2025-10-23 12:32

US imposes sanctions on Russia's Rosneft and Lukoil Move could force Russia to offer deeper discounts Indian buyers set to slash orders, industry sources say MOSCOW, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, is weighing how to respond to U.S. sanctions on top oil firms Rosneft (ROSN.MM) , opens new tab and Lukoil (LKOH.MM) , opens new tab and the prospect of lower sales to its biggest buyer, India. President Vladimir Putin, who sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, has been in discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump for months about a possible way to end the war but with no breakthrough so far. Sign up here. WHAT DID THE U.S. DO? The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 22 imposed , opens new tab sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil and a number of their subsidiaries as it called on Moscow to immediately agree to a ceasefire. The two firms account for around a half of Russia's oil production and more than 5% of global crude output. In January, the U.S. Treasury declared sanctions against the Russian energy sector, including oil majors Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) , opens new tab and Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM) , opens new tab, but the measures did not significantly interrupt Russian oil exports. The U.S. has already introduced sanctions , opens new tab against the so-called shadow fleet which handles Russia's oil exports, while some lawmakers have sought still tougher measures. Those sanctions target more than 180 vessels and dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies and energy officials. WHAT DID INDIA DO? Indian refiners including top buyer Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) , opens new tab plan to reduce or halt its Russian oil imports, according to two sources familiar with the matter. India has come under increased U.S. pressure to curb its purchases amid trade talks with Washington. It bought 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first nine months of 2025, or 40% of Russia's total exports, according to the International Energy Agency. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR RUSSIA? Increased sanctions are likely to force Russia to offer deeper discounts to buyers to sustain its exports. Oil and gas revenue accounts for up to a quarter of Russia's budget and is the most important source of cash for Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, now in its fourth year. But these mineral extraction taxes are paid at the oilfield, so sanctions will only hit the budget if Russia is forced to cut production. HOW COULD RUSSIA RESPOND? The Kremlin earlier this month pushed back against Trump's warning that the Russian economy was going to collapse, saying that Russia had considerable reserves and was strong enough to allow Putin to achieve his goals. Halting its crude exports is one option but that would hurt allies such as China and achieve the result that the West seeks - a slash to Moscow's revenue and its war coffers. Russia's other options include cutting off other important exports such as enriched uranium, palladium or titanium, though that would also hurt its own economy. Another option would be to increase rare-earth cooperation with China. Russia has the world's fifth-largest reserves of rare earth metals, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data, and a tie-up with top player China would thwart U.S. efforts to counter Beijing's dominance. Russia also has some leverage against Western oil majors as it handles Black Sea exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which mainly carries crude from Kazakhstan. That oil is pumped by a group that includes U.S. majors Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab. Squeezing those exports would hurt Kazakhstan, however, with which Russia has close economic and security ties. WHAT ABOUT OPEC+? Russia is a leading member of OPEC+ which unites the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies and accounts for about half of the world's oil output. OPEC+ in recent months has been unwinding production curbs to regain market share, but a squeeze on Russia's exports could hobble the group's efforts to agree on further increases. WHAT ABOUT CHINA? Along with India, China is a major buyer of Russian crude. The two countries declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two. Russia accounts for about 20% of China's crude imports. On Oct 23, China's foreign ministry reiterated its stance against unilateral sanctions in comments about the U.S. restrictions against Rosneft and Lukoil. https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-war-faces-double-trouble-trump-ultimatum-hit-oil-sales-india-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 12:23

Oct 23 (Reuters) - U.S. utility CenterPoint Energy (CNP.N) , opens new tab on Thursday posted a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, driven by regulatory recovery and rising industrial demand, including new AI data center loads in Houston, Texas. The industrial throughput in its Houston Electric segment has risen over 11% year-to-date. Sign up here. "The Greater Houston area is experiencing strong economic momentum, supported by one of the most diverse sets of growth drivers in the sector. It is not dependent on any single industry, and the impact is already visible," said CenterPoint CEO Jason Wells. U.S. public power utilities are spending more to handle surging demand as Big Tech builds data centers to run artificial intelligence technologies. CenterPoint which provides electricity and natural gas to more than 7 million customers across Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas unveiled its $65 billion, 10-year capital investment plan last month. The Houston, Texas-based company reported adjusted earnings of 50 cents per share for the three months ended September 30, above analysts' estimate of 44 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. CenterPoint said the results were aided by $0.07 per share from growth and regulatory recovery and $0.12 per share from reduced operations and maintenance costs. Regulatory recovery refers to the costs the state regulator allows utilities to recoup through higher rates for customers. These gains were partially offset by $0.04 per share of higher interest expenses. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/centerpoint-beats-profit-estimates-industrial-power-demand-regulatory-recovery-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 11:57

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Higher U.S. tariffs on imports are weighing on growth in Britain and are likely to lead to downward pressures on British inflation over the medium term, Bank of England policymaker Swati Dhingra said on Thursday. "In my view, the primary transmission channel of tariffs to the UK in 2025 come through weaker demand, as tariffs act as a drag on global growth," Dhingra said in a speech to a research conference hosted by Ireland's central bank. Sign up here. The disruption to trade from tariffs "means lower overall growth - and some downward pressure on prices in the medium term," she added. Dhingra - who has voted for a faster pace of BoE rate cuts - also said excessively high interest rates could cause longer-term inflation problems by limiting investment in new production capacity and improvements in productivity. On Saturday, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey told a meeting of financiers and policymakers in Washington that Brexit offered a warning to the world economy about the impact of trade barriers and was continuing to hurt the British economy. Dhingra cited research published earlier this year which showed that services sectors most exposed to Brexit barriers had seen a 16% fall in exports to the European Union, which were not made up elsewhere. "Brexit has demonstrated the corrosive effect of policy uncertainty on trade, productivity, and business investment," she said. Other research by economists pointed to British gross domestic product being 6%-8% lower, investment down 12%-18%, and employment and productivity down 3%-4% compared with staying in the EU, she added. The British government's Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that Brexit will reduce Britain's long-term level of productivity by 4% compared with remaining in the EU. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-tariffs-slow-uk-economy-lower-inflation-boes-dhingra-says-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 11:56

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Union Pacific (UNP.N) , opens new tab beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Thursday on the back of strong food grain and coal volumes, as well as better pricing. There is optimism around demand for coal transport, benefiting railroad operators such as Union Pacific, after U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders with an aim to boost coal production. Sign up here. Union Pacific said the results include merger costs of $41 million, or $0.07 per share, on a diluted basis. Shares of the company were down marginally in premarket trade. Union Pacific announced plans in July to acquire rival Norfolk Southern in an $85 billion deal aimed at creating the first coast-to-coast freight rail operator. U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs have resulted in softer consumer markets and a slowdown in freight, affecting railroads such as Union Pacific. The deal, still subject to regulatory clearance from the Surface Transportation Board, has drawn a positive response from U.S. President Donald Trump. The companies expect to file merger application with STB by the end of January next year. The North American railroad industry has struggled with volatile freight volumes, rising labor and fuel costs, and growing pressure from shippers over service reliability. Revenue from its bulk segment, which includes shipments of coal and food grains, grew 7% to $1.93 billion for the third quarter. Its intermodal shipments, which involves transporting goods via two or more means of transportation, generated revenue of $1.5 billion, down 3%. The West Coast railroad operator posted quarterly profit of$3.08 per share, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.99 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. The company posted a total operating revenue of $6.24 billion, compared with estimates of $6.25 billion. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/railroad-operator-union-pacifics-quarterly-profit-rises-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 11:55

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The pound steadied on Thursday having tumbled the day before after cooler-than-expected British inflation data caused traders to bring forward expectations on Bank of England rate cuts. Versus the dollar, sterling was last down 0.13% on the day at $1.3339 having dropped as low as $1.3307 on Wednesday in the aftermath of the data. Sign up here. British inflation unexpectedly held steady in September the Wednesday data showed, below both market and Bank of England expectations, causing forecasters to predict price rises have now peaked and will fall in the coming months. As a result, markets raised bets on Bank of England easing this year, and now see roughly a three in four chance the BoE cuts rates by 25 basis points by December, with a small chance it moves at its meeting next month. That also supported British government bonds, or gilts, yields on which dropped sharply on Wednesday before steadying on Thursday, but the 10-year gilt yield was still around 6 basis points below where it was before the data. All else being equal, currencies tend to reflect relative moves in government bond yields, but sterling has fallen less after the inflation data that the fall in the gilt yield would imply. "There are a few cross currents with the pound, as lower rates make the Chancellor's life much easier," said Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe. British finance minister Rachel Reeves will announce her latest budget next month, and is expected to have to include some combination of tax rises and spending cuts. Britain's elevated borrowing costs have not helped the situation and so lower gilt yields can be supportive of the pound. Nonetheless Rees says he expects further sterling weakness from here as the budget may not be well received. He said it was harder to assess when that weakness might materialise. In terms of euro/sterling, "we need to see some of the risk premium around French politics come out of the euro," he said. Sterling was also steadier on the euro on Thursday. The euro was last at 86.88 pence having been as high as 87.11 pence the day before in the aftermath of the data. https://www.reuters.com/business/sterling-steadies-after-soft-inflation-driven-fall-2025-10-23/

2025-10-23 11:52

TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear power industry wants greater support for new reactor building, including via state-run capacity auctions, under the government of newly elected pro-nuclear Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a lobby head said on Thursday. Just 14 of the 54 nuclear plants operating in Japan before the 2011 Fukushima disaster have been brought back online, and Takaichi has said reviving nuclear power is key to Japan's energy security. Sign up here. However, much of Japan's nuclear focus has been on restarting shuttered reactors - the government recently extended operating lifetimes from 40 to 60 years - with just one new plant currently on the drawing board. Hideki Masui, president of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF), said more support for building new reactors, a process that takes two decades in Japan, should be made available through the long-term decarbonised capacity auction (LTDA) scheme to develop new power generation. "We should include a scheme into the LTDA which allows some kind of a fund recovery even during construction from an early stage," Masui told Reuters. There are no safety regulations for next-generation reactors, and operators are asking for regulatory predictability while they also seek "support for financing", Masui said. In July, Kansai Electric Power (9503.T) , opens new tab, Japan's top nuclear power operator, announced surveys to build a new reactor in western Japan, the first concrete step towards building a reactor since Fukushima. Japan aims to have nuclear power accounting for 20% of its electricity mix in 2040, from less than 10% now, with power demand from data centres reversing years of decline. Another four idled reactors have been given initial restart permits by authorities, while eight more are undergoing safety checks and a further 10 could apply for restarts, Masui said. "Theoretically, I think Japan can achieve its nuclear goal of 20% in 2040 with more than 30 reactors operating," Masui said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/japan-nuclear-sector-seeks-greater-support-new-reactor-builds-lobby-head-says-2025-10-23/