LONDON­­­­ / Reuters OPEC oil output has risen in June by 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a 2017 high, a Reuters survey found, as a further recovery in supply from the two member countries exempt from a production-cutting deal offset strong compliance by their peers. High compliance by Gulf producers Saudi Arabia and Kuwait helped keep OPEC’s adherence with ...

Bloomberg Oil companies have spent three years slashing spending and firing workers to protect profits, only to find their hard work blown away as prices entered another bear market. The MSCI World Energy Sector Index is heading for a second consecutive quarter of declines, mirroring the drop in crude. The 90 companies that make up the index, including giants like ...

Bloomberg Mexico is racing against the clock to get natural gas pipelines online this summer. The nation has found itself “in a tight situation,” David Madero, who oversees the government’s Natural Gas Control Center, said in an interview in Mexico City. The season when gas demand typically peaks is fast approaching, and Mexico is still dealing with setbacks in getting ...

Bloomberg If there’s one thing that became clear during the White House’s “Energy Week,” it’s that South Korea is really, really into US natural gas. In less than 24 hours, South Korea’s energy companies had announced four partnerships with US companies to explore opportunities in the US natural gas business. Korea Gas Corp., the state-owned gas supplier, said it’ll look ...

Bloomberg In the heart of Canada’s biggest oil province, life is slowly returning to normal in Fort McMurray, Alberta. After a fire last year destroyed entire neighborhoods in the town and halted about a million barrels of daily production, green leaves are beginning to bud on charred trees and new construction is replacing homes that were burned to the ground. ...

Bloomberg South Korea must give US automakers “a fair shake” to sell more cars there and stop exporting “dumped steel,” President Donald Trump told his counterpart Moon Jae-in during talks at the White House. After meeting with Moon, Trump emphasized he’ll press for changes to the current free-trade agreement to reduce the US trade deficit with South Korea. He told ...

Bloomberg Hitachi Ltd. is looking to buy consulting and system engineering companies overseas to help add as many 6,000 workers to boost sales of products ranging from trains to construction machinery. The Tokyo-based company has set aside as much as 800 billion yen ($7 billion) for acquisitions over the next two years, Chief Financial Officer Mitsuaki Nishiyama said in an ...

Bloomberg China’s official factory gauge concluded the first half of the year on a robust note, the latest evidence of stable momentum that gives policy makers room to continue defusing financial risks. The manufacturing purchasing managers index increased to 51.7 in June, beating all estimates compiled by a Bloomberg survey of economists, and the 51.2 reading in May. The non-manufacturing ...

Bloomberg China’s hidden debt risks are back in the spotlight this week. A chemical maker in the eastern province of Shandong had trading of its bonds suspended amid uncertainty over its operating performance. That triggered a slump in the dollar bonds of a neighboring company that had guaranteed the other’s debt. China’s privately held firms have relied on extending such ...

Bloomberg For India bull Robert Marshall-Lee, stock valuations near the highest level in almost a decade are no deterrence. The London-based money manager, who oversees 2.6 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) for Newton Investment Management, has stepped up allocations for Mumbai-listed equities to 31 percent, compared with their 9 percent weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. He expects the rally ...