The administration of United States President Donald Trump plans to send a special energy representative to Saudi Arabia, officials said on Friday. The White House is scrambling to respond to the global oil price crash as a regulator from the top US oil-producing state took the rare step of considering output cuts to help stabilise markets.
Oil prices have lost more than half their value in the last two weeks as Saudi Arabia and Russia kicked off a price war, and the coronavirus pandemic destroyed demand.
The crash has shocked the oil industry as a pact among OPEC and non-OPEC producers to cooperate imploded, triggering a production free-for-all. Texas regulators are considering the unusual step of intervening to curb output for the first time in decades, while the US is scrambling to negotiate with Saudi Arabia, which has unleashed production after years of touting its role as a stabilising force for markets.
Saudi Arabia and Russia are locked in a war for global oil market share after their three-year deal to restrain output collapsed this month. The kingdom has vowed to increase production to a record 12.3 million barrels per day and has chartered numerous tankers to ship oil around the world, pushing prices to near 20-year lows this week.
US officials believe Saudi Arabia’s move to flood oil markets compounds the global economic crash at a time of a crisis caused by the pandemic.
A senior US Energy Department official will be sent to Riyadh for months to work closely with Department of State officials and the existing energy attache, the senior US officials told Reuters News Agency, on the condition of anonymity.
Trump administration officials said Saudi Arabia has, for decades, been a steadfast leader of stability in the global oil market. The energy representative would help the countries return to a path of stability, they said.
The price crash is also devastating to US oil producers, some of which have already begun putting employees on leave.
The hope is that Trump could negotiate with Saudi Arabia and Russia and convince them to match cuts with a similar cut in production in Texas, said Ryan Sitton, a commissioner with the Texas Railroad Commission, the body that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry.
Sitton said production limits could be implemented quickly, though no one who works at the agency was around the last time the state limited production in the early 1970s.
“We need to take the time to hear from everybody,” he said, adding that he was not yet advocating for the cuts. “[But] if we can help [Trump) get a deal done, then I think that’s when we do something.”
Sitton said in a tweet that he spoke with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo about an international deal “to ensure economic stability as we recover from” the coronavirus outbreak. Sitton said Barkindo was “kind enough to invite me to the next OPEC meeting in June”.
Barkindo told Reuters that he and Sitton discussed their “perspective on current developments and the possibility of future cooperation” in a teleconference. Barkindo and OPEC ministers have, in the past, met with shale-industry executives at annual conferences.
Frank Fannon, the US assistant secretary of state for energy resources, said that to his knowledge, the federal government does not have the ability to restrict the Texas regulator from any work with OPEC to cut production. “Those are wholly within state matters … from a federal level we have no ongoing engagements with OPEC, it’s a cartel,” Fannon told reporters late on Friday in a teleconference.
US industry unmoved
Some US industry representatives were sceptical that Texas should intervene in the market. US oil producers have long resisted such a move, and the industry’s largest trade association did not sound convinced Friday, either.
“Our view is simple. Quotas are bad,” said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. “They’ve been proven ineffective and harmful. There’s no reason during this time to try to imitate OPEC.”
In the last several years, shale operators using the innovative hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, technique, have boosted US oil output to nearly 13 million barrels per day, making it the world’s largest producer. Since 2016, as OPEC restrained production, the US has taken market share from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other nations.
Russia has been slower to come on board with OPEC’s continued efforts to bolster prices, and the country’s largest oil producer, Rosneft, has been an opponent of the deal with OPEC to cut supply. Units of that company, and its managers, were recently sanctioned by the US due to its trade relationship with Venezuela.
Trump administration officials will continue to reduce global oil output with sanctions on what the officials called bad actors in Iran and Venezuela, both of which are OPEC members, and their shipping networks, the officials said. To the extent that Russia is involved in marketing Venezuelan oil, it will be sanctioned, the officials said.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
