July, 2017

• 17 July

  Prez contender in Rwanda sees intimidation as test

  Bloomberg The last time Rwanda held presidential elections, opposition leader Frank Habineza’s deputy was killed and he fled into European exile. Seven years on, he sees his candidacy in next month’s vote as a cautious step towards greater political freedoms in the tiny East African country. The August 4 election will be the first time Habineza, who leads the Democratic …

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• 17 July

  UK’s Brexit chaos leaves EU friends, foes bemused

  

  Theresa May’s goal at this point in the Brexit negotiations was to be a strong British prime minister —between European Union leaders. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Instead, as Brexit Secretary David Davis heads to Brussels for the second round of negotiations, EU officials and politicians are looking at a Britain where senior ministers openly disagree about their …

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• 17 July

  China’s anti-addiction drive ruins video games

  

  Shareholders of Tencent Holdings Ltd., the world’s biggest video game company, panicked last week. People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, singled out ‘Honour of Kings,’ Tencent’s biggest game, for an unusually high-profile criticism. ‘Poison,’ the paper declared of a game played by roughly one in seven Chinese. “Constantly spreading ‘negative energy.’” It linked the game to …

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• 17 July

  For ECB, better to be flexible than sorry

  

  I am giving you permission: You can safely ignore Amazon’s Prime Day, the annual fake shopping holiday Jeff Bezos invented two years ago.The European Central Bank is unnerving markets by remaining vague over the future of its bond-buying scheme. Yet, if investors listened carefully, they would detect an emerging framework for understanding what guides policy makers. The first principle is …

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• 17 July

  Saudi on track to tender energy renewable projects

  

  KHOBAR / Reuters Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has asked companies to qualify to bid for its first utility-scale wind power project at Dumat al-Jandal, the energy ministry said, keeping on track to tender the first round of renewable energy projects this year. Requests to qualify for the 400 megawatt (MW) wind project in the north of the kingdom will …

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• 17 July

  Oil holds above $46 amid robust China economic growth

  

  Bloomberg Oil steadied above $46 a barrel in New York after China’s economic growth in the second quarter slightly surpassed expectations, while OPEC’s commitment to supply curbs faltered. Futures were little changed in New York, after rising 5.2 percent last week. The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with the 6.8 percent median estimate …

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• 17 July

  Kuwait to boost oil-output capacity from 2030

  

  Bloomberg Kuwait plans to raise oil-production capacity to as much as 4.75 million barrels a day after 2030 as the OPEC member builds refineries in Asia to process more of its crude, the head of state-run Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. said. The Gulf country, which currently can pump up to 3.15 million barrels a day, has plans to increase capacity …

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• 17 July

  Centrica may sell shares in new gas production company

  

  Bloomberg Centrica Plc and Stadtwerke Muenchen GmbH agreed to combine assets to set up a new European exploration and production company and may sell shares in the venture after two years. The UK’s biggest energy supplier to homes will own 69 percent of the business and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, Centrica said in a …

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• 17 July

  Oil industry giants make a play for millennial hires

  

  Bloomberg “This ain’t your daddy’s oil,” the commercial proclaims, cutting to shots of spray paint being made and a wall covered in fanciful graffiti. “Oil strikes a pose. Oil taps potential. Oil pumps life.” Oil, in short, is cool, the industry’s branding braintrust has declared. The 30-second spot rolled out this year is part of a broader American Petroleum Institute …

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• 17 July

  China economy charges on as leaders target risk ‘rhino’

  

  Bloomberg China’s economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, putting the nation on track to meet its growth target this year and giving backing to officials in their campaign to corral oncoming financial risk. Data showing that the world’s second-largest economy expanded 6.9 percent in the second quarter, matching the pace from the first three months, was released …

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