Bloomberg Oil declined the most since July as Hurricane Irma threatened to slash energy demand that had only just begun to recover from the wrath of Harvey. Futures slid 3.3% in New York. While Valero Energy Corp. and other refiners resumed fuel production after Harvey roared ashore two weeks ago, demand for gasoline and other transportation fuels may falter across ...
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Kazakhstan may strike separate deal with OPEC on oil output curbs
ASTANA / Reuters Kazakhstan is aiming for a standalone deal with leading global oil producers on restraining its crude production due to a need to crank up output at its Kashagan field, a Kazakh official said. The Central Asian nation increased oil and gas condensate output by 9.9 percent in January-July to 49.907 million tonnes, or 1.724 million barrels per ...
Read More »Algeria okays measures to cover budget deficit
ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria’s government has approved draft amendments to a law aimed at securing new funding sources to cover budget deficits as it struggles to cope with a sharp fall in energy earnings. Amendments to the Money and Credit Law were endorsed at a cabinet meeting, chaired by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, that discussed plans for the newly appointed government ...
Read More »Plastic film covering 12% of China’s farmland pollutes soil
Bloomberg China will expand its agricultural use of environment-damaging plastic film to boost crop production even as authorities try to curb soil pollution, a government scientist said. Some 1.45 million metric tons of polyethylene are spread in razor-thin sheets across 49 million acres—an area about half the size of California—of farmland in China. Use of the translucent material may exceed ...
Read More »Grow fast to skirt social unrest, says ex-RBI chief
Bloomberg India must boost growth if it’s to provide enough jobs for what will be the world’s biggest workforce, and history shows that some of the country’s best economic phases have come when society is most open, said Raghuram Rajan. Speaking a week after data showed growth in Asia’s No. 3 economy unexpectedly slowed to 5.7 percent, the former governor ...
Read More »China to ban sale of fossil fuel cars
Bloomberg China will set a deadline for automakers to end sales of fossil-fuel powered vehicles, a move aimed at pushing companies to speed efforts in developing electric vehicles for the world’s biggest auto market. Xin Guobin, the vice minister of industry and information technology, said the government is working with other regulators on a timetable to end production and sales. ...
Read More »Supercomputers to help predict weather
Bloomberg India’s ability to predict the sort of devastating deluge that struck Mumbai last week is set to get a major boost next year. The heaviest rainfall since 2005 killed a dozen people in India’s financial capital, disrupted stock and bond trading and halted a suburban train network that carries about 8 million people a day. Local residents and civic ...
Read More »US calls for UN vote on fresh sanctions on North Korea
Bloomberg The US said it would seek a vote on Monday on a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on North Korea, as it pushes for fresh sanctions against the regime after its recent nuclear test. The US informed the Security Council of its plan to call the vote, the State Department said in a brief statement, adding it would ...
Read More »Turkey says EU turning talks into ‘children’s game’
TALLINN / Reuters Turkey said the European Union was making a “child’s game†out of its membership talks, wrangling over threats to end them, and reminded the bloc of its strategic importance abutting Middle Eastern conflict zones. After trading bitter barbs for months with President Tayyip Erdogan, largely over Turkey’s human rights record, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was ...
Read More »Saudi: Qatar continues to distort facts
DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting factsâ€, just after a report of a phone call between the leaders of both countries suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by the telephone with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani when they discussed ...
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