2024-09-11 20:16

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison urged a federal judge not to send her to prison after she pleaded guilty over her role in the theft of $8 billion from customers of Sam Bankman-Fried's bankrupt FTX exchange. In a court filing just before midnight on Tuesday, Ellison's lawyers told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan that she deserves leniency for helping prosecutors build a successful criminal case against Bankman-Fried, her onetime boyfriend. "From her first meeting with prosecutors, Caroline unflinchingly acknowledged her own wrongdoing," her lawyer Anjan Sahni wrote. "She time and again proved herself an enormously credible and important cooperating witness." Ellison, 29, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24. Bankman-Fried, 32, is serving a 25-year prison sentence after his conviction last year in what prosecutors described as one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history. He is appealing the verdict and sentence. A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined to comment on Wednesday. A representative of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan, whose office prosecuted Bankman-Fried and Ellison, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ellison pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in December 2022, just over a month after FTX's dramatic collapse. The meltdown jolted financial markets and shattered Bankman-Fried's reputation as a charitable, politically involved wunderkind entrepreneur. At Bankman-Fried's trial, Ellison and two other former colleagues testified that the former billionaire directed them to use FTX customer funds to plug losses at his cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund Alameda Research, where Ellison was chief executive. In emotional testimony, Ellison also gave jurors an intimate window into Bankman-Fried's values and character. She said the self-described "utilitarian" thought doing what he considered the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people was more important than following rules such as "don't lie" or "don't steal." Former FTX executives Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, who also pleaded guilty to fraud and testified against Bankman-Fried, face sentencing hearings on Oct. 30 and Nov. 20, respectively. Ryan Salame, a former FTX executive who did not cooperate with prosecutors, was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison in May after pleading guilty to making unlawful campaign donations to causes supported by Bankman-Fried. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/bankman-frieds-ex-girlfriend-ellison-urges-judge-spare-her-prison-ftx-fraud-2024-09-11/

2024-09-11 19:52

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Argentina's monthly inflation rate stood at 4.2% in August, official data published on Wednesday showed, rising from last month and surpassing analysts' forecasts, while Argentines tighten their wallets to deal with spiraling costs. Inflation in the 12 months through August reached 236.7%, still the highest level recorded in the world, and also above a Reuters poll forecast of 235.8%. Analysts had hoped for a slight monthly slowdown to 3.9%, which would signal progress for the government of libertarian President Javier Milei, which has been focused on taming runaway prices. Statistics agency INDEC said the monthly price rises were driven by living costs and utilities, education and transport. The country's monthly inflation rate has hovered around the 4% mark since May. With costs soaring, poverty rates this year hit their highest level in at least 20 years, according to a recent study. "I swear I don't know how to make ends meet," said 63-year-old Liliana Martins, lamenting that, even as she tries to save, it is never enough. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of potatoes now costs 1,274 pesos ($1.33), according to INDEC, up nearly 40% from just a month ago, while prices for meat, dairy and soaps have also gone up. Agustina Celeste Brito, a 24-year-old teacher, said she was pooling her salary with her parents' to get by, while 27-year-old Victoria Godoy said rising household costs are too much for her to cover. "I pay all the utilities, and every month it goes up and the salary I make is not enough," Godoy said. ($1 = 957.5000 Argentine pesos) Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/argentinas-august-inflation-still-stubborn-residents-struggle-save-2024-09-11/

2024-09-11 19:50

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Argentine protesters clashed with police outside the country's Congress on Wednesday, after lower house lawmakers voted to block a planned hike to pensions that had been opposed by right-wing libertarian President Javier Milei. The chamber of deputies voted 153 in favor of the pension hike with 87 against it, falling short of the two-thirds needed to approve the bill after Milei had previously vetoed it saying that it put the country's plan for a fiscal balance at risk. As news of the vote spread, hundreds of people protesting in central Buenos Aires broke down barriers erected by police and clashed with security forces with in riot gear in the streets. Argentina's government is pushing a tough austerity package of spending cuts to overturn years of fiscal deficits and tame high inflation, which has helped bolster the state's finances, but hit the real economy and left more people in poverty. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/clashes-outside-argentina-congress-after-pension-hike-blocked-2024-09-11/

2024-09-11 19:39

HOUSTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas export terminals on the Louisiana coast may have escaped the brunt of Hurricane Francine and put off a major test of their ability to withstand a direct storm hit to another day. Francine was on track on Wednesday to lash south-central Louisiana, east of Cameron Parish that is home to several of the newly operating projects, with 90 mile-per-hour (145 kph) winds. Three of the four largest U.S. LNG export facilities are in Louisiana. "This hurricane seems to be avoiding the majority of the LNG facility corridor," said Alex Gafford, an energy analyst at researcher East Daley Analytics. Cheniere Energy's (LNG.N) , opens new tab Sabine Pass facility, the U.S. largest LNG export plant, remained in operation on Wednesday with two vessels moored at the Cameron Parish facility. The facility is more than 200 miles west of Francine's projected landfall. "LNG production at Sabine Pass remains uninterrupted," with Cheniere continuing with its storm preparations, the company said in a statement to Reuters. Gas flow to Sabine Pass remained high on Wednesday at 4.6 bcf a day but fell to just over 900 million cubic feet or about half of the usual intake at Cameron LNG, LSEG data showed. Venture Global LNG's Calcasieu Pass LNG plant and Sempra Infrastructure's Cameron LNG facility, also lay west of the storm's path. Cameron LNG had no vessels in its port on Wednesday. Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass LNG facility located near the Texas border, and the yet to be commissioned, Plaquemines plant near New Orleans, were hunkering down, the company said. LNG tanker the Qogir was moored at Venture Global's Plaquemines plant. Venture Gator, another tanker that was at the mouth of the Mississippi River, has left and made its way to the safety of the Gulf of Mexico, LSEG ship tracking data showed. During the first half of 2024, roughly 389 vessels picked up cargoes in Louisiana, including about 218 from Sabine Pass, 75 from Calcasieu Pass, and 96 from Cameron LNG according to U.S. Department of Energy data. Much of U.S. efforts to build up LNG exports has focused on the Louisiana coast, despite warnings from critics on their exposure to Atlantic hurricanes. Retired General Russell Honore, the leader of the Louisiana based GreenARMY alliance of civic, community, and environmental groups, said the LNG plants are in high risk areas due to their insufficient buffer zone. A 10-foot wave surge combined with heavy rainfall could overwhelm plant defenses, he said on Tuesday. The NHC has forecast an up to 10-foot surge for areas in the direct path of Francine. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-lng-exporters-expected-escape-brunt-hurricane-francine-2024-09-11/

2024-09-11 19:29

Sept 11 (Reuters) - A Native American group on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) , opens new tab and BHP (BHP.AX) , opens new tab from gaining access to Arizona land needed to build one of the world's largest copper mines, a last-ditch legal move in a long-running case pitting religious rights against the energy transition. Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of Arizona's San Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, asked the court to overturn a March ruling from a sharply divided San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the federal government to swap acreage with the mining companies for their Resolution Copper project. The appeal to the nine justices was delivered in person by a courier after the Apache held a ceremony of prayer and dancing on the court's steps in Washington, the culmination of a months-long caravan from their Arizona reservation to the capital. At least four justices would need to agree to hear the appeal, in which Apache Stronghold and their attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty contend the government would be violating the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion if the mine is developed. If the court agrees to hear the case, it could hold oral arguments in its term which begins next month and potentially issue a decision by next June. The dispute centers on the federally owned Oak Flat Campground, known as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel in the Apache language and where many Apache worship their deities. The site sits atop a reserve of more than 40 billion pounds (18.1 million metric tons) of copper, a crucial component of electric vehicles and nearly every electronic device. If a mine is built, it would create a crater 2 miles (3 km) wide and 1,000 feet (304 m) deep that would destroy that worship site. In 2014, Congress and then-President Barack Obama approved a complex deal to give Rio Tinto the land. President Joe Biden froze the land swap after assuming office in 2021. The U.S. Department of Justice, controlled by Biden, has argued in court that the government has the right to give away its land to whomever it chooses, regardless of the religious implications. "That legal argument is astonishingly broad and harmful to Native Americans and people of all faiths," said Luke Goodrich, a Becket attorney who is leading the appeal. Rio Tinto said the case "does not present any question worthy of Supreme Court review" given the 9th Circuit's ruling, which it supported. "This case is about the government's right to pursue national interests with its own land, an unremarkable and longstanding proposition that the Supreme Court and other courts have consistently reaffirmed," said a Rio Tinto spokesperson. BHP, which owns 45% of the project to Rio Tinto's 55%, declined to comment. Both companies have spent more than $2 billion on the project without producing any copper. The date of the appeal was due to a fluke of the court's calendar and not meant to coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, attorneys said. Still, the date does coincide with the four-year anniversary of when Rio Tinto fired its former CEO for inadequate consultation with Indigenous groups in Australia. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/legal/indigenous-group-asks-us-supreme-court-block-rio-tintos-arizona-copper-project-2024-09-11/

2024-09-11 19:28

Ports in Louisiana, including deepwater LOOP, shut Six Louisiana oil refineries slow operations Exxon's Baton Rouge refinery cuts rates to 20% Cotton at risk, crop shipments to the Mississippi disrupted HOUSTON/CHICAGO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Energy production and agricultural exports out of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were partially disrupted on Wednesday, and some oil refineries in Louisiana slowed operations ahead of Hurricane Francine's landfall later in the day, according to official and operator reports. Port Fourchon, Louisiana, home to marine and equipment suppliers to offshore oil producers, was closed to vessel traffic as was the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the only U.S. deepwater port that can handle very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for oil imports and exports. New Orleans, Plaquemines, Cameron, Lake Charles and Houma ports remained closed on Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said, tying up fuel, soybean and grains headed for export. Francine's rains could threaten the region's cotton crop, agriculture officials said. Six eastern Louisiana refineries, most around New Orleans, were operating with minimal staff to ride out the storm in the plants. Exxon Mobil's (XOM.N) , opens new tab Baton Rouge refinery cut output to as low as 20% of its 522,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity in preparation for Francine's landfall later on Wednesday. U.S. crude oil jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, driven by fears of lengthy production shutdowns in the offshore oil patch as Francine barreled through. Nearly 39% of oil and almost half of natural gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was offline on Wednesday. A total of 171 production platforms and three rigs had been evacuated. The shut-ins cut nearly 675,000 barrels per day of oil, and 907 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from offshore production, according to the offshore regulator. The Gulf is home to about 15% of U.S. oil and 2% of natural gas output. Oil and gas production could be affected for about two weeks depending on the severity of the hurricane on landfall, said Alex Gafford, an analyst at East Daley Analytics. Strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane, Francine's eyewall was nearing southern Louisiana on Wednesday afternoon, bringing maximum sustained winds of up to 100 mph (155 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Its center is expected to move across Mississippi on Thursday. The storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall and the risk of considerable flooding across southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, far southern Alabama and northern Florida. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Louisiana. The hurricane is expected to spare liquefied natural gas plants recently built or expanded near the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The storm track was farther east than many of the coastal plants. TEXAS RELIEVED As the hurricane moved towards Louisiana, some Texas ports that had closed earlier this week including Brownsville and Orange began post-storm assessments in preparation for reopening, while others including Houston, Freeport, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Sabine lifted navigation restrictions, the Coast Guard said. Francine has disrupted crop shipments to the Mississippi Gulf region, responsible for about 55% of U.S. soy exports, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, an industry group. "The barge companies are not directing their barge flotillas to go down into that area until the storm exits the region," Steenhoek said. Francine's ultimate impact will depend on how severe the storm is, Steenhoek said. While hoping for minimal disruptions and damage, traders also are watching to see whether Francine brings needed precipitation to the Mississippi River at a time when low water levels have slowed grain transportation. Farmers in the central Gulf Coast region and the Mississippi Delta were preparing for the storm's arrival by harvesting crops, including rice and soybeans, where possible, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a weather report. Much of the region's cotton crop is vulnerable to damage from rain and winds as their bolls are opening, USDA said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/operations-key-louisiana-energy-port-suspended-francine-approaches-2024-09-11/