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The Downside Risk Of Tomorrow's OPEC Meeting – OilPrice.com

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The Downside Risk Of Tomorrow’s OPEC+ Meeting | OilPrice.com

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Tom Kool

Tom Kool

Tom majored in International Business at Amsterdam’s Higher School of Economics, he is Oilprice.com’s Head of Operations

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– After more than 2 years of coordinated production cuts, OPEC+ has reached the point when it no longer must increase production targets and needs to rethink the future of the 23-member oil group. 

– Most analysts expect no or just very moderate changes to the OPEC+ September 2022 production guidance – with June figures already reaching a hefty 320% compliance rate, incremental supply remains the main challenge for members. 

– The worsening demand outlook will play a part in OPEC+ decision making as the group wants to keep oil prices high enough to generate bumper profits without stymieing adequate supply to the market. 

– With Russia facing a series of sanctions from 2023 onwards and thus susceptible to production drops, Saudi Arabia is seeking to keep OPEC+ as the oil market’s coordination force, preferring to avoid sudden market shocks as Riyadh has finally grown to enjoy a protracted windfall period. 

Market Movers

Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) has reportedly bought US lubricants producer Valvoline (NYSE:VVV) as it seeks to expand its foothold in the downstream business, for a reported sum of $2.65 billion. 

– The world’s largest EV battery maker, the Chinese CATL (SHE:300750) has seen its vice chairman Huang Shilin resign this week, with founder and chairman Zeng Yuqun taking over the concurrent role of general manager, sending the stock up 5% on Monday alone.  

– One of the largest wind turbine producers globally, Siemens Gamesa (BME:SGRE) is considering cutting some 10% of its current workforce or 2,500 jobs, on the back of yet another 2022 guidance decrease. 

Tuesday, August 02, 2022

One oil major after another is announcing phenomenal quarterly earnings and revved-up share buyback programs, with the likes of BP, Marathon, and Devon Energy joining the list this week. Meanwhile, Brent prices have been bogged down at around the $100 per barrel mark so far this week. Should tomorrow’s OPEC+ meeting devolve into another campaign of smoke and mirrors, the structural weakness in demand coming from weak global manufacturing data and Europe’s ongoing struggle to contain Russia’s energy blackmail might reappear again, pushing oil further down into double-digit territory. 

Taxing of US Crude Imports Raises Questions. President Biden’s $433 billion tax and climate bill, potentially seeing a Senate vote this week already, aims to slap a 16.4 cents-per-barrel tax on imported crude and products, raising fears that this would inadvertently boost inflation as USGC refiners rely on heavy crudes from Latin America and elsewhere.

US Targets Iranian Oil Trade Again. The US Treasury and State Department imposed sanctions on a further six companies, based in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE, for allegedly facilitating trade in Iranian oil and petrochemical products, the third round of blacklisting in the last two months.  

OPEC Woos Russia to Stay in Oil Group. Haitham al-Ghais, OPEC’s new secretary general, stated Russia’s participation in OPEC+ is vital for the success of the agreement, adding that the group does not control oil prices but finetunes the market in terms of supply and demand.

Nord Stream Blame Game Never Stops. With markets still having no idea where the ominous Nord Stream 1 turbines are, Russia has said that there is little it can do to revamp pumping along the pipeline as it continues to supply only 20% of nameplate capacity with only one turbine working. 

Iran Signals Readiness for New Round of Talks. With the European Union still proposing new initiatives to breach the gap between the US and Iran, with Brussels submitting a new draft text on the JCPOA revival, Tehran said it is ready to set new talks provided they lead to a “sensible and stable” deal. 

Australia Wants to Keep Its Gas at Home. Australia is considering curbing exports of its LNG after a national watchdog that more natural gas is needed to satisfy the needs of its east coast amidst dramatically declining onshore production, with some restrictions likely even looking into 2023. 

Luxembourg Moves to Freeze Ecuador Assets. Banks in Luxembourg were ordered to freeze assets held by Ecuador after the Latin American failed to honor a $391 million payment towards Anglo-French oil firm Perenco, a result of its unlawful ending of a production-sharing agreement. 

ADNOC Finds Offshore Gas. UAE national oil firm ADNOC, along with block operator ENI (NYSE:E) and PTTEP, discovered a second gas play in Offshore Block 2, adding 1-1.5 TCf to a shallower target appraised earlier this year, all this only three years after the acreage was awarded in Abu Dhabi’s first-ever block bid round. 

Nigeria’s Main Export Grade Halted Amidst Leaks. The Shell (LON:SHEL)-operated Forcados terminal has been out of operation since July 17 after a leak was found from a subsea hose, with August cargoes already deferred into September as the 200,000 b/d stream remains marred by force majeure events. 

US Diesel Becomes Hedge Funds’ New Favorite. According to CFTC figures, hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 9 million barrels in US diesel futures in the week to July 26, a sign that slow stock builds of middle distillate spell trouble for diesel prices ahead.

Copper In Jitters After Giant Chilean Sinkhole. Chilean authorities started an official investigation into a giant sinkhole at the Alcaparrosa mine operated by Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN), 82 feet in diameter, potentially spelling trouble for copper production in Chile’s northern regions, home to almost 30% of global copper production. 

China Pioneers Offshore Shale Oil Drilling. With China’s upstream segment increasingly focusing on shale plays, state-controlled oil firm CNOOC (HKG:0883) successfully tested production at the Weiye-1 well, the country’s first-ever offshore shale oil well. 

Texas Struggles With Unbearable Heat. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a warning that power use in the Lone Star State will break records this week again, with peak demand expected to come on Wednesday at 80,076 MW (the previous all-time high was reached two weeks ago, at 78,828 MW).

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com 

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What’s open and closed Good Friday, Easter Monday in Hamilton, Burlington and Niagara Region – Global News

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The Easter long weekend is upon us, bringing a rare four-day holiday to some in the Hamilton area. Several businesses and services will be closed on Good Friday (March 29), Easter Sunday (March 31) or Easter Monday (April 1).

Here’s a list of some things that will or will not be operating in Hamilton, Burlington and Niagara Region.

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Administrative offices: Offices are closed on Friday and Monday.

Licensing and bylaw services: Licensing and bylaw phone queue line will be closed on Friday and Monday. Service will resume on Tuesday.

Green bin, garbage and recycling: No collection on Good Friday. Friday’s pickup will occur on Saturday (March 31). Monday will be a regular collection day (April 1). The city says all materials must be at the curb by 7 a.m. Community recycling centres and transfer stations will be closed Friday and Monday.

HSR bus: Buses will operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule Friday and a regular schedule on Monday.

GO Transit: Trains and buses are operating on a Sunday schedule Friday.

ATS DARTS: Service will be operating with holiday service hours on Friday and Monday. Subscription trips on DARTS, with the exception of dialysis, are cancelled for Friday and Monday. ATS customer service will also be closed on Friday and Monday.

Ontario Works: The program, including the special supports, will be closed Friday and Monday. Phone service will resume on Tuesday.

Recreation centres: Closed on Friday and Monday.

Hamilton civic museums: Dundurn National Historic Site, the Hamilton Military Museum and the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology will be closed on Friday and Monday.

Tourism Hamilton visitor information centre: Closed Friday to Monday.

Hamilton Public Library: All HPL branches are closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Branches are open on Saturday and regular hours resume Tuesday, April 2

Social services: All Ontario Works offices, special supports and the housing services office will be closed on Friday and Monday.

Senior centres: Closed Friday and Sunday. Senior clubs will be running modified program schedules from Friday to Monday.

Arenas: Closed to public programming Friday, Sunday and Monday.

Animal services: Closed Good Friday, Sunday and Easter Monday.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope: Open Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday. Closed Easter Monday.

Burlington

Government offices: Local government such as city hall, municipal offices and facilities will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday.


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Administrative services: Services including parks, roads and forestry will be closed on Friday and Monday. Only snow removal and urgent services will be provided.

Animal Shelter and Control: Closed all weekend, Friday through Monday. Emergencies can be called in to 905-335-7777.

Recreation centres: Some city pools, arenas and community centres will be operational on a limited schedule. Visit burlington.ca/dropinandplay for details. Some outdoor recreation facilities will also be open, weather permitting. Visit burlington.ca/outdoorplay for more information. Tyandaga Golf Course will be closed. The tentative season opener is set for April 6.

Halton Provincial Offences Court: Closed on Friday and Monday.

Free parking: Available Friday and Monday in the downtown core in municipal lots, on-street and in the parking garage, however, the Waterfront parking lots (east and west) do not provide free parking on statutory holidays. Parking exemptions are required to park overnight on city streets and for longer than five hours. Visit burlington.ca/parkingexemptions for more.

Burlington Transit: Transit will operate a holiday schedule Sunday. The downtown transit terminal, specialized dispatch and the administration office will be closed on March 29. Monday is a regular schedule.

Niagara Region

Government offices: City halls, the Enterprise Centre and administration offices are all closed on Good Friday. Some offices, like St. Catharines, will reopen on Easter Monday.

Parks, recreation and culture services: All City recreation centres are closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Administration offices are all closed on Friday. Some will be closed on Monday. St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatics Centre is closed Friday, but open on Saturday. Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre is closed Friday, but open regular hours through the weekend and Monday.

Community centres: All older adult centres and arenas will either be closed or have reduced hours on Friday, Sunday and Monday.

St. Catharines Museum; Welland Canals Centre: Both facilities will be closed on Good Friday but open the rest of the long weekend between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Niagara Regional Transit: Both St. Catharines and Niagara Falls buses will operate on a holiday schedule for Good Friday. Regional, Fort Erie and Welland service will not be running Friday. The agency will have regular hours on Easter Sunday and Monday.

Canada Post: No collection or mail delivery on Monday. Most post offices operated by the private sector will also be closed during business hours.

Grocery stores: Major grocery stores like Fortinos, Metro, FreshCo and No Frills will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Shoppers Drug Mart: Some locations in the city will be open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but not all. Holiday hours can be seen on the Shoppers store locator map.

Rexall: Some outlets are open on a holiday schedule, but not all. Visit the Rexall website for store hours.

Malls: All major shopping centres in Hamilton, Burlington, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls will be closed on Good Friday. Exceptions include:

  • Outlet Collection at Niagara Falls: Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • CF Toronto Eaton Centre: Open noon to 7 p.m.
  • Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills: Open Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Pacific Mall in Toronto: Open between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
  • Vaughan Mills will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In Toronto, retailers in designated tourist areas such as Yorkville, downtown Yonge, Queen’s Quay West and the Distillery District can stay open Good Friday, according to City of Toronto bylaws.

Walmart: All Walmarts in the GTHA will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday except the Niagara Falls Supercentre on Oakwood Drive, which is open between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on those days.

Alcohol

The Beer Store: All stores will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

LCBO: All stores will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

More on Canada

Wine Rack: Most Hamilton locations will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday except for the Wilson Street West location in Ancaster and the Guelph Line outlet in Burlington.

Wilson Street will be open Noon to 5 p.m. on Good Friday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Guelph Line will open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Sunday.

Tourist destinations

Niagara Falls: Some Niagara Falls attractions are closed during the early spring, including the Whirlpool Aero Car and Wildplay Whirlpool Adventure Course, and the White Water Walk.

However, some, like the Niagara City Cruises, Journey Behind the Falls, Niagara Falls History Museum and The Exchange, and the Niagara Power Station are open and will be operating on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Hours of operation can be seen on the Niagara Parks website.

The Butterfly Conservatory will be open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Toronto: Most Toronto attractions are either closed or have adjusted hours on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

  • The Hockey Hall of Fame will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • The Toronto Zoo will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • The Ontario Science Centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Ripley’s Aquarium will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
  • The Art Gallery of Ontario will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • The Royal Ontario Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • The Aga Khan Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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CRA pausing new 'bare trust' reporting requirement just days before filing deadline – CBC News

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The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is hitting pause on a new “bare trust” reporting requirement with just a few days remaining before the deadline.

New reporting requirements for such trust arrangements were introduced for the 2024 tax season. Anyone with a bare trust was required to file a T3 tax return form naming the trustees, beneficiaries and settlors of each trust by April 2.

But on Thursday — with four days before the deadline to file — the CRA announced that it would be pausing the reporting measures.

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“In recognition that the new reporting requirements for bare trusts have had an unintended impact on Canadians, the Canada Revenue Agency will not require bare trusts to file a T3 … for the 2023 tax year, unless the CRA makes a direct request for these filings,” a statement released by the tax agency said.

John Oakey, a vice president with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, said the government hasn’t done a great job of communicating the changes.

“There’s no advertising from the government saying these are coming. You don’t see an ad on the television. You don’t see ads in magazines,” he said.

“The only way that individuals are really finding out is from advisers, financial institutions … people that are already aware of these rules.”

No definition of ‘bare trust’ in Income Tax Act

There is no definition of a bare trust in the Income Tax Act. The CRA defines a bare trust as “arrangement under which the trustee can reasonably be considered to act as agent for all the beneficiaries under the trust with respect to all dealings with all of the trust’s property.”

Unlike express trusts, where people seek out a lawyer to create a trust, bare trusts can happen almost accidentally — when a parent cosigns a mortgage for a child and becomes partial owner, or when an aging parent puts their kids down as partial owners of their house in anticipation of an impending death.

Oakey said a bare trust could also be something as simple as a shared bank account.

“If I put my name on [my parents’] bank account in order to help them pay their bills, that creates a trust relationship,” he said.

“I have no real control over the asset. I still have to adhere to their wishes. All I’m doing is acting as an agent on their behalf to do whatever they want me to do.”

In those cases, the bare trust does not earn any money for the trustee to report in a given tax year.

Even though Canadians wouldn’t have been taxed on a trust’s value, failure to report being a member of a bare trust could have resulted in a fine of $2,500, or five per cent of the value of all property in the trust, whichever is higher.

The requirement was meant as a way to crack down on tax avoidance. Corporations and wealthy individuals sometimes hold properties in bare trusts so they can avoid paying property transfer taxes. Oakey said the move was also likely an effort to crack down on money laundering.

The CRA said it would be working to “to further clarify its guidance on this filing requirement” over the coming months.

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Economy grows more than expected, keeping the Bank of Canada 'on its toes' – Financial Post

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January GDP strongest monthly growth in a year

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The Canadian economy surprised to the upside in January, posting its strongest monthly growth in a year, which could keep the Bank of Canada “on its toes,” say economists.

Real gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of goods and services produced during a specific time frame, edged up by 0.6 per cent in January, according to Statistics Canada, beating analysts’ expectations of 0.4 per cent. The agency also expects a 0.4 per cent rise in GDP during February.

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“To put that two-month flurry of growth into perspective, the combined one per cent gain is as much as the economy grew in the entire 12 months of 2023,” Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter said in a note. “After a prolonged lull through much of last year … the economy looks to have caught some strong tailwinds early this year.”

GDP
Financial Post

The rise in GDP was due to broad-based growth in 18 of the 20 sectors measured by Statistics Canada.

The public sector, which includes education, health care and social assistance and public administration, increased 1.9 per cent in January, following two consecutive monthly declines. Education, which grew by six per cent, was the largest contributor to the country’s growth as activity rebounded from strikes by public sector workers in Quebec late last year.

Manufacturing fully recouped December’s decline in growth with a 0.9 per cent rise in January. A sudden drop in temperature in mid-January in parts of Canada contributed to increased activity in the utilities sector, which rose by 3.2 per cent, its highest growth rate since January 2022.

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The real estate and rental sector grew for a third consecutive month — by 0.4 per cent — on higher resale activity. The Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton-Burlington and most markets in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe contributed to the growth.

The information and cultural services sector, which includes the motion picture and sound recording industry, also grew for the third consecutive month, as activity continued to ramp up following the end of a strike by the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in November.

These “robust” figures could pose a difficult challenge for the Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank economist Marc Ercolao said in a note.

While the central bank has received “solid evidence” in the past two months that inflation is cooperating, “strong GDP data prints” such as today’s will “keep them on their toes,” said Ercolao, who expects the first interest rate cut to take place in July.

On the labour front, Statistics Canada said there were 632,100 job vacancies in January, down 34,800, or 5.2 per cent, from November. Vacancies in the manufacturing sector declined by 10.2 per cent to 37,500, the lowest level since September 2017.

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Monthly payroll increases were recorded in 13 of 20 sectors, led by retail trade, manufacturing and finance. But these gains were offset by a 0.3 per cent decline in construction.

The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employers, as measured by payroll employment, rose for the first time in the retail trade after four consecutive monthly declines.

Despite the strong start to the year, some economists expressed caution, especially regarding February’s GDP estimate.

Claire Fan, an economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, said the “substantially stronger-than-expected” numbers are partially driven by one-off factors such as the ending of the Quebec teachers’ strike, so growth isn’t likely to be sustained in the coming months.

“We’ve learned to take the advance estimates (February) with a grain of salt as they have been highly revision prone,” she said, while retaining RBC’s assessment of a weak economic backdrop.

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    How to fix Canada’s poor productivity performance

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BMO’s Porter said Canada experienced something similar last year when GDP stalled after a strong start to the year.

“There could be a serious issue with seasonality here, especially in light of much milder winters recently,” he said.

Despite the increase in GDP, most economists have stuck to their previous predictions that June will be when the Bank of Canada issues its initial interest rate cut.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com

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