December, 2019

• 22 December

  Kuwait, Saudi to reach pact over neutral-zone oil soon

  

  Bloomberg Kuwait and Saudi Arabia could reach an agreement by the end of this year to renew oil output in the shared neutral zone along their border, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel said. The neutral zone, which has been shuttered for at least four years, can produce as much as 500,000 barrels a day. The zone’s Wafra and Khafji fields …

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• 22 December

  China to lower financing costs for private firms

  

  Bloomberg China is taking a major step to open up sectors ranging from oil and gas to telecommunications and railways, easing market regulations and lowering financing costs for private companies. The government will offer more tax breaks and broaden incentives to more firms, according to a government statement published by the official Xinhua News Agency, which didn’t specify the industries. …

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• 22 December

  Etihad, Kuwait Airways sign codeshare deal

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwaiti flag carrier, Kuwait Airways, have signed a codeshare partnership on selected services on bookings effective December 22, for travel from January 5, 2020. According to a statement by Etihad airways, the national airline will place its ‘EY’ code – subject to regulatory approvals – …

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• 22 December

  The great decoupling of energy stocks from oil creates carnage

  

  Bloomberg This year has been one of moderate gains for the price of oil, but it has been bleak for producers. West Texas Intermediate crude is heading for an annual increase of more than 30%, but the best performance among the global oil majors has been Chevron Corp, which has posted a gain of just 10%. The S&P 500 Energy …

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• 22 December

  Mexican stocks to lag Latam peers next year amid sluggish growth

  

  Bloomberg Mexican stocks are set to underperform emerging market stars next year amid worries about domestic economic policy, sluggish growth and U.S. trade ties. Mexico’s benchmark IPC index is projected to rise 7% next year to 47,800, according to the median of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That growth would be in line with the gauge’s performance so far in …

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• 22 December

  South Africa labour group has debt plan for struggling Eskom

  

  Bloomberg South Africa’s biggest labour group is proposing that more than half the debt of state-owned Eskom Holding SOC Ltd be put into a special purpose vehicle to help save the utility and avoid job cuts. The Congress of South African Trade Unions urged the government strike a deal with the Public Investment Corp, Africa’s biggest money manager, to help …

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• 22 December

  PG&E creditors sweeten deal for California fire victims in new proposal

  

  Bloomberg PG&E Corp creditors, seeking to salvage their bid to take control of the bankrupt utility’s restructuring, sweetened their offer to wildfire victims and made new proposals aimed at winning over California Governor Gavin Newsom. In a letter to Newsom, the creditor group said they are prepared to pay the victims $13.5 billion in cash upfront instead of using stock …

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• 22 December

  Oil’s 2019 milestones tell decade’s story of energy abundance

  

  Bloomberg Global oil markets notched up a number of milestones this year that echoed the story of the past decade: the world has shifted from an era of supply tightness to plenty. What distinguished the developments of 2019 was not just how big they were but often how little impact they had. From the world’s biggest-ever initial public offering to …

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• 22 December

  Going 100% green will pay for itself in seven years

  

  Bloomberg A Stanford University professor whose research helped underpin the US Democrats’ Green New Deal says phasing out fossil fuels and running the entire world on clean energy would pay for itself in under seven years. It would cost $73 trillion to revamp power grids, transportation, manufacturing and other systems to run on wind, solar and hydro power, including enough …

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• 22 December

  RBI experiments with policy to ease India’s interest rates

  

  Bloomberg From a 35-basis point interest rate cut to embracing a Federal Reserve-style ‘Operation Twist’, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das is pushing the boundaries of conventional central bank policy making to improve rate transmission and spur credit to the economy. The central bank announced it will buy longer-dated debt and simultaneously sell shorter maturity notes in a …

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