April, 2020

• 4 April

  US energy chief tells industry he sees oil deal within days

  

  Bloomberg Energy secretary Dan Brouillette told oil industry representatives that he expected a Saudi-Russia deal on crude production cuts within days. Brouillette’s comments came during a conference call with a broad swath of oil industry representatives, after President Donald Trump met with top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp, Phillips 66 and other companies. The discussion was described by …

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• 4 April

  Virus curbs affect oil, mine workers in Australia

  

  Bloomberg Some of the biggest mining and energy companies are scrambling to respond to tightening controls on movement inside Australia — the biggest exporter of iron ore and liquefied natural gas — by temporarily rehousing employees and their families thousands of miles from home. About 800 so-called fly-in fly-out (FIFO) mining workers have been relocated to Western Australia for potentially …

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• 4 April

  TC Energy sells more debt as credit market thaws

  

  Bloomberg TC Energy Corp sold US dollar-denominated bonds just as the company’s new loonie notes rally in their trading debut. The pipeline operator’s C$2 billion ($1.4 billion) 3.8% debt due 2027 is quoted at a spread of about 300 basis points over Canadian government bonds after pricing on April 1 at 325 basis points, according to Bloomberg Valuation bid prices. …

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• 4 April

  Athabasca suspends oil-sands operation

  Bloomberg Athabasca Oil Corp fully suspended its Hangingstone oil sands operation to combat low oil prices and uncertainty surrounding coronavirus. The move comes shortly after Athabasca said in March it would curtail production at Hangingstone by about 50% to maximise corporate funds flow and liquidity. Calls have been mounting for Canadian producers to cut production in light of rock-bottom domestic …

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• 4 April

  South African wind industry questions Eskom’s force majeure

  Bloomberg South African wind energy producers questioned the legality of a decision by the state power utility to curtail purchases of their output, amid low demand caused by a nationwide lockdown to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) said Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd’s decision to invoke force majeure in its contracts with the independent …

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• 4 April

  UK house prices surge before virus hit

  

  Bloomberg UK house prices were climbing at the fastest pace in more than two years before the coronavirus pandemic almost brought the market to a standstill, according to Nationwide Building Society. Values rose 3% from a year earlier in March, and gained 0.8% from February alone, the mortgage lender said. The sample period excludes recent disruption caused by UK’s restrict- …

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• 4 April

  Foxconn to investors: 5G iPhone can launch in fall

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc’s most important manufacturing partner has reassured investors it can still get the latest 5G-enabled iPhones ready for an autumn launch despite global Covid-19 upheaval. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, which makes most of the world’s iPhones, told investors it’s lost time to travel restrictions and other disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But with months to go …

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• 4 April

  German startups join forces to create virus-tracking app

  

  Bloomberg A group of German startups are working on an application that will help the government track people who have been exposed to the novel coronavirus and, ultimately, ease restrictions when the pandemic begins to subside. Startups including insurance firm Wefox Group Services GmbH, software provider Finleap and artificial intelligence platform Arago announced the app in a website. Arago, which …

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• 4 April

  Tesla’s Model Y gets high marks from a critic Musk respects

  

  Bloomberg Tesla Inc’s new Model Y has what people have come to expect from Elon Musk’s cars: It’s lightning quick, handles nicely and has better electronic gadgetry than its competitors. Unlike past Tesla offerings, early versions are rolling off the assembly line looking more like you’d expect from a company with a handle on the finer points of car building, …

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• 4 April

  Spotify’s new kids app offers range of options

  Bloomberg Spotify Technology SA is offering parents cooped up at home a new way to entertain their kids. The Swedish audio streaming giant will roll out a kids app in the US, Canada and France, the company said. The new app includes more than 8,000 songs, as well as audio books and bedtime stories, all of which are handpicked by …

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