Noble Group News

Oil tanker company Frontline has appointed Lars H. Barstad as the Chief Executive Officer of Frontline Management AS with effect from September 1, 2021.Barstad currently serves as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Frontline Management AS, having assumed that position after CEO Robert Hvide Macleod decided to step down, as reported in October 2020.Prior to becoming the interim CEO, Barstad held the role as Frontline’s Commercial Director and has previously worked as a trader with Noble Group Ltd and Glencore Ltd in London, as well as serving as Director of Imarex Pte Ltd in Singapore.Ola Lorentzon, Frontline's Chairman of the Board, says: “The Board is delighted to have appointed Lars H. Barstad, who has demonstrated his abilities serving as Interim CEO.

Australia is investigating media reports that China has stopped taking its coal shipments, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, adding that such import quotas to support China's market were "not uncommon".Trade industry reports late last week suggested that some Chinese ports had been told not to accept Australian thermal and metallurgical coal, and that Australian shipments were being sold along to other markets at the last minute.China's imports of coal had been expected to slow in the second half…

Singapore's  Noble Group Holdings Limited announced that its subsidiary Asia Rainbow International Limited has completed the sale of the vessel M/V Ocean Ruby.The sale has been completed for aggregate consideration of US$13.2 million, said the company in a stock exchange anouncement.The 93,000-dwt Ocean Ruby was built in 2010.According to the statement, the net proceeds from the disposal, after deducting broker and address commission were USD 12.87 million.The sale of Ocean Ruby is part of Noble Group’s plan to sell off its bulker fleet after it completed a USD 3.5 billion restructuring in December 2018.

Energy trader Mercuria Group has agreed to provide a $1 billion trade finance facility to Greece's Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, the marine fuel logistics and supplies company said on Thursday, sending Aegean's stock up more than 150 percent.New York-listed Aegean Marine underwent a major leadership change this year after losses prompted an activist investor revolt to sever ties with the company founder, shipping and oil tycoon Dimitris Melissanidis.Aegean announced a $200 million write-off in early June after a new chairman, Donald Moore, was appointed in May to lead a strategic review.Shares in Aegean were up 127 percent at $1.43 as of 1359 GMT, having risen as high as $1.53.Swiss-based Mercuria will initially inject at least $30 million in cash, Aegean Marine said.Aegean Marine also

The commodity trader Noble Group has entered into an agreement with Aeolian Spirit Shipping, a Cyprus company, to dispose a vessel registered in Hong Kong for a consideration of US$23.79 million. Noble said in a press annoucement that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Core Forte, had on June 15 entered into a memorandum of agreement with Aeolian Spirit Shipping and Transmed Shipping for the proposed sale of a Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier vessel. The Vessel “Ocean Forte" is registered under the flag of Hong Kong. It was built in 2015 and has a capacity of 81,616 dwt. The Vessel is employed to service external customers as well as Noble Group’s internal freight requirements. It is included in Noble Group’s Metals, Minerals and Ores segment for reporting purposes.

Singapore-listed commodity giant Noble Group (NGL)  has announced it has entered into a memorandum of agreement to sell a Kamsarmax-size dry bulk carrier to Cypriot company Ocean Liberty Marine Ltd and Transmed Shipping Ltd for US$24 million in cash. The vessel, called the Ocean Vision, is currently mortgaged to a financial institution. According to sources, part of the proceeds from the sale will go towards paying down the amount owned under the relevant facility. "The proposed disposal does not impact the proposed debt restructuring under the restructuring support agreement, as announced by the company on 14 March 2018," said a statement from Noble.

Noble Group Ltd said this week's resignation of its founder Richard Elman was due to "amicable differences" with the board and a group of senior creditors who are negotiating a debt restructuring that is crucial for its survival. The clarification, in response to a query from the Singapore bourse, comes days after Goldilocks, an Abu Dhabi Financial Group equity fund - a leading shareholder of Noble - filed a lawsuit in Singapore against the firm and some of its former and current senior executives, including Elman, alleging they inflated Noble's assets. Singapore-listed Noble said it planned to resist any and all allegations or claims made against it.

Trading in shares of Noble Group was halted on Wednesday, just days after the commodities trader said it was very close to reaching final terms with a group of senior creditors to restructure its debt. The Singapore-listed company asked for the trading halt pending the release of a statement. Embattled Noble has been negotiating a $3.4 billion debt-for-equity swap - crucial to its survival - after selling billions of dollars of assets, taking hefty writedowns and cutting hundreds of jobs over the past three years. The Hong Kong-headquartered firm, which reported a $4.9 billion loss for 2017, also said on Monday that it had opted not to pay the coupon on a $750 million bond which was due last week. Noble has a $379 million bond that matures on March 20.

Struggling commodity trader Noble Group Ltd said it would sell to Bianca Corp a Kamsarmax dry bulk carrier for $24 million in cash. The Hong Kong registered ship has a capacity of 81,499 deadweight tons. Built in 2015, the vessel, Ocean Integrity, is employed to service external customers as well as Noble Group's internal freight requirements. "The consideration for the Proposed Disposal shall be US$24 million payable on completion of the Proposed Disposal and will be satisfied in cash. The Consideration was arrived at after arm’s length negotiations between NGL and the Buyer, on a “willing buyer willing seller” basis, and taking into account, inter alia, the valuation of the Vessel and the Vessel’s specifications and age," said a statement from the company.

The commodity trader Noble Group says proposed agreements to sell four dry bulk carrier vessels fell through after the buyers failed to get approval from their boards, reports Strait Times. The disposal of the freight vessels for gross proceeds of about USD 95 million had been approved by Noble shareholders at a special general meeting on Jan 25. The crisis-wracked company estimates it would have received about USD 30mln in net proceeds if the vessels had been sold. The proposed disposal of the vessels is a part of the Noble’s debt reduction plans. According to a statement from the company, the vessels are still available for sale and the company has started discussions with interested third parties.

Crisis-wracked commodity trader Noble Group said on Friday said proposed agreements to sell four dry bulk carrier vessels have fallen through after the buyers failed to get approval from their boards for the deals by Thursday. Noble estimated it would have received net proceeds of about $30 million if the vessels had been sold, after repayment of mortgages associated with the ships and other costs. "Noble Group wishes to update that the vessels are, in the current market, profit generating and cash flow positive," it said in a statement. The vessels were still available for sale and the company has started discussions with interested third parties, it added. The proposed disposal of the vessels is a part of the company's debt reduction plans.

Hong Kong-based struggling commodity trader Noble Group will sell four dry bulk carrier vessels for about $95 million, as it looks to cut debt to keep its business running, reports Reuters. According to company statement, net proceeds from the disposal, following repayment of bank loans associated with the ships and other costs, will amount to about $30 million. Noble said the sale of the vessels was expected to close next year between March 10 and May 31 and would not significantly impact the operations of the freight business. Once Asia’s largest commodity trader, Noble Group’s decline since 2015 has been marked by losses, concern it won’t be able to pay its debt, and accusations from Iceberg it inflated the value of some contracts, said a Bloomberg report.

Commodities trader Noble Group reported a second- quarter loss of $1.75 billion on Thursday, weeks after warning it faced its steepest quarterly loss in a year and a half and would slash jobs and sell assets to cut debt. Once Asia's largest commodities trading house, Noble is slimming down drastically to its core Asian coal trading business after a crisis-wracked two years. Last month, it announced the sale of its U.S. gas and power business and began a process to sell its oil liquids unit. "Conservative liquidity management, scaling back of risk positions and constraints placed on the group's access to trade finance lines led to disruption costs and prevented the group from taking advantage of profitable opportunities," the Singapore-listed company said in a statement on Thursday.

The striggling commodities giant Noble Group has secured a 120-day extension for its USD 400 million credit facility from June 20, 2017. According to Reuters, Noble Group, has over 100 vessels on charter, confirmed that its lenders had agreed to push back a repayment deadline by four months and said it continued to be in talks with potential investors about the sale of an interest in the company or parts of its business. The company had persuaded banks to extend the $2 billion credit line, due to be rolled over by the end of this week, but it was asked to find a strategic investor, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The company was one of Asia’s biggest commodity traders before it was hit by the downturn in the sector and questions about its accounting.

Egypt's state-owned EGAS said on Friday it had postponed a liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivery from BP last month until later this year, rejecting suggestions there were any payment difficulties. LNG tanker British Sapphire was diverted to Brazil rather than discharging in Egypt. Traders said the delay was related to payment problems. "This is completely untrue," EGAS Chairman Khaled Abdel Badie told Reuters, adding that deliveries had been postponed until Egypt's peak energy consumption period in August. Egypt became a major market for LNG shippers after the launch of two floating import terminals last year. Badie said Egypt is looking to rent a third floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the first quarter on 2016.

Seven companies reportedly met with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) to discuss an  liquified natural gas (LNG) tender, including: Vitol, Noble Group, Trafigura, EDF Trading, PetroChina, Shell and Gas Natural, reports Reuters. EGAS will buy 55 LNG cargoes from November this year to December 2016 through a tender it has agreed to with those seven different companies. Originally, only 45 LNG cargoes were to be delivered. The cargoes are expected to meet much of Egypt's near-term energy needs as the government tries to cope with an energy shortage. Falling output and rising demand have turned the country from an oil and gas exporter to net importer and it has emerged as a major new market for LNG.

Brazil's Santos port authority has decided to reduce the drafts on some terminals, including the ones operated by Noble Agri, a local subsidiary of Asian commodities trader Noble Group, and Copersucar due to excess sediment, two shipping agencies said on Monday.   The reductions vary from 0.30 to 2 meters, possibly reducing ship loading capacity at the terminals, the agencies said.     (Reporting by Gustavo Bonato; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by David Gregorio)

Egypt is reportedly to issue a tender in early June to buy up to $3 billion of liquefied natural gas over 2016 and 2017, Reuters reports. The country recently secured 90 cargoes of the liquefied natural gas, majority of which came through a $2.2 billion tender. The second tender is aimed to secure supply to the second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) the country is looking to set up. The first tender was awarded to Vitol, Noble Group and Trafigura. The Egyptian Gas Holding Company’s chairman Khaled Abdel Badie said the bidding for the second FSRU will end this month. "We aim to issue a tender to issue LNG shipments during the first half of June... The tender aims to provide the needs for the new import terminal," Abdel-Badee added.

Targa Resources Partners LP is working closely with Noble Group as Asia's biggest commodity trader evaluates whether to move forward a deal to support a Targa-built condensate splitter, a new terminal or both in Texas, Targa Chief Executive Joe Bob Perkins said on Tuesday. More than a year ago Noble signed on to support a new $115 million, 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) splitter at Targa's Channelview terminal on the Houston Ship Channel. The splitter would split the super-light crude oil into various components like naphtha and distillates that Noble would buy and sell. But Noble has come under scrutiny for its accounting methods after a little-known research firm and a short seller alleged the company inflated asset values and misled investors.

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA has put on hold its plans to export diluted crude oil (DCO) in October as the company reviews production costs that have risen on imports of costly naphtha that it uses to mix with its extra heavy crude, traders told Reuters on Friday. The move comes as the company scrambles to cut costs to partially solve its well-known cash flow problems. Reuters reported on Wednesday that PDVSA is considering importing Algerian Saharan Blend light crude instead of costly naphtha that it has been buying since 2013 to use for its blends. One of several sources who was told of the halt by the company said it might also try to raise DCO prices to better offset import costs. "Sales of DCO are suspended, but PDVSA said it won't stop production of these crudes.

Deep discounts for Brazilian soybeans are creating an unexpected new market with U.S. processors and animal producers far upstream in the heart of the Midwest farm belt where the beans will be shipped on barges. While light soybean imports by U.S. users along the Gulf and East Coast are not uncommon, it has been nearly two decades since South American supplies were unloaded at the Louisiana Gulf and towed up the Mississippi River to inland processors. The current trend reverses the usual flow of barge traffic and sees ports around New Orleans which usually load ocean-going ships with beans switching to unloading arrivals onto barges.

No signs identify a barren field in northeastern Brazil that was meant to be the center of one of China's most ambitious agricultural forays into South America. In 2011, Chongqing Grain Group Corp announced plans to build a soy crushing plant, railways and a giant inland storage and transportation hub to export goods back to China. The total price tag: $2 billion. Yet today, the company has only managed to bulldoze a 100-hectare area on which the crushing plant might one day stand. Even that project is on hold, though, and shrubs are starting to grow back on the cleared terrain. The stalled plans are an example of the difficulties facing once-promising Chinese investments here.

Noble Corporation's Board of Directors has approved changing the place of incorporation of the publicly traded parent of the Noble group of companies from Switzerland to the United Kingdom. The Company's shareholders will be asked to vote to approve the proposed change. If approved by shareholders, Noble expects the change of the place of incorporation to be effective as soon as practicable following the merger of Noble Corporation, the current Swiss parent company, into a newly formed company incorporated under English law.