March, 2020

• 1 March

  Russia to work with Opec+ to support world oil market: Putin

  

  Bloomberg Russia is ready to cooperate with its Opec+ partners to support the world oil market, even though it’s comfortable with current crude prices, President Vladimir Putin said. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)+ mechanism “has already established itself as an effective tool in ensuring long-term stability in global energy markets,” Putin told a meeting with ministers in ...

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• 1 March

  China economy faces deeper Q1 contraction on factory drop

  

  Bloomberg China’s economy could be heading for a worse-than-expected first-quarter contraction after the country’s manufacturing sector reported activity was at a record low in February due to the coronavirus outbreak. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) plunged to 35.7 in February from 50 the previous month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday. Even before ...

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• 1 March

  Virus rout pushes US energy explorers to brink of distress

  

  Bloomberg The coronavirus outbreak that has sent markets worldwide on a collective nosedive is forcing US oil and gas explorers already burning through borrowed cash and failing to deliver returns to the brink of distress. Drillers’ fall from grace has worsened as shareholders increasingly demand they shift their focus to generating cash flow, instead of increasing production at any costs. ...

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• 1 March

  Arctic oil drilling plan coming soon: US interior chief

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration is moving to sell drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said. “We are about to finalise a leasing plan for that,” Bernhardt said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, without providing a more specific timetable. His declaration comes amid delays in standing up a sale — originally expected ...

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• 1 March

  Eskom waiting for guidelines on gas-fired plant

  

  Bloomberg South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd is making preparations for a 3,000-megawatt gas-fired plant, but the debt-stricken utility is still awaiting formal guidelines from the government before it can proceed with the project. The facility could alleviate a serious shortage of electricity led to a series of rolling blackouts, as the state-owned company has been forced to implement nationwide ...

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• 1 March

  US urges Ethiopia to reach deal on Nile dam

  Bloomberg Egypt, Ethiopia and mutual neighbour Sudan should conclude an agreement before the completion of Ethiopia’s disputed Nile dam, to prevent “significant harm to downstream countries,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. “Final testing and filling should not take place without an agreement,” Mnuchin said in a statement on the Treasury Department’s website following the latest Washington meeting, which Ethiopia ...

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• 1 March

  US gas export firms forced to sell shares

  Bloomberg Two pioneers of the US natural gas export industry were forced to sell shares of the company they founded amid a global market rout and concern that a key supply deal won’t be finalised. Tellurian Inc Chairman Charif Souki and Vice Chairman Martin Houston sold 4 million and 3.4 million shares respectively, according to filings. In both cases, the ...

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• 1 March

  Property world summit postponed on virus fears

  

  Bloomberg The world’s biggest property event held on the French Riviera has been pushed back to June over concern about the coronavirus epidemic, the summit organisers said. The four-day event, known as MIPIM, will now take place June 2-5 in Cannes instead of its usual March slot. “The well-being of our clients and staff is our priority,” Paul Zilk, chief ...

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• 1 March

  Berlin beats London for investors buying prime property

  

  Bloomberg If you’re looking to make money at the top of the housing market, head to the tech hubs. Prime properties — broadly defined as the top 5% of residences in a market — in areas like San Francisco, Shenzhen and Berlin have outperformed cities such as New York, Singapore and Paris over the past five years, according to data ...

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• 1 March

  Investors cast a wary eye on market as bad news piles up

  

  Bloomberg The first US coronavirus death. Signs the disease is squeezing China’s economy. A possible outbreak in Washington State. Trading may have stopped, but the drumbeat of alarming headlines hasn’t. That’s making investors anxious about what happens when markets reopen. While considerable bad news has already been priced in to stocks, with the S&P 500 down 13% in seven sessions ...

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