Category Archives: Commodities

UK taxpayers funding African fossil fuel projects worth $750m

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Watchdog reveals huge sum ploughed into ‘world’s dirtiest fossil fuels’ despite climate vow

UK taxpayer funds totalling $750m (£577m) have been invested in new fossil fuel projects in developing African countries despite the government’s public commitment to tackling the climate crisis, according to an international watchdog.

Global Witness found that a London-based investment group raised $1bn from the UK government over 16 years and spent three-quarters of this supporting oil and gas projects in some of Africa’s poorest countries.

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Isabel dos Santos responds to Luanda Leaks investigation

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Former Angolan president’s daughter and her husband deny corruption accusations

Isabel dos Santos issued the following statement on Thursday after being formally named as a suspect by the Angolan attorney general in connection with a criminal inquiry into embezzlement at the state oil company Sonangol.

The allegations which have been made against me over the last few days are extremely misleading and untrue.

We will seek to clarify our position in relation to the latest accusations.

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Libya oil production nosedives as Haftar ignores calls to end war

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Increasingly erratic general shows no sign of relenting despite international pressure

Libya’s oil production and exports have almost ground to a halt as the increasingly unpredictable Gen Khalifa Haftar, the military leader in the country’s east, ignores international calls to seek a negotiated political settlement to the civil war.

World leaders had convened in Berlin on Sunday to endorse plans to entrench, monitor and enforce a ceasefire intended as a precursor to the disarming of militias and political talks in Geneva to build a reunified government, and a fair distribution of oil revenues between the east and west of the country.

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What are the Luanda Leaks?

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Leak has shown how Africa’s richest woman built her empire, but how did it happen?

Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of the former president of Angola, claims to be a self-made businesswoman, but a cache of documents investigated by the Guardian and partners appears to tell a different story.

The Luanda Leaks are a trove of 715,000 emails, charts, contracts, audits, and accounts that help explain how Dos Santos built a business empire worth an estimated $2bn.

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Why Iran crisis is unlikely to hit US consumers hard at the gas pumps

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Rumors of Middle East war used to inevitably lead to soaring gas prices but fracking revolution has changed the market landscape

For many older Americans the thought of war in the Middle East will trigger memories of soaring gas prices and long lines at the pumps. But as US relations with Iran sink to a new low there is, as yet, no sign of panic.

Related: By killing Qassem Suleimani, Trump has achieved the impossible: uniting Iran | Dina Esfandiary

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Oil prices top $70 a barrel amid fears over Suleimani retaliation

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Rise in cost of crude after US attack on Iranian general could affect petrol price

Oil prices have climbed above $70 a barrel for the first time in four months amid fears that the US air strike that killed Iran’s top military commander may trigger a retaliation.

The global oil markets have risen by more than 5% to $70.73 a barrel since the attack that killed Qassem Suleimani in Iraq last week.

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Goldman Sachs to stop financing new drilling for oil in the Arctic

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US bank becomes the first to establish a no-go zone in the oil and gas sector

Goldman Sachs has ruled out future financing of oil drilling or exploration in the Arctic and said it would not invest in new thermal coal mines anywhere in the world.

The new environmental policy, which was released by the US bank on Sunday, was praised by environmentalists, though many warned that it was only a first step.

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Saudi Aramco touches $2tn in value on second day of trading

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World’s biggest listed company briefly reaches valuation sought by Saudi ruler

Saudi Aramco has touched a market value of $2tn a day after the Saudi state-backed oil company made its stock market debut.

The shares rose almost 10% at the open on the second day of trade on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange, lifting the company’s market value briefly to $2tn, before giving up some of their gains.

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Saudi Aramco becomes most valuable listed company in history

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Investor demand pushes oil giant’s market value to $1.9tn on first day of trade in Riyadh

Saudi Aramco has secured its position as the most valuable listed company in history after investor appetite for the world’s biggest fossil fuel producer pushed its market value to $1.9tn (£1.4tn) on its first day of trade.

Shares in the Saudi state-backed oil company defied Aramco’s critics by climbing nearly $200bn above the $1.7tn valuation set before its market debut on Riyadh’s stock exchange.

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Saudi Aramco to be world’s most valuable firm after IPO next week

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Oversubscribed listing in Riyadh of 1.5% stake in state oil company will value it at $1.7tn

Saudi Aramco is poised to achieve the biggest initial public offering in history next week by raising $25.7bn for the Saudi state in its market debut.

The state-owned oil business will emerge as the world’s most valuable listed company after reportedly valuing its shares at 32 riyals ($8.53) apiece before its float on Riyadh’s stock exchange next week.

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Saudi Arabia aims to buoy oil price before Aramco stock market debut

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De facto Opec leader will push other countries to rein in oil output before Aramco’s IPO

Saudi Arabia is planning to use its position at the head of the Opec oil cartel to buoy global oil prices before the $25bn stock market debut of its state-owned oil giant.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is due to meet its oil market allies this week to agree the cartel’s oil production policy for 2020.

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Iran warns security forces may act against petrol price rise protests

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Interior minster says authorities will intervene if public properties are damaged in protests that have spread across country

Iran’s interior minister has warned that security forces will act to restore calm if those protesting against the 50% increase in petrol prices “damaged public properties”, as anti-government protests spread across Iran.

Protesters blocked traffic in major cities and clashed with police after a night of demonstrations punctuated by gunfire. At least one person has reportedly been killed.

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Trump contradicts aides and says troops in Syria ‘only for oil’

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  • President makes remarks as he hosts Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
  • Trump’s own officials say military is fighting Isis

Donald Trump has insisted that the US military presence in Syria is “only for the oil”, contradicting his own officials who have insisted that the remaining forces were there to fight Isis.

Related: Donald Trump says US military presence in Syria 'only for the oil' – live

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Bidding for ‘milestone’ sale of Aramco shares set for next week

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State-owned Saudi oil giant said it will provide the final offer price on 5 December

Bidding for shares in the world’s most profitable company will start in one week, it has been announced. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil giant, said it plans to provide the final offer price, precise number and percentage of shares on 5 December.

Its prospectus, released on Saturday night, showed profits of $68.2bn (£53.3bn) for the first six months of this financial year, but did not include any indication of the value the Saudi government hopes to achieve.

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Iran threatens ‘all-out war’ if action taken over Saudi oil strike

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Foreign minister’s comments further inflame tensions in Persian Gulf after oil attacks

Iran’s foreign minister has warned that any attack on his country after a series of missile strikes on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry would result in “all-out war”.

Javad Zarif also demanded that Riyadh hand over the evidence that it claimed proved the attack came from Iran, and not from Houthi-occupied Yemen.

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Trump says US response to oil attack depends on Saudi Arabia’s assessment

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US secretaries of state and energy both explicitly blamed Iran for the attack but Trump suggests US did not have definitive evidence

Donald Trump has said the US response to the attack on Saudi oil facilities will depend on the assessment in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and downplayed US dependence on Middle East energy supplies.

The US secretaries of state and energy both explicitly blamed Iran for the attack. Unnamed US officials were also quoted in US media outlets as saying Iranian cruise missiles were used in Saturday’s attack on an oil field and processing plant. Estimates of the number of missiles used ranged from “nearly a dozen” to “over two dozen”.

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Saudi Arabia oil attack: Trump hints at action as US points finger at Iran

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US president says he has ‘reason to believe we know the culprit’, as oil prices rise

Everything you need to know about the Saudi Arabia oil attacks

Donald Trump has said the US is “locked and loaded” and ready to respond to attacks on a petroleum processing facility in Saudi Arabia, as US officials said the evidence pointed to Iranian involvement.

The US president did not mention Iran, but wrote on Twitter that he had “reason to believe that we know the culprit” behind the series of attacks on the Abqaiq facility, which is the world’s largest petroleum processing plant. The attacks disrupted more than half of the kingdom’s oil output and will affect global supplies.

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Iran denies launching drone attacks on Saudi oil facility

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Foreign ministry counters accusations from US secretary of state with threats to US bases

Iran has dismissed US accusations that it was responsible for a series of explosive drone attacks on the world’s largest petroleum processing facility in Saudi Arabia that disrupted more than half of the kingdom’s oil output and could affect global supplies.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group claimed responsibility for launching waves of drones at state-owned Saudi Aramco facilities early on Saturday morning. But the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said there was no evidence the drones were launched in Yemen and accused Iran of “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply”.

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Drone attacks on Saudi plant could hit global oil supplies

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Explosions halve Saudi output and reduce global production by 5%

Global supplies of oil are likely to suffer a “major jolt” following Saturday’s attack by a swarm of explosive drones on the world’s biggest oil processing plant in Saudia Arabia.

Major fires engulfed the Abqaiq processing facility and the Khurais oil field after the attack, for which Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility. They said they launched 10 drones with “intelligence cooperation from people inside Saudi Arabia”, according to the rebel-run Saba news agency. The rebels’ spokesman Yahya Saree said their operations “will expand and would be more painful as long as the Saudi regime continues its aggression and blockade” on Yemen, he said.The fires are now under control at both facilities, Saudi state media said.

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Major Saudi Arabia oil facilities hit by Houthi drone strikes

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Yemen’s rebel movement says it launched strikes that sparked huge fire at processing facility

Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the world’s largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia which is vital to global energy supplies.

The attacks on the processor and a major oilfield, operated by Saudi Aramco, on early Saturday sparked a huge fire, the kingdom’s interior ministry said.

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