2025-09-30 09:32

MUMBAI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - India's central bank will cut interest rates on Wednesday, despite the rupee repeatedly making all-time lows, in a bid to prioritise growth amid worsening trade tensions with the U.S., according to three analysts. The views of analysts at Capital Economics, Nomura and Emkay Global diverge from the consensus call that the Reserve Bank of India will hold rates unchanged. Three-fourths of those polled expect the key policy rate will be kept steady at 5.50%. Sign up here. The rupee, which slipped to a record low on Tuesday, is among the worst-performing Asian currencies year-to-date, down 3.7% against the dollar. Those arguing against a rate cut say the rupee’s weakness could deter the central bank, particularly as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s growth-supporting measures have reduced the urgency for monetary support. A rate cut could also narrow interest rate differentials with the U.S., adding to the pressure on the currency, the analysts say. India's current account deficit makes it reliant on overseas inflows, leading to authorities guarding against currency weakness. However, Capital Economics argues that with inflation subdued, U.S. tariffs slowing growth, and ample foreign exchange reserves to manage currency volatility, the central bank has room to cut rates to support the broader economy. "While the weak rupee is a consideration, it is unlikely to constrain the RBI," it said in a note. Madhavi Arora, chief economist at Emkay Global Financial Services, says that India's relative loss of export competitiveness, driven by higher U.S. tariffs and the inclusion of services in the trade dispute, justifies a degree of currency depreciation against peers. "Such depreciation would act as a natural stabilizer for a weaker current account deficit, rather than being misread as a rate-easing deterrent," she said. Sonal Varma, managing director and chief economist at Nomura, says that a rate cut is warranted as inflation remains well below target, and as negative effects of U.S. tariffs are likely to outweigh the consumption boost from the recent goods and services tax cuts. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/weak-rupee-not-hurdle-india-rate-cut-analysts-say-2025-09-30/

2025-09-30 09:18

MUMBAI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee dropped to a record low on Tuesday, with unresolved trade strains with the United States fuelling heavy dollar demand and prompting central bank intervention to support the currency. The rupee hit a lifetime low of 88.80, slipping past the prior low of 88.7975 struck last week. It was last quoting at 88.7550. Sign up here. Market participants have seen little reason to bet on a turn in fortunes for the currency with a trade deal with the U.S. remaining elusive, while a recent hike in U.S. H-1B visa fees has compounded the currency’s weakness. Analysts warn the U.S. decision to hike H-1B visa fees could weigh on revenues in India’s technology sector and trigger renewed equity outflows. Foreign investors have accelerated their selling of Indian stocks following the visa fee increase, pulling more than $2 billion from the market over the past six sessions. That's a marked pickup from the roughly $800 million withdrawn in the first three weeks of September, underscoring the pressure on portfolio flows. The rupee's decline has been exacerbated by dollar demand from jewellery importers ahead of the October festival season. The Reserve Bank of India has been intervening through state-run banks to temper the rupee’s decline, with intervention likely continuing on Tuesday. Bankers said the central bank sold dollars to limit intraday volatility and prevent the currency’s record low from triggering a broader impact. "The RBI is stepping in to keep the rupee from spiralling," said a Mumbai-based currency trader. "While they’re selling dollars to smooth the market, the flows on the other side remain heavy." The RBI intervened in the local spot market and the non-deliverable market last week, per bankers. "RBI is widely expected to slow the pace of move in line with the stated policy of containing volatility and in order to keep market expectations from becoming 'one-sided' ahead of big figure change around 90," BofA Global Research said in a note. However, "all rationale points towards a more measured approach this time" from the RBI. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indian-rupee-hits-all-time-low-us-india-policy-friction-rbi-continues-support-2025-09-30/

2025-09-30 07:57

LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab has started production from its Victory gas field in the North Sea, which at peak production can heat almost 900,000 homes per year, it said on Tuesday. At full capacity, the gas field can produce about 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, or about 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The field will provide gas for Britain's homes, businesses and power generation. Sign up here. Victory will contribute toward Shell's goal to deliver gas projects with total production of more than 1 million boed by the end of the decade. The company expects most of the recoverable gas at the field, which is about 47 km northwest of the Shetland Islands, to have been extracted by that time. Shell will extract gas via a single subsea well and transport it to the Shetland Gas Plant using an existing pipeline network, the company said. It will then be delivered to the Scottish mainland at St. Fergus near Peterhead, and fed into the national gas network. UK gas production is expected to fall by 10% this year from 2024, according to data from the North Sea Transition Authority in March. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/shell-starts-production-victory-gas-field-north-sea-2025-09-30/

2025-09-30 07:49

BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker carrying cargo from Russia's sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project berthed at China's Beihai terminal on Tuesday, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler and LSEG. If the tanker discharges its cargo, that would make it the seventh load that the Chinese terminal has received from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under sanctions because of Russia's war in Ukraine. Sign up here. The Arctic Vostok tanker picked up LNG from a storage facility in Kamchatka, in the Russian Far East, on August 30, before heading towards China's Beihai LNG terminal in the southern region of Guangxi, according to Kpler. LSEG data showed the tanker loaded the cargo on September 6. The storage facility has only received cargoes from the Arctic LNG 2 project. Shipping database Equasis lists the tanker's ship or commercial manager as SMP Techmanagement while the registered owner was Lule One Services. Reuters was not able to find any contact information for the registered owner or manager. PipeChina, operator of the Beihai LNG terminal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Despite sanctions, Arctic LNG 2, which is 60% owned by Russia's Novatek (NVTK.MM) , opens new tab, has been sending out LNG since last year, with cargoes being delivered to two storage facilities in Russia and the Beihai LNG terminal. The last two cargoes loaded from the Arctic LNG 2 facility in Gydan in northern Siberia are currently sailing east via the Northern Sea Route on the Christophe De Margerie and Voskhod LNG tankers. Another sanctioned tanker, La Perouse, which also loaded 150,000 cubic meters of LNG from the sanctioned project, travelled south past Europe, Africa and through the Indian Ocean and is now heading toward the Bay of Bengal, according to LSEG and Kpler data. Another sanctioned tanker, Arctic Metagaz, which is carrying cargo from Arctic LNG 2, is also currently near China's Beihai LNG terminal. It picked up a cargo from a floating storage facility in Murmansk, northwest Russia, on July 17, according to Kpler data. This storage facility has also only received cargoes from the Arctic LNG 2 project. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/tanker-carrying-7th-sanctioned-arctic-lng-2-cargo-berths-china-port-2025-09-30/

2025-09-30 07:49

SINGAPORE, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Singapore's Aster Chemicals and Energy is investing $125 million to upgrade its single buoy mooring and pipeline infrastructure near Bukom refinery, the company said on Tuesday. The refiner awarded these engineering contracts to Allseas and DOF, it said in a statement, without saying when the works will be completed. Sign up here. "The upgraded SBM pipeline is projected to provide more than 20 years of reliable service," Aster Chemicals said in a press statement. Aster Chemicals took over operations of the refinery from Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab earlier this year. Since early 2023, the refinery has been unable to receive crude directly from Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). Instead, the VLCCs conducted ship-to-ship transfers with smaller tankers which then discharged the oil at the refinery, Kpler shiptracking data showed. Shell conducted extended repairs at this shipping facility in mid-2023, Reuters reported. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/aster-chemicals-invests-125-million-mooring-pipeline-works-singapore-refinery-2025-09-30/

2025-09-30 07:31

ADEN, Yemen, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Yemen’s first large-scale solar plant is helping to alleviate electricity shortages in the southern port city of Aden, bringing some relief to residents and businesses which suffer losses particularly when the intense summer heat hits. Funded by neighbouring United Arab Emirates and operational since July 2024, the Aden Solar Power Plant marks a significant shift towards renewable energy in a country the International Energy Agency lists as the Middle East’s least electrified. Sign up here. Yemen has been grappling with almost 30 years of electricity crisis due to fuel shortages and a war that caused severe damage to the national power infrastructure. Located north of Aden - the interim seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government - the 120-megawatt plant supplies electricity to between 150,000 and 170,000 homes daily, according to Sabri al-Maamari, a technician at the plant. "Power outages used to cause damage to goods, and when we returned the damaged items to the suppliers, they would not accept them, leaving us, the merchants, to bear the loss," said Mubarak Qaid, who operates a supermarket in the city. While solar power represented only 10.4% of Yemen’s total electricity generation in 2023, according to the IEA, this is expected to rise with a second phase of the Aden Solar Power Plant planned for 2026 to double its capacity. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/solar-power-offers-ray-hope-middle-easts-least-electrified-country-2025-09-30/