SYDNEY, April 6 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday pledged A$2.3 billion ($1.39 billion) to help homeowners buy batteries to store solar power and lower their energy costs, a major issue in the May 3 general election. Albanese's centre-left Labor runs neck-and-neck in opinion polls with the Liberal-National opposition led by Peter Dutton, who has campaigned on a plan to lower power bills by forcing LNG gas producers to divert some exports to domestic consumption. Sign up here. On Sunday, Albanese said in a statement that his proposal would save households about A$4,000 or 30% on the installed cost of a typical energy-storage battery. "The battery will be installed at home and store power from solar panels for the household to use when needed," the prime minister said. One in three Australian households now has solar panels but only one in 40 has a battery, according to the government. Nationals leader David Littleproud told Australian Broadcasting Corp television that the measure would aid "only a select few" and do little to help renters and pensioners with their power bills. Under the opposition plan, gas exporters on Australia's east coast would be forced to direct 10% to 20% more product to the domestic market. Longer-term, the conservative coalition wants Australia to adopt nuclear power. Albanese, after enjoying a healthy lead for much of his term, now has personal approval ratings near those of Dutton, a former police officer and the defence minister in the last conservative government. ($1 = 1.6554 Australian dollars) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-albanese-pledges-a23-billion-help-homeowners-buy-solar-batteries-2025-04-06/

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 5 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) , opens new tab has completed work on a veterinary center in the Amazon region that is required for it to obtain an environmental permit for an offshore drilling project, the company said on Saturday. The animal care center in the town of Oiapoque, Amapa state, is designed to assist animals in the event of an oil spill. Sign up here. It was one of Brazilian environmental agency Ibama's main demands in response to Petrobras' proposal to drill offshore in the environmentally sensitive Foz do Amazonas region. Amapa has granted the veterinary center an operating license but it still requires Ibama's clearance. Petrobras said in a statement it informed the agency the center will be available for inspection starting Monday. The center is designed to care for birds, marine mammals, turtles, dolphins and manatees, said Petrobras, which aims to conduct exploratory drilling in a block 540 kilometers (325 miles) off Amapa's coast. Foz do Amazonas in the so-called Equatorial Margin is Brazil's most promising oil frontier. It shares geology with nearby Guyana, where Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab is developing huge fields. Ibama blocked Petrobras from drilling there in 2023, but the company filed a new request, which the agency is assessing. There is no deadline for a final answer. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/petrobras-completes-animal-care-center-required-offshore-license-2025-04-05/

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - A meeting of top OPEC+ ministers on Saturday is expected to make no new changes to oil ouptut policy, two delegates told Reuters, after the group's surprise decision this week to raise output further helped send prices crashing to pandemic-level lows. Several ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, will hold an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC) at 1200 GMT. Sign up here. The JMMC, which groups the oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other leading producers, usually meets every two months and can make recommendations to change policy. Two sources said on Saturday no new decisions were expected at the meeting. On Thursday, eight OPEC+ countries unexpectedly agreed to speed up their plan to phase out oil output cuts by increasing output by 411,000 barrels per day in May instead of 135,000 bpd, a decision that prompted oil prices to extend sharp losses. Brent crude prices closed 7% lower at $65.58 a barrel on Friday, their lowest since August 2021, pressured by the OPEC+ decision and trade war fears after US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff announcement this week. The May hike is the next increment of a plan agreed by Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman to gradually unwind their most recent output cut of 2.2 million bpd, which came into effect this month. OPEC+ also has 3.65 million bpd of other output cuts in place until the end of next year to support the market. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-panel-meeting-seen-making-no-policy-changes-after-surprise-output-hike-2025-04-05/

April 5 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday Ukraine had increased its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, hitting targets 14 times in the last 24 hours, despite a U.S.-brokered moratorium, a charge Ukraine's military called "fake" and "disinformation". In a statement published on Telegram, the ministry said Ukraine "multiplied the number of unilateral attacks using drones and artillery shells on the energy infrastructure of Russian regions". Sign up here. It said the strikes had caused damage in Russia's Bryansk, Belgorod, Smolensk, Lipetsk and Voronezh regions, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Kherson, parts of which Russia controls. Reuters was unable to verify the reports of the strikes. In its own statement on Telegram, Ukraine's military said that the reports were fake, and that its forces were only striking military targets. Ukraine's military has previously said it halted strikes on Russian energy facilities on March 18. Russia and Ukraine agreed last month to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day moratorium on striking each other's energy infrastructure. Both sides have since repeatedly accused each other of violating the deal. The deal was part of a wider diplomatic push by U.S. President Donald Trump since his return to office in January to end the conflict. Separately on Saturday, authorities in two Russian regions reported Ukrainian drone strikes on local industrial facilities. The governor of Russia's Volga river region of Mordovia said Ukrainian drones had struck an industrial facility. Media reports said it was an optical fibre factory in the region's capital, Saransk. The governor of Samara region, another Volga riverside province, said that a factory in the city of Chapaevsk had been attacked by Ukrainian drones. A source in Ukraine's SBU security service told Reuters that the target was a plant producing industrial explosives, and that the strike had caused multiple explosions and fires. On Friday, a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed at least 19 people, including nine children, local officials said. Russia's Defence Ministry said it targeted a military gathering in the city, a statement the Ukrainian military denounced as disinformation. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-ukraine-multiplying-energy-attacks-despite-us-brokered-moratorium-2025-04-05/

COLOMBO/NEW DELHI, April 5 (Reuters) - India and the United Arab Emirates agreed to develop an energy hub in Sri Lanka, India's foreign ministry said on Saturday, as New Delhi's competition with China grows in the Indian Ocean island nation. The three nations signed the pact for the hub during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka, the first by a global leader since Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office in September. Sign up here. New Delhi and Colombo have worked to deepen ties as India's southern neighbour recovers from a severe financial crisis triggered in 2022, during which India provided $4 billion in financial assistance. Saturday's agreement boosts New Delhi's competition with China, whose state energy firm Sinopec (600028.SS) has signed a deal to build a $3.2-billion oil refinery in Sri Lanka's southern port city of Hambantota. The energy hub in the strategically important city of Trincomalee, a natural harbour in the Sri Lanka's east, will involve construction of a multi-product pipeline and may include using a World War Two tank farm partly held by the Sri Lankan subsidiary of Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) , opens new tab, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in Colombo. "The UAE is a strategic partner for India in the energy space and therefore was an ideal partner for this exercise that is being done for the first time in the region," Misri said. "The exact contours of UAE's role will be elaborated once the business to business discussions kick off." The three nations will next choose business entities that will consider the financing and feasibility of projects for the hub, he said. Modi also inaugurated a $100 million solar power project, a joint venture between Ceylon Electricity Board and India's National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC.NS) , opens new tab. India and Sri Lanka also concluded their debt restructuring process, Foreign Secretary Misri said. Sri Lanka owes about $1.36 billion in loans to EXIM Bank of India and State Bank of India, according to Sri Lanka Finance Ministry data. Colombo kicked off debt restructuring talks after it defaulted on its debt in May 2022, signing a preliminary deal with bilateral creditors Japan, India and China last June. India and Sri Lanka also signed pacts on power grid connectivity, digitalisation, security and healthcare. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/india-uae-develop-sri-lanka-energy-hub-delhi-competes-with-china-influence-2025-04-05/

Trump's tariffs impact global markets, causing $5 trillion loss in S&P 500 value Countries like Australia, Britain and Saudi Arabia face immediate 10% tariff Exemptions include crude oil, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors China says 'market has spoken' on Trump tariffs WASHINGTON/JUPITER, Florida, April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. customs agents began collecting President Donald Trump's unilateral 10% tariff on all imports from many countries on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week. The initial 10% "baseline" tariff paid by U.S. importers took effect at U.S. seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT), ushering in Trump's full rejection of the post-World War Two system of mutually agreed tariff rates. Sign up here. "This is the single biggest trade action of our lifetime," said Kelly Ann Shaw, a trade lawyer at Hogan Lovells and former White House trade adviser during Trump's first term. Shaw told a Brookings Institution event on Thursday that she expected the tariffs to evolve over time as countries seek to negotiate lower rates. "This is a pretty seismic and significant shift in the way that we trade with every country on earth," she added. Trump's Wednesday tariff announcement shook global stock markets, wiping out $5 trillion in value for S&P 500 index (.SPX) , opens new tab companies by Friday's close, a record two-day decline. Driven by recession fears, prices for oil and commodities plunged, while investors fled to the safety of government bonds. Among the countries first hit with the 10% tariff were Australia, Britain, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Saudi Arabia despite their having goods trade deficits with the U.S. last year. White House officials have said many countries would run larger deficits with the U.S. if their policies were fairer. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection bulletin provided a 51-day grace period , opens new tab for cargoes loaded or in transit to the U.S. before 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday. These cargoes need to arrive by May 27 to avoid the 10% duty. Trump's higher "reciprocal" tariff rates of 11% to 50% are due to take effect on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. ET. European Union imports will face a 20% tariff, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34% tariff, bringing Trump's total new levies on China to 54%. Beijing on Saturday said, "The market has spoken" in rejecting Trump's tariffs. China applied a slew of countermeasures, including extra levies of 34% on all U.S. goods and export curbs on some rare earth minerals. "China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close," Trump said on Saturday on social media. "THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won't be easy, but the end result will be historic." Shortly after posting the comment, Trump was spotted arriving at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, reading a New York Post article covering China's retaliation to U.S. tariffs and the stock market fall. SHELTER FROM THE STORM "A trade war is in no one's interest. We must stand united and resolute to protect our citizens and our businesses," French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X. Some world leaders hoped to strike a deal with Trump and avert economic fallout while others weighed countermeasures. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in the Telegraph newspaper that he was ready to "use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm," noting that his government's priority was to try to secure a trade deal with the U.S. which could include tariff exemptions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he will depart for Washington on Sunday for a meeting with Trump to discuss the new 17% tariff on Israel. Media reported Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan, which faces a 24% levy, was seeking a telephone conversation with the U.S. president. Vietnam, which benefited from the shift of U.S. supply chains away from China after Trump's first-term trade war with Beijing, agreed on Friday to discuss a deal with the U.S. after Trump announced a 46% tariff on Vietnamese imports. The head of Taiwan's National Security Council was in Washington for talks that were expected to include the tariffs, a source said. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te huddled with tech executives on Saturday to discuss how to respond to the 32% duty imposed on its products. Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti warned on Saturday against imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States, saying at a business forum near Milan that doing so could cause damage. U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, a close Trump adviser, told a political event in Italy by video on Saturday that he hoped to see complete freedom of trade between the United States and Europe, which he described as "a zero tariff situation." Canada and Mexico were exempt from Trump's latest duties but still face a 25% tariff imposed recently on goods that do not comply with rules of origin under a North American trade accord. While Trump's order exempted 1,000 product categories from the new tariffs such as pharmaceuticals, uranium and semiconductors, the administration is considering new duties on some of them. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us-starts-collecting-trumps-new-10-tariff-smashing-global-trade-norms-2025-04-05/

Top refiners shed over $20 bln in market cap after new tariffs Crude futures slump 11% in week, fuel down 8% Analysts to re-examine fuel demand growth Refinery margins could be driven down to 2021 levels NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Shares of U.S. refiners fell to near two-year lows on Friday in the wake of U.S. President Trump's announcement of new tariffs, as fears of slower fuel demand and weakening refining margins rattled investors. Top refiners Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) , opens new tab, Valero Energy (VLO.N) , opens new tab and Phillips 66 (PSX.N) , opens new tab have shed more than $20 billion in market capitalization since Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on Wednesday, based on LSEG data. Sign up here. Nations around the world have readied retaliatory tariffs and on Friday, China, the world's top oil importer, announced it will impose additional tariffs of 34% on all U.S. goods from April 10. "We consider the adoption of the 'reconciliatory tariffs' will result in weaker global GDP growth and so lower oil demand growth, oil prices and weaker refining margins, as exemplified by the futures markets over recent days," Alan Gelder, vice president of refining, chemicals and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie. Crude futures closed at their lowest in more than three years on Friday, with Brent diving 6.5% to $65.58 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slumping 7.4% to $61.99. For the week, both benchmarks tumbled nearly 11% in their biggest weekly loss in percentage terms since 2023. The impact on crude was more instantaneous than on U.S. gasoline and diesel futures , which in comparison fell about 8% in the week. However, the new levies are fueling a trade war that will weigh on the global economy and the consumption of refined products, analysts said. "While crude oil and refined products have been range-bound for most of the year battling the constant tariffs and sanctions hot air, this implementation of sweeping tariffs has forced the market to re-examine demand," energy analysts at Rabo Bank said in a note. The refining sector is already over-supplied and so its margin recovery is heavily dependent upon the trajectory for demand growth, Wood Mackenzie's Gelder said. Global gasoline demand is expected to peak this year at around 28 million barrels per day (bpd) amid surging electric vehicle adoption and improving vehicle efficiency, particularly in China, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. Diesel demand is likely already declining after reaching 29 million bpd last year. "We are now expecting much lower demand growth in 2025 and in 2026, so not only do the tariffs stall the recovery in refining margins we previously forecast in 2026, but they also drive refining margins lower, perhaps back to 2021 levels," Gelder said. Shares of Marathon, which is the top U.S. refiner by volume, fell nearly 6% at $121.07, their lowest since July 2023, on Friday. Valero, the No. 2 U.S. refiner by capacity, dropped around 8% to $104.69, the lowest since May 2023. Phillips 66's shares decreased around 8% to $98.81, the lowest since July 2023. Meanwhile, the energy index (.SPNY) , opens new tab sank around 6% on Friday. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/refining-stocks-plunge-near-two-year-lows-trump-tariffs-spur-demand-worries-2025-04-04/

WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department has identified thousands of staffers it has deemed as non-essential, including at its office that manages the country's nuclear weapons arsenal, who would not be protected in a second round of cuts, an Associated Press report said on Friday. More than 8,500 staffers across the department and 500 positions at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which also works around the world to secure dangerous nuclear materials, were deemed "non-essential," it reported, citing a document. Sign up here. An NNSA source told Reuters that leaders at the office were asked by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to identify non-essential staff but were led to believe that the office would be spared future cuts because of its key role in nuclear security. An Energy Department spokesperson said, "No final decisions have been made and multiple plans are still being considered." The department is conducting a wide review, the spokesperson said. In a first round of cuts, dozens of NNSA staffers were cut after far wider layoffs of more than 300 were rescinded following chaos among staffers who suddenly lost access to programs on their government-issued phones and laptops. Energy Secretary Chris Wright publicly apologized about mistakes made during the first round of cuts at NNSA. "It is extremely concerning that the Department is reportedly considering firing the very experts tasked with maintaining a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile," U.S. Senator Patty Murray and Representative Marcy Kaptur said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-energy-dept-identifies-thousands-staff-risk-doge-cuts-ap-reports-2025-04-04/

SAO PAULO, April 4 (Reuters) - Indigenous protests and poor roads have disrupted shipping of Brazil's bumper soybean crop in recent days via the river port of Miritituba in the Amazon rainforest, worrying global companies including Cargill and Bunge (BG.N) , opens new tab which have important operations. Abiove, an association representing grain handlers, said on Friday road access to Miritituba has remained under partial or total blockade for two weeks, preventing the shipment of around 70,000 tons of grains per day, which corresponds to almost $30 million in product value. Sign up here. In a joint statement with farm group Aprosoja Brasil and private ports operator lobby ATP, it urged authorities and civil society to find a quick solution as the blockades disrupt not only grain shipments but also people movement and the arrival of critical goods and services. Demand for soy from Brazil, the world's largest producer and exporter, has surged in No. 1 consumer China as traders brace for a trade war discouraging Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans. Miritituba loaded some 15 million tons of soy and corn last year onto barges bound for larger shipping ports down river, representing more than a tenth of Brazil's total exports of those grains. Volumes at the port are expected to rise around 20% this year. Protesters from the Munduruku people have been blocking a key stretch of the Transamazonian Highway near Miritituba at certain hours of the day to pressure Brazil's Supreme Court to overturn a 2023 law aimed at limiting their land rights. That has worsened backups along an unpaved five-kilometer stretch of the road. Trucking group ANATC said the traffic has left some cargos waiting three days to unload at Miritituba. AMPORT, which represents the largest firms shipping from the terminal, said truckers with pre-scheduled access have not suffered those wait times at the port. Still, AMPORT President Flavio Acatauassu estimated each hour of the protesters' blockade prevents at least 12,000 tons of soybeans from arriving at the terminal. Via Brasil BR-163, which administers 1,009 kilometers (627 miles) of the highway linking farms in Mato Grosso state to the river port, said a new access will be built when courts give it permission to expropriate certain areas. Frustrations have boiled over into violent episodes between truckers and Indigenous protesters, according to a statement from Munduruku representatives. "Our fight is peaceful, but we have been suffering attacks and threats from truck drivers, including insults, stone throwing, gun shots and dangerous driving," they wrote. Rafael Modesto, a lawyer for the Indigenous Missionary Council, which argues for Indigenous interests before the Supreme Court, said the protest reflects fears among native peoples about losing their lands to an advancing farm frontier. Brazil's powerful congressional farm lobby has been at odds with the Supreme Court over a proposed cut-off date for new reservations on lands where Indigenous people were not living in 1988. "We believe that, if any proposal that changes the text of the Constitution goes through, demonstrations like this one may become more frequent all over Brazil," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/amazon-shipping-route-brazilian-soy-disrupted-by-protests-poor-roads-2025-04-04/

April 4 (Reuters) - Renewable energy company Maxeon Solar Technologies (MAXN.O) , opens new tab said on Friday it would establish alternative manufacturing and supply chains as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. Shares of the company were up 4.6% in trading after the bell. Sign up here. The move comes amid an intensifying global trade war after Trump on Wednesday imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all U.S. imports, along with higher duties on dozens of other countries. Maxeon said the new tariffs and trade barriers were applicable to its legacy cell and module manufacturing facilities. The company added it would continue to prioritize the development of its Albuquerque-based manufacturing facility as well as identifying additional domestic component vendors. "Domestic manufacturing is the right thing to do, regardless of tariffs," said CEO George Guo. The company is also locked in a dispute with the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), which began to detain Maxeon's solar panels in July last year, citing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The California-based firm said on Friday the CBP had denied its request to further review the continued detention of its modules and added that it was considering exercising its right to contest CBP's decision at the U.S. Court of International Trade to demonstrate that its products fully comply with the UFLPA. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/maxeon-solar-set-up-alternative-supply-chains-amid-tariff-turmoil-2025-04-04/