January, 2019

• 9 January

  China’s State Grid to spend $5.7bn on ‘hydro plants’

  

  Bloomberg State Grid Corp of China, the dominant electricity distributor in the world’s biggest energy consumer, will invest 38.7 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) to build five pumped hydro storage plants as part of the nation’s efforts to ease idled solar and wind power capacity. The projects, in Hebei, Jilin, Zhejiang, Shandong provinces and the far west Xinjiang autonomous region, will …

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• 9 January

  Oil lobbyist warns of political risk in Norway

  

  Bloomberg Norway’s oil industry is in full recovery mode, but the country’s top petroleum lobbyist is worried about growing opposition ahead. At the same time as it gave a big boost to investment forecasts for next five years, Norwegian Oil and Gas Association sounded one of its starkest warnings yet on political risk facing the nation’s biggest industry. Explorers and …

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• 9 January

  Mexico oil chiefs under pressure amid fuel crisis

  

  Bloomberg Mexico’s opposition is accusing the government of addressing the issue of fuel theft irresponsibly as supply fears spread to the nation’s capital. Members of the senate are calling for the newly appointed energy minister Rocio Nahle and Petroleos Mexicanos chief executive Octavio Romero to explain how they will fix fuel distribution amid shortages at gasoline stations in central Mexico, …

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• 9 January

  EDF unit draws bidders for its oil and gas assets

  Bloomberg Electricite de France SA’s Italian unit has attracted potential bidders including Neptune Energy and Warburg Pincus’s Apex International Energy for its oil and gas business, people familiar with the matter said. Bidders for Edison SpA’s exploration and production assets, primarily located in Egypt and Italy, may offer as much as $2 billion, the people said, asking not to be …

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• 9 January

  Stocks climb amid optimism over US-China ‘agreement’

  

  Bloomberg Stocks rose globally after the US and China concluded three days of trade talks and appeared to be closer to agreement on a number of areas. The dollar dipped and Treasuries were steady as investors awaited the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, which may offer insight into the decision to raise rates and the pace …

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• 9 January

  Indian stocks head for tough year ahead

  

  Bloomberg The party’s over for Indian equities, with stocks headed for another tough year as a shrinking global cash pool dims prospects of an improving economy and expected recovery in company earnings boosting stocks, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Imagine you are at a New Year party and happy to find out that there’s more room to dance …

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• 9 January

  Fed’s Bostic trims his rate outlook for 2019 to one hike

  

  Bloomberg The US central bank should only raise interest rates once this year but keep going with its plan to gradually shrink the balance sheet, said Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and one of the Fed’s more dovish policy makers. “Coming into this year, a year ago, I saw two moves for 2019. Right now, …

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• 9 January

  Ex-BOJ official sees yen rising to 100

  

  Bloomberg There is a good chance the yen will strengthen to 100 against the dollar in coming months as slowing global growth and US-China trade tensions keep investors on edge, a former senior Bank of Japan official said. While that level would be tolerable, there is little the depleted BOJ can do about further yen strength or a serious downturn …

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• 9 January

  SEB to launch new sustainability push

  

  Bloomberg Swedish lender SEB AB plans to hire 10 advisers to kick start a new push into all things energy. The bank is building a new unit within investment banking to focus on energy, an area that for SEB involves the shift away from fossil fuels to renewables, sustainable infrastructure projects, electrification and building sustainable societies, Chief Executive Officer Johan …

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• 9 January

  Barclays raider’s strategy is wrong, say analysts

  

  Bloomberg Analysts at Citigroup Inc and Berenberg poured cold water on Edward Bramson’s plans to obtain a seat on Barclays Plc’s board and shift its strategy away from the investment bank. “We believe Mr Bramson will ultimately prove unsuccessful in his objective to obtain a board seat,” said ana- lysts at Citigroup including Andrew Coombs. He “would need a shareholder …

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