Bloomberg Pakistan’s Energas plans to start the nation’s largest liquefied natural gas import terminal in 2021 to help meet soaring demand once it gets the green light to build the project. Energas, a consortium of large domestic users, aims to begin construction of the $140 million to $160 million facility next year, Chief Executive Officer Anser Ahmed Khan said in ...
Read More »WPX in talks to buy Felix assets for $2.5b
Bloomberg WPX Energy Inc is in talks to buy the oil and gas exploration assets of closely held Felix Energy for about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. WPX Energy could announce a deal with Denver-based Felix Energy later this month, said one of the people. No final decision has been made and talks could fall through, ...
Read More »World is stuck with dollar as the reserve currency
The US dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency might be weakening. In the last few years, the fraction of global reserves denominated in dollars has been inching down: This follows a longer-term slide; at the turn of the century more than 70% of reserves were in dollars. Meanwhile, central banks are buying more gold, which could signal a lack ...
Read More »Lagarde’s ECB debut tests her mettle
Christine Lagarde is famous for her lively and engaging speaking style. But when she holds her first press conference as president of the European Central Bank, she would be wise to play it safe. It takes time to build a reputation as a central banker who can speak clearly and then deliver on her promises. A wrong foot could make ...
Read More »Chevron ushers in oil’s era of the sober-major
Along with never invading Russia or getting into a Twitter argument, we can add another golden rule — this one specifically for US oil majors: Never buy a shale-gas business. Chevron Corp.’s $10-11 billion impairment relates mostly to the Appalachian gas assets it picked up in 2011’s $4.9 billion acquisition of Atlas Energy Inc. Back then, the Permian basin was ...
Read More »Fed is sick of being held hostage by trade wars
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues sent a message with their final interest-rate decision of 2019: Don’t expect us to be subject to the whims of America’s ever-shifting trade policy in the year ahead. The Federal Open Market Committee, in its first unanimous decision since May, kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged in a range of 1.5% to ...
Read More »India’s Yes Bank needs RBI to find a better rescue partner
Yes Bank Ltd.’s latest $2 billion rescue plan was perfect except for one minor detail: Most suitors for the beleaguered Indian lender aren’t the kind the board can really take to meet the regulator for tea. Yet in a five-hour meeting, the directors decided to do exactly that. Jane Austen would have been proud of their desperation to marry off ...
Read More »Amazon’s Deliveroo takeout leaves an unpleasant taste
It’s the worst nightmare of supermarkets and food delivery firms alike: Amazon.com Inc. turbocharging its grocery business with a network of couriers who can have grub on your doorstep within an hour. So you can see why Britain’s competition regulator decided to challenge the e-commerce giant’s planned investment in Deliveroo, the UK rival to UberEats. The Competition and Markets Authority ...
Read More »BlackRock has a few TIPS for avoiding its big 2020 risk
For those following 2020 market outlooks, the past two days have been dominated by BlackRock Inc. The world’s largest money manager began unveiling its calls for the coming year added TV appearances and journalist discussions with its most senior investors and strategists around the globe. The broadest takeaway is that 2019’s “extraordinary returns†across asset classes won’t continue over the ...
Read More »FAA won’t clear 737 max fixes until 2020, agency chief says
Bloomberg US government approvals needed to return Boeing Co’s 737 Max to the skies won’t be completed until 2020, the top US aviation regulator said, dashing the company’s hopes to complete key milestones this year needed to end the aircraft’s nine-month grounding. “If you do the math, it’s going to extend into 2020,†Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Stephen Dickson told ...
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