Regional News

Bloomberg Sasol Ltd. said it will steer clear of big new investments as the world’s largest maker of fuel from coal reviews existing assets and focusses on completing its $11.13 billion US chemicals plant. Sasol won’t invest in further new gas-to-liquids or crude-oil refining capacity, according to a statement on its website ahead of an investor day being held in …

BEIJING / Reuters China has issued crude oil import quotas for 2017 of 1.5 million tonnes to three independent refiners, three sources familiar with the situation said, a sign Beijing is easing its policy towards these companies sometimes known as teapots. Shandong Qingyishan Petrochemical Technology Co was granted a quota of 800,000 tonnes, Zibo Xintai Petrochemical Co was given 500,000 …

Bloomberg Forecasts for a warm start to December are raising the specter of a third straight mild winter, sending US natural gas futures sliding the most since February. A midday update to the government’s Global Forecast System weather model maintained a “much too warm” pattern through December 6, despite a couple of cool shots across the northern tier of the …

Bloomberg Indians grappling with the risk of stroke, heart disease and lung cancer from pollution have to contend with an unlikely adversary: The taxman. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rollout of the country’s biggest tax overhaul in decades is encouraging the use of petroleum coke, a fuel that spews more emissions than others. That’s because it’s being taxed at a rate …

Bloomberg OPEC and Russia have crafted the outline of a deal to extend their oil production cuts to the end of next year, although both sides are still hammering out crucial details, according to people involved in the conversations. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and several non-OPEC nations led by Russia will meet next week in Vienna to discuss …

Bloomberg Equatorial Guinea, OPEC’s newest member, is looking to build a $2 billion oil-refining complex that may be operated by Venezuela’s state-run crude producer PDVSA. The refining complex in Equatorial Guinea is expected be announced in January and take two years to be completed, Gabriel Obiang, Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy, said in an interview while attending …

Bloomberg Engie SA and Mitsui & Co. agreed to sell the Loy Yang B coal power plant in Australia’s Victoria state to Alinta Energy Holdings Ltd., boosting the Hong Kong-owned utility’s exposure to the fossil fuel. Alinta’s owner, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd., entered into a conditional binding agreement to buy the 1,000-megawatt station, the company said in an emailed …

Bloomberg BASF SE said it’s in talks to combine its oil-and-gas unit with the energy company controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, setting the stage for one of the largest deals in the sector for some time. The German chemicals company would hold a majority in the combined entity, with a view to a possible initial public offering “in the …

RIYADH / PARIS / Reuters Toshiba-owned Westinghouse is in talks with other US-based companies to form a consortium to bid in a multi-billion-dollar tender for two nuclear power reactors in Saudi Arabia, three industry sources said. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil producer, sent a request for information (RFI) to reactor builders worldwide last month in a first step towards …

TUNIS / Reuters Libya’s Waha Oil Co is producing about 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), up more than 100,000 bpd from the company’s output levels this summer, but further gains are complicated by a lack of investment, its chairman said. Ahmed Ammar said Waha was aiming to increase output to 375,000 bpd by the end of next year but was …