June, 2020

• 4 June

  Nigeria court ruling stymies state bid to offer oil permits

  

  Bloomberg A Nigerian court suspended the government’s cancellation of eight oil concessions, hampering the state’s ability to include the withdrawn permits in a bidding round opened this week. A judge at the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an injunction, preventing the government from re-awarding the eight permits before a lawsuit challenging the legality of the terminations is resolved. Ten ...

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• 4 June

  Siemens JV eyes Tesla-topping battery for Australia’s grid

  

  Bloomberg Three years after Elon Musk took up a challenge to solve Australian power outages by building the world’s biggest battery, a Siemens AG venture wants to install even larger ones to bolster renewable investment in the nation. Fluence, a partnership between Germany’s Siemens and Arlington, Virginia-based AES Corp, is proposing to build two giant lithium-ion batteries at strategic points ...

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• 4 June

  China completes $3.17bn clean power UHV line

  Bloomberg China completed construction of a $3.17 billion ultra-high voltage (UHV) electricity line that for the first time will transport only clean energy. It’s the first UHV line in the world built to transmit only carbon-free electricity, its developer, State Grid Corp of China, said. It will allow more renewables to be developed in Qinghai and Gansu provinces and deliver ...

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• 4 June

  Military heads don’t like using troops domestically

  

  Military leaders don’t like using troops for domestic purposes. It violates every rule they’re taught. You could see that wariness in the face of Gen Mark A Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, after President Trump told governors that he’d just put Milley “in charge” of cracking down on protestors. Following Trump’s exhortation to the governors to ...

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• 4 June

  Millennials happy to get on planes!

  

  Europe’s airlines aren’t all made equal. German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG will receive a 9 billion-euro ($10 billion) bailout and it was obliged to offer only limited concessions to Brussels in return. Meanwhile, low-cost Hungarian rival Wizz Air Holdings Plc has benefited from only limited state support. Goliath gets the goodies, and David the gruel. But anyone paying attention ...

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• 4 June

  The mighty US dollar is having a wobble now

  The mighty US Dollar is having a wobble, falling to its lowest level on a trade-weighted basis since March. It’s a sign that the economic effects of the crisis are waning around the world. Perhaps it’s time for the US to rein in the unlimited economic stimulus, or at least keep some in reserve to fight specific fires rather than ...

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• 4 June

  The Brexit regulatory bonfire begins… in EU

  One of the biggest ironies of the Brexit crusade against “suffocating” red tape from the European Union was that the UK was at the forefront of some of the bloc’s most onerous financial regulation after the 2008 crisis. That included a crackdown on opaquely-funded investment research — rolled out across the EU in 2018 as part of the MiFID II ...

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• 4 June

  China to ease ban on foreign airlines after US retaliates

  

  Bloomberg China will ease its ban on foreign airlines starting from June 8, changing course a day after the Trump administration demanded the country reopen to US airlines or face curbs on its own carriers flying passengers to America. Foreign airlines excluded from an earlier pact will be able to operate one commercial passenger flight to China a week, the ...

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• 4 June

  Delta to block middle seats through Sept 30

  

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc will block middle seats on all its aircraft through September 30, extending the policy for three months to soothe passenger fears about contracting the coronavirus. The carrier will switch to larger planes or add flights on high-demand routes that approach seating limits, Delta said in a statement. The Atlanta-based carrier previously guaranteed empty middle seats ...

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• 4 June

  Coronavirus: UK warns British Airways over aggressive job cuts

  

  Bloomberg The UK government warned British Airways (BA) it risks losing valuable airport landing slots after deciding to let go 12,000 staff while claiming government money to protect jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. An aviation debate in parliament was dominated by concerns about the former flag-carrier’s plans to slash its workforce. Transport Minister Kelly Tolhurst, responding to questions from lawmakers, ...

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