assets worth more than $3 billion in the first half, and as oil prices look set to fall further in 2026. The company announced a cost-saving programme and reduced share buybacks beginning in the fourth quarter, though some asset sales meant to bring in cash have fallen through. Third-quarter results have nudged the company's gearing, or debt-to-equity ratio, slightly down to 17.3%, from 17.9% in the second quarter of 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-reports-slight-decrease-q3-income-lower-oil-prices-weigh-2025-10-30/
2025-10-30 06:59
Trump to reduce China tariffs after meeting with Xi OPEC+ likely to add another 137,000 bpd of supply in December US Fed rate cut boosts economic outlook, supportive of oil demand Oversupply concerns persist with record US output, OPEC+ hikes NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Thursday as investors assessed a potential trade truce between the United States and China after U.S. President Donald Trump lowered tariffs on China following a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea. Brent futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $65.00 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $60.57. Trump agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 47% from 57% in a one-year deal in exchange for Beijing resuming U.S. soybean purchases, keeping rare earths exports flowing and cracking down on the illicit fentanyl trade. PVM analyst Tamas Varga said investors see the announced agreement between China and the U.S. as more of a de-escalation of tension than a structural change in the relationship. Oil majors Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab posted quarterly profit falls of 10% and 2% respectively on Thursday, dragged down by lower oil prices, though Shell beat expectations, helped by better trading results in its huge gas division. FED RATE CUT LIFTS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Also helping to boost the economic outlook, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered interest rates on Wednesday, in line with market expectations. However, it signalled that it might be the last cut of the year as the ongoing government shutdown threatens data availability. Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and could boost economic growth and oil demand. "The Fed's decision underscores a broader turn in its policy cycle – one that favours gradual reflation and support over restraint, providing a tailwind to commodities sensitive to economic activity," Rystad Energy's chief economist Claudio Galimberti said in a note. In Europe and Asia, meanwhile, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged. The euro zone economy grew a touch more quickly than expected in the third quarter, lifted by buoyant growth in France and Spain that more than offset faltering exports and persistent struggles in Germany's oversized industrial sector. In Germany, however, gross domestic product stagnated in the third quarter, data showed on Thursday, highlighting the struggle Europe's biggest economy faces in regaining momentum as exports dwindle. OVERSUPPLY CONCERNS Both crude benchmarks were on track to decline by around 3% in October, which would be their third consecutive month of losses following concerns about oversupply. In the U.S., crude output hit a weekly record high of around 13.6 million barrels per day (bpd) last week. Investors said they were looking ahead to an OPEC+ meeting scheduled for November 2, where the alliance will likely announce another 137,000 bpd supply hike for December. OPEC+ includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia. In a series of monthly increases, eight OPEC+ members had boosted output targets by a total of more than 2.7 million bpd - or about 2.5% of global supply. In Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, the budget deficit widened to 88.5 billion riyals ($23.60 billion) in the third quarter, a 160% rise from the previous quarter as spending increased and revenues fell, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Sign up here. ($1 = 3.7504 riyals) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-little-changed-markets-eye-us-china-trade-talks-2025-10-30/
2025-10-30 06:57
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Oct 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States will cut its tariffs on Chinese goods imposed as a punishment over the flow of fentanyl to 10% from 20%, after his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Xi will work "very hard to stop the flow" of fentanyl, Trump said, and the tariff was reduced "because I believe they are really taking strong action." Sign up here. Trump said a great deal of decisions were made in his summit with Xi Jinping, describing it as "an amazing meeting." China will purchase "tremendous amounts" of U.S. soybeans and other farm products "starting immediately", and a one-year agreement on rare earths has been reached which will be extended after a year, Trump said. "They're not going to impose the rare earth controls," he said. Trump had said earlier he expects to reduce U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing's commitment to curb the flow of precursor chemicals to make fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of American overdose deaths. Beijing has sought the lifting of 20% tariffs over fentanyl among other matters. Trump was speaking to reporters on board Air Force One departing South Korea on the last leg of his Asia trip. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-nvidias-high-end-blackwell-chip-did-not-figure-talks-with-chinas-xi-2025-10-30/
