Business

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Oil supplies were sufficient and stockpiles were still rising despite massive output drops from Iran and Venezuela, said OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and key producer UAE on Sunday, as oil exporters met in Jeddah. 

Producer nations gathered to discuss how to stabilise a volatile oil market amid rising US-Iran tensions in the Gulf, which threaten to disrupt global supply.

But "we see that [oil] inventories are rising and supplies are plenty," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih told reporters at the start the meeting.

"None of us wants to see the [oil] stocks swell again," he added, with reference to a supply surplus that sent prices sharply lower in the second half of last year.

"We have to be cautious," Falih said.

The UAE's energy minister said there was no need to relax a deal by the OPEC+ group of oil exporting countries to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day to support prices.

"We have seen inventory building. I don't think it makes sense" to alter the existing deal, said Suheil Al Mazrouei.

The meeting comes days after sabotage attacks against tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters and the bombing of a Saudi pipeline — the latter claimed by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels.

But Falih reiterated on Sunday that the kingdom's oil installations were well protected. 

"We have strong [oil] industry security," he told reporters.

"Everybody is vulnerable to extreme acts of sabotage."

The meeting also comes as the full impact of reinstated US sanctions against Tehran kick in, slashing the Islamic republic's crude exports.

 Iran exports tumble 

But Iran — which did not send a representative to the meeting — was still expected to dominate the one-day meeting of the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations.

The meeting is set to conclude by making recommendations for a key summit of oil producers in late June, to be attended by Iran.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it was "premature" to talk about extending the deal, according to Interfax news agency.

Massive drops in exports by Iran and Venezuela come alongside output cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day implemented by the OPEC+ group since January.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said earlier this month that global oil supply fell in April due to the effect of US sanctions on Iran and the OPEC+ production cuts.

The IEA said Iranian crude production fell in April to 2.6 million bpd.

Iran's output is already at its lowest level in over five years, but could tumble in May to levels not seen since the devastating 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Energy intelligence firm Kpler sees Iranian exports plunging from 1.4 million bpd in April to around half a million bpd in May — down from 2.5 million in normal circumstances.

Venezuela's output — also subject to US export sanctions — is also tumbling, down by over half since the third quarter of last year.

Kpler data shows OPEC+ members have kept to agreed production cuts.

But exporters fear a rush to raise production to plug the gap left by Iranian exports could backfire, triggering a new supply glut.

BASRA, Iraq/DUBAI — Exxon Mobil has evacuated all of its foreign staff from Iraq’s West Qurna One oilfield and is flying them out to Dubai, a senior Iraqi official and three other sources told Reuters on Saturday.

Production at the oilfield was not affected by the evacuation and work is continuing normally, overseen by Iraqi engineers, state-owned South Oil Company chief Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said, adding that production remains at 440,000 barrels per day (bpd).

“Exxon Mobil’s evacuation is a precautionary and temporary measure. We have no indication over any dangers, the situation is secure and very stable at the oilfield which is running at full capacity and producing 440,000 bpd,” he said.

“The foreign engineers will provide advice and perform their duties from the company’s Dubai offices and we have no concerns at all,” Jabbar said, adding that production is managed by Iraqi engineers and the foreign staff were there mainly as advisers.

The United States on Wednesday pulled non-emergency staff members from its embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad out of apparent concern about perceived threats from neighbouring Iran.

Exxon Mobil’s staff were evacuated in several phases late on Friday and early on Saturday, either straight to Dubai or to the main camp housing foreign oil company employees in Basra province.

Those in the camp were en route to the airport on Saturday morning, sources — including an employee at a security company contracted by Exxon, Iraqi oil officials, and a staff member of a foreign oil company — said.

“Last night, 28 employees were evacuated to the airport and the rest were sent to the camp. This morning they were evacuated to the airport and no [foreign] staff remain in the field,” said a private security company official who oversaw the evacuation.

Days of sabre rattling between Washington and Tehran have heightened tensions in the region amid concerns about a potential US-Iran conflict. 

Washington has increased economic sanctions and built up its military presence in the region, accusing Iran of threats to US troops and interests. Tehran has described those steps as “psychological warfare” and a “political game”.

Separately, Abdul Jabbar said that Iraq’s oil exports from its southern ports had reached 3.5 million bpd by Saturday.

LONDON — Stock markets rose on Thursday after recent volatility as investors weighed hopes for US-China trade talks against President Donald Trump's telecoms equipment ban that was seen as a kick against Beijing.

Trump has issued an executive order, citing national security grounds, that effectively bars Chinese giant Huawei from the US market.

Huawei was also added to a list that would make it much harder for the Chinese firm to access crucial US components, a move likely to ramp up tensions with Beijing as the two economic titans engage in a drawn-out trade war that threatens global business activity.

European stocks showed modest rises by the mid-afternoon, with Frankfurt's Dax index the standout, while on Wall Street the Dow was just over 100 points higher shortly after the opening bell.

 'Quite a couple of weeks' 

"It's been quite the couple of weeks on the trade war front," noted Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group. 

"We've gone from a deal being close to done, to talks collapsing and tariffs imposed and now Trump seeking to alleviate market concerns."

The Trump administration has for months tried to persuade allies not to allow China a role in building next-generation 5G mobile networks, warning that doing so would result in restrictions on sharing of information with the United States.

The announcement comes after the US last week hiked tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, to which Beijing retaliated in kind, fanning fears their the trade war — which seemed all but over just weeks ago — could instead worsen.

In Hong Kong on Thursday, the main stocks index ended flat, although ZTE — another Chinese telecoms equipment provider — shed more than 6 per cent. Shanghai closed 0.6 per cent higher.

On foreign exchange markets, the dollar recovered some losses triggered by speculation that the Federal Reserve (Fed) could cut US interest rates to fend off the effects of the trade war and slowing economic growth.

Just months ago, some commentators had forecast up to three US rate hikes this year.

"Depending on how long this standoff with China lasts, that impacts growth for longer and might force the Fed's hand," Esty Dwek, at Natixis Investment Managers, told Bloomberg TV.

"I wouldn't expect any big change in the short term, but the possibility of a cut much later in the year has risen."

UniHouse, a British education and development consultancy company operating worldwide with offices based in Amman, has been working with major international oil companies in Iraq to encourage employee education and skills development in the oil & gas sector.

In continued support for the Iraqi capacity building of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, a senior delegation from the ministry has visited UniHouse’s Amman office to discuss the execution of current programmes for training and capacity building. Mr. Khalid Hamzah Abbas, Assistant Director-General for Licensing and Social Benefits, Mr. Jawad Kadhim Al-Hilfi, Head of Administrative Division, and Mr. Ismael Abdulkareem Mohammed, Head of Contracts and Procurement Division have discussed current and future programs with UniHouse’s academic team in the Middle East for technical training and scholarship management services. Basra Oil Company (BOC) is the employer of BP, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and State Organization for Oil Marketing. An Integrated Training Center with City and Guilds accreditation, in addition to the UK academic programme, were the main key development areas of discussions.

Further development and encouragement of employer-sponsored education programs has the potential to enhance educational opportunities for local professionals, and further develop positive relationships between corporations and the local community.

European shares gained on Tuesday, recovering most of the previous session's losses, as optimistic comments from Washington and Beijing helped soothed investors' fears about the top two economies' intensifying trade spat.

US President Donald Trump said he had an "extraordinary" relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and trade talks had not yet collapsed.

Earlier in the day, China said it agreed to continue talks on trade.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed 1 per cent, lifting off Monday's two-month low which came after China slapped retaliatory tariffs on US goods, spurring investors into scaling back risky bets as they fled to safer shores.

 Robert Griffiths, equity strategist at Credit Suisse, said he believed Trump would not be willing to risk the effect a second round of tariffs would have on the US economy, thus leaving scope for a de-escalation.
Germany's trade-sensitive DAX and London-listed equities tacked on 1 per cent, while French stocks gained 1.5 per cent.

Trade sensitive European auto and tech stocks bounced 2.2 per cent and 1.2 per cent each, after being caught at the heart of Monday's selloff, at which point the STOXX 600 had outperformed the S&P 500.

Lukas Daalder, BlackRock's chief investment strategist for the Netherlands, said hopes the eurozone economy is through the worst and bottoming out, relatively low valuations and optimism around a US-China deal will soon be brokered were helping fuel the gains.

However, the STOXX 600 is down 3.8 per cent this month, set for its biggest monthly loss since December.

Among auto stocks, Ferrari added 3.3 per cent, leading the sector index's rise. On the other hand, Renault tempered sector gains, falling 2.3 per cent.

The French carmaker's Japanese partner, Nissan Motor Co., flagged its weakest annual profit in more than a decade.

Banks rose 0.9 per cent, with Commerzbank up 4.3 per cent after Reuters reported UniCredit had stepped up preparations for a potential bid for the German lender.

Unicredit shares fell 1.7 per cent, on a day when Italian banks' shares were pressured due to their holdings of the country's sovereign bonds.

Italian cable maker Prysmian and German pharma group Evotec climbed 7.5 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, on positive earnings updates.

Vodafone slid after a dividend cut, walking back on a pledge to maintain one of the biggest payouts in Britain, so it can build 5G networks and complete its looming acquisition of Liberty Global assets.

LONDON — Global equities fell on Monday after their worst week of 2019, as hopes of an imminent US-China trade deal were crushed and neither side showed a willingness to budge, raising fears of a fresh round of tit-for-tat tariffs.

The United States and China appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday as Washington demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and Beijing said it would not swallow any “bitter fruit” that harmed its interests.

“Looks like we are just slowly ebbing away. More Tweets from Trump over the weekend stoking the fires for a trade war,” said John Woolfitt at London-based Atlantic Markets.

The impasse left investors bracing for threatened retaliation by China for Washington’s tariff increase on Friday on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The move followed accusations by US President Donald Trump that Beijing had reneged on earlier commitments.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.7 per cent while S&P 500 futures shed 1.3 per cent.

Chinese shares tumbled, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 shedding 1.2 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, while Hong Kong’s financial markets were closed for a holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei average sank as much as 1 per cent to hit its lowest level since March 28, before closing down 0.7 per cent.

“How far this escalates is what the market is really worried about as we haven’t really got full details of what the US will do and how China will retaliate. The important thing is what’s the impact on growth, and that’s what the market is really fearing,” said Justin Oneukwusi, portfolio manager at Legal & General Investment Management.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told the “Fox News Sunday” programme that China needed to agree to “very strong” enforcement provisions to secure a deal. He said the sticking point was Beijing’s reluctance to put into law changes that had been agreed.

Kudlow said US tariffs would remain in place while negotiations continued and there was a strong possibility that Trump would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G-20 summit in Japan in late June.

“The risk of a full-blown trade war has materially increased, even though both sides seem to still want a trade deal and talks are expected to continue,” UBS economist Tao Wang said.

Washington said it was preparing to raise tariffs on all remaining imports from China, worth approximately $300 billion.

“Our base case is for limited progress and Chinese retaliation,” said Michael Hanson, head of global macro strategy at TD Securities.

The offshore Chinese yuan fell to its lowest levels in more than four months at 6.90 to the dollar.

Major currencies were relatively calm with the euro steady at $1.1230, while the dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies at 97.324.

The US Treasury bond yield curve between three-month and 10-year rates inverted on Monday for the second time in a week, with the 10-year yield now standing 0.0025 per cent above the shorter-maturity bill.

Viewed as a classic warning signal of a looming US recession, the curve inverted last Thursday for the first time since March.

The US curve has inverted before each recession in the past 50 years. It offered a false signal just once in that time.

“Overall in the short term the chances of recession have increased,” Legal & General’s Oneukwusi said.

The trade war hit emerging market stocks, which were down 0.7 per cent, hovering near January lows.

JPMorgan said it had reduced its emerging markets risk for the second time in as many months on Monday following the set-back in US-China trade talks.

In commodities, oil futures rose on increasing concerns about supply disruptions in the crucial producing region of the Middle East. Brent crude futures rose 0.5 per cent to $71.00 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate futures were up marginally at $61.73 per barrel.

In digital currencies, Bitcoin continued to move higher, holding onto gains over weekend. Bitcoin jumped more than 10 per cent on Saturday and marked a nine-month high of $7,585.00 on Sunday.

FRANKFURT —  Bayer said on Sunday it was hiring an external law firm to investigate French media complaints that Monsanto, the US seed maker it took over last year, had compiled a file of influential personalities.

The German life sciences and pharmaceuticals group said that, following an internal review, it understood that this initiative had raised concerns and criticism.

"This is not the way Bayer seeks dialogue with society and stakeholders. We apologise for this behaviour," Bayer said in a statement. It added, however, that there was no indication that compiling the lists was illegal.

French prosecutors opened an inquiry on Friday after newspaper Le Monde filed a complaint alleging that Monsanto had compiled a file of 200 names, including journalists and lawmakers, in the hope of influencing their positions on pesticides.

The French investigation is the latest fallout from Bayer's $63 billion takeover of Monsanto. It already faces potentially heavy costs from US class-action lawsuits in which plaintiffs argue that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.

Bayer shares have shed more than 40 per cent since a first adverse US judgment on Roundup last August, leaving the company with a market capitalisation smaller than the price it paid for Monsanto.

Shareholders delivered a rare rebuke to CEO Werner Baumann's management team at Bayer's annual general meeting last month, with a majority voting against ratifying the executive board's business conduct in 2018.

Commenting on the French allegations, Bayer said its law firm would inform all of the individuals on the Monsanto list about the information collected about them. Bayer would also "fully support" the French prosecutor's investigation.

Matthias Berninger, Bayer's new head of public and government affairs, would evaluate the matter internally and assess the behaviour of people involved, both inside and outside the company.

"Our highest priority is to create transparency," Bayer said, adding that the Monsanto manager responsible for the issue had left the company soon after the takeover.

"Bayer stands for openness and fair dealings with all interest groups," it added.

"We do not tolerate unethical behaviour in our company. Of course, this also applies to data protection regulations in all jurisdictions in which we operate."

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump cranked up the heat in a trade battle with China on Friday, ordering a tariff hike on almost all remaining imports from the world’s second-biggest economy, but Beijing said talks would continue to resolve the row.

After Tweeting that two days of trade talks in Washington had been “candid and constructive”, the businessman-turned-politician changed tack and followed through on a threat he had been making for months.

“The president... ordered us to begin the process of raising tariffs on essentially all remaining imports from China, which are valued at approximately $300 billion,” US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement.

The move came less than 24 hours after Washington increased punitive duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, raising them to 25 per cent from 10 per cent, days after the Trump administration accused Beijing of reneging on its commitments.

Details on the process for public notice and comment will be posted on Monday, ahead of a final decision on the new tariffs, Lighthizer said. They were not expected to go into effect for several months.

China’s top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, had warned earlier that Beijing “must respond” to any US tariffs.

The developments came as two days of talks to resolve the trade battle ended on Friday with no deal, but no immediate breakdown either, offering a glimmer of hope that Washington and Beijing could find a way to avert damage to the global economy.

“Over the course of the past two days, the United States and China have held candid and constructive conversations on the status of the trade relationship between both countries,” Trump Tweeted. 

“The relationship between President Xi [Jinping] and myself remains a very strong one, and conversations into the future will continue.”

The tariffs on China “may or may not be removed depending on what happens with respect to future negotiations!”

Three disagreements 

Liu told reporters the talks had been “productive” and said the two sides would meet again in Beijing at an unspecified date, but he warned that China would make no concessions on “important principles”.

“Negotiations have not broken down, but rather on the contrary, this is only a normal twist in the negotiations between the two countries, it is inevitable,” Liu said.

The seemingly positive messages — coming before the announcement that Trump had ordered the latest round of tariffs — had cheered Wall Street with shares rising after being under pressure all week. 

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Lighthizer met for about two hours with Liu on Friday and then headed for the White House to brief Trump, who had said he was in no hurry to reach a deal, arguing the United States was negotiating from a position of strength.

“We have a consensus in lots of areas but to speak frankly there are areas we have differences on, and we believe these concern big principles,” Liu said.

Liu pointed to three major areas of disagreement: whether to cancel all trade war tariffs when an agreement is reached, the exact size of Chinese purchases of US goods, and a “balanced” agreement text.

“Any country needs its own dignity, so the text must be balanced,” Liu said.

Liu and his backer Xi cannot be seen as giving in too much with trade concessions to the US in fear of triggering comparisons to past “unequal treaties” forced on China in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

“Every country has important principles, and we will not make concessions on matters of principle,” Liu said.

‘Darkness before dawn’ 

Yang Delong, chief economist at First Seafront Fund Management in Shanghai, told AFP that the “sudden hardening” of Trump’s tone is likely linked to the 2020 US presidential election.

“The US hopes China will make greater concessions in many areas, these concessions might harm a foundation of our economic development or impact our institutional reform,” Yang said.

“When it comes to core interests China is not able to yield,” he said.

Washington is pressing China to change its policies on protections for intellectual property, as well as massive subsidies for state-owned firms, and to reduce the yawning trade deficit.

After weeks of rising optimism about the chances for an agreement, the tone out of the White House has veered from anger to nonchalance.

In a series of early morning Tweets Friday, Trump said there was “absolutely no need to rush” towards a deal.

The US leader continues to argue that tariffs could in some ways be preferable to reaching a trade deal.

“Tariffs will bring in FAR MORE wealth to our country than even a phenomenal deal of the traditional kind,” Trump wrote.

Since last year the United States and China have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade, weighing on both countries’ economies.

Economists stress that duties are paid by US companies and consumers and result in higher prices, while farmers and manufacturers complain about the loss of markets for their exports due to retaliation from China.

Liu compared the negotiations to a marathon: “when you get to the last stage it is comparatively the hardest stage, now we need to hold on, it is the darkness before dawn.”

MILAN — UniCredit, the Italian lender at the centre of speculation about consolidation in the European banking sector, on Thursday said its net profit rose in the first quarter and that it would strive to clean up its balance sheet.

Net profit jumped by nearly a quarter to 1.38 billion euros ($1.54 billion), beating the analyst consensus. 

Net profit was boosted by so-called exceptional items, such as the sale of property assets and releasing of provisions after it agreed last month to pay $1.3 billion to settle US allegations that it processed payments that violated US sanctions on Iran and other countries.

But ING credit analyst Suvi Platerink Kosonen said "the profit improvement was driven by the cost side as operating cost were down by 4 per cent year-on-year and loan loss provisions were per cent lower year-on-year".

Revenues slid 3 per cent to 4.95 billion due to a drop in commissions, but the result was better than analysts had expected.

The bank also raised its ratio of funds available to absorb possible losses, the fully-loaded CET1 ratio, to 12.25 per cent from 12.07 per cent at the end of last year.

UniCredit confirmed its targets for the year, in particular revenues of 19.8 billion, net profits of 4.7 billion and a CET1 ratio of between 12 and 12.5 per cent.

"This was the best first quarter results in a decade for the second time in a row, underpinning the success of our current strategic plan," chief executive Jean-Pierre Mustier was quoted as saying in the bank's earnings statement.

The bank also indicated it aimed to work on reducing its non-performing loans and reduce its holdings of Italian government debt.

CMC Market's UK analyst David Madden said "today's upbeat update might renew speculation about a possible tie-up between UniCredit and Commerzbank".

There has been media speculation that UniCredit could be interested in merging with Commerzbank after the German bank's failed tie-up attempt with Deutsche Bank.

In a call with analysts, Mustier declined to comment on what he called "rumours and speculation", but he did say that "mergers, especially mergers across borders, are very difficult to achieve". 

When Mustier took over the reins at UniCredit in 2016, he launched a vast reorganisation plan for the bank. It raised 13 billion from shareholders, sold off assets, cut costs and eliminated nearly 15,000 jobs as it closed over 900 branch offices.

UniCredit is due to unveil a new strategic plan later this year, but the reduction of its stake in online bank and trader Finecobank has already raised questions about which direction the lender intends to go.

"We want to understand the logic behind the sale of the Fineco stake, a gem which has brought us extremely high profits," said Riccardo Colombani, head of the First Cisl trade union. 

"We can't wait until December 3 to learn which transformations we should prepare ourselves for," he added.

UniCredit shares were trading 0.1 per cent higher nearing midday after having spent most of the morning lower. Milan's FTSE-Mib index was down nearly 0.8 per cent.

By Kate Holton and Joshua Franklin

LONDON/NEW YORK — Uber drivers in London and New York started a day of strikes on Wednesday to protest the disparity between gig-economy conditions and the sums that investors are likely to make in Friday’s blockbuster stock market debut.

Drivers and regulators around the world have long criticised the business tactics of Uber Technologies Inc., and the expected $90 billion valuation in its initial public offering on Friday is proving to be the latest flashpoint.

Unions in Britain said support for the strike was strong, with drivers staying at home and passengers using the #UberShutDown hashtag to pledge solidarity on social media. The Uber app indicated fares were higher in London during a rainy morning rush hour due to increased demand. 

“Stand with these workers on strike today, across the UK and the world,” said Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party. 

Drivers in London were due to log off the app between 7am and 4pm local time, before counterparts in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities joined in.

Uber has 3 million drivers globally, and it is not clear if the action would significantly slow service, although organisers have received widespread publicity.

Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi, hired to help move the company past a series of scandals and manage the IPO, has promised to treat drivers better. Uber is paying more than a million drivers about $300 million in one-time bonuses, for instance, and has changed policies such as allowing riders to tip.

“Whether it’s being able to track your earnings or stronger insurance protections, we’ll continue working to improve the experience for and with drivers,” the company said.

Under pressure

Uber has steadfastly, and mostly successfully, beaten back attempts to compel it to treat drivers as employees, arguing that its main business is a platform that brings riders and drivers together. Now, the money-losing company is under pressure to cut costs.

“It is the drivers who have created this extraordinary wealth but they continue to be denied even the most basic workplace rights,” said James Farrar, chair of Britain’s United Private Hire Drivers, calling for a “digital picket line”.

Many drivers want better pay from Uber rival Lyft Inc. as well.

“I’m striking because Uber has broken their promises to drivers time and again,” said Syed Ali, an Uber driver and member of the striking New York Taxi Workers Alliance, in a statement. “They have grown and grown and gotten richer and richer, but I haven’t grown with the company. My condition as an Uber driver has gotten worse and worse.”

It was not clear how many drivers were participating in the US strikes. US representatives for Uber and Lyft did not immediately respond to calls for comment early Wednesday.

Uber and Lyft have cut back on incentives and bonuses in more established markets to attract new drivers. They have also devised more complicated formulas for determining what riders pay and what drivers earn.

Both companies recently slashed the per-mile rate drivers earn in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and some drivers estimated a loss of 10 per cent to 20 per cent in earnings. Lyft said its hourly wages have risen over the last two years and average over $20 per hour.

The company and its critics are divided over how much drivers can make. Classified as independent contractors, they lack paid sick and vacation days and must pay their own expenses, such as car maintenance and gasoline.

Uber noted that a recent study whose authors included current and former Uber employees showed driver gross earnings averaged $21 an hour. But a study by left-leaning Washington think tank Economic Policy Institute calculated that after costs, Uber drivers earned $9.21 an hour.