Richard Chang News

Venezuela's loss of a key U.S. license that allowed it to freely export and increase investment in its oil sector will hit the volume and quality of its crude and fuel sales while prompting a flurry of requests for individual U.S deal authorizations.U.S. officials had warned that absent progress by President Nicolas Maduro on implementing an electoral roadmap agreed last year, the U.S. would not renew license 44, which since October had eased oil sanctions in place for the last five years.On Wednesday…

European energy firms Equinor and BP  terminated their agreement to sell power to New York state from their proposed Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm, citing rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and supply chain issues."This agreement reflects changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale and repositions an already mature project to continue development in anticipation of new offtake opportunities," Equinor said in a statement on Wednesday, in an apparent reference…

Indian refiners have resumed Venezuelan oil purchases through intermediaries, with Reliance RELI.NS set to meet executives from state firm PDVSA next week to discuss direct sales following the easing of U.S. sanctions on the South American country, people familiar with the matter said.Trade resumed between the OPEC producer and the second largest destination for its oil after Washington in October temporarily lifted sanctions banning Venezuelan oil exports, prompting a flurry of spot sales of crude and fuel through middlemen and traders…

New York State will issue a new offshore wind solicitation on Nov. 30 with bids due in January 2024, the state government said, in a move that should support the troubled industry. European energy companies Orsted, Equinor, and BP have taken a combined $5 billion of writedowns on U.S. offshore wind projects that are not even completed, in part because their existing power sales contracts would not cover the cost of building and financing the projects. That is because soaring inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain problems have led to much higher costs than anticipated.

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ordered that a postponed federal auction of drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico be held within 37 days, a setback for environmentalists seeking expanded protections for the endangered Rice's whale.According to court papers, the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit dismissed an effort by four green groups to block an expansion of the sale ordered by a lower court judge in September.The judges said the groups lacked standing to challenge the September decision.

Canada on Friday banned cruise ships from dumping sewage and dirty water close to shore, and said it would impose fines of up to C$250,000 ($190,000) for offending vessels.A range of anti-pollution measures introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2022 will become obligatory with immediate effect, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement.Environmental groups said Ottawa had ignored the largest source of liquid pollution from cruise ships: the water used to clean exhaust gas cleaning systems…

Legal and professional services firm Ince Group Plc plans to enter administration and pursue a sale of the company, it said on April 12, amid cash concerns and repeated delays in reporting its financial results.Ince's directors applied to London's High Court on April 12 to appoint administrators under UK insolvency law in relation to the company and four subsidiaries, court filings show.Trading in Ince on London's Alternative Investment Market was suspended from Jan.

UBS Group AG will likely shrink Credit Suisse Group's $10 billion shipping portfolio that it inherited as part of its emergency takeover on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.UBS could also try to sell the portfolio, but doing so could prompt owners to move their accounts elsewhere, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.About half of the shipping portfolio involves Greek ship owners that use their deposits in the bank's wealth management arm as collateral to finance new ships, the report added."Our wealth management business in Greece is an integral part o

U.S. crude exports to Europe have hit a record 2.1 million barrels per day on average so far this month, spurred by wide discounts to the global benchmark and weaker oil demand by U.S. refineries.Record exports to Europe and China this month reflect the rise of United States in crude oil trade and solidifies its role supplying Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.A holiday freeze knocked out operations at a dozen U.S. refineries, increasing scheduled plant maintenance and reducing crude oil demand that widened U.S.

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA on Monday was loading a supertanker with crude and fuel for Cuba, maritime documents showed, an unusually large volume to help its political ally overcome an energy crisis with repeated blackouts.Several big electrical outages this year have left many in Cuba concerned about power supplies this summer, when residents crank up air conditioning to stay cool in the Caribbean heat.Cuban officials have blamed the intermittent power on difficulties processing heavy sour Cuban crude and fuel shortages on the island…

Chevron Corp on Saturday received a U.S. license allowing the second-largest U.S. oil company to expand its production in Venezuela and bring the South American country's crude oil to the United States.The decision grants broader rights for the last big U.S. oil company still operating in U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela. However, it restricts any cash payments to Venezuela, which could reduce the oil available to export.License terms are designed to prevent state-run oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela, known as PDVSA PDVSA.UL, from receiving proceeds from Chevron's petroleum sales, U.S. officials said.

Gibraltar struggled on Friday to minimize any environmental impact of a fuel leak from a bulk carrier three days after it collided with a tanker, as reports of oiled birds emerged and several beaches in Spain and the British territory flew red flags.The government of the enclave on the southern tip of Spain said all diesel fuel from tanks of the beached OS-35 had been removed.

A damaged oil pipeline component that disrupted output at several offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms was repaired late Friday, a Louisiana official said, with producers moving to reactivate some of the halted production.A failed flange connecting two onshore pipelines operated by Shell Plc in Louisiana leaked an estimated two barrels of oil. The oil, which spilled onto an area covered with gravel, has been removed, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission…

Massive clouds of steam rose from Cuba's largest fuel depot in Matanzas on Wednesday as firefighters, helicopters and boats poured water and foam on the smoldering remains of the largest fire in the island's history.Black charcoal covered with white ash remained red hot after the flames died down. One firefighter was confirmed dead, and 14 were unaccounted for since blast on Saturday, according to authorities."We can now say that the fire is controlled," Lt. Colonel Alexander Avalos, deputy chief of the firefighters tackling the blaze, told the media at the scene.

A New York state regulator on Friday fined cruise line operator Carnival Corp $5 million for "significant" cybersecurity violations, following four security breaches from 2019 to 2021 that exposed substantial amounts of sensitive customer data.New York's Department of Financial Services said Carnival violated a state cybersecurity regulation by failing to use multi-factor authentication that would make it harder for wrongdoers to access its internal network.It also said Carnival…

The San Francisco Bay will soon have a new fossil fuel-free ferry floating in its waters, propelled completely by hydrogen fuel cells, and officials hope it heralds change on the high seas.Aptly named Sea Change, the 70-foot (21-meter), 75-passenger ferry will service multiple stops along San Francisco's waterfront. It was built at All American Marine shipyard in Bellingham, Washington, and was undergoing tests with the U.S. Coast Guard in nearby Puget Sound."We're here in the water…

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest U.S. privately owned deepwater crude terminal, said on Friday it made no deliveries of sour crude from storage last month, following two storms that hit the U.S. Gulf Coast.The facility closed on August 28 ahead of Hurricane Ida, which damaged production and processing facilities in the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing the suspension of millions of barrels of crude and gas output. A second storm, Nicholas, also caused brief interruptions for vessel navigation.The weather events particularly hit output of the Gulf's Mars sour crude…

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted unanimously to confirm veteran government trade lawyer Katherine Tai as the first woman of color to serve as U.S. Trade Representative, putting her to work enforcing trade deals, confronting China’s trade practices and patching up ties with U.S. allies.The rare 98-0 vote for Tai, a Yale and Harvard-educated daughter of immigrants from Taiwan, reflects support from pro-labor Democrats, traditional free-trade Republicans and China hawks from both parties.Tai…

Union workers at Brazil's Santos port on Tuesday delayed a possible strike until next month, amid demands to know how soon they will be vaccinated against COVID-19, a union official said.Santos is South America's largest port and critical to Brazil's commodities exports.Union workers held a meeting on Tuesday to decide on whether to go on strike, with initial plans for a work stoppage this week.Bruno José dos Santos, president of the Sindestiva union representing port workers, told Reuters after the meeting that they would put off a decision on a possible strike and reevaluate if they were not

U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Delfin LNG said it plans to make a final investment decision (FID) to go forward with its Gulf of Mexico floating LNG export project off Louisiana in 2022."This is the best macro-environment that the LNG business has ever seen," Delfin Chief Executive Dudley Poston told Reuters this week, noting he was "very confident" the company would make FID this year.Delfin is one of a dozen or so North American LNG export projects that delayed decisions…

New Zealand said on Wednesday it will stop the export of livestock by sea following a transition period of up to two years, citing animal welfare concerns for a decision that will affect major trading partners including Australia and China.The ban was welcomed by animal welfare groups, but the peak farming industry body said it was caught by surprise and was unaware of any breaches of standards.Live exports by sea represent about 0.2% of New Zealand’s primary sector exports revenue since 2015 has averaged around NZ$60 million ($42.32 million) per year from 2015 to 2019. New Zealand exported 113,285 cattle by sea last year.“We have not been able to guarantee the safety of these animals at sea and that’s an unacceptable risk for New Zealand…

The historically high pressures on global supply chain networks that have contributed to shortages of key goods and materials and a surge in inflation may have peaked, according to a new index released by the New York Federal Reserve on Tuesday.The Global Supply Chain Pressure Index (GSCPI) surged early in the pandemic when China imposed lockdown measures. Pressures eased as production resumed but picked back up during the winter of 2020 as COVID-19 infections jumped."More recently…

Barge freight costs for moving grains in the Midwestern United States spiked on Thursday due to ongoing logistical problems more than two weeks after Hurricane Ida, while CHS Inc said the timeline to reopen its terminal remains uncertain.CHS Inc, a farmer cooperative and grain trader, said it expected its Myrtle Grove, Louisiana, grain export terminal to be operational by the height of the U.S. corn and soy harvest but could not be more specific.The terminal, which unloads grain barges and loads ocean-going vessels for export…