Tag Archives: EXPRO

World

Over 50 injured in Peru as protests cause ‘nationwide chaos’

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LIMA, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Dozens of Peruvians were injured after tensions flared again on Friday night as police clashed with protesters in anti-government demonstrations that are spreading across the country.

In the capital Lima, police officers used tear gas to repel demonstrators throwing glass bottles and stones, as fires burned in the streets, local TV footage showed.

In the country’s southern Puno region, some 1,500 protesters attacked a police station in the town of Ilave, Interior Minister Vicente Romero said in a statement to news media.

A police station in Zepita, Puno, was also on fire, Romero said.

Health authorities in Ilave reported eight patients hospitalized with injuries, including broken arms and legs, eye contusions and punctured abdomens.

By late afternoon, 58 people had been injured nationwide in demonstrations, according to a report from Peru’s ombudsman.

The unrest followed a day of turmoil in Thursday, when one of Lima’s most historic buildings burned to the ground, as President Dina Boluarte vowed to get tougher on “vandals.”

The destruction of the building, a near-century-old mansion in central Lima, was described by officials as the loss of a “monumental asset.” Authorities are investigating the causes.

Romero on Friday claimed the blaze was “duly planned and arranged.”

Thousands of protesters descended on Lima this week calling for change and angered by the protests’ mounting death toll, which officially stood at 45 on Friday.

[1/6] A riot police officer points with a weapon during the ‘Take over Lima’ march to demonstrate against Peru’s President Dina Boluarte, following the ousting and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda

Protests have rocked Peru since President Pedro Castillo was ousted in December after he attempted to dissolve the legislature to prevent an impeachment vote.

The unrest has until this week been concentrated in Peru’s south.

In the Cusco region, Glencore’s (GLEN.L) major Antapaccay copper mine suspended operations on Friday after protesters attacked the premises – one of the largest in the country – for the third time this month.

Airports in Arequipa, Cusco and the southern city of Juliaca were also attacked by demonstrators, delivering a fresh blow to Peru’s tourism industry.

“It’s nationwide chaos, you can’t live like this. We are in a terrible uncertainty – the economy, vandalism,” said Lima resident Leonardo Rojas.

The government has extended a state of emergency to six regions, curtailing some civil rights.

But Boluarte has dismissed calls for her to resign and hold snap elections, instead calling for dialogue and promising to punish those involved in the unrest.

“All the rigor of the law will fall on those people who have acted with vandalism,” Boluarte said on Thursday.

Some locals pointed the finger at Boluarte, accusing her of not taking action to quell the protests, which began on Dec. 7 in response to the ouster and arrest of Castillo.

Human rights groups have accused the police and army of using deadly firearms. The police say protesters have used weapons and homemade explosives.

Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Leslie Adler and William Mallard

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Davos 2023: Greta Thunberg accuses energy firms of throwing people ‘under the bus’

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DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Greta Thunberg called on the global energy industry and its financiers to end all fossil fuel investments on Thursday at a high-profile meeting in Davos with the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

During a round-table discussion with Fatih Birol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, activists said they had presented a “cease and desist” letter to CEOs calling for a stop to new oil, gas and coal extraction.

“As long as they can get away with it they will continue to invest in fossil fuels, they will continue to throw people under the bus,” Thunberg warned.

The oil and gas industry, which has been accused by activists of hijacking the climate change debate in the Swiss ski resort, has said that it needs to be part of the energy transition as fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in the energy mix as the world shift to a low-carbon economy.

Thunberg, who was detained by police in Germany earlier this week during a demonstration at a coal mine, joined with fellow activists Helena Gualinga from Ecuador, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda and Luisa Neubauer from Germany to discuss the tackle the big issues with Birol.

Birol, whose agency makes policy recommendations on energy, thanked the activists for meeting him, but insisted that the transition had to include a mix of stakeholders, especially in the face of the global energy security crisis.

The IEA chief, who earlier on Thursday met with some of the biggest names in the oil and gas industry in Davos, said there was no reason to justify investments in new oil fields because of the energy crunch, saying by the time these became operational the climate crisis would be worse.

He also said he was less pessimistic than the climate activists about the shift to clean energy.

“We can have slight legitimate optimism,” he said, adding: “Last year the amount of renewables coming to the market was record high.”

But he admitted that the transition was not happening fast enough and warned that emerging and developing countries risked being left behind if advanced economies did not support the transition.

Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a discussion on “Treating the climate crisis like a crisis” with International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol (not pictured) on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

‘REAL MONEY’

The United Nation’s climate conference, held in Egypt last year, established a loss and damage fund to compensate countries most impacted by climate change events.

Nakate, who held a solitary protest outside the Ugandan parliament for several months in 2019, said the fund “is still an empty bucket with no money at all.”

“There is a need for real money for loss and damage”.

In 2019, the then 16-year-old Thunberg took part in the main WEF meeting, famously telling leaders that “our house is on fire”. She returned to Davos the following year.

But she refused to participate as an official delegate this year as the event returned to its usual January slot.

Asked why she did not want to advocate for change from the inside, Thunberg said there were already activists doing that.

“I think it should be people on the frontlines and not privileged people like me,” she said. “I don’t think the changes we need are very likely to come from the inside. They are more likely to come from the bottom up.”

The activists later walked together through the snowy streets of Davos, where many of the shops have temporarily been turned into “pavilions” sponsored by companies or countries.

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Writing by Leela de Kretser; Editing by Alexander Smith

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World

Davos 2023: Big Oil in sights of climate activist protests

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DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Big oil firms came under pressure at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) from activists who accused them of hijacking the climate debate, while a Greta Thunberg-sponsored “cease and desist” campaign gained support on social media.

Major energy firms including BP (BP.L), Chevron (CVX.N) and Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) are among the 1,500 business leaders gathering for the annual meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos, where global threats including climate change are on the agenda.

“We are demanding concrete and real climate action,” said Nicolas Siegrist, the 26-year-old organiser of the protest who also heads the Young Socialists party in Switzerland.

The annual meeting of global business and political leaders opens in Davos on Monday.

“They will be in the same room with state leaders and they will push for their interests,” Siegrist said of the involvement of energy companies during a demonstration attended by several hundred people on Sunday.

The oil and gas industry has said that it needs to be part of the energy transition as fossil fuels will continue to play a major role in the world’s energy mix as countries shift to low carbon economies.

[1/5] Climate activists display a banner during a protest ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 in the Alpine resort of Davos, Switzerland, January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

On Monday, a social media campaign added to the pressure on oil and gas companies, by promoting a “cease and desist” notice sponsored by climate activists Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate and Luisa Neubauer, through the non-profit website Avaaz.

It demands energy company CEOs “immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites, and stop blocking the clean energy transition we all so urgently need”, and threatens legal action and more protests if they fail to comply.

The campaign, which had been signed by more than 660,000 people, had almost 200,000 shares on Monday morning.

Sumant Sinha, who heads one of India’s largest renewable energy firms, said it would be good to include big oil companies in the transition debate as they have a vital role to play.

“If oil people are part of these conversations to the extent that they are also committing to change then by all means. It is better to get them inside the tent than to have them outside the tent,” Sinha, chairman and CEO of ReNew Power, told Reuters, saying that inclusion should not lead to “sabotage”.

Rising interest rates have made it harder for renewable energy developments to attract financing, giving traditional players with deep pockets a competitive advantage.

As delegates began to arrive in Davos, Debt for Climate activists protested at a private airport in eastern Switzerland, which they said would be used by some WEF attendees, and issued a statement calling for foreign debts of poorer countries to be cancelled in order to accelerate the global energy transition.

Additional reporting by Kathryn Lurie; Editing by Alexander Smith and Alex Richardson

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World

China’s Xi on ‘epoch-making’ visit to Saudi as Riyadh chafes at U.S. censure

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RIYADH, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping began a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that Beijing said marked its biggest diplomatic initiative in the Arab world, as Riyadh expands global alliances beyond a long-standing partnership with the West.

The meeting between the global economic powerhouse and Gulf energy giant comes as Saudi ties with Washington are strained by U.S. criticism of Riyadh’s human rights record and Saudi support for oil output curbs before the November midterm elections.

The White House said Xi’s visit was an example of Chinese attempts to exert influence, and that this would not change U.S. policy towards the Middle East.

“We are mindful of the influence that China is trying to grow around the world,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, is a major trade partner of Gulf oil and gas producers. Bilateral ties have expanded under the region’s economic diversification push, raising U.S. concerns about growing Chinese involvement in sensitive infrastructure in the Gulf.

Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Wednesday said that Riyadh would remain a “trusted and reliable” energy partner for Beijing and that the two countries would boost cooperation in energy supply chains by establishing a regional centre in the kingdom for Chinese factories.

Saudi Arabia is China’s top oil supplier and Xi’s visit takes place while uncertainty hangs over energy markets after Western powers imposed a price cap on sales of oil from Russia, which has been increasing volumes to China with discounted oil.

On Wednesday Chinese and Saudi firms signed 34 deals for investment in green energy, information technology, cloud services, transport, construction and other sectors, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. It gave no value for the deals, but had earlier said the two countries would seal agreements worth $30 billion.

‘EPOCH-MAKING VISIT’

Xi was met on arrival by the governor of Riyadh, the kingdom’s foreign minister and the governor of sovereign wealth fund PIF.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to offer him a lavish welcome, in contrast with the low-key reception for U.S. President Joe Biden whose censure of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler formed the backdrop for a strained meeting in July.

Xi will hold bilateral talks with Saudi Arabia and Riyadh will later host a wider meeting with Gulf Arab states and a summit with Arab leaders which will be “an epoch-making milestone in the history of the development of China-Arab relations”, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

The Chinese president said he would work with the Gulf Cooperation Council and other Arab leaders “to advance Chinese-Arab relations and Chinese-GCC relations to a new level”, SPA reported.

For Riyadh, frustrated by what it sees as Washington’s gradual disengagement from the Middle East and a slow erosion of its security guarantees, China offers an opportunity for economic gains without the tensions which have come to cloud the U.S. relationship.

“Beijing does not burden its partners with demands or political expectations and refrains from interfering in their internal affairs,” Saudi columnist Abdulrahman Al-Rashed wrote in the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

Unlike Washington, Beijing retains good ties with Riyadh’s regional rival Iran, another supplier of oil to China, and has shown little interest in addressing Saudi political or security concerns in the region.

Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam, had supported China’s policies in Xinjiang, where the U.N. says human rights abuses have been committed against Uyghurs and other Muslims.

Saudi officials have said that regional security would be on the agenda during Xi’s visit. The United States has for decades been Saudi Arabia’s main security guarantor and remains its main defence supplier, but Riyadh has chafed at restrictions on U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.

Riyadh has said it would continue to expand partnerships to serve economic and security interests, despite U.S. reservations about Gulf ties with both Russia and China.

Reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing and Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh; Additional reporting by Ghaida Ghantous and Maha El Dahan in Dubai and Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Dominic Evans and Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Nick Macfie, Toby Chopra and Alistair Bell

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Business

OPEC+ keeps steady policy amid weakening economy, Russian oil cap

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  • No discussions about Russian price cap – delegates
  • Oil prices have come under pressure from weak economy
  • Next meetings to take place Feb. 1 and June 3-4

LONDON/DUBAI, Dec 4 (Reuters) – OPEC+ agreed to stick to its oil output targets at a meeting on Sunday as the oil markets struggle to assess the impact of a slowing Chinese economy on demand and a G7 price cap on Russian oil on supply.

The decision comes two days after the Group of Seven (G7) nations agreed a price cap on Russian oil.

OPEC+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, angered the United States and other Western nations in October when it agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 2% of world demand, from November until the end of 2023.

Washington accused the group and one of its leaders, Saudi Arabia, of siding with Russia despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

OPEC+ argued it had cut output because of a weaker economic outlook. Oil prices have declined since October due to slower Chinese and global growth and higher interest rates, prompting market speculation the group could cut output again.

But on Sunday the group of oil producers decided to keep the policy unchanged. Its key ministers will next meet on Feb. 1 for a monitoring committee while a full meeting is scheduled for June 3-4.

On Friday, G7 nations and Australia agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil in a move to deprive President Vladimir Putin of revenue while keeping Russian oil flowing to global markets.

Moscow said it would not sell its oil under the cap and was analysing how to respond.

Many analysts and OPEC ministers have said the price cap is confusing and probably inefficient as Moscow has been selling most of its oil to countries like China and India, which have refused to condemn the war in Ukraine.

Neither an OPEC meeting on Saturday nor the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday discussed the Russian price cap, sources said.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday Russia would rather cut production than supply oil under the price cap and said the cap may affect other producers.

Sources have told Reuters several OPEC+ members have expressed frustration at the cap saying the anti-market measure could ultimately be used by the West against any producer.

The United States said the measure was not aimed at OPEC.

JP Morgan said on Friday that OPEC+ could review production in the new year based on fresh data on Chinese demand trends and consumer compliance with price caps on Russia crude output and tanker flow.

Reporting by Maha el Dahan and Rowena Edwards, Editing by Kirsten Donovan

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Business

Buffett’s Berkshire discloses $4.1 bln TSMC stake

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Nov 14 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said it bought more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW), , a rare significant foray into the technology sector by billionaire Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.

The news sent shares in TSMC up more than 6% in Taiwan on Tuesday, as it boosted investor sentiment for the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which saw its shares hit a two-year low last month due to a sharp slowdown in global chip demand.

In a Monday regulatory filing describing its U.S.-listed equity investments as of Sept. 30, Berkshire said it owned about 60.1 million American depositary shares of TSMC.

Berkshire also disclosed new stakes of $297 million in building materials company Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LPX.N) and $13 million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc (JEF.N). It exited an investment in Store Capital Corp (STOR.N), a real estate company that agreed in September to be taken private.

The filing did not specify whether Buffett or his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made specific purchases and sales. Investors often try to piggy back on what Berkshire buys. Larger investments are normally Buffett’s.

While Berkshire does not normally make big technology bets, it often prefers companies it perceives to have competitive advantages, often through their size.

TSMC, which makes chips for the likes of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Qulacomm (QCOM.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), posted an 80% jump in quarterly profit last month, but struck a more cautious note than usual on upcoming demand.

“I suspect Berkshire has a belief that the world cannot do without the products manufactured by Taiwan Semi,” said Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner, Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which owns Berkshire shares.

“Only a small number of companies that can amass the capital to deliver semiconductors, which are increasingly central to people’s lives,” he added.

Berkshire has had mixed success in technology.

Its more than six-year wager during the last decade in IBM Corp (IBM.N) did not pan out, but Berkshire is sitting on huge unrealized gains on its $126.5 billion stake in Apple, which Buffett views more as a consumer products company.

Apple is by far the largest investment in Berkshire’s $306.2 billion equity portfolio.

Berkshire disclosed the TSMC stake about 2-1/2 months after it began reducing a decade-old, multi-billion dollar stake in BYD Co (002594.SZ), China’s largest electric car company.

In the third quarter, Berkshire added to its stakes in Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), Celanese Corp (CE.N), Paramount Global (PARA.O) and RH (RH.N).

It also sold shares of Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), General Motors Co (GM.N), Kroger Co (KR.N) and US Bancorp (USB.N).

Buffett, 92, has run Berkshire since 1965. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also owns dozens of businesses such as the BNSF railroad, the Geico auto insurer, several energy and industrial companies, Fruit of the Loom and Dairy Queen.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Bradley Perrett

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World

Russia’s Sechin says Taiwan will return to China ‘on schedule’

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  • Sechin: China will get Taiwan on time
  • Sechin praises Saudi Arabia
  • Sechin says BP a ‘shadow’ shareholder
  • BP: continuing to pursue an exit

BAKU, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, on Thursday heaped praise on China’s leaders and said Taiwan would return to its “native harbour” on time.

Sechin said that decisions taken by the 20th Communist Party Congress, which cemented Xi Jinping position as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, would provide for a new level of development for the country.

The deepening “no limits” partnership between the rising superpower of China and the natural resources titan of Russia is one of the most intriguing geopolitical developments of recent years – and one the West is watching with anxiety.

“The position of (China’s) leadership is highly respected, which calmly and openly, without false premises, sets out its positions, even on the most difficult issues, such as the problem of Taiwan, which in this regard can be assessed as somewhat exaggerated,” Sechin told an international economic forum in Baku, previously held in Italy’s Verona.

He said U.S. attempts to create its own complex microchip industry showed that “Taiwan’s return to its native harbour” was “on schedule”.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the comments, saying only the island’s people could decide their future.

“Neither our government, people nor the international community can accept absurd remarks that are in China’s cortege or demean Taiwan’s sovereign status,” it said in a statement.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up military and political pressure against the island over the past two years. Taipei strongly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Russia has repeatedly warned the United States against meddling in China’s affairs while President Vladimir Putin has explicitly backed Xi over the fate of the island where the defeated Republic of China government fled in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war to Mao’s communists.

BP’S DIVIDEND

Sechin said Rosneft had transferred $700 million in second-half 2021 dividends into special accounts for BP (BP.L), which remained Rosneft’s “shadow” shareholder despite a decision to leave the company following the start of what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

BP said its position on Russia has remained unchanged.

“In February we announced our decision to exit Rosneft and our other Russian businesses – we continue to pursue that,” it said in emailed comments.

Sechin also said that Saudi Arabia’s position on the global oil market was “reasonable” and based on analysis of oil supply and demand.

The United States, he said, had tried to persuade Saudi Arabia to postpone oil output cuts as part of OPEC+.

“Today, the energy policy of the (Joe) Biden administration is solving exclusively pre-election tasks with a planning horizon of two weeks, given that the elections to the U.S. Congress are on November 8,” Sechin said.

“This includes attempts to persuade Saudi Arabia to at least postpone the announcement of this decision until the elections.”

The OPEC+ group of global leading oil producers, which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed this month to cut its combined output by 2 million barrels per day despite opposition from the United States, which wants lower fuel prices.

Saudi Arabia rejected criticism of an OPEC+ decision to cut its oil production target despite U.S. objections and said that Washington’s request to delay the cut by a month would have had negative economic consequences.

Reporting by Nailia Bagirova and Olesya Astakhova; Additional reporting by Ron Bousso and Ben Blanchard in London; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Nick Macfie and Mike Harrison

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Business

U.S. could sell oil from emergency reserve this week – sources

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WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The Biden administration plans to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a bid to dampen fuel prices before next month’s congressional elections, three sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

President Joe Biden’s announcement is expected this week as part of the response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, one of the sources said.

The sale would market the remaining 14 million barrels from Biden’s previously announced, and largest ever, release from the reserve of 180 million barrels that started in May.

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The administration has also spoken with oil companies about selling an additional 26 million barrels from a congressionally mandated sale in fiscal year 2023, which began Oct. 1, a fourth source said.

The Department of Energy will also release further details on eventually buying the oil back, reflecting the White House’s desire to combat rising pump prices while supporting domestic drillers.

Rising retail gasoline prices have helped boost inflation to the highest in decades, posing a risk to Biden and his fellow Democrats ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, in which they are seeking to keep control of Congress.

Biden said last week gasoline prices are too high and that he would have more to say about lowering costs this week. David Turk, his deputy energy secretary, also said last week the administration can tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, in coming weeks and months as necessary to stabilize oil.

The administration has spoken with energy companies about buying back oil through 2025 to replenish the SPR, the sources said, after Biden in March announced the biggest sale ever, 180 million barrels, from May to October.

The Energy Department still has about 14 million barrels of SPR oil left to sell from the historic release, because selling was slowed in July and August by holidays and hot weather.

Additionally, the administration is mandated by a law Congress years ago to sell another 26 million barrels of SPR oil in fiscal year 2023, which started Oct. 1, a sale likely to come soon, one of the sources said.

“The administration has a small window ahead of midterms to try to lower fuel prices, or at least demonstrate that they are trying,” said a source familiar with the White House deliberations. “The White House did not like $4 a gallon gas and it has signaled that it will take action to prevent that again.”

Average U.S. gasoline prices hit about $3.89 a gallon on Monday, up about 20 cents from a month ago and 56 cents higher than last year at this time, according to the AAA motor group. Gasoline prices hit a record average above $5.00 in June.

The DOE and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the sales.

In May, the DOE said it would launch bids late this year for a buy-back of about one third of the 180 million barrel sale. It suggested then that deliveries would be linked to lower oil prices and lower demand, likely after fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30 next year. Two sources said the buy-backs could continue through 2025.

Biden officials in recent months also urged oil refiners including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron (CVX.N) and Valero (VLO.N) to not increase exports of fuel and warned them it could take action if plants do not build inventories.

The administration has not taken a potential ban of gasoline and diesel exports off the table although opponents of such a move say it could exacerbate Europe’s energy crisis and raise fuel prices at home.

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Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Timothy Gardner, Laura Sanicola and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Sam Holmes

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Laura Sanicola

Thomson Reuters

Reports on oil and energy, including refineries, markets and renewable fuels. Previously worked at Euromoney Institutional Investor and CNN.

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World

Biden re-evaluating U.S. relationship with Saudis after OPEC decision

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WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden is launching a review of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ announced last week that it would cut oil production over U.S. objections, officials said on Tuesday.

The announcement came a day after powerful Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States must immediately freeze all aspects of U.S. cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said a review will be forthcoming but gave no timeline for action or information on who would lead the re-evaluation. The United States will be watching the situation closely “over the coming weeks and months,” she said.

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OPEC+ announced plans for an oil production cut last week after weeks of lobbying against one by U.S. officials. The United States accused Saudi Arabia of kowtowing to Russia, which objects to a Western cap on the price of Russian oil spurred by the Ukraine invasion.

U.S. officials had been quietly trying to persuade its biggest Arab partner to nix the idea of a production cut, but Saudi Arabia’s de factor ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was not swayed.

Bin Salman and Biden had clashed during Biden’s visit to Jeddah in July over the death in 2018 of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a source familiar with the situation.

U.S. President Joe Biden walks to the Oval Office after landing at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 10, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

U.S. intelligence says the crown prince approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, who was murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

The prince, son of King Salman, 86, has denied ordering the killing but acknowledged it took place “under my watch.” Biden said in July he told the prince he thought he was responsible.

John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said Biden would work with Congress “to think through what that relationship ought to look like going forward.”

“And I think he’s going to be willing to start to have those conversations right away. I don’t think this is anything that’s going to have to wait or should wait, quite frankly, for much longer,” Kirby added.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price also said on Tuesday the Biden administration would not overlook Iran, a U.S. adversary and a bitter regional rival of Saudi Arabia, in the review. read more

Much of U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been made with Iran’s threat in the region in mind.

“There are security challenges, some of which emanate from Iran. Certainly, we won’t take our eye off the threat that Iran poses not only to the region, but in some ways beyond,” Price said.

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Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Mark Porter, Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington

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World

Putin orders seizure of Exxon-led Sakhalin 1 oil and gas project

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MOSCOW/HOUSTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday that establishes a new operator for the Exxon Mobil Corp-led (XOM.N) Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East.

Putin’s move affecting Exxon’s largest investment in Russia mimics a strategy he used to seize control of other energy properties in the country.

The decree gives the Russian government authority to decide whether foreign shareholders can retain stakes in the project.

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Exxon holds a 30% operator stake in Sakhalin-1, with Russian company Rosneft (ROSN.MM), India’s ONGC Videsh (ONVI.NS) and Japan’s SODECO as partners.

Oil production at the Sakhalin-1 project fell to just 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July from 220,000 bpd before Russia invaded Ukraine.

NAVIGATING AN EXIT

Exxon has been trying to exit its Russia operations and transfer its role in Sakhalin-1 to a partner since March, after international sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Russia’s government and Exxon have clashed, with the oil producer threatening to take the case to international arbitration.

Exxon declined to comment on Friday’s decree.

Japan’s SODECO was not immediately available to comment, but an official of the industry ministry, which owns a 50% stake in the firm, said it was gathering information and talking with partners. Japan has stopped buying crude from Russia since June. read more

Exxon took an impairment charge of $4.6 billion in April for its Russian activities and said it was working with partners to transfer Sakhalin-1’s operation. It also reduced energy production and moved staff out of the country.

In August, Putin issued a decree that Exxon said made a secure and environmentally safe exit from Sakhalin-1 difficult. The U.S. producer then issued a “note of difference,” a legal step prior to arbitration.

Friday’s decree said the Russian government was establishing a Russian company, managed by Rosneft subsidiary Sakhalinmorneftegaz-shelf, that will own investors’ rights in Sakhalin-1.

Foreign partners will have one month after the new company is created to ask the Russian government for shares in the new entity, the decree said.

Putin used a similar strategy in a July decree to seize full control of Sakhalin-2, another gas and oil project in the Russian Far East, with Shell (SHEL.L) and Japanese companies Mitsui & Co (8031.T) and Mitsubishi Corp as partners.

Russia has approved applications by the two Japanese trading houses seeking to transfer their stakes to a new operator. read more

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Reporting by Reuters; Additional reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Clarence Fernandez

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