Bloomberg China’s natural gas imports from Central Asia, a long-time source of the fuel via pipeline, slipped last month, worsening a winter shortage and increasing the world’s biggest energy user’s reliance on seaborne supplies. Imports during January from Turkmenistan, China’s biggest overseas source of gas last year, dropped 14 percent from a year earlier, and 4 percent from December, data …

Bloomberg Ghana may start locking in future prices for oil and petroleum imports from the end of March as it seeks to contain inflation, said Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. A net exporter of crude oil, Ghana could benefit from rising prices while continuing to keep domestic costs in check by agreeing to buy fuel at pre-set prices, Ofori-Atta said in …

Bloomberg The outlook for declining oil production in Venezuela may get grimmer if the US bans supply of a key commodity used to help Venezuelan crude flow from oilfields to the coast. Production in the Orinoco oil belt, which accounts for half of the country’s output, depends on heavy naphtha imported from the US to reach global markets. Naphtha is …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. has shut production platforms and a processing plant in the highlands of natural gas exp-orter Papua New Guinea after an earthquake struck the Pacific nation. The US oil giant closed the facilities to assess damage from a magnitude 7.5 earthquake early on Monday morning, it said in a statement. Administrative buildings, living quarters and a mess …

Bloomberg US claims that a Latvian bank laundered money and violated sanctions on North Korea led to the lender’s demise in little over a week, turning the spotlight on the European Central Bank’s role as chief supervisor for euro-zone lenders. The US Treasury proposed banning ABLV Bank from doing business in dollars, but the ECB doesn’t have the power to …

Bloomberg Bank of England Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden looks to have changed his mind on interest rates. An opponent of a rate increase in November, Ramsden told the Sunday Times in an interview that an acceleration in wage growth suggests swifter rate rises are now required. Ramsden said he’ll closely monitor what happens in the early part of 2018 to …

Bloomberg The clock is ticking for John Cryan to complete the next step in Deutsche Bank AG’s turnaround. The lender on Monday said it will sell shares in its DWS asset management business “in the earliest available window,” confirming a plan first outlined a year ago and kicking off what is usually a four-week run-up to the initial public offering. …

Bloomberg President Joko Widodo’s choice of a career central banker to head Bank Indonesia signals monetary policy continuity as rising odds of faster US rate increases roil emerging-market currencies and bonds. Widodo, also known as Jokowi, has nominated Deputy Governor Perry Warjiyo as his sole candidate, Sofjan Wanandi, adviser to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, said by text message on Monday. …

Bloomberg If you think things will keep getting better for China’s biggest banks, look no further than China Construction Bank Corp. Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley are among at least 16 brokerages that have raised their target prices for China’s second-largest bank this year. Institutional investors including BlackRock Inc and Invesco Ltd have recently increased their CCB holdings, …

Bloomberg As China’s shoppers power growth for European luxury brands, Chinese companies want to bring home some of the profits along with their Prada loafers. Fosun International Ltd. acquired a majority stake in French fashion house Lanvin for an undisclosed sum, the Shanghai-based group said. It’s the latest in a series of moves by Chinese companies to snap up iconic …