ReportWire

Tag: Energy industry

  • Stocks end lower as the Fed continues to fight inflation

    Stocks end lower as the Fed continues to fight inflation

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK — Stocks racked up more losses on Wall Street and Treasury yields again rose to multiyear highs Thursday as investors looked ahead to a closely watched job market report from the government that could influence the Federal Reserve’s next move in its fight to bring down inflation.

    Technology stocks led the market pullback, which came a day after the central bank raised its benchmark rate for the sixth time this year and signaled that it may need to keep hiking rates for some time before its can successfully squash the highest inflation in decades.

    The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed 1.7% lower. The declines extended the major indexes’ losing streak to a fourth day. They’re each on pace for a weekly loss.

    Expectations of higher rates helped push up Treasury yields, weighing on stocks. The two-year Treasury note, which tends to track expectations for future Fed moves, rose to 4.72% from 4.61% late Wednesday and is now at its highest level since 2007, according to Tradeweb.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.15% from 4.09% late Wednesday. The rise in the 10-year Treasury yield has prompted mortgage rates to more than double this year and it continues putting pressure on stocks.

    The Fed on Wednesday added another jumbo rate increase and suggested that the pace of rate hikes may slow. The central bank also indicated that interest rates might need to ultimately go even higher than previously thought in order to tame the worst inflation in decades.

    The central bank’s latest three-quarters of a percentage point raise brings short-term interest rates to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its highest level in 15 years. Wall Street is evenly split on whether the central bank ultimately raises rates to a range of 5% to 5.25% or 5.25% to 5.50% next year.

    Higher rates not only slow the economy by discouraging borrowing, they also make stocks look less appealing compared to lower-risk assets like bonds and CDs.

    Stubbornly hot inflation has been prompting central banks around the world to also raise interest rates. On Thursday, the Bank of England announced its biggest interest rate increase in three decades. The increase is the Bank of England’s eighth in a row and the biggest since 1992.

    European and Asian markets closed mostly lower.

    In the U.S., the S&P 500 fell 39.80 points to 3,719.89. The Dow lost 146.51 points to close at 32,001.25. The Nasdaq slid 181.86 points to 10,342.94. Smaller company stocks also lost ground. The Russell 2000 fell 9.41 points, or 0.5%, to 1,779.73.

    Technology and communication services stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Apple fell 4.2% and Warner Bros. Discovery slid 5.6%.

    Those losses kept gains in industrial, energy and other sectors in check. Boeing jumped 6.3% and Marathon Petroleum rose 3%.

    Investors had been hoping for economic data signaling that the Fed might ease up on rate increases. The fear is that the Fed will go too far in slowing the economy and bring on a recession.

    Hotter-than-expected data from the employment sector this week has so far signaled that the Fed has to remain aggressive. On Friday, Wall Street will get a broader update from the U.S. government’s October jobs report.

    So far, hiring and wage growth have not fallen fast enough for the Fed to slow its inflation-fighting efforts. If the October data shows a stronger-than-expected rise in hiring or wages, that could put pressure on the Fed to keep raising interest rates.

    The Labor Department is expected to report that nonfarm employers added 200,000 jobs last month. That would be the worst showing since December 2020, when the economy lost 115,000 jobs.

    Investors will also be looking ahead to the latest data on inflation at the consumer level. That report, the consumer price index, is due out next week.

    “The next two or three quarters are incredibly important in assessing how far the Federal Reserve will need to go to achieve their objective of bringing down inflation,” said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “Why the CPI data is so important, why the labor report is so important, is because they feed into that next six-month cycle.”

    Wall Street has also been closely watching the latest company earnings reports. The reports have been mixed and many companies have warned that inflation will likely continue pressuring operations.

    Booking Holdings rose 2.7% after reporting strong third-quarter financial results. Robinhood Markets climbed 8.2% after the investing app operator reported third-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s forecasts. Chipmaker Qualcomm fell 7.7% after giving investors a weak profit and revenue forecast.

    ——

    Joe McDonald and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years

    Bank of England makes biggest interest rate hike in 30 years

    [ad_1]

    LONDON — The Bank of England made its biggest interest rate increase in three decades Thursday, joining the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks worldwide in rapid hikes as it tries to beat back stubbornly high inflation fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the disastrous economic policies of former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

    The central bank boosted its key rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, to 3%, after consumer price inflation returned to a 40-year high in September. The aggressive move comes even as the bank predicted a two-year economic contraction through June 2024, which would be the longest recession since at least 1955, according to the Office for National Statistics.

    “If we don’t take action to bring inflation down, it gets worse,” Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey told reporters. “There’s no easy outcome in this sense.”

    Even so, the central bank should not increase its key rate too far, he said, but with uncertainties ahead, policymakers will “respond forcefully” if needed.

    The interest rate decision is the first since Truss’ government announced 45 billion pounds ($52 billion) of unfunded tax cuts that sparked turmoil on financial markets, pushed up mortgage costs and forced Truss from office after just six weeks. Her successor, Rishi Sunak, has warned of spending cuts and tax increases as he seeks to undo the damage and show that Britain is committed to paying its bills.

    “High energy, food and other bills are hitting people hard. Households have less to spend on other things. This has meant that the size of the UK economy has started to fall,” the bank said in its November monetary policy report.

    The rate increase is the Bank of England’s eighth in a row and the biggest since 1992. It comes after the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced a fourth consecutive three-quarter point jump as central banks worldwide combat inflation that is eroding living standards and slowing economic growth.

    Central banks have struggled to contain inflation after initially believing that price increases were being fueled by international factors beyond their control. Their response intensified in recent months as it became clear that inflation was becoming embedded in the economy, feeding through into higher borrowing costs and demands for higher wages.

    The war in Ukraine boosted food and energy prices worldwide as shipments of natural gas, grain and cooking oil were disrupted. That added to inflation that began to accelerate last year when the global economy began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Europe has been particularly hard hit by a jump in natural gas prices as Russia responded to Western sanctions and support for Ukraine by curtailing shipments of the fuel used to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry and European nations competed for alternative supplies on global markets.

    The U.K. also has struggled as wholesale gas prices increased fivefold in the 12 months through August. While prices have dropped more than 50% since the August peak, they are likely to rise again during the winter heating season, worsening inflation.

    The British government sought to shield consumers with a cap on energy prices. But after the turmoil caused by Truss’ economic policies, Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt limited the price cap to six months instead of two years, ending on March 31.

    Meanwhile, food prices have jumped 14.6% in the year through September, led by the soaring cost of staples such as meat, bread, milk and eggs, the Office for National Statistics said. That pushed consumer price inflation back to 10.1%, the highest since early 1982 and equal to the level last reached in July.

    Increases in the cost of tea bags, milk and sugar mean that even the “humble” cup of tea, which people across the country turn to when they need a break from the pressures of daily life, is getting more expensive, the British Retail Consortium said Wednesday.

    “While some supply chain costs are beginning to fall, this is more than offset by the cost of energy, meaning a difficult time ahead for retailers and households alike,” said Helen Dickinson, the consortium’s chief executive.

    Truss’ failed economic plan made things worse, driving the pound to a record low against the dollar, threatening the stability of some pension funds and triggering predictions that the Bank of England would boost interest rates higher than expected. That increased mortgage costs as lenders repriced their products.

    The economic turmoil is putting homeownership further out of reach for many young people, according to research released this week by Hamptons, a U.K. real estate agency.

    Mortgage rates average around 6.5%, compared with 2% a year ago.

    That means the average first-time homebuyer would have to make a down payment equal to 41% of the purchase price to keep their monthly repayments at the same level as a similar buyer who made a 10% down payment last year, Hamptons said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden spending $4.5 billion to help lower home heating costs

    Biden spending $4.5 billion to help lower home heating costs

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Wednesday it is making $4.5 billion available through a low-income home energy assistance program to help with heating costs heading into what is expected to be a brutal winter.

    Spending for the program is significantly higher than the typical annual funding of about $3.5 billion, but far below the $8 billion the administration and congressional Democrats delivered last winter as part of President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package.

    The money spent last year was by far the largest appropriation in a single year since the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program was established in 1981.

    The money will be provided to state, local and tribal governments to help more than 5 million families pay heating and utility bill costs, and can also be used to make home energy repairs.

    “One of the best ways a family can reduce their energy bill is to make their home more energy efficient,” Vice President Kamala Harris told a crowd at a union hall in Boston.

    “But here’s the challenge for many homeowners — many folks who are here today — you know that energy efficiency upgrades are expensive,” she said. “And even though we know it can save you thousands of dollars in the long run, the upfront cost is often too high for so many families to be able to afford.”

    By helping families improve energy efficiency, “we are also lowering energy bills, bringing down household costs, creating jobs and fighting the climate crisis,” Harris said.

    In New England, one of the major utilities has already announced a 60% price hike for electricity this winter. Utilities are also seeking price hikes for natural gas and home heating oil, citing the war in Ukraine and inflation. The top executive of Eversource Energy, New England’s largest energy provider, warned Biden last week that the region may not have enough power if a severe cold spell hits this winter.

    “This represents a serious public health and safety threat,” Eversource CEO Joseph Nolan told Biden, urging the president to use emergency powers to ensure adequate fuel resources in the region.

    The announcement of heating assistance comes in the waning days before Tuesday’s elections that will determine which party controls Congress. Democrats are trying to contrast their efforts to help middle and low-income people through the $1 trillion infrastructure law and other legislative measures with Republican suggestions they would use the debt limit as leverage for cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits and other federal programs.

    “As heating costs increase, it is more important than ever to help families struggling to make ends meet,″ said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

    Across the country, families are looking to the winter with dread as energy costs soar and fuel supplies tighten. The LIHEAP program served more than 5.3 million households last year, and a similar number are expected to participate this year.

    The Energy Department is projecting sharp price increases for home heating compared with last winter. Some worry that heating assistance programs will not be able to make up the difference for struggling families. The situation is even bleaker in Europe, where supply constraints caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are pushing natural gas prices upward and causing painful shortages.

    In a related announcement, the Energy Department said Wednesday it will begin allocating $9 billion approved under the new climate and health law for a program aimed at supporting energy upgrades to 1.6 million households over the next 10 years. Officials expect to make funding available starting next year to states and tribes to better protect homes against the weather and install some 500,000 new heat pumps.

    The White House also said it is spending $250 million from the Defense Production Act to boost domestic production of heat pumps, which are primarily made in Europe and Asia.

    ———

    Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Boston and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Leaders meet in Algeria for final day of Arab League summit

    Leaders meet in Algeria for final day of Arab League summit

    [ad_1]

    ALGIERS, Algeria — Arab leaders convened on Wednesday in Algeria for the second day of the 31st summit of the largest annual Arab conference, seeking common ground on several divisive issues in the region. The meeting comes against the backdrop of rising inflation, food and energy shortages, drought and soaring cost of living across the Middle East and Africa.

    The kings, emirs, presidents and prime ministers are discussing thorny issues such as the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and four Arab countries as former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies appears to be heading to an election victory.

    The summit’s discussions are also focused on the food and energy crises aggravated by Russia’s war in Ukraine that has had devastating consequences for Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia, among other Arab countries, struggling to import enough wheat and fuel to satisfy their populations.

    Deepening the crisis is the worst drought in several decades that has ravaged swaths of Somalia, one of the Arab League’s newer members, bringing some areas of the country to the brink of famine.

    Russia’s reinforcement of its blockade on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Sunday threatens to further escalate the crisis, with many Arab countries near solely dependent on Ukrainian and Russian wheat exports and fertilizers.

    The event provides an opportunity for Algeria — Africa’s largest country by territory — to showcase its leadership in the Arab world. Algeria is a major oil and gas producer and is perceived by European nations as a key supplier amid the global energy crisis that stems from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    Algeria, along with other Arab countries, remains fiercely opposed to the series of normalization agreements the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco signed with Israel over the past three years have divided the region into two camps. Sudan has also agreed to establish ties with Israel.

    Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune vowed in his opening speech Tuesday to put forth considerable efforts at the summit to try to reaffirm support for the Palestinians in their conflict with Israel as the Arab and international communities’ attention shifts to other conflicts and crises.

    “Our main and first cause, the mother of all causes, the Palestinian issue, will be at the heart of our concerns and our main priority,” Tebboune said. He blasted Israel for its “continued occupation” of Palestinian territories and “expanding its illegal settlements.”

    Last month, Algeria hosted talks in a bid to end the Palestinian political divide and reconcile the Fatah party, whose Palestinian Authority rules parts of the occupied West Bank, and the militant Hamas group, which has control of the Gaza Strip.

    The Arab summit comes at the time of heightened tensions in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has conducted nightly arrest raids in searches for Palestinian militants. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in recent months, including armed gunmen, stone-throwing teenagers and people uninvolved in violence.

    The 22-member Arab League last held its summit in 2019, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. A final declaration from the gathering in Algeria’s capital, Algiers, is expected later on Wednesday.

    ——-

    Surk reported from Nice, France.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Oil giant Saudi Aramco has $42.4B profit in third quarter

    Oil giant Saudi Aramco has $42.4B profit in third quarter

    [ad_1]

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Oil giant Saudi Aramco on Tuesday reported a $42.4 billion profit in the third quarter of this year, buoyed by the higher global energy prices that have filled the kingdom’s coffers but helped fuel inflation worldwide.

    The oil firm’s profits will help fund the kingdom’s assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans for a futuristic city on the Red Sea coast, but also comes as the U.S. grows increasingly frustrated by higher prices at the pump chewing into American consumer’s wallets.

    Those tensions yet again have chilled relations between Riyadh and Washington before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

    In a note to investors, the predominantly state-owned oil company said its average barrel of crude sold for $101.70 in the third quarter — up from $72.80 at the same point last year. It’s Aramco’s second-largest quarterly profit in its history, just before its second-quarter results this year saw a profit of $48.4 billion.

    It put its profits so far in 2022 at $130.3 billion, compared to $77.6 billion in 2021.

    “While global crude oil prices during this period were affected by continued economic uncertainty, our long-term view is that oil demand will continue to grow for the rest of the decade given the world’s need for more affordable and reliable energy,” Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser said in a statement.

    Aramco will keep its dividend this quarter at $18.8 billion, the world’s highest.

    Benchmark Brent crude traded just shy of $95 a barrel Tuesday. The sliver of Aramco that the kingdom has put on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock market stood at $9.29 a share before trading Tuesday — putting its valuation at just over $2 trillion. Only Apple’s valuation, at $2.44 trillion, is higher.

    OPEC and a loose confederation of other countries led by Russia agreed in early October to cut its production by 2 million barrels of oil a day, beginning in November.

    OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, has insisted its decision came from concerns about the global economy. Analysts in the U.S. and Europe warn a recession looms in the West from inflation and subsequent interest rate hikes, as well as food and oil supplies being affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

    In Washington, anger has grown with Saudi Arabia, particularly from President Joe Biden, who traveled to the kingdom in July and shared a fist bump with Crown Prince Mohammed. Biden recently warned the kingdom that “there’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done.”

    Saudi Arabia lashed back, publicly claiming the Biden administration sought a one-month delay in the OPEC cuts that could have helped reduce the risk of a spike in gas prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

    Biden on Monday separately accused oil companies of “war profiteering” as he raised the possibility of imposing a windfall tax on American energy companies if they don’t boost domestic production.

    ———

    Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Russia says it will suspend UN-brokered Ukraine export deal

    Russia says it will suspend UN-brokered Ukraine export deal

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine — Russia announced Saturday that it will move to suspend its implementation of a U.N.-brokered grain deal that has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and has brought down soaring global food prices.

    The Russian Defense Ministry cited an alleged Ukrainian drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moored off the coast of occupied Crimea, which Russia says took place early Saturday, as the reason for the move. Ukraine has denied the attack, saying that the Russians mishandled their own weapons.

    The Russian declaration came one day after U.N. chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the grain export deal. Guterres also urged other countries, mainly in the West, to expedite the removal of obstacles blocking Russian grain and fertilizer exports.

    The U.N. chief said the grain deal — brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July and which expires on Nov. 19 — helps “to cushion the suffering that this global cost-of-living crisis is inflicting on billions of people,” his spokesman said.

    A Guterres spokesman said U.N. officials were in touch with Russian authorities over the announced suspension.

    “It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is a critical humanitarian effort that is clearly having a positive impact on access to food for millions of people,” said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday accused British specialists of being involved in the alleged attack by drones on Russian ships in Crimea.

    “In connection with the actions of Ukrainian armed forces, led by British specialists, directed, among other things, against Russian ships that ensure the functioning of the humanitarian corridor in question (which cannot be qualified otherwise than as a terrorist attack), the Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships participating in the Black Sea initiative, and suspends its implementation from today for an indefinite period,” the Russian statement said.

    Britain’s Defense Ministry had no immediate comment.

    Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, accused Russia of playing “hunger games” by imperiling global food shipments.

    “We warned about Russia’s plans to destroy the (grain agreement). Now, under false pretenses, Moscow is blocking the grain corridor that ensures food security for millions of people,” he tweeted Saturday.

    The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, denounced the suspension as “primitive blackmail.”

    Turkish officials said they haven’t received any official notice of the deal’s suspension.

    Russia’s agriculture minister said Moscow stands ready to “fully replace Ukrainian grain and deliver supplies at affordable prices to all interested countries.” In remarks carried by the state Rossiya 24 TV channel, Dmitry Patrushev said Moscow was prepared to “supply up to 500,000 tons of grain to the poorest countries free of charge in the next four months,” with the help of Turkey.

    Patrushev also reiterated the Kremlin’s earlier allegations that a disproportionate volume of grain exported from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports was bound for European destinations.

    Earlier Saturday, Ukraine and Russia offered differing versions on the Crimea drone attack in which at least one Russian ship suffered damage in the port on the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said a minesweeper had “minor damage” during an alleged pre-dawn Ukrainian attack on navy and civilian vessels docked in Sevastopol, which hosts the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The ministry claimed Russian forces had “repelled” 16 attacking drones.

    The governor of the Sevastopol region, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said the port saw “probably the most massive attack” by air and sea drones. He provided no evidence, saying all video from the area would be held back for security reasons.

    But an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry claimed that “careless handling of explosives” had caused blasts on four warships in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Telegram that the vessels included a frigate, a landing ship and a ship that carried cruise missiles used in a deadly July attack on a western Ukrainian city.

    In other developments on Saturday, Russian troops moved large numbers of sick and wounded comrades from hospitals in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region and stripped the facilities of medical equipment, Ukrainian officials said as their forces fought to retake the province.

    Kremlin-installed authorities in the mostly Russian-occupied region had previously urged civilians to leave the city of Kherson, the region’s capital — and reportedly joined the tens of thousands who fled to other Russia-held areas.

    “The so-called evacuation of invaders from the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region, including from medical institutions, continues,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians were “dismantling the entire health care system” in Kherson and other occupied areas.

    “The occupiers have decided to close medical institutions in the cities, take away equipment, ambulances. just everything,” Zelenskyy said.

    Kherson is one of four regions in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and where he subsequently declared martial law. The others are Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

    As Kyiv’s forces sought gains in the south, Russia kept up its shelling and missile attacks in the country’s east, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday. Three more civilians died and eight more were wounded in the Donetsk region, which has again become a front-line hotspot as Russian soldiers try to capture the city of Bakhmut, an important target in Russia’s stalled eastern offensive.

    Russian shelling also an industrial building in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region. Around a quarter of the region — including its capital, also called Zaporizhzhia — remains under Ukrainian military control.

    In the latest prisoner exchange, 52 Ukrainians, including two former defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, were released Saturday as part of a swap with Russia, according to Yermak. The steelworks in that bombed-out port city now symbolize Ukrainian resistance.

    Also released, he said, was a sailor who defended Ukraine’s Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost seized by Russia in the opening hours of the war. Others coming home were Ukrainian soldiers captured by Moscow near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant — the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986 — which Russian forces briefly occupied from February to March.

    ———

    This version has been corrected to show the Russian Defense Ministry said one ship, not two, was slightly damaged in Crimea port.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

    Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

    [ad_1]

    WARSAW, Poland — Poland has chosen the U.S. government and Westinghouse to build the central European country’s first nuclear power plant, part of an effort to burn less coal and gain greater energy independence.

    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said late Friday on Twitter that Poland would use the “reliable, safe technology” of the Westinghouse Electric Company for the plant in Pomerania province near the Baltic Sea coast. The exact location remains to be identified.

    A strong Poland-U.S. alliance “guarantees the success of our joint initiatives,” Morawiecki said.

    Poland is planning to spend $40 billion to build two nuclear power plants with three reactors each, the last one to be launched in 2043. The deal with the U.S. and Westinghouse is for the first three reactors of the Pomerania plant, which officials saying should start producing electricity in 2033.

    Poland has planned for decades to build a nuclear power plant to replace its aging coal-fired plants in a country with some of the worst air pollution in Europe. Construction of a Soviet-technology nuclear plant began in the early 1980s, when Poland was in the East Bloc.

    Protests by residents and environmentalists, the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine and budget shortages led to the scrapping of the project.

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year and its use of energy to put economic and political pressure on European nations have added urgency to Poland’s search for alternative energy sources.

    Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Saturday that the government would adopt a decision at its meeting Wednesday, which will launch environmental approval and investment procedures.

    Mueller said the nuclear plant in northern Poland would require improving infrastructure in the area, including roads.

    U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the project would create or sustain more than 100,000 jobs for American workers.

    “This is a HUGE step in strengthening our relationship with Poland to create energy security for future generations to come,” Granholm said.

    “This announcement also sends a clear message to Russia: We will not let them weaponize energy any longer,” Granholm said. “The West will stand together against this unprovoked aggression, while also diversifying energy supply chains and bolstering climate cooperation.”

    Poland had also considered offers from France and South Korea. Poland State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin suggested there could still be a role for South Korea in the project and more talks are scheduled in Seoul next week.

    Westinghouse has sued in federal court to block a potential deal for competitor Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to sell reactors to Poland.

    The United States is one of the most important allies of NATO-member Poland. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the U.S. increased its military presence in the country, creating a permanent presence for the first time, and using Poland as a hub for sending weapons to Ukraine.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

    Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

    [ad_1]

    WARSAW, Poland — Poland says it has chosen the U.S. government and Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant, announcing an important step in its efforts to burn less coal and gain greater energy independence.

    Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said late Friday that Poland’s nuclear energy project will use the “reliable, safe technology” of Westinghouse Electric Company, saying a strong Poland-U.S. alliance “guarantees the success of our joint initiatives.”

    Poland has been planning for many years to build a nuclear power plant to gain greater energy independence and replace aging coal plants in a country with some of the worst levels of air pollution in Europe.

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its use of energy as a tool amid a larger standoff with the West, has added greater importance to Poland’s search for energy alternatives.

    U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the $40 billion project would create or sustain more than 100,000 jobs for American workers.

    “This is a HUGE step in strengthening our relationship with Poland to create energy security for future generations to come. We are excited to continue this partnership to drive forward a clean energy transition with our counterparts in Europe,” Granholm tweeted.

    “This announcement also sends a clear message to Russia: We will not let them weaponize energy any longer,” Granholm said. “The West will stand together against this unprovoked aggression, while also diversifying energy supply chains and bolstering climate cooperation.”

    The deal is for the first three reactors of a nuclear power plant that is to be built in northern Poland, with officials saying it should start producing electricity in 2033. Poland had also considered offers from France and South Korea.

    The United States is one of the most important allies of NATO-member Poland. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February it increased its military presence in the country, creating a permanent presence for the first time, and using Poland as a hub for sending weapons to Ukraine.

    State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin suggested there could still be a role for South Korea in the project, saying that “this is not our last word” and that more talks are being held in Seoul next week concerning the large nuclear energy project.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Blackouts worsen in Ukraine; fighting rages on many fronts

    Blackouts worsen in Ukraine; fighting rages on many fronts

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine — Relentless Russian attacks on energy infrastructure prompted Ukrainian authorities on Friday to announce worsening blackouts around the country’s largest cities, with Kyiv’s mayor warning that the capital’s power grid is working in “emergency mode” with energy supplies down as much as 50% from pre-war levels.

    Meanwhile, the Russian president sought to dispel criticism of a chaotic call-up of 300,000 reservists for service in Ukraine by ordering his defense minister to make sure they’re properly trained and equipped for battle.

    In the Kyiv region, as winter looms, the latest damage to utilities would mean outages of four or more hours a day, according to Ukrenergo, the state operator of Ukraine’s high-voltage transmission lines.

    But Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba warned “more severe and longer shutdowns will be applied in the coming days.”

    Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city’s power grid was operating in “emergency mode” and added he hoped Ukrenergo would find ways to address the shortage “in two to three weeks.”

    The former boxing world champion also said new air defense equipment has been deployed in the Ukrainian capital to help defend against Russian drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.

    In the Kharkiv region, home to Ukraine’s second-largest city of the same name, Gov. Oleg Syniehubov said daily one-hour power outages would begin Monday.

    Officials across the country have urged people to conserve by reducing electricity consumption during peak hours and avoiding the use of high-voltage appliances.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that 30% of Ukraine’s power stations had been destroyed since Russia launched the first wave of targeted infrastructure strikes on Oct. 10.

    In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that the thousands of reservists who were recently called up need the right training and equipment so “people feel confident when they need to go to combat.”

    Shoigu told Putin that 82,000 reservists had been deployed to Ukraine, while 218,000 others were still being trained. He said there were no immediate plans to round up more, but Putin’s mobilization order left the door open for a future military call-up.

    Putin’s effort to beef up the number of troops along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line followed recent setbacks, including a Russian withdrawal from the Kkarkiv region. The mobilization, however, fueled scores of protests in Russia and prompted hundreds of thousands of men to flee the country.

    Activists and reports by Russian media and The Associated Press said many of the draftees were inexperienced, were told to procure basic items such as medical kits and flak jackets themselves, and did not receive training before they were sent to fight. Some were killed within days of being called up.

    Shoigu acknowledged that “problems with supplies existed in the initial stages,” but told Putin those have now been solved.

    Putin ordered Shoigu to propose ways to reform the ground troops and other parts of the military based on their performance in Ukraine.

    Meanwhile, Russian missile and artillery barrages pounded targets across Ukraine. Several towns across the Dnieper River from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant were struck, the presidential office said. Shelling damaged dozens of residential buildings in Nikopol, and power was cut there and to thousands of families in neighboring towns.

    A Russian S-300 air defense missile destroyed a three-story office building and damaged a new residential building nearby, said Mykolaiv regional governor Vitalii Kim. Russian forces have frequently used converted S-300 missiles to strike ground targets in Ukraine.

    Moscow also pressed its ground advance on the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiikva after a string of setbacks in the east. The fighting had turned the entire Donetsk region into “a zone of active hostilities,” according to Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.

    “Civilians who remain in the region live in constant fear without heating and electricity,” Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. “Their enemy is not only Russian cannons but also the cold.”

    A Russian takeover of Bakhmut, which has remained in Ukrainian hands throughout the war, would open the way for the Kremlin to push on to other Ukrainian strongholds in the heavily contested Donetsk region. A reinvigorated eastern offensive could also potentially stall or derail Ukraine’s push to recapture the southern city of Kherson, a gateway to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

    Last month, Putin also illegally annexed annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Much of the fighting since then has appeared geared toward consolidating Moscow’s control over that territory, which Putin has put under martial law.

    Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai reported Friday that Russian soldiers had retreated from some areas; Moscow had claimed Luhansk’s complete capture in July.

    “The Russians practically destroyed some villages after they started to retreat,” Haidai said. “There are a lot of freshly mobilized Russians in the Luhansk region, but they are dying in droves.” His claim could not be independently verified.

    In the Zaporizhzhia region, Kremlin-appointed officials urged residents not to switch to daylight savings time along with Kyiv and the rest of the country. Russia switched to permanent winter time in 2014.

    “We live in the Russian Federation, and our city lives by Moscow time,” said Alexander Volga, the Russian-installed mayor of Enerhodar, where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located.

    Meanwhile, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency planned to visit two locations where Russia alleged, without citing evidence, that Ukraine was building radioactive “dirty bombs.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said inspectors are being dispatched after a written request from the Ukrainian government.

    Moscow has repeatedly made the unfounded claim that Ukraine is preparing to detonate a device that spreads radioactive waste on its own territory while trying to blame Russia. Western officials have dismissed the claim as misinformation possibly designed as a pretext for Russia’s own military escalation.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Crisis-stricken Cuba torn between ally Russia, neighbor U.S.

    Crisis-stricken Cuba torn between ally Russia, neighbor U.S.

    [ad_1]

    HAVANA — When Hurricane Ian tore through western Cuba in late September, causing an island-wide blackout, it left the government grappling with a deepening energy crisis and simmering discontent among Cubans.

    It also once again thrust the Caribbean island into the middle of an escalating tug-of-war between its seaside neighbor, the United States, and ally, Russia.

    At a time when Cuba is urging the Biden administration to ease U.S. sanctions that it says stifle hurricane recovery efforts, Russian oil has flooded into the island, providing relief to debilitating blackouts.

    Russia has shipped an estimated $352 million in oil to Cuba since the start of the Ukraine war, the biggest inflow from Russia this century and enough to cover about half the shortfall in the island’s supplies, according to independent estimates. The sales also potentially alleviated the weight of international sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

    In an increasingly complex geopolitical situation, the island nation has been left with its hands tied.

    “(It leaves them) between a rock and a hard place,” said Richard LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has tracked Cuba for years. “Cuba can’t afford to alienate either side in what is shaping up to be a new Cold War.”

    But this time, 60 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba’s tough spot lies not in nuclear weapons, but rather its deepening energy crisis.

    Cuba has depended on foreign oil as its primary energy source for decades.

    Until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviets sold Cuba oil well below market price. Later, Cuba hatched a similar deal with socialist ally Venezuela at the height of its oil boom, sending Cuban medics in exchange for discounted petroleum.

    Since Venezuela has fallen into its own crisis, though, Cuba has been left short on both oil and a way to pay for it.

    Despite speculation that Venezuela may be fronting part of the costs, Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Cossío told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that “Cuba, of course, pays for the petroleum.”

    “Cuba has to buy petroleum for the well-being of the economy, and it’s willing to buy it from whoever sells it to us,” Cossío said.

    Meanwhile, key power plants slowly decayed over years of deferred maintenance. The Cuban government struggled to bolster its own energy sector and harness the island’s potential for solar and wind energy.

    The lack of investment is something the Caribbean nation blames on American sanctions meant to cripple the nation’s economy.

    “The blockade deprives Cuba of indispensable financial resources,” Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez said at a recent news conference. “The national electric energy system is passing through an extremely grave situation that’s the result of these limitations.”

    The American embargo stretches back to the Cold War, though Cuba had a brief respite during the Obama administration. Restrictions came back into full force under the Trump administration, exacerbating economic turmoil caused by COVID-19.

    While President Joe Biden has eased certain sanctions, many of the measures have stayed in place. Rodríguez says that they have cost Cuba $3 billion in seven months.

    American officials and critics blame Cuba’s economic woes on mismanagement and failures to bolster its private sector.

    Preexisting economic turmoil and blackouts came to a head this fall when Cuba’s power grid took a double hit.

    In August, a crucial oil storage facility east of Havana caught fire, and in late September, Hurricane Ian tore through western Cuba, throwing the entire island into a blackout.

    The Category 3 hurricane left three dead, at least 14,000 homes destroyed and the energy system with long-term damage.

    Sporadic hours-long blackouts have fueled discontent, sparking small protests across the island, the first since larger protests in 2021. Many demonstrators last year were detained and issued harsh sentences.

    Meanwhile, the island is facing its biggest migratory exodus in decades.

    Cuba has found some respite in oil shipped in from Russia, which has been looking for new markets as international sanctions imposed for its invasion of Ukraine have cut it off from many other customers.

    Increased sales to China, India and even Cuba have helped Russia ease the economic brunt of sanctions. It’s likely also helped Cuba stay afloat, explained Jorge Piñon, senior research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Center, which tracks the shipments.

    “We know that Russian storage tanks are full. … They need to move that stuff,” Piñon said. “So good news for Cuba, and good news for Russia that Cuba is in that situation.”

    Russia has sent at least eight shipments totaling 4.3 million barrels of oil, mainly crude, to Cuba since the beginning of the Ukraine war, according to Piñon’s center. And Piñon noted two more shipments are on their way.

    Since the turn of the century, Russia had sent only two shipments to Cuba: one in 2017 worth $35.3 million and another in 2018 worth $55.8 million, according to U.N. Comtrade data.

    Russia has offered sharp discounts to other nations, though it’s unclear how much Cubans are paying or how they are doing so in the midst of their economic crisis.

    Cuba has also contracted at least four floating power plants from a Turkish company. They can be plugged into a power grid for an extra boost of energy. That helped ease the worst of the blackouts, but LeoGrande noted the ships were a patchwork investment, likely expensive, and not a long-term solution.

    At the same time, Cuba is among just a handful of countries in the United Nations to avoid condemning Russia for annexation of four regions of Ukraine. Rather, the Caribbean nation abstained from voting.

    “They need to maintain a good relationship with Russia,” said LeoGrande. “It’s just too important and a lifeline for them to put it at risk.”

    But Cuba’s hesitancy to denounce Russia on a global stage could complicate the slow thawing of its icy relationship with the U.S.

    While the Biden administration has not followed through on campaign promises to reverse Trump-era restrictions, both the August fire and the hurricane have opened up a conversation between the two governments.

    The Biden administration announced this month it would provide $2 million in hurricane relief to Cuba, following a Cuban appeal for assistance — though the administration made clear that the resources would be distributed through independent aid organizations instead of the Cuban government.

    In August, the American government also provided 43 fire suits to Cuba following the blaze in the oil storage facility.

    Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign affairs minister, thanked the U.S. for the October offer over Twitter, saying it “will add up to our recovery efforts in support of the victims” of the hurricane.

    He was quick to add, however, that sanctions have hampered recovery efforts, calling them “a constant hurricane.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • European Central Bank makes another large interest rate hike

    European Central Bank makes another large interest rate hike

    [ad_1]

    FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank piled on another outsized interest rate hike aimed at squelching out-of-control inflation, increasing rates Thursday at the fastest pace in the euro currency’s history and raising questions about how far the bank intends to go with a recession looming over the economy.

    The 25-member governing council raised its interest rate benchmarks by three-quarters of a percentage point at a meeting in Frankfurt, matching its record increase from last month and joining the U.S. Federal Reserve in making a series of rapid hikes to tackle soaring consumer prices.

    The ECB has now raised rates for the 19-country euro area by a full 2 percentage points in just three months, distance that took 18 months to cover during its last extended hiking phase in 2005-2007 and 17 months in 1999-2000.

    Central banks around the world are rapidly raising interest rates that steer the cost of credit for businesses and consumers. Their goal is to halt galloping inflation fueled by high energy prices, post-pandemic supply bottlenecks, and reviving demand for goods and services after COVID-19 restrictions eased. The Fed raised rates by three-quarters of a point for the third straight time last month.

    Quarter-point increases have usually been the norm for central banks. But that was before inflation spiked to 9.9% in the eurozone, fueled by higher prices for natural gas and electricity after Russia cut off most of its gas supplies during the war in Ukraine. Inflation in the U.S. is near 40-year highs of 8.2%, fueled in part by stronger growth and more pandemic support spending than in Europe.

    Inflation robs consumers of purchasing power, leading many economists to pencil in a recession for the end of this year and the beginning of next year in both the U.S. and the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency.

    Markets will be watching ECB President Christine Lagarde’s news conference for clues about how far the bank intends to go.

    Analysts at UniCredit said Lagarde was not likely to provide clues about the peak level of rates but “we suspect that she will drop hints pointing to an increasing likelihood that rates will have to be raised into restrictive territory, and a slower pace of hikes following today’s bold move.”

    At the last meeting in September, she indicated that three-quarters of a point was not the “norm” but added that decisions are being taking on a meeting-to-meeting basis. Some analysts foresee a half-point increase at the last rate-setting meeting of the year in December and think the bank may pause after that.

    The ECB foresees inflation falling to 2.3% by the end of 2024.

    Higher rates can control inflation by making it more expensive to borrow, spend and invest, lowering demand for goods. But the concerted effort to raise rates has also raised concerns about their impact on growth and on markets for stocks and bonds. Years of low rates on conservative investments have pushed investors toward riskier holdings such as stocks, a process that is now going into reverse, while rising rates can lower the value of existing bond holdings.

    The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has warned that tightening monetary policy “too much and too fast” raises the risk of prolonged recessions in many economies. The IMF forecasts that global economic growth will slow from 3.2% this year to 2.7% next year.

    The ECB’s benchmark for short-term lending to banks now stands at 2%, a level last seen in March 2009.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Saudi oil giant Aramco unveils $1.5B sustainability fund

    Saudi oil giant Aramco unveils $1.5B sustainability fund

    [ad_1]

    Saudi oil and gas company Aramco unveiled a $1.5 billion fund on Wednesday for sustainable investments, part of efforts to burnish the state-owned company’s green credentials in an announcement ahead of the U.N. climate conference next month in Egypt.

    Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said at an investment conference in Saudi Arabia that the fund will focus on “breakthrough technologies that are important and startups that will help us to address climate change.”

    Nasser billed the fund as one of the world’s biggest sustainability-focused venture capital funds and said it would invest globally and launch immediately. He spoke at Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative meeting, sometimes known as “Davos in the Desert,” a comparison to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of corporate bigwigs and world leaders in the Swiss Alps.

    Aramco is one of the largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters. Environmentalists have long accused oil and gas companies of using climate-friendly pledges to “greenwash” their polluting activities.

    One area Aramco’s fund will focus on is carbon capture and storage, which involves sucking heat-trapping carbon dioxide from factory smokestacks and storing it underground.

    Climate experts, however, warn the technology is risky, unproven and expensive and could be used to delay the phaseout of fossil fuels. Others say all untested solutions should be pursued given how little time there is left to meet U.N. emissions-cutting goals.

    Other investment themes the fund will target include greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, nature-based climate solutions, digital sustainability, hydrogen, ammonia and synthetic fuels.

    Aramco has committed to reaching net zero operational emissions by 2050, but that only accounts for a fraction of the company’s total emissions. It does not include the carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels that the company produces.

    Oil companies have been using “green-sounding ‘net-zero by 2050’ pledges” to justify technological fixes that will allow them to “keep on digging up and selling oil and gas,” said Pascoe Sabido, a researcher specializing in the energy and climate sector at Corporate Europe Observatory, which investigates European Union business lobbying.

    “Aramco’s sustainability fund has nothing to with fighting climate change and everything to do with extending the life of its fossil fuel business,” he said.

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been trying to diversify the economy away from oil revenue, though the government continues to rely heavily on crude exports.

    The U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, will hold negotiations aimed at limiting global temperature increases next month in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

    ———

    Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Gas crunch eases in Europe — but the respite might not last

    Gas crunch eases in Europe — but the respite might not last

    [ad_1]

    FRANKFURT, Germany — Natural gas and electricity prices in Europe have plunged from summer peaks thanks to mild weather and a monthslong scramble to fill gas storage ahead of winter and replace Russian supplies during the war in Ukraine. It’s a welcome respite after Russia slashed natural gas flows, triggering an energy crisis that has fueled record inflation and a looming recession.

    Yet experts warn it’s too soon to exhale, even as European governments roll out relief packages for people struggling with high utility bills and work on longer-term ways to contain volatile gas and electricity prices that have shrunk household budgets and forced some businesses to shut down.

    Uncertainties include not only the weather but how responsive people will be to appeals to turn down their heating and how much demand there will be from Asian economies for scarce energy supplies. And the war a few hours east is a cauldron of possible unpleasant surprises that could cut energy supplies needed for electricity, heating and factory work and send prices sharply higher.

    Persistent unknowns are leaving energy-intensive businesses jittery. They are appealing to governments to help them and their customers weather the energy storm so that disruptions in supplies of everything from glass to plastics to clean hospital sheets do not cascade through the economy.

    “We must remember that we are still in a tense situation — an economic war between the European Union and Russia in which Russia has weaponized energy supplies,” said Agata Loskot-Strachota, an energy policy expert at the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, Poland.

    The good news is natural gas prices on Europe’s TTF benchmark fell on Monday below 100 euros (dollars) per megawatt-hour for the first time since June, a 70% drop from late August highs of nearly 350 euros per megawatt-hour. Electricity prices also fell.

    While analysts say lower gas prices are allowing European fertilizer producers to restart operations, there’s no sense of relief for business owners like Sven Paar. His commercial laundry in the German town of Wallduern will use around 30,000 euros worth of natural gas this year to run 12 heavy-duty machines that can wash eight tons of hospital and hotel bedsheets and restaurant tablecloths each day.

    His local utility says the bill is rising to 165,000 euros next year. On top of that, Paar says he’s unsettled by a lack of clarity from the German government on whether laundries like his would be considered essential to the economy and spared cutbacks in case of state-imposed rationing. Reports that the utility regulator is working on sorting out the question aren’t enough.

    “The problem is, everyone has heard something, and just hearing something doesn’t bring me any planning security,” he said. A letter he sent to the regulator went unanswered.

    “That’s the problem, you hope every day that you don’t get a call from someone that says, ‘Tomorrow you aren’t getting any gas,’” he said.

    Germany’s hospital association has taken up the issue on behalf of laundries like his, saying hospitals have mostly outsourced their laundry services and would run out of sheets and surgical drapes within a few days without them.

    The German government is working to roll out plans to cap gas prices for hard-hit businesses. The association representing smaller businesses says its understanding is that the government would focus any possible rationing on the 2,500 largest gas users in Germany and mostly spare businesses the size of Paar’s.

    Helping ease the possibility of rationing is Europe’s underground storage getting filled to 94%, compared with 77% at this time last year, which energy expert Loskot-Strachota called “quite a success.” A big assist has come from mild weather across Europe, with Warsaw, for example, a relatively balmy 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.

    Germany, once heavily dependent on Russian gas, has filled storage to 97% of capacity, France to 99% and Belgium and Portugal both to 100%. That was achieved by importing record quantities of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which comes by ship from the U.S. and Qatar instead of by pipeline from Russia, and by increasing pipeline supplies from Norway and Azerbaijan.

    The scramble to line up more LNG has led to a backup of tankers off the coast of Spain, a major processor, as orders collide with reduced demand and limited capacity at the country’s import terminals, which turn boatloads of supercooled LNG back into gas that then flows to homes and businesses.

    Spanish gas company Enagas warned last week that it may have to delay or stop tankers from unloading LNG because its storage was almost full. Vessel positioning maps showed at least seven LNG tankers anchored close to Spanish shores Tuesday, though it wasn’t clear how many were waiting to unload.

    Despite an abundance of LNG and falling prices, Loskot-Strachota said the energy situation remains volatile. She warns that prices for gas to be delivered in December and the 2023 winter months are higher than prices now.

    Russian gas has dwindled to a trickle through pipelines in Ukraine and under the Black Sea to Turkey, but losing even the small amount that remains could roil markets. Moscow has blamed the reductions on technical reasons or a refusal to pay in rubles, while European leaders call it blackmail for supporting Ukraine.

    EU governments also have been working on proposals including buying gas as a bloc or limiting price swings to ease the energy crisis, although the measures would largely affect next year’s purchases.

    Gas use is down 15% in Europe, but that is mostly from factories simply abandoning production that has become unprofitable.

    “This is dangerous — this hurts the economy, this hurts Europe,” Loskot-Strachota said.

    Whether households will join businesses in cutting back by lowering thermostats and turning off lights cannot be determined until the cold weather comes in earnest. Russia’s willingness to destroy Ukrainian heating and electrical plans shows that Russia is ready to escalate despite battlefield defeats.

    The market also is less flexible because gas reserves will be increasingly used as day-to-day base fuel for heating and generating electricity, rather than as a “swing” fuel during times of peak demand such as cold snaps.

    “Every event, every problem, weather problem, Russia problem, becomes a factor which sends prices very very high,” Loskot-Strachota said. “I’m very happy that we’re in a calm situation now, but it is nothing that will last for the whole winter.”

    ———

    Raquel Redondo contributed from Madrid.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine alleges Russian dirty bomb deception at nuke plant

    Ukraine alleges Russian dirty bomb deception at nuke plant

    [ad_1]

    KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia’s claims that the Ukrainian military is preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device.

    Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called dirty bomb. Shoigu leveled the charge over the weekend in calls to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts. Britain, France and the United States rejected it out of hand as “transparently false.”

    Ukraine also dismissed Moscow’s claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin’s own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.

    Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the country’s four nuclear power plants, said Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

    Russian officers controlling the area won’t give access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the U.N.’s atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what the Russians are doing, Energoatom said Tuesday in a statement.

    Energoatom said it “assumes” the Russians “are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at” the plant. It said there were 174 containers at the plant’s dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.

    “Destruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of the adjacent territory,” the company said.

    It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess what was going on.

    The U.N. Security Council held closed-door consultations Tuesday about the dirty-bomb allegations at Russia’s request.

    Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia sent a five-page letter to council members before the meeting claiming that according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine’s Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv and Vostochniy Mining and Processing Plant “have received direct orders from (President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy’s regime to develop such a dirty bomb” and “the works are at their concluding stage.”

    Nebenzia said the ministry also received word that this work “may be carried out with the support of the Western countries.” And he warned that the authorities in Kyiv and their Western backers “will bear full responsibility for all the consequences” of using a “dirty bomb,” which Russia will regard as “an act of nuclear terrorism.”

    Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky was asked by reporters after the council meeting what evidence Russia has that Zelenskyy gave orders to develop a “dirty bomb.” He replied, “it is intelligence information.”

    “We shared it in our telephone conversation with counterparts who have the necessary level of clearance,” he said. “Those who wanted to understand that the threat is serious, they had all the possibilities to understand that. Those who want to reject it as Russian propaganda, they will do it anyway.”

    Polyansky said the IAEA can send inspectors to investigate allegations of a “dirty bomb.”

    Britain’s deputy U.N. ambassador James Kariuki told reporters after the meeting that “we’ve seen and heard no new evidence” and the U.K., France and the U.S. made clear “this is a transparently false allegation” and “pure Russian misinformation.” He said, “Ukraine has been clear it’s got nothing to hide” and “IAEA inspectors are on the way.”

    In a related matter, Russia asked the Security Council to establish a commission to investigate its claims that the United States and Ukraine are violating the convention prohibiting the use of biological weapons at laboratories in Ukraine.

    Soon after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, its U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, claimed that secret American labs in Ukraine were engaged in biological warfare — a charge denied by the U.S. and Ukraine.

    Russia has called a Security Council meeting Thursday on Ukraine’s biological laboratories and its allegations.

    The Kremlin has insisted that its warning of a purported Ukrainian plan to use a dirty bomb should be taken seriously and criticized Western nations for shrugging it off.

    The dismissal of Moscow’s warning is “unacceptable in view of the seriousness of the danger that we have talked about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

    Speaking during a conference call with reporters, Peskov added: “We again emphasize the grave danger posed by the plans hatched by the Ukrainians.”

    At the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked Tuesday if Russia is preparing to deploy a tactical nuclear weapon after making its claims that Ukraine will use a dirty bomb.

    “I spent a lot of time today talking about that,” Biden told reporters.

    The president was also asked whether the claims about a Ukrainian dirty bomb amounted to a false-flag operation.

    “Let me just say, Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake if it were to use a tactical nuclear weapon,” Biden said. “I’m not guaranteeing you that it’s a false-flag operation yet … but it would be a serious, serious mistake.”

    Dirty bombs don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Inflation protests across Europe threaten political turmoil

    Inflation protests across Europe threaten political turmoil

    [ad_1]

    LONDON — In Romania, protesters blew horns and banged drums to voice their dismay over the rising cost of living. People across France took to the streets to demand pay increases that keep pace with inflation. Czech demonstrators rallied against government handling of the energy crisis. British railway staff and German pilots held strikes to push for better pay as prices rise.

    Across Europe, soaring inflation is behind a wave of protests and strikes that underscores growing discontent with the spiraling cost of living and threatens to unleash political turmoil. With British Prime Minister Liz Truss forced to resign less than two months into the job after her economic plans sparked chaos in financial markets and further bruised an ailing economy, the risk to political leaders became clearer as people demand action.

    Europeans have seen their energy bills and food prices soar because of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Despite natural gas prices falling from record summer highs and governments allocating a whopping 576 billion euros (over $566 billion) in energy relief to households and businesses since September 2021, according to the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, it’s not enough for some protesters.

    Energy prices have driven inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency to a record 9.9%, making it harder for people to buy what they need. Some see little choice but to hit the streets.

    “Today, people are obliged to use pressure tactics in order to get an increase” in pay, said Rachid Ouchem, a medic who was among more than 100,000 people that joined protest marches this week in multiple French cities.

    The fallout from the war in Ukraine has sharply raised the risk of civil unrest in Europe, according to risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. European leaders have strongly supported Ukraine, sending the country weapons and pledging or being forced to wean their economies off cheap Russian oil and natural gas, but the transition hasn’t been easy and threatens to erode public support.

    “There’s no quick fix to the energy crisis,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at Verisk Maplecroft. “And if anything, inflation looks like it might be worse next year than it has been this year.”

    That means the link between economic pressure and popular opinion on the war in Ukraine “will really be tested,” he said.

    In France, where inflation is running at 6.2%, the lowest in the 19 eurozone countries, rail and transport workers, high school teachers and public hospital employees heeded a call Tuesday by an oil workers’ union to demand salary increases and protest government intervention in strikes by refinery workers that have caused gasoline shortages.

    Days later, thousands of Romanians joined a Bucharest rally to protest the cost of energy, food and other essentials that organizers said were sending millions of workers into poverty.

    In the Czech Republic, huge flag-waving crowds in Prague last month demanded the pro-Western coalition government resign, criticizing its support of European Union’s sanctions against Russia. They also slammed the government for not doing enough to help households and businesses squeezed by energy costs.

    While another protest is scheduled in Prague next week, the actions have not translated to political change so far, with the country’s ruling coalition winning a third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house during an election this month.

    British rail workers, nurses, port workers, lawyers and others have staged a string of strikes in recent months demanding pay raises that match inflation running at a four-decade high of 10.1%.

    Trains ground to a halt during the transit actions, while recent strikes by Lufthansa pilots in Germany and other airline and airport workers across Europe seeking higher pay in line with inflation have disrupted flights.

    Truss’ failed economic stimulus plan, which involved sweeping tax cuts and tens of billions of pounds (dollars) in aid for household and businesses’ energy bills without a clear plan to pay for them, illustrates the bind that governments are in.

    They “have very little room for maneuver,” Soltvedt said.

    So far, the saving grace has been a milder than usual October in Europe, which means less demand for gas to heat homes, Soltvedt said.

    However, “if we do end up with unexpected disruption to the supply of gas from Europe this winter, then, you know, we’ll probably see an even further increase in civil unrest, risk and government instability,” he said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • West and Russia clash over probe of drones in Ukraine

    West and Russia clash over probe of drones in Ukraine

    [ad_1]

    UNITED NATIONS — The United States and key Western allies accused Russia on Friday of using Iranian drones to attack civilians and power plants in Ukraine in violation of a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution and international humanitarian law.

    Russia countered by accusing Ukraine of attacking infrastructure and civilians for eight years in the eastern separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed earlier this year.

    The U.S., France, Germany and Britain supported Ukraine’s call for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to send a team to investigate the origin of the drones.

    Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the drones are Russian and warned that an investigation would violate the U.N. Charter and seriously affect relations between Russia and the United Nations.

    U.S. deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said that “the U.N. must investigate any violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions — and we must not allow Russia or others to impede or threaten the U.N. from carrying out its mandated responsibilities.”

    The Western clash with Russia over attacks on civilians and infrastructure and the use of Iranian drones came at an open council meeting that also focused on the dire humanitarian situation in Ukraine as winter approaches. Almost 18 million people, more than 40% of Ukraine’s population, need humanitarian assistance, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown says.

    U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo expressed grave concern to the council that Russian missile and drone attacks between Oct. 10 and Oct. 18 in cities and towns across Ukraine killed at least 38 Ukrainian civilians, injured at least 117 and destroyed critical energy infrastructure, including power plants.

    She cited the Ukrainian government’s announcement that 30% of the country’s energy facilities have been hit, most notably in the capital Kyiv and in the Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

    “Combined with soaring gas and coal prices, the deprivation caused by these attacks threatens to expose millions of civilians to extreme hardship and even life-endangering conditions this winter,” she said.

    DiCarlo, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said that “under international humanitarian law, attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited.” So are “attacks against military objectives that may be expected to cause harm to civilians that would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated,” she said.

    Nebenzia claimed that high-precision missile strikes and Russian drones — not Iranian drones — hit a large number of military targets that included infrastructure in an effort to degrade Ukrainian military activities.

    “Of course, this did not sit well with the West and they became hysterical, and this is what we’re witnessing loudly and clearly today at the meeting,” the Russian ambassador said.

    He said the West doesn’t want “to face facts” and acknowledge that civilian infrastructure was hit only in cases where drones had to change course because of Ukrainian defense actions. He said Ukrainian air defenses also hit civilian sites because they missed incoming attacks.

    In a letter to the Security Council on Wednesday, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Iran of violating a Security Council ban on the transfer of drones capable of flying 300 kilometers (about 185 miles).

    That provision was part of Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six key nations — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.

    U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear agreement in 2018 and negotiations between the Biden administration and Iran for the United States to rejoin the deal have stalled.

    Under the resolution, a conventional arms embargo on Iran was in place until October 2020. But restrictions on missiles and related technologies run until October 2023, and Western diplomats say that includes the export and purchase of advanced military systems such as drones, which are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.

    Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Wednesday that he “categorically rejected unfounded and unsubstantiated claims that Iran has transferred UAVs for the use (in) the conflict in Ukraine.” He accused unnamed countries of trying to launch a disinformation campaign to “wrongly establish a link” with the U.N. resolution.

    “Moreover, Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country” violate Resolution 2231, he added.

    France, Germany and Britain on Friday supported Ukraine’s accusation that Iranian has supplies drones to Russia in violation of the 2015 resolution and they are being used in attacks on civilians and power plants in Ukraine. They backed Kyiv’s call for a U.N. investigation.

    The three European countries said in a joint letter to the 15 council members that reports in open sources suggest Iran intends to transfer more drones to Russia along with ballistic missiles.

    Neither Iran nor Russia sought advance approval from the council for the transfer of Mohajer and Shahed UAVs and therefore “have violated resolution 2231,” the letter said.

    The U.S. sent a similar letter, saying Iranian drones were transferred to Russia in late August and requesting the U.N. Secretariat team responsible for monitoring the resolution’s implementation to “conduct a technical and impartial investigation that assesses the type of UAV’s involved in these transfers.”

    Nebenzia also sent a letter contending that DiCarlo is siding with the West on carrying out an investigation. His letter insists that “the U.N. Secretariat has no authority to conduct, or in any other form engage, in any `investigation’” related to Resolution 2231.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • German leader warns against ‘worldwide renaissance’ for coal

    German leader warns against ‘worldwide renaissance’ for coal

    [ad_1]

    BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that Russia’s war in Ukraine mustn’t lead to a “worldwide renaissance” for coal — comments that come as Germany itself brings coal-fired power plants back online in an effort to prevent an energy crunch this winter.

    In a speech to parliament, Scholz highlighted his government’s efforts to counter the effects of Russia’s decision to cut off gas supplies to Germany. The government has in recent months approved reactivating several coal- and oil-fired power plants, and environmental activists warn that Germany risks defaulting on its climate goals by burning more fossil fuels.

    Scholz said five further plants that use lignite, a low-quality and high-emission type of coal, have gone back online in recent days “as a time-limited but necessary emergency measure.” The chancellor this week also decided to keep Germany’s last three nuclear power plants, which originally were supposed to be switched off at the end of the year, running until mid-April.

    “We continue to stand firmly by our climate targets,” Scholz told lawmakers.

    Officials from almost 200 countries will gather next month in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss how to tackle global warming.

    Scholz vowed that Germany, which is moving to expand its use of renewable energy, will pass all the major legislation needed to fulfill its climate targets by the end of this year and that the European Union will stay on course. He called for a final agreement in the coming months on the EU’s proposed “Fit for 55” package to achieve the bloc’s goals of cutting emissions of the gases that cause global warming by 55% over this decade.

    “The Russian aggression and its consequences mustn’t lead to a worldwide renaissance of coal,” the chancellor said. “We will make clear offers so that developing and emerging countries also can embark resolutely on the path toward a climate-neutral energy sector.”

    “We will vigorously help the states that today already are suffering particularly from the consequences of climate change,” he added.

    Germany’s foreign minister said earlier this month that Berlin wants the huge economic damage resulting from global warming to be discussed at the climate talks in Egypt.

    Coal accounted for 31.4% of Germany’s electricity generation in this year’s first half, up from 27.1% a year earlier. Around 48.5% of the country’s electricity came from renewable sources, up from 43.8% the year before, while the proportions derived from nuclear power and gas declined to 6% and 11.7%, respectively.

    ———

    Follow all AP stories on climate change at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Oil flow to Germany resumes after Poland fixed pipeline leak

    Oil flow to Germany resumes after Poland fixed pipeline leak

    [ad_1]

    WARSAW, Poland — The Polish operator of an oil pipeline running to Germany said Saturday that it has fixed the damage that caused a leak earlier this week and that the flow of crude oil from Russia has been fully restored.

    The state-run operator, PERN, said that both lines of the Druzhba pipeline were operating normally, transporting oil.

    It said that the cause of the leak that occurred Tuesday in a field in central Poland is still being investigated.

    The Druzhba pipeline, which in Russian means “Friendship,” was built in the 1960s and is one of the world’s largest pipeline systems, bringing crude oil from Siberia to central Europe. It branches to reach Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Germany.

    The leak follows attacks last month on the Baltic Sea Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, in which explosives are said to have been used. Europe has been taking steps to reduce its reliance on Russian energy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ukraine: Russia hits power site by Kyiv, guards seized land

    Ukraine: Russia hits power site by Kyiv, guards seized land

    [ad_1]

    A missile strike seriously damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine‘s capital region, the country’s power system operator said Saturday as the Russian military strove to cut water and electricity in populated areas.

    Kyiv region Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba said the strike did not kill or wound anyone.

    Electricity transmission company Ukrenergo said repair crews were working to restore power but warned residents about possible outages.

    Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, urged Kyiv area residents and people in three neighboring regions to reduce their energy consumption during evening hours of peak demand.

    After a truck bomb explosion a week ago damaged the bridge that links Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Kremlin launched what is believed to be its largest coordinated missile attacks since the initial invasion of Ukraine.

    This week’s wide-ranging retaliatory attacks hit residential buildings, killing dozens of people, as well as civil infrastructure such as power stations near Kyiv and other cities far from the front lines of the war.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow did not see a need for additional massive strikes but his military would continue selective strikes. He said of 29 targets the Russian military planned to knock out in this week’s attacks, seven weren’t damaged and would be taken out gradually.

    The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, interpreted Putin’s remarks as intended to counter criticism from pro-war Russian bloggers who “largely praised the resumption of strikes against Ukrainian cities but warned that a short campaign would be ineffective.”

    “Putin knew he would not be able to sustain high-intensity missiles strikes for a long time due to a dwindling arsenal of high-precision missiles,” the think tank said.

    Regions of southern Ukraine that Putin illegally designated as Russian territory last month remained a focus of fighting Saturday.

    Kirill Stremousov, a deputy head of the administration Moscow installed in the mostly Russian-occupied Kherson region, reminded residents they could evacuate to Crimea and cities in southwestern Russia as Ukrainian forces try to battle their way to the regional capital.

    After the region’s worried Kremlin-backed leaders asked civilians Thursday to evacuate to ensure their safety and to give Russian troops more maneuverability, Moscow offered free accommodations to residents who agreed to leave.

    Ukrainian troops attempted to advance south along the banks of the Dnieper River but did gain any ground, according to Stremousov.

    “The defense lines worked, and the situation has remained under the full control of the Russian army,” he wrote on his messaging app channel.

    In the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, Gov. Oleksandr Starukh said the Russian military carried out strikes with Iranian-made kamikaze drones and S-300 missiles. Some experts said the Russian military’s use of the long-range missiles may reflect shortages of dedicated precision weapons for hitting ground targets.

    To the north and east of Kherson, Russian shelling killed two civilians in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Gov. Valentyn Resnichenko said. He said the shelling of the city of Nikopol, which is located across the Dnieper from the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, damaged a dozen residential buildings, several stores and a transportation facility.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Utility begins loading fuel at new Georgia nuclear plant

    Utility begins loading fuel at new Georgia nuclear plant

    [ad_1]

    ATLANTA — Workers have begun loading radioactive fuel into a new nuclear reactor in Georgia, utilities said Friday, putting the first new American nuclear reactor built in decades on a path to begin generating electricity in coming months.

    Georgia Power says workers will transfer 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor core at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, in the next few days. There are already two reactors operating at the plant, with fuel being loaded into a third unit and a fourth unit still under construction.

    Chris Womack, chairman and CEO of Georgia Power, the largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., said in a statement that fuel loading shows “steady and evident progress” at Vogtle.

    “We’re making history here in Georgia and the U.S. as we approach bringing online the first new nuclear unit to be built in the country in over 30 years,” Womack said. “These units are important to building the future of energy and will serve as clean, emission-free sources of energy for Georgians for the next 60 to 80 years.”

    After the 90 tons (82 metric tonnes) of uranium oxide is loaded by a crane into the reactor, operating company Southern Nuclear will test whether the plant’s cooling and steam supply system work while fuel is inside the reactor at the super-high temperatures and pressures created by splitting atoms. Operators will then start generating electricity and link the plant to the transmission grid, with the reactor planned to reach commercial operation by the end of March.

    The Georgia Public Service Commission approved the new reactors in 2012, and the third reactor was supposed to start generating power in 2016. The cost of the third and fourth reactors has climbed from an original estimate of $14 billion to more than $30 billion.

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved plans to load the fuel in August. Approval was delayed because much of the third reactor’s wiring had to be redone after federal regulators found major flaws. Southern Co. also fell behind on inspection documents that had to be completed before the NRC could sign off.

    Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers are already paying part of the financing cost and state regulators have approved a monthly rate increase of at least $3.78 a month as soon as the third unit begins generating power. But the elected five-member Public Service Commission will decide later who pays for the remainder of the costs. The utility has other unrelated rate increases awaiting a decision.

    The fourth unit is supposed to be completed in late 2023. The two new units combined are projected to produce enough power for more than 500,000 homes and businesses.

    Vogtle is the only nuclear plant under construction in the United States. Its costs and delays could deter other utilities from building such plants, even though they generate electricity without releasing climate-changing carbon emissions.

    Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the two reactors, while Oglethorpe Power Corp. owns 30% on behalf of 38 power cooperatives. The Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia owns 22.3% on behalf of 49 city-owned utilities, while the city of Dalton’s utility owns 1.6%. MEAG has contracts to sell electricity from Vogtle to the city-owned utility in Jacksonville, Florida, and to some electric cooperatives and city utilities in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

    The other owners of Vogtle are trying to shift costs onto Georgia Power. Oglethorpe, MEAG and Dalton all sued Georgia Power earlier this year, claiming the company was trying to bilk them out of nearly $700 million by unilaterally changing a contract.

    Under a 2018 deal, Georgia Power agreed to assume all cost overruns above a certain level. In exchange, the co-owners would sell part of their ownership shares to Georgia Power. Oglethorpe and MEAG say projected overruns have reached that level, but Georgia Power said the threshold is $1.3 billion higher than the level claimed by the co-owners.

    Georgia Power is settling MEAG’s lawsuit in exchange for making at least $76 million in payments to MEAG.

    ———

    Follow Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

    [ad_2]

    Source link