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VIENNA — Major oil exporting countries started meeting in Vienna on Thursday amid speculation they are seeking to deepen output cuts as slowing global economic growth and abundant reserves put pressure on oil prices. 

The cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day from October 2018 levels were originally fixed in December last year and were already extended at the last meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum exporting Countries (OPEC) in July.

But Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadban on his arrival on Tuesday in Vienna suggested some members would push for output to be slashed by an additional 400,000 barrels per day.

Some observers say fresh production cuts and a boost to prices would suit Saudi Arabia as it tries to support the initial public offering (IPO) of its national oil company Aramco.

"I'm expecting a successful meeting," Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman told reporters as he arrived for his first OPEC gathering as Saudi oil minister. 

Other oil ministers were unusually tight-lipped as they arrived for the two-day meeting.

Earlier on Thursday, the Saudi prince — half-brother of the kingdom's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman — met Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, according to a statement by Russia's energy ministry.

Novak praised the two countries' "important existing dialogue" as the two men discussed their cooperation to control world oil prices with other OPEC countries and economic relations.

The big unknown in the run-up to the meetings has been the position of Russia.

The world's second-biggest producer, which since late 2016 has been part of the so-called OPEC+ grouping, admitted on Tuesday that it had missed its monthly target for cuts in November for the eighth time this year.

Iraq and Nigeria — Africa's biggest producer — have also regularly been exceeding their quotas.

'No climate 

change deniers' 

Ahead of Thursday's meeting, dozens of climate change activists gathered outside the OPEC headquarters in a silent protest, holding banners that read: "Burn injustice not oil" and "Fossil fuels have got to go".

OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo — who called climate change activists the "greatest threat" to the oil industry during the organisation's last meeting in July — received several of them, assuring that "there are no climate change deniers in OPEC".

"I'm happy that you are here and we will continue with our dialogue," he said. 

OPEC members may well be tempted to follow a cautious course by a forbidding global economic context.

The trade war with the US is acting as a drag on growth in China, normally an avid consumer of oil, while the European economy is also stagnating.

Moreover, the output of oil producers outside OPEC is breaking records: the US has been the world's biggest producer since 2018, Brazil and Canada have also increased output and others such as Norway are planning to do so.

According to the latest US estimates, the country's total domestic stocks now stand at an enormous 452 million barrels.

Analysts say that, taken together, these factors will leave OPEC little room for manoeuvre if it wants to fulfil its stated aim of securing "fair and stable prices for petroleum producers".

Prices have held relatively steady since the last OPEC meeting, with a barrel of Brent crude hovering around the $60 mark, apart from a spike in September sparked by attacks on Saudi oil installations.

While this is a comfortable price for the likes of Russia, whose 2019 budget is predicated on a price of around $42 a barrel, it is too low for countries such as Saudi Arabia.

On the eve of the summit, oil prices finished the day's trading on a high, with the European benchmark of Brent up by 3.6 per cent and its American equivalent WTI 4.2 per cent higher.

 Further cuts? 

Saudi Arabia has stayed within the quota it had been assigned under the current deal and in September urged its partners to do the same.

Meanwhile, the Aramco IPO has been delayed several times with the bidding period closing on Wednesday.

While investors have baulked at Aramco's valuation of around $1.7 trillion, this is still less than Saudi authorities were hoping for.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco said on Friday that applications from private investors for its planned stock market offering had been oversubscribed.

The much-delayed initial public offering (IPO), first announced in 2016, is a cornerstone of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's ambitious plan to diversify the Gulf state's oil-reliant economy.

The IPO could exceed the world's biggest to date — the $25 billion float of Chinese retail giant Alibaba in 2014.

On November 17, Saudi Aramco said it would sell 1.5 per cent of the company in an initial public offering worth $24-25.6 billion.

"Retail subscriptions, which concluded last night, reached 47,411,624,960 Saudi riyals" ($12.6 billion, 11.5 billion euros), with almost five million subscribers for nearly 1.5 billion shares, Friday's statement said.

Aramco had said it would reserve a portion of the IPO's shares for institutional investors, including foreign companies, and individual investors, Saudi citizens and Gulf states.

A maximum of 0.5 per cent of the 200 billion shares will go to individual investors, the statement said.

It said subscriptions and bids during the first 12 days of the offer period totalled more than 166 billion riyals ($44.3 billion, 40.2 billion euros).

The statement quoted Rania Nashar, deputy chairman of Samba Capital, as saying the high turnout and subscription rates was "a source of pride, an indication of success and a signal of confidence".

Institutional bids received during the first 12 days of the book-building period, which continues until December 4, now stand at more than 118 billion riyals ($31.5 billion, 28.6 billion euros), Aramco said.

Saudi Arabia is pulling out all the stops to ensure the success of the IPO, a crucial part of Prince Mohammed's plan to wean the economy away from oil by pumping funds into megaprojects and non-energy industries.

The economic jewel of Saudi Arabia produces about 10 per cent of the world's oil and is considered the pillar of the kingdom's economic and social stability.

BEIJING — China’s November factory activity rebounded for the first time in seven months, data showed on Saturday, despite the looming threat of fresh US tariffs within weeks if Beijing and Washington fail to sign a partial trade deal.

The closely watched Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a key gauge of activity in the country’s factories, rose to 50.2 in November, up from 49.3 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The reading is slightly above the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction every month.

A sub-index of new export orders climbed to a 7-month high at 48.8, but was still in contraction as demand wanes for China’s exports abroad.

Ting Lu, chief China economist at investment bank Nomura, says “the blip” of a rise in the official manufacturing PMI does not signify a recovery in the economy.

“The jump of manufacturing PMI from 49.2 in February to 50.5 in March this year made the whole market very excited about a strong recovery, but it turned out to be an illusion,” said Lu.

“This time is no different.”

The reading comes as Beijing and Washington edge towards a partial deal to a trade war that has dragged on for nearly 20 months.

Top US and Chinese negotiators held phone talks on Tuesday and agreed to keep in touch over “remaining issues” for a “phase one” trade deal between the two countries, Chinese state media said.

The two sides have slapped tariffs on nearly half-a-trillion dollars worth of goods in two way trade, and US President Donald Trump is threatening fresh tariffs in mid-December if there was no mini-deal.

Beijing has also implemented a number of measures to stimulate the economy, which expanded at its slowest pace in nearly three decades in the third quarter.

People’s Bank of China trimmed the interest rate it charges on funding to commercial lenders last week, to boost lending to credit-starved parts of the economy.

BEIRUT — An international oil trader is suing a Lebanese bank in the United States over failing to release $1 billion in deposits, court documents showed, charges the banking institution denied on Thursday.

IMMS has filed a suit against BankMed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York over the "brazen theft of more than $1 billion", according to court documents dated November 22 and seen by AFP.

The lawsuit comes as Lebanon grapples with widespread anti-government protests since October 17, a free-falling economy, and an escalating liquidity crisis.

The oil trader, which is incorporated in Belize, said it asked to withdraw its money on November 8, and received no response for several days, according to the court documents.

It said the bank on November 12 informed it that it was terminating overdraft and letter of credit facilities due to "the prevailing circumstances and to the material adverse change in the economic condition of Lebanon and the Lebanese financial markets".

BankMed on Thursday strongly denied the allegations.

"The $1 billion deposit is a blocked deposit by instructions of IMMS maturing in about 2 years from now," it said.

"Between October 30 and November 12, 2019, BankMed discovered material breaches of contract and attempts by IMMS to direct funds due to BankMed overseas," it said.

"BankMed opposed such attempts by IMMS and took appropriate actions."

It said the banking contract was subject to Lebanese law and that it would submit its response to a court hearing in Beirut next month, without giving a specific date.

BankMed is chaired by Mohammed Hariri, a cousin of outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri's late father Rafik.

Nazek Hariri, the widow of the embattled premier's father, sits on the bank's board of directors — as does the current interior minister, Raya Al Hassan.

Since September, debt-saddled Lebanon has had a liquidity crisis, with banks rationing the withdrawal of dollars.

The exchange rate in the parallel market has shot up from the pegged rate of 1,507 pounds to a dollar to more than 2,000.

SAINT PETERSBURG — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday opened what has been billed as Russia’s first modern motorway, almost halving the driving time between the two biggest cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

The “Neva” toll road, running 669 kilometres and named after Saint Petersburg’s main river, is Russia’s first long-distance toll road.

It boasts no traffic lights and a higher maximum speed limit of 130 kilometres per hour versus 110kph on other roads.

“We’ve never had anything like this in our country’s history, in the history of road construction,” said Putin, who grew up in Saint Petersburg. “Now we do.”

National media reported that the five-and-a-half to six-hour drive will beat most commuter trains for the first time.

“I used to take the old road, the M10, it took 10 hours,” Putin said. Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh added: “And that was the best case scenario”.

“You can really drive it in six hours,” said state-owned daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta after a test drive.

Putin, nevertheless, flew to the city, local media noted.

High-speed trains between the cities are still quicker, at around four hours but are relatively expensive.

The new motorway toll costs up to 2,020 rubles ($32) per car.

First mooted in 2006, construction reportedly cost 495 billion rubles ($7.7 billion), including private investment.

French group Vinci took part in the project in a consortium with Russia’s VTB Bank.

SAN FRANCISCO — Google on Monday fired four employees on the grounds they violated data security policies, prompting ire among colleagues concerned it was retaliation for worker organising.

One of the workers fired was connected to a petition against Google working with the US immigration and border patrol agency. She confirmed her firing in a message posted on Twitter.

A memo to employees titled “Securing our data” sought to correct what it contended was misinformation about the purported wrongdoing, saying it involved “systematic searches for other employees’ materials and work”, according to reports by US media.

Google, the money-making engine of parent company Alphabet, confirmed a copy of the note published by Bloomberg but declined to comment further.

However, a Medium account connected to a massive walkout by Google employees last year argued that the four workers were fired in an attempt to crush efforts to organise staff.

“Four of our colleagues took a stand and organised for a better workplace,” read the post by Google Walkout for Real Change.

“When they did, Google retaliated against them.”

Authors of the post contended that Google policies on data security were tightened to provide cover for getting rid of workers involved in efforts to unionise.

“They think this will crush our efforts, but it won’t,” the Medium post said.

“One of the most powerful companies in the world wouldn’t be retaliating against us if collective action didn’t work.”

The Google workplace long seen as a blend of fun, good-will and free food has been disrupted by employee opposition to top-level decisions ranging from making contracts with the military to tailoring a version of the search engine for China and the handling of sexual misconduct allegations.

Google employees poured out of buildings at the company’s Mountain View campus a year ago, filling courtyards and patios in solidarity with co-workers who staged similar demonstrations at offices in countries around the world to protest the company’s handling of sexual misconduct.

LONDON — London's transport authority on Monday refused to renew an operating licence for ride-hailing giant Uber because of safety and security concerns.

"Transport for London [TfL] has concluded that it will not grant Uber London Limited [Uber] a new private hire operator's licence in response to its latest application," it said in a statement.

The American giant, which has 3.5 million customers and 50,000 drivers in London, described the move as "wrong" and added that it will appeal.

The TfL rejection is the latest set-back to the firm's London operation, which has suffered previous licence suspensions in addition to protests from traditional black cab drivers.

In September, Uber was granted a two-month extension to its licence following the expiry of a previous 15-month agreement. The extension was conditional on passenger safety improvements.

'Pattern of failures' 

TfL on Monday said there were a "pattern of failures", including the use of unauthorised drivers on other drivers' accounts, allowing them to pick up passengers.

The transport authority said this happened at least 14,000 times, endangering users, as it invalidated insurance. Some trips took place with unlicensed, suspended or dismissed drivers.

TfL said it recognised steps the company had taken to address such issues but was concerned about the ease with which its checks and balances could be manipulated.

"Despite addressing some of these issues, TfL does not have confidence that similar issues will not reoccur in the future, which has led it to conclude that the company is not fit and proper at this time," said the transport body charged with regulating the capital's taxi services.

Uber has 21 days to appeal, during which time it can continue to operate.

"We think this decision is wrong and we will appeal," Uber said in a brief statement emailed to all of its customers.

"You and the 3.5 million riders who rely on Uber can continue to use the app as normal. We remain 100 percent committed to your safety."

Uber would have to demonstrate on appeal that it has put in place sufficient measures to eliminate risks to passengers.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan insisted companies needed to play by the rules.

"Keeping Londoners safe is my absolute number-one priority, and TfL have identified a pattern of failure by Uber that has directly put passengers' safety at risk.

"I know this decision may be unpopular with Uber users, but their safety is the paramount concern."

Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, welcomed the announcement and called for a level-playing field to allow traditional taxi services to compete.

"There remains fundamental problems in the way the company operates, particularly issues around passenger safety," said Unite official Jim Kelly."Uber's DNA is about driving down standards and creating a race to the bottom which is not in the best interests of professional drivers or customers."

'Hammer blow' to drivers 

However, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain — which represents gig economy workers — criticised TfL's decision.

"The mayor's decision to once again deny Uber a license will come as a hammer blow to its 50,000 drivers working under precarious conditions," said James Farrar, chair of the union's United Private Hire Drivers branch.

"We are asking for an urgent meeting with the mayor to discuss what mitigation plan can now be put in place to protect Uber drivers."

PARIS — Two French environmental NGOs and a union group on Sunday slammed the environmental impact of Amazon, vowing to disrupt its “Black Friday” sale campaign later this week.

The NGOs Attac and les Amis de la Terre, as well as the Solidaires association of unions, said in a report that the “world according to Amazon is not sustainable”.

But Amazon said in a statement to AFP that it rejected the “erroneous” information put forward by the groups, saying their report contained numerous factual errors and speculation lacking foundation.

The three groups pledged to turn the upcoming Black Friday on November 29 into a “Black Day for Amazon” by staging dozens of demonstrations across France to protest the policies of the company.

There were no details on the nature of the demos but Attac has in the past staged unannounced protests outside Amazon facilities.

Their statement accused Amazon of increasing greenhouse gas emissions through rapid delivery services, of destroying unsold products and showing a lack of transparency in its carbon budget.

Putting together information from all the three groups, it accused Amazon of being responsible for 55.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of all the emissions of Portugal.

Meanwhile, the report claimed that Amazon’s practices involved “considerable waste”, with some three million new products destroyed by Amazon in France alone in 2018.

It also charged that Amazon worldwide hired people on insecure, short term contracts, meaning that “for every job created by Amazon, two are destroyed”.

The groups also accused Amazon — which has its European headquarters in Luxembourg, of tax avoidance, an issue which has already seen the company in the crosshairs of the French authorities.

The report alleged Amazon hid 57 per cent of its sales in France, a charge denied by the company.

The French parliament earlier this year defied US anger to pass a law taxing companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook or Apple for revenues accrued in the country, even if they are not based there.