Bloomberg Oil retreated as China’s worsening virus resurgence raised concerns about demand in the world’s biggest crude importer. West Texas Intermediate futures fall as much as 6.2% after authorities in Shanghai said they will lock down half of the city in turns for mass Covid-19 testing. Global growth risks from inflation and tightening monetary policy also hit market sentiments, …

  Bloomberg Argentina, home to some of the world’s vastest gas reserves, is bracing for the unthinkable: rationing one of its chief natural resources. Despite having shale-gas deposits to rival those in Appalachia, which made the US a major exporter, Argentina’s domestic gas production sector has suffered from years of underinvestment that has left it unable to meet domestic demand, …

  Bloomberg India asked power manufacturers to keep importing coal to meet increasing demand for electricity even as prices of the fossil fuel surged. The power companies need to resolve issues related to rising prices and stick to the power-purchase agreement, the Ministry of Power said in a statement. “Not maintaining adequate fuel stocks or not giving availability on any …

  Bloomberg The trading arm of Russia’s gas giant Gazprom PJSC is under increasing pressure as clients and peers flee in response to the war in Ukraine, posing a risk for energy markets from the UK to Germany and Singapore. Gazprom Marketing & Trading is facing liquidity problems as banks delay its transactions and peers refuse to deal with it, …

  Bloomberg Investors are scrambling for safety as risks mount, from the war in Ukraine to rising interest rates and a global recession. They have found it in the US stock market — particularly the biggest American companies. The S&P 500 Index is up more than 8% over the past two weeks, recouping all of its losses since the Russian …

  Bloomberg Bitcoin’s stealth rally over the past two weeks not only pushed it past a key level of $45,000 — it also put the world’s biggest cryptocurrency back in positive territory for the year. The token rises to around $47,000 at 3:30 pm in Hong Kong, well above the $35,000-to-$45,000 range where it’s been stuck since early January. With …

Abu Dhabi / WAM Noting that climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution threaten lives, jobs and health the world over, the UN chief said on Saturday that it was essential “to make peace with nature.” “Without nature’s help, we cannot thrive or even survive on this planet Earth,” Secretary-General António Guterres underscored in his message for Earth Hour, commemorated annually …

  Brussels / WAM In 2021, the value of trade (imports plus exports) of agricultural goods between the EU and the rest of the world hit €347.0 billion ($381.16 billion), €20.7 billion more than in 2020. The EU exported €196.9 billion worth of agricultural products and imported €150.0 billion, generating a surplus of €46.9 billion, data by Eurostat showed. Between …

  Bloomberg National Grid Plc agreed to sell 60% of its gas transmission business to a consortium including Macquarie Group Ltd in a deal that will value the asset at 9.6 billion pounds ($12.7 billion). The UK firm will get about 2.2 billion pounds in cash from Macquarie’s asset management arm and British Columbia Investment Management Corp (BCI), it said …

  Bloomberg TotalEnergies SE doesn’t plan to divest its Russian assets amid the war in Ukraine, as doing so would essentially mean handing them over to President Vladimir Putin’s regime, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said. The French energy major said it will no longer sign or renew contracts to buy oil and petroleum products from Russia, with the aim …