The UK government released $530m of its debts to Iran, ahead of Tehran’s release of two British-Iranian prisoners, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The prisoners are Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who had been detained by Iran for six years, and Anousheh Ashouri.
Continue reading...British PM hopes to persuade Gulf state to raise oil and gas production to reduce reliance on Moscow
Boris Johnson has compared Vladimir Putin to a drug dealer who managed to hook western nations on Russian supplies of oil and gas, ahead of a trip to the Middle East in an attempt to diversify the sources of Britain’s energy imports.
The UK prime minister urged European countries to “get ourselves off that addiction” and said he wanted support from “the widest possible coalition” to help offset the pressures caused by spiralling oil and gas prices.
Continue reading...Drop in price comes as Covid-19 infections rise in China, which could hit demand for energy supplies
Global oil prices have fallen back below $100 (£77) a barrel amid ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine and concerns over the rapid growth in Covid infections in China.
The price of a barrel of oil slid to $99 on energy markets on Tuesday, before rising back to just above $100 in early afternoon trading. It comes amid a decline from a 14-year high of close to $130 reached earlier this month after Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.
Continue reading...Analysis: PM will try and succeed where Biden failed but is unlikely to get a sympathetic hearing
Boris Johnson is facing criticism both domestically and in the Gulf as he tries to persuade Gulf states to boost oil production.
He is expected to visit Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates as western powers seek extra oil supplies to loosen the west’s dependence on Russian energy and slow the massive price rises caused by sanctions due to the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...MPs voice deep concerns over trip after mass execution by regime and its continuing role in Yemen war
Boris Johnson is facing scrutiny over a planned trip to Saudi Arabia to push for an increase in oil output amid an outcry over the regime’s biggest ever mass execution and growing fears the prime minister may try to limit media scrutiny of the visit.
Downing Street would not confirm Johnson’s likely trip to Riyadh, but sources have said he wants to appeal to the Gulf state to increase its oil output to replace supplies from Russia.
Continue reading...Analysis: Disputes with Biden administration mean Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are likely to drive hard bargain
Joe Biden’s hardline stance on Russia has won him widespread plaudits, but with the most serious oil shock in decades now a reality, the US president’s attempt to cushion the blowback continues to meet resistance from the two allies he needs most.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, are yet to agree to a phone call with the west’s most powerful man – a scenario all but unthinkable during previous administrations.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak is also facing intense pressure from Conservative colleagues to take action in this month’s spring statement to alleviate the cost of living crisis, which has been dramatically exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, write our political editor Heather Stewart and political correspondent Peter Walker.
Asked about the impact of sanctions on Russia for consumers at home, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told MPs on Wednesday he believed the public was “willing to endure hardships” in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The crisis is likely to have a negative impact on investment intentions of UK firms following Brexit and Covid. This is the worst timing possible, as business investment intentions were high coming into 2022. So the Government must move now to stimulate business investment to maintain UK growth, thereby demonstrating true independence from Russia.
Continue reading...Qantas chief says airlines have no choice but to increase prices and believes travel will be impacted
Travellers are facing steep air fare hikes as bans on Russian oil cause jet fuel prices to surge, Australian aviation experts warn.
Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, has said the average fare would increase by 7% as a result of the increased crude oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but others predict the price rises could be higher.
Continue reading...Japanese measures including turning down the heating and slower trains could ease pressure on British households, say experts
Britain could learn from Japan’s response to the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster by reducing energy consumption to deal with soaring global gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, academics have said.
Suggesting a coordinated response to record gas prices could help ease the pressure on households, experts told MPs on the Commons business committee that steps to reduce national demand for gas-fired power next winter could be deployed.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. Follow our live coverage of the Russian invasion here.
Stoock markets have been struggling again today with no sign of any let up in the adverse economic impact of the war.
Brent crude is on the rise again – up 2.48% to $126.26 – after see-sawing violently yesterday when it touched almost $140.
Griffiths urged all sides to ensure that civilians, homes and infrastructure in Ukraine were safeguarded.
“This includes allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis, in the direction they choose,” he said, after Ukraine rejected an earlier deal that would only allow its civilians to evacuate into Russia or Belarus.
The meeting came as Ukraine and Russia seek an agreement on creating “humanitarian corridors” out of pummelled cities, as the civilian toll from the Russian assault mounts.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
The oil price has opened higher too, with Brent crude up 2% at $125.70 per barrel.
Yesterday, Brent spiked alarmingly to $139 per barrel, a 14-year high, after the US said it was talking to its European allies about potentially banning Russian oil imports. It then slipped back, as Germany’s Olaf Scholz pushed back against the idea.
“This is the tightest fundamental backdrop in years and the developments in Russia/Ukraine have ignited a market that was already a coiled spring. How high can oil prices go? Pick a number, this is a market in disarray.
Market fundamentals are the strongest in at least 15 years… it is not unfathomable for prices to rocket to $200/bbl by summer, spur a recession and end the year closer to $50/bbl ($200 call options have been bid). To be clear, this is not our base case, but such a scenario does not sound implausible today. Two weeks ago, such a notion would have been ludicrous.”
Continue reading...Deputy prime minister raises prospect of closing Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany, and says rejecting Russian oil would be ‘catastrophic’ for world
Moscow has stoked fears of an energy war by threatening to close a major gas pipeline to Germany after the US pushed its European allies to consider banning Russian oil imports over its invasion of Ukraine.
In an address on Russian state television, Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said: “A rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market”, and claimed the price of oil could rise to more than US$300 a barrel.
Ukrainian intelligence claimed that a Russian general has died in fighting around Kharkiv, the second such officer killed in a week. It broadcast what it said was a conversation between Russian FSB officers discussing the death of Maj Gen Vitaly Gerasimov, and complaining that their secure communications no longer functioned inside Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, rallied the nation in a fresh late-night video address, saying that “heroic” resistance was making the war “like a nightmare” for Russia. Taking viewers on a tour of his quarters in Kyiv, he promised to stay in the capital until the war was won.
Several children were killed by Russian bombing in Sumy, according to the region’s military administration chief.
The humanitarian crisis continued to deepen, with 1.7 million Ukrainians thought to have fled the fighting, with the potential for the total to reach 5 million, the EU said. The UN human rights office has reported 406 confirmed civilian deaths but said the number was a vast undercount.
Zelenskiy is to address UK MPs on Tuesday via video link and is expected to plead for more arms and a no-fly zone over Ukraine to be enforced by Nato.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, claimed the prospects of the country joining the EU had greatly increased, according to Ukraine’s Unian website. The distance to EU membership had been as far away as the moon last week, but was now only from Kyiv to the city of Vinnitsa – a distance of just 262km or 162 miles, he said.
Fresh talks between Ukraine and Russia are expected, after a third round ended without agreement on the evacuation of civilians via humanitarian corridors, although a Ukrainian negotiator said small progress had been made. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, accused Vladimir Putin of “moral and political cynicism” and hypocrisy for making promises to protect civilians so they could flee only to Russia.
Continue reading...Brent crude jumped $20 to $139.13 at start of trading on Monday, with analysts predicting further increases
Oil prices have soared more than 10% and are closing in on their all-time high levels after the risk of a US and European ban on Russian crude threatened a stagflationary shock for world markets.
The global benchmark of Brent crude hit US$139.13 a barrel at the start of trading on Monday, a leap of more than $20 on Friday’s close of $118.03.
Continue reading...As reported earlier, Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, Britain’s deputy prime minister has suggested.
Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for an emergency UN summit after a Russian attack on a nuclear power station in Ukraine.
Continue reading...The drinks giant Diageo, which makes Smirnoff vodka and Guinness, has paused exports to Russia and Ukraine. A spokesperson told Reuters:
Our priority is the safety of our people in Ukraine and the wider region.
The Institute of Directors expresses its solidarity with Ukraine and its people, who are facing intolerable suffering.
Although directors owe legal duties to the companies on whose boards they serve, they should also feel a stronger moral duty to uphold the fundamental values of freedom and democracy. We believe that it is no longer tenable for British directors to be involved in governance roles in the Russian economy. Therefore, we hope that they will now question the viability of their mandates in Russian and Belarusian companies.
Continue reading...Energy and banking giants Gazprom and Sberbank plus EN+, Lukoil and Polyus among firms
The London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in 27 companies with strong links to Russia, including energy and banking giants Gazprom and Sberbank.
The LSE said it was moving to block trading in the companies, which also include EN+, Lukoil and Polyus, with immediate effect “in light of market conditions, and in order to maintain orderly markets”.
Continue reading...The coordinated decision, only the fourth in the International Energy Agency’s history, comes as Russia continues Kyiv siege
The United States and 30 countries have agreed to release 60m barrels of oil from their strategic reserves to stabilise global energy markets, the US Department of Energy said on Tuesday, as oil prices surged to a seven-year high.
The move, ahead of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to Congress, failed to calm fears about supply disruption from the Ukraine crisis and sanctions against Russia. US stock markets fell sharply even after the news.
Continue reading...European stocks are falling again, but not collapsing... The UK’s FTSE 100 index has followed the rest of Europe and is now trading 11 points, or 0.15%, lower at 7,447, giving up earlier modest gains.
Germany’s Dax has lost 1% while France’s CAC and Italy’s FTSE MiB are 0.7% and 0.9% lower respectively.
Russia exposed stocks more mixed this morning: Polymetal, JPMorgan Russian Securities and Petropavlosk all lower again, whilst Evraz and Ferrexpo rallied a bit. The rouble has come off its lows and trades around 91 to the US dollar. At the moment it looks as though the Russian central bank is doing a not terrible job of supporting the currency, but through some pretty tough measures – massive rate hike and capital controls. How long can this last? First Switzerland and now even Monaco is kicking out Russian money!
As for Russia and Ukraine....the dreadful situation gets worse as heavy shelling of built-up areas shows us what is to come. Talks yesterday didn’t get far but the two sides have agreed to try again as a massive Russian convoy starts to encircle Kyiv. Bombing of civilians will harden Western public opinion against Russia – voters are already taking a pretty hard line across Europe. Unified public opinion complicates matters for governments who might prefer to base policy solely on the advice of their military intelligence and strategic advisors. But that is the way of things.
We think there is a clear financial as well as a moral case for divestment with respect to our Russian holdings.
Morals drive finance and if you are a financial investor and you don’t think about the moral impacts of what you are doing you are both shortsighted and, dare I say it, immoral.
Continue reading...Decisive move to end tie-up with Russian state gas firm follows BP pledge to sell its 20% Rosneft stake
Shell is to exit its joint ventures with Russian state energy firm Gazprom, a day after BP said it would offload its 20% stake in Kremlin-owned oil firm Rosneft, as British businesses scrambled to distance themselves from Vladimir Putin.
The oil company said it would “exit its joint ventures with Gazprom and related entities”, which are worth about $3bn.
Continue reading...Analysis: whether tapping other suppliers or switching energy sources, there is no quick and easy option to loosen Putin’s economic grip
As Boris Johnson told parliament that Europe must wean itself off Russian gas – to loosen Vladimir Putin’s “grip on western politics” – the Nikolay Zubov tanker was making its way back from British waters to the port of Sabetta, in northern Siberia.
The 300m-long vessel had recently dropped off a consignment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Isle of Grain terminal, in the Thames Estuary, operated by the National Grid.
Continue reading...