Bloomberg Germany plans to stop almost all Russian oil imports this year and broadly wean itself off the country’s gas by mid-2024, a hugely ambitious plan that poses complex logistical hurdles for Europe’s biggest economy. As Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck unveiled the plan, he once again made clear that Germany will not back an immediate embargo on Russian ...
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China’s electric car battery champion mostly welcome in US
Bloomberg Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), the world’s biggest manufacturer of electric-vehicle batteries, is scouting sites for a new $5 billion battery plant in North America. It’s considering locations in Mexico, Canada, and the US for an 80 gigawatt-hour plant that would supply Tesla and other EV makers, according to people familiar with the project. The conventional wisdom ...
Read More »Chevron-led oil firm curbs oil output in Kazakhstan
Bloomberg Chevron Corp’s oil production venture in Kazakhstan — which operates the country’s largest field — is curbing output due to issues at a supply link on the Black Sea. “Due to unscheduled repair works at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s marine terminal, Tengizchevroil is adjusting its production accordingly,†the company, also known as TCO, said. TCO declined to comment ...
Read More »Trying Russia’s Putin for war crimes is no fantasy
If peace in Ukraine looks depressingly far away, accountability seems beyond another galaxy. What are the chances Vladimir Putin will appear in a courtroom to answer for the hell he’s unleashed in Ukraine? They seem vanishingly small. And yet, national leaders, politicians, global organisations and an army of individuals are working to build the war crimes case against Putin and ...
Read More »ESG means no more buying a coke!
The day after the US lifted its trade embargo on Burma in 2012, I spoke to an executive at Coca-Cola Co. He proudly announced that his company already had people on a plane headed to the country. It is Coca-Cola’s policy, he explained, to sell its beverages anywhere it’s allowed to do so. Coke was sold in Russia during the ...
Read More »You say Fed is behind curve? Then prove it
If you’re looking for a case-study in economic groupthink, try Googling the phrase “Fed behind the curve.†Informed opinion, it seems, has congealed behind a conventional wisdom that the US Federal Reserve has been too slow to restrain accelerating inflation. Such widespread confidence would seem to require unambiguous evidence. But where is it? At least one eminent economist thinks ...
Read More »Oil tax cuts help the Kremlin, punish Ukraine
The oil market is desperately in need of demand destruction. Governments should either be encouraging behavioral changes such as using more public transportation or allowing expensive fuel to force consumers to change. Instead, industrialised countries are doing the opposite. Call it demand “construction.†From Germany to New Zealand, and from England to California, policymakers are either cutting taxes on ...
Read More »China crash mystery grows as proof signals midair breakup
Bloomberg At least one piece of the Boeing Co 737-800 that crashed in China appears to have broken loose well before impact, a finding that adds mystery to the plane’s fatal dive. The piece suspected to have come from the China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd jet was found about 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the main wreckage area, Chinese ...
Read More »India aviation on growth path amid waning Covid
Bloomberg India is expecting local air passenger traffic will surpass the pre-pandemic level within a year as fliers return, emboldened by a steep fall in new Covid-19 infections. “I am very confident in the days to come, in the months to come, within the next year, we will surpass the pre-Covid level†of 415,000 daily passengers, India Civil Aviation ...
Read More »Nestle stops most of its Russian production, barring essentials
Bloomberg Nestle SA, the world’s largest food maker, said it’s suspending the vast majority of its manufacturing in Russia amid growing pressure on multinationals to fully exit the country following its invasion of Ukraine. The Swiss company is stopping the sale of brands like KitKat and Nesquik and will focus on essential foods including baby food and medical nutrition, it ...
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