February, 2019

• 16 February

  Indonesia’s Pertamina cuts jet fuel price in relief for airlines

  

  Bloomberg PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned energy company, reduced the price of jet fuel sold at the nation’s airports after President Joko Widodo ordered a review following complaints about high air fares blamed on soaring fuel costs. The retailer lowered the price of fuel sold at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport by 3 percent to 7,960 rupiah per liter (56 cents) from Saturday, …

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• 16 February

  Starbucks plans to launch all-day dining cafe in China

  

  Bloomberg Starbucks will launch its first all-day dining cafe in Shanghai, featuring fresh Italian food, the US coffee giant said in a statement. The move signals part of the company’s effort to “to play the long game in China,” according to Belinda Wong, CEO of Starbucks China. The coffee chain, which now operates more than 3,700 stores in 158 cities …

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• 13 February

  Oil extends gain on Saudi output pledge

  

  Bloomberg Oil climbed for a second day after Saudi Arabia pledged to deepen production cuts and US President Donald Trump said he might extend a deadline for additional tariffs on China. Futures in New York added as much as 1.5% after rising 1.3% on Tuesday. The world’s biggest crude exporter will continue to curb output more than required by a …

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• 13 February

  Chevron CEO says Texas shale is forcing cutbacks across energy

  

  Bloomberg For Mike Wirth, the future of Big Oil lies at home, under the dusty fields of West Texas. As he celebrates his first year as chief executive of Chevron Corp., Wirth sees the Permian Basin as a plentiful source of high-quality crude for years to come, but that’s not all. The low break-even costs to pump in the Permian …

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• 13 February

  India offers $50bn opportunity in energy storage

  Bloomberg India is presenting a potential investment opportunity of $50 billion in battery storage facilities that could help integrate renewable energy into the grid, replace polluting diesel-fueled power and boost electric mobility, the head of American energy firm AES Corp. said. “We think India is going to be a big market for energy storage,” Chief Executive Officer Andres Gluski said. …

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• 13 February

  4th day blackouts stalk South Africa

  Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. said will cut 3,000 megawatts of power from the South African grid from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m on Wednesday, marking the fourth consecutive day of such measures. The state-owned power utility, which supplies more than 90 percent of the country’s electricity, is implementing the rolling blackouts due to a shortage of generating capacity, Eskom …

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• 13 February

  Deutsche Bank to rebuild in Middle East after cost cutting

  Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG aims to rebuild in the Middle East after years of cost cutting and has hired executives to help win debt and advisory deals. “We have pivoted from a pure cost-control focus in 2018 to a controlled, disciplined growth phase in 2019,” Jamal Al Kishi, chief executive officer of the Middle East and Africa for the Frankfurt-based …

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• 13 February

  RBNZ pushes out forecast for rate hike

  

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank pushed out its forecast for an interest-rate increase to early 2021, disappointing investors looking for signs of a policy easing later this year and sending the currency surging. Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr left the official cash rate at 1.75 percent on Wednesday in Wellington and said he expects to keep it there “through 2019 …

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• 13 February

  Riksbank commits to rate hike plan, backs off currency lever

  

  Bloomberg Sweden’s central bank committed to a plan to raise interest rates this year and dropped a mandate that had allowed policy makers to intervene rapidly in the currency market to help drive inflation higher. The krona gained on the news, after many in the market had expected the Stockholm-based Riksbank to signal a more cautious stance. The bank left …

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• 13 February

  BOJ reduces purchases of bonds to arrest yield slide

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BOJ) reduced purchases of bonds for the first time in two months, stepping in to arrest a decline in yields amid a global debt rally spurred by rising risks to growth worldwide. The central bank offered to buy 180 billion yen ($1.6 billion) of securities maturing in 10-to-25 years at regular operation, versus 200 billion …

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