2025-09-25 12:05
WARSAW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The 19th package of European Union sanctions against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine will close a loophole allowing Russia to bypass an EU ban for imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Polish energy minister said on Thursday. The 12th sanctions package from 2024 had excluded some types of LPG, such as butane and isobutane, used mainly as a feedstock for production of other petrochemicals. Other types of LPG are mainly used as fuel for cars and heating. Sign up here. Before the sanctions went into force, Poland was the largest importer of Russian LPG. While Sweden became the biggest supplier of LNG to Poland in the first half of 2025, imports of liquefied gas from Russia fell but were not eliminated, data from the Polish Liquefied Gas Organization (POGP) showed. The remaining Russian imports corresponded with inflow of butane and isobutane, fractions of LPG with a purity of more than 95%, used also in production of aerosols, POGP data showed. "Adding butane to the sanctions will close the possibility of its import from Russia and Belarus as a component for creating a liquefied petroleum gas mixture, eliminating a loophole in the existing ban on LPG imports," Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eus-proposed-19th-package-russia-sanctions-closes-lpg-loophole-poland-says-2025-09-25/
2025-09-25 12:01
MILAN, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Italy's Snam (SRG.MI) , opens new tab was amazed by the lengthy approval process it faces over its acquisition of a stake in Germany's largest independent gas transmission operator, its CEO told an Italian newspaper, hinting the group could pull the deal. The Italian gas grid operator signed a deal in April to buy 24.99% in Open Grid Europe, paving the way for Snam to enter the German gas market. Sign up here. "The transaction is proceeding... but we are amazed by the lengthiness of the process due to the incredible amount of additional documents requested by the German authority," Snam's CEO Agostino Scornajenchi told daily Il Sole 24 Ore. The asset is interesting, but Snam would not pursue the acquisition "come hell or high water," Scornajenchi added. Part of the information requested by the German authority was related to the role of China's State Grid, an indirect investor in Snam, sources told Reuters. Germany's economy ministry, which is reviewing Snam's acquisition, declined to comment. China's State Grid owns 35% in CDP Reti, which in turns holds 31.4% of Snam. In 2018, Germany blocked an attempt by China's State Grid to buy a stake in power grid operator 50Hertz. ($1 = 0.8510 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/snam-ceo-amazed-by-lengthy-approval-german-gas-grid-deal-report-says-2025-09-25/
2025-09-25 12:01
SAO PAULO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank projected on Thursday that inflation will hover near the official goal in the first quarter of 2028, but still fail to meet it, according to the bank's latest quarterly monetary policy report. After projecting earlier this month annual inflation at 3.4% for the first quarter of 2027, the relevant horizon for policy decisions, policymakers unveiled a 3.1% forecast for the first quarter of 2028, the final period covered by the report. Sign up here. The bank targets inflation at 3%, with a tolerance band of 1.5 percentage points in either direction. Last week, the monetary institution kept interest rates at a near two-decade high of 15%, signaling a "new stage" of prolonged pause in its attempt to curb consumer prices. The bank launched in September last year a cycle that lifted the benchmark Selic rate by 450 basis points. Compared with June's report, the central bank lowered its 2025 inflation forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 4.8%, while the projection for 2026 was held at 3.6%. "Among the factors that pushed inflation upwards, the dynamism of the labor market in a context of positive growth, and the increase in residential electricity projections stand out," the bank said in the report. "Downward factors include the appreciation of the real and the reduction in inflation expectations." The central bank also decreased its 2025 GDP growth forecast to 2.0% from 2.1% projected in June, citing an expected moderation in economic growth due to the recent tightening of monetary policy, as showed by some economic indicators. Policymakers unveiled for the first time their projection for GDP expansion in 2026, seen at 1.5%. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-central-bank-sees-inflation-still-missing-target-early-2028-2025-09-25/
2025-09-25 12:00
Last year's edition saw peak oil demand in 2025 Renewables to overtake coal share in energy mix by 2040 Natural gas demand set to grow almost 20% by 2040 LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) , opens new tab said on Thursday it expects global oil demand to grow until 2030, five years later than its forecast a year ago, stressing slowed efforts to increase energy efficiency. The oil major's latest Energy Outlook, an annual study of energy trends through 2050, models two scenarios. Sign up here. The "Current Trajectory" scenario is based on existing policies and pledges, while in its "Below 2-Degrees" scenario it envisions about a 90% drop in carbon emissions by 2050 from 2023 levels. Emissions are largely the result of burning oil, natural gas and coal. The following are highlights from the report: OIL DEMAND, OIL PRODUCTION Global oil demand is expected to hit 103.4 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030 in BP's Current Trajectory, before falling to 83 million bpd by 2050. BP's report last year saw demand peaking by 2025 at around 102 million bpd, but slowing efficiency gains have changed the picture. In its Below 2-Degrees scenario, oil demand peaks this year at 102.2 million bpd before falling to 33.8 million bpd by 2050. CARBON EMISSIONS In the Current Trajectory, CO2 equivalent emissions stay broadly flat to 2030, then fall by about 25% by 2050 from 2023 levels. In the Below 2-Degrees scenario, emissions drop 90%, driven by faster decarbonisation in emerging economies. NATURAL GAS AND LNG DEMAND In the Current Trajectory, natural gas demand grows to around 4,800 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2040, up by around 17% from current levels, boosted by China, India and other Asian and Middle Eastern countries, then plateaus at that level. The European Union's imports of Russian pipeline gas fall by around 50% to 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) and stay at that level for decades to come. Exports of liquefied natural gas, which BP uses as a gauge for demand for the fuel, will increase to around 900 bcm by 2035 in the Current Trajectory, with more than 50% of those supplies coming from the U.S. and the Middle East. BP rival Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab has pegged LNG demand by 2040 at between 630 million and 718 million metric tons a year, or around 860-980 bcm. ELECTRICITY, AI AND RENEWABLES Global electricity demand in the Current Trajectory scenario rises to over 40,000 terrawatt hours over the coming decade, up around 40% from 2023 levels, boosted by China and India. By 2050 it roughly doubles, driven mainly by huge leaps in the electrification of transport. Over half of power generation will come from wind and solar by then. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/bp-postpones-oil-demand-peak-prediction-2030-2025-2025-09-25/
2025-09-25 11:38
Initial probe said one pilot asked another why he cut the fuel Captain's father accuses Indian investigators of 'procedurally improper' remarks Pilots' union condemns investigators' visit to father Air India crash was one of world's deadliest aviation disasters NEW DELHI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The father of the crashed Air India flight's captain said officials from India's accident investigation bureau visited him last month and implied his son cut the fuel to the plane's engines after takeoff, correspondence obtained by Reuters showed. Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, 91, emailed the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) last week to say that Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) officials had visited him at home on August 30 "under the pretext of offering condolences", and implied his son, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, was the one who moved the fuel switches. Sign up here. "During this interaction ... they went beyond their mandate - speaking in innuendos and insinuating, on the basis of selective CVR (cockpit voice recorder) interpretation and a so-called 'layered voice analysis', that my son had moved the fuel control switches from RUN to CUTOFF after take-off," the September 17 email said. The day before the AAIB visit, he wrote to the civil aviation ministry - in a letter dated August 29 - to request India's government open an additional investigation into the deadly crash, criticising what he said were investigators' "selective" releases of information, which had led to speculation about his son's actions. The crash of Air India flight 171 in June, moments after it took off from Ahmedabad, killed 241 of the 242 people on board the Boeing Dreamliner, as well as 19 on the ground. A preliminary investigation report by the AAIB showed the plane's fuel engine switches had almost simultaneously flipped from run to cutoff just after takeoff. The AAIB did not respond to Reuters queries. On Thursday, a Reuters reporter seeking comment was stopped by building security and denied access to Pushkar Raj Sabharwal's home in Mumbai. The FIP condemned the AAIB visit and said it had "taken up the matter" with the minister of civil aviation. "In any court of law the judge or the prosecutor does not go to the house of victims and cross question individuals," Captain C.S. Randhawa, the organisation's president, told Reuters in a text message. India's civil aviation ministry and Air India did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. 'INTEGRITY' Pushkar Raj Sabharwal, himself a former official of India's aviation safety regulator, in his email to the pilots federation requested its support for a fair, transparent investigation. The AAIB's preliminary report in July said one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he had cut off the fuel. "The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report said, without identifying who said what. A source briefed on U.S. officials' early assessment of evidence in July told Reuters the cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots supported the view that Captain Sabharwal had cut the flow of fuel to the engines. The first officer was at the controls of the Boeing (BA.N) , opens new tab 787 and asked the captain why he had moved the fuel switches into a position that cut off supply to the engines and requested that he restore the fuel flow, the source told Reuters. "My son's dignity and the integrity of due process must be preserved," Pushkar Raj Sabharwal wrote in the email to the pilots federation, calling the investigator's alleged remarks "procedurally improper and professionally indefensible." In July, the AAIB urged the public and media to refrain from spreading "premature narratives" that risked undermining the investigation's integrity. In his letter to the ministry, Sabharwal's father said the "speculation" had caused him personal anguish, adding another investigation by the government would help in "safeguarding the truth and ensuring the safety of future passengers." This week, India's Supreme Court asked the government to respond to a separate public interest litigation seeking an independent investigation into the crash. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/air-india-crash-grieving-father-captain-says-investigators-insinuated-son-cut-2025-09-25/
2025-09-25 11:31
MOSCOW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Russia will introduce a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year and also extend its current ban on gasoline exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying on Thursday. Several Russian regions are facing shortages of certain grades of fuel after Ukraine stepped up drone attacks on numerous refineries. Sign up here. Novak was quoted as saying there was a small deficit of oil products, but stockpiles were being used to cover the shortfall. The diesel ban applies to re-sellers but not to producers. The gasoline ban covers producers as well as re-sellers, but does not affect inter-governmental agreements between Russia and a number of other countries, such as Mongolia. "We will soon extend the ban on gasoline exports until the end of the year, and a ban on diesel fuel exports for non-producers will also be introduced until the end of the year," Novak said, according to Interfax. "This will allow us to further supply the market with petroleum products," he said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-plans-partially-ban-diesel-exports-until-end-2025-ifx-reports-2025-09-25/
