January, 2017

• 14 January

  Bone-chilling winter causes energy scramble in Europe

  

    Bloomberg From the rivers criss-crossing eastern Europe to the Mediterranean ports of Greece and France, everyone is hunting for energy supplies. Blizzards, gale force winds, arctic temperatures and river ice thicker than a house has left the stewards of the European energy business frenzied. Prices of natural gas, primarily a heating fuel, has soared to the highest in more ...

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• 14 January

  OPEC chief confident in commitment for output cut deal

    Reuters OPEC’s Secretary-General has confidence in the commitment of oil producers who agreed to an output cut deal last month to ease a global glut that has depressed crude prices and hurt exporting countries’ revenues. Under the accord, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia and other non-members of the producer group will curtail oil output by ...

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• 14 January

  ‘Coal curbs in Asia could save 50,000 lives annually’

    Bloomberg About 50,000 lives a year could be saved by 2030 if no new coal-fired power plants are built in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, according to a study from researchers at Harvard University and Greenpeace International. If coal plants currently planned or under construction in the region are actually built, some 70,000 deaths could result annually, ...

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• 14 January

  Oil caps worst week since November 2016

  

    Bloomberg Oil posted the biggest weekly decline since November as traders await proof that OPEC and other producers are following through on promises to cut production. Futures declined 1.2 percent in New York on Friday and slid 3 percent this week. Saudi Arabia reduced output to less than 10 million barrels a day and will consider renewing its pledge ...

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• 14 January

  MEG Energy taps debt market after crude rebounds

  

    Bloomberg MEG Energy Corp. is boosting production at its Christina Lake project in Alberta and tapped debt and equity markets for financing, further signs of a rebound in Canada’s oil patch as crude prices stabilize. The expansion at Christina Lake Phase 2B will increase output from the site by about 25 percent to 100,000 barrels a day by 2019, ...

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• 14 January

  Restoring order top agenda for Tata Group’s new chief

  

    Bloomberg For Tata Group’s new chairman, restoring order at India’s largest conglomerate will be atop his agenda after the ouster of his predecessor Cyrus Mistry triggered one of the country’s biggest corporate power struggles in years. The conglomerate picked Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Thursday as the next chairman of group holding company Tata ...

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• 14 January

  Chinese firms turn to structured debt as funding squeezed

  

    Bloomberg Cash-strapped Chinese companies are ramping up sales of asset-backed securities to raise funds as they face record delays in collecting payments from customers. Structured note sales backed by assets such as receivables jumped 130 percent to 455.2 billion yuan ($65.7 billion) last year, based on official data. They accounted for 54 percent of all asset-backed securities issued in ...

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• 14 January

  Beijing acting Mayor sets new air pollution target for 2017

    Bloomberg Beijing’s city government set a new target to cut toxic smog in an address setting the city’s 2017 priorities. Beijing Acting Mayor Cai Qi pledged to control PM2.5 particles — which pose major health risks because they become lodged in the lungs — within an annual average of “around” 60 micrograms per cubic meter in 2017. The target ...

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• 14 January

  Asia’s smallest economies among fastest growing nations

  

    Bloomberg Asia’s smallest economies are growing faster than giants like China, according to the World Bank. Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will post the most rapid expansions in Asia after India from 2017 to 2019, sustaining growth rates of close to 7 percent, according to forecasts released this week. Among the least developed countries, the combined size of the three ...

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• 14 January

  Indonesia coal output to surpass target this year as prices recover

  

    Bloomberg Indonesia will exceed its coal production target for another year as miners cash in after prices recovered from a five-year collapse. The world’s biggest exporter will produce about 489 million metric tons this year, 18 percent above the government-mandated target, according to energy ministry forecasts. That’s up from last year’s output estimated at 434 million tons and would ...

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