2024-09-02 16:28

DUBAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Libya's National Oil Corp. (NOC) declared force majeure on El Feel oil field from Sept. 2, it said in a statement on Monday. The field, which has a capacity of 70,000 barrels per day, is operated by Mellitah Oil and Gas, which is a joint venture between NOC and Italy's Eni. Oil exports at major Libyan ports were halted on Monday and production curtailed across the country, amid a standoff between rival political factions over control of the central bank and oil revenue. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/libyas-noc-declares-force-majeure-el-feel-oil-field-sept-2-2024-09-02/

2024-09-02 16:03

EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The European Commission is working on tighter rules to ensure EU funding for hydrogen projects benefits European companies, after local industries raised concerns over cheap Chinese imports, the EU's head of climate change policy said on Monday. The EU will this month launch its next round of funding for green hydrogen projects, as Brussels attempts to kick-start a local industry to produce the fuel. Meanwhile, the EU is hardening its stance on other green technologies from China, imposing tariffs on electric vehicles which it says benefit from excessive subsidies. European manufacturers of electrolysers, machines that use electricity to split water to produce hydrogen, have warned they cannot compete with cheaper Chinese producers. They want the EU to protect them by adding criteria that would favour local firms to its Hydrogen Bank funding scheme, something climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said the bloc's executive was now working on. "The next auction will be different. We will have explicit criteria to build European electrolyser supply chains," Hoekstra said in a speech at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. "If European cybersecurity and safety cannot be guaranteed, if the data of our people and our companies cannot be guaranteed, companies cannot get support," Hoekstra said, adding that while Europe has a good electrolyser manufacturing presence, China is oversupplying the market at lower prices. Hoekstra said the planned hydrogen subsidy criteria, while not yet final, could include requirements for work to be done inside Europe, or setting a limit on projects' dependence on non-EU countries. The cybersecurity rules would be geared at ensuring European data "do not end up in the hands of governments outside of the (European) Union," he added in a joint interview with Reuters and Politico. The EU awarded 720 million euros to seven EU hydrogen projects in April. At the time, industry sources told Reuters the low-priced bids from some successful projects indicated that they would be using cheaper Chinese equipment. The Commission has not disclosed if this is the case. A Commission document, seen by Reuters, showed around a quarter of the projects that bid for the funding planned to source their electrolysers from outside the EU. Nearly another quarter planned to use a mix of EU and non-EU made equipment. Hoekstra said the EU was not aiming to cut ties with China, but would take action where it deemed competition to be unfair. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-tighten-hydrogen-subsidy-rules-after-china-concerns-2024-09-02/

2024-09-02 13:17

FRANKFURT, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Euro zone banks should factor in geopolitical risks when they decide how much capital to pay out and where to do business, the European Central Bank's top supervisor Claudia Buch said on Monday. "Geopolitical events ...transmit into increased credit, liquidity, market, and operational risks, for example by disrupting value chains or third-party service provision," Buch told European lawmakers. "Banks must therefore use scenario analyses and factor uncertainties into their capital planning. They may also need to reassess their geographical exposures and outsourcing strategies." Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/euro-zone-banks-must-consider-geopolitics-capital-plans-ecb-2024-09-02/

2024-09-02 13:04

Central bank to hike rates by 100 bps to 19% on Sept. 13 Rouble to weaken to 96.0 vs dollar in 12 months Russia's GDP growth forecast at 3.6% in 2024 Year-end inflation expected at 7.0% Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 19% at its Sept. 13 meeting to combat inflation and cool the overheated economy, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday. The consensus forecast of 15 analysts polled by Reuters in late August and early September suggested annual inflation would end 2024 at 7%, down from the current rate of 9.1% but slightly up from the previous poll's forecast of 6.9%. The central bank anticipates inflation in the range of 6.5-7.0% in 2024 as the supply of goods and services catches up with demand. At its last meeting in July, the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 200 basis points to 18%, the highest level since April 2022, and indicated that tight monetary policy would remain for some time to achieve a sustainable slowdown in inflation. Analysts predicted that the double-digit benchmark interest rate in Russia would remain until 2027, when it is expected to fall to 9.0%. The central bank forecasts an average benchmark rate of 7.5%-9.5% in 2027. Analysts projected gross domestic product growth this year at 3.6%, below the updated official forecast of 3.9% announced by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, following the release of strong data for the first half of the year. Growth in capital investment, one of the factors behind strong economic growth, is forecast at 7% in 2024, down from 9.8% last year. The rouble is expected to weaken by over 5% to 96.0 against the U.S. dollar in a year, compared to the current official exchange rate of 91.19. "Negative factors for the rouble include geopolitical and sanction risks, capital outflows, demand for foreign currency to buy back shares of Russian companies from foreign owners, and increased budgetary expenditures," said Mikhail Vasilyev, chief analyst at Sovcombank. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russian-central-bank-set-hike-key-rate-by-another-100-bps-2024-09-02/

2024-09-02 12:11

Egypt interest poll data: CAIRO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Egypt CBE will leave its overnight interest rates unchanged when its monetary policy committee meets on Thursday as inflation continues to decline, a poll of analysts forecast. The CBE kept rates steady at its last two meetings, on July 18 and May 23, saying economic growth remained slow but that inflation had been decreasing. On March 6, the bank raised rates by 600 basis points (bps) as part of an $8 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund, bringing total increases since the beginning of the year to 800 bps. The median forecast in a poll of 15 analysts was for the central bank to hold its deposit rate steady at 27.25% and lending rate at 28.25% when the committee meets. Only one analyst expected the bank to lower rates by 100 bps. "We anticipate interest rates being left on hold by the CBE given inflation remains well above target," said James Swanston of Capital Economics. "However, momentum is in the right direction and with a sharper fall anticipated in the headline rate in early 2025, attention will turn to when that first rate cut will be - for our part, we have pencilled it in for Q1 2025." Inflation dropped to 25.7% in July, the first time the real interest rate has been positive since January 2022. Inflation had fallen from a record 38% in September to 27.5% in June. The monetary policy committee said it was targeting inflation of below 9% by the end of 2024. Egypt allowed its currency to plunge to under 50 to the dollar as part of its agreement with the IMF in March after having fixed it at 30.85 for a year. The Egyptian pound has since strengthened to about 48.6 to the dollar. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/egypt-central-bank-seen-holding-interest-rates-steady-2024-09-02/

2024-09-02 12:03

LOVIISA, Finland, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Finnish utility Fortum (FORTUM.HE) , opens new tab said on Monday it has successfully started using nuclear fuel from U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric as it seeks to replace Russian supply. Fortum's Loviisa power plant in Finland has depended on nuclear fuel from TVEL, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned power company Rosatom, but Fortum began looking to replace the this in 2022 after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "The loading of the new fuel is a significant milestone that guarantees a reliable Western alternative for fuel," Fortum said in a statement, adding that the first Westinghouse fuel had been loaded during the power plant's annual outage in August. "The safe and reliable operation of our Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant is crucial for Finland's security of supply". Fortum's two nuclear reactors in Loviisa account for around 10% of total power production in Finland, which has expressed concerns over potential interruptions in fuel deliveries from Russia after its decision to join NATO last year. "For the first time in Loviisa's history, we have fully Western fuel," Fortum's head of nuclear generation Petra Lundstrom said, adding it included uranium, the fuel assemblies and also the enrichment process originating from Western sources, without providing further details. CEO Markus Rauramo said on Monday Fortum would respect its existing contracts with TVEL, which run until 2027 and 2030. Last year, the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) said imports of nuclear fuel and services from Russia to the European Union increased in 2023 compared with 2021. The surge was linked to several EU countries including Finland stockpiling nuclear fuel, the agency said. Five EU states - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia - operate Russia-designed VVER reactors, which use Russian fuel. With the exception of Hungary, Westinghouse is working with the other four EU states to transition from Russian to Western nuclear fuel and also supplies fuel to Ukraine. However, Europe's dependency on Russian supplies continues in certain parts of the supply chain, Westinghouse president of nuclear fuel Tarik Choho said. "When it comes to fuel fabrication, Westinghouse could supply all that the European Union needs but today Russia is very dominant in conversion and enrichment," Choho told Reuters. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/finlands-fortum-starts-using-us-nuclear-fuel-bid-reduce-russian-dependence-2024-09-02/