March, 2017

• 12 March

  Philippines, communist rebels agree to resume talks, truce

  

    MANILA / AP The Philippine government and communist rebels have agreed to resume peace talks and restore separate cease-fires after an escalation of deadly clashes, officials said on Sunday. Government and rebel negotiators will resume talks early next month and discuss the terms of a broader cease-fire, presidential adviser Jesus Dureza said. Norway, which has been brokering the negotiations, …

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• 12 March

  Malaysia says only 315 North Koreans left in the country

    KUALA LUMPUR / AP Malaysia’s deputy prime minister said on Sunday that 315 North Koreans are in the country and barred from leaving amid a diplomatic dispute over the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half brother. The figure is lower than an estimate previously given by a government official, who had told The Associated Press …

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• 12 March

  The electric car rush started too early

  

    By BMW AG’s high standards, 2016 wasn’t great. While it was a record year in terms of sales, the profit margin of its car business was the lowest since 2010 at 8.9 percent. The company missed analysts’ estimates, and the share price dropped. So CEO Harald Krueger’s decision to reaffirm the firm’s “Automated, Connected, Electrified and Shared” strategy raised …

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• 12 March

  Mario Draghi tiptoes towards the QE exit

  

    European Central Bank President Mario Draghi knows he’ll eventually have to end the central bank’s bond-buying program and raise interest rates. But he’s rightly determined, no matter how much pressure Germany brings to bear, to keep that day as far in the future as possible — which makes the rest of this year a non-event for euro zone policy …

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• 12 March

  Relax about Trump’s China trademarks

  

    In the past two weeks, the Chinese government granted President Donald Trump 38 valuable trademarks. They come as tensions between China and the US have cooled somewhat, leading to suggestions that the award is a poorly concealed quid pro quo designed to reward a president with considerable personal business interests. On Tuesday, Senator Ben Cardin went so far as …

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• 12 March

  Oil price slide hits Saudi share market

  

    DUBAI / Reuters Major Gulf stock market indexes mostly closed lower on Sunday after oil prices plunged at the end of last week to a three-month low, but shares in Dubai’s Shuaa Capital and Saudi Arabia’s Bank Aljazira surged in response to company-specific news. Saudi Arabia’s index dropped 1.2 percent as the share prices of all 14 listed petrochemical …

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• 12 March

  Vitol sees ‘a lot more’ growth in US oil exports

  

    Bloomberg Vitol Group BV, the trader that shipped the first cargo of US crude after export restrictions ended in late 2015, predicts the country’s oil exports will grow “a lot more” because of rising production in Texas. US crude shipments briefly surged to a record 1.21 million barrels a day in mid-February, up from 32,000 in 2010, when most …

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• 12 March

  Papua New Guinea grasps at its own gas as LNG exports surge

  

    Bloomberg Less than three years after it began sending one of its most precious resources overseas, Papua New Guinea’s future may be determined by how much of it stays at home. The Pacific island nation wants some of the world’s top explorers to allow a portion of its natural gas to stay in the country, said Nixon Duban, the …

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• 12 March

  Gas firms locked in legal spats as $200 billion spree sours

  

    Bloomberg After splurging $200 billion building the world’s biggest gas export plants, producers in Australia are now locked in legal battles with contractors over who should shoulder billions of dollars in liabilities sparked by delays and cost blow-outs. Chevron Corp., owner of the $54 billion Gorgon facility, Australia’s largest resource development, along with Inpex Corp. and Santos Ltd. are …

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• 12 March

  Corporate buyers key drivers for wind, solar energy

    Bloomberg Contracts to sell electricity directly to corporate users are among the key demand drivers for wind and solar power, while the influence of state mandates wanes, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service. Multiple factors are spurring corporate power deals, especially from companies that have set their own sustainability goals. And the shift comes as costs continue …

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