Supplies from Russia's sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 plant curbed by lack of tankers, source says
LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - Russia's Arctic LNG 2 plant, currently under U.S. sanctions, has shut down its first production train because reservoirs are full in the absence of tankers to load, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Russia's Novatek <(NVTK.MM), opens new tab, which owns a 60% stake in the plant, did not respond to a request for comment.
Located on the Gydan peninsula that juts into the Kara Sea, the plant had been set to become one of Russia's largest LNG plants, with eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year between three trains.
Shortages of ice-class gas ships and Western sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine has left Novatek behind schedule for cargoes of the super-chilled gas.
Novatek has said that 15 Arc7 ice-class tankers to transport LNG from Arctic projects will be built at the Zvezda shipyard.
The source said on Friday that the first Arc7 from Zvezda is expected to be delivered to Russia's leading tanker group, Sovcomflot (FLOT.MM), opens new tab, between August and September.
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The Guardian
17 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump and Musk's marriage of convenience ended the only way possible for the pair
'Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy,' Donald Trump observed in the Oval Office on Thursday. 'They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don't want to be pulled. Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.' The US president was referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine but could just as easily have been talking about himself. On Thursday, to the surprise of no one, Trump's bromance with billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk exploded in a very public feud. While the president urged his supporters to 'fight, fight, fight' last summer after he survived an assassination attempt, now that mantra is evocative of children on a school playground urging Trump and Musk to go at each other. For political nerds this is like Alien v Predator, Batman v Superman and King Kong v Godzilla rolled into one. It was always going to end this way for two megalomaniacs devoted to fame, money and the far right, neither of whom is unaccustomed to a messy divorce. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives' judiciary committee, told reporters on Capitol Hill: 'I suppose it was in the stars. Everybody was predicting it when it first began. You've got two gentlemen with gargantuan egos and both appearing to suffer from malignant narcissistic personality disorder.' Trump-Musk had begun as the ultimate political marriage of convenience. Their interests converged last year when Musk saw in Trump a hammer against wokeness who could also benefit his businesses and help him reach Mars. The Tesla and SpaceX supremo leaped on stage with Trump, flooded the zone with Maga propaganda on his X social media platform and threw a record $277m behind his election campaign. The reward came with a seat among the oligarchs at Trump's inauguration, a seemingly permanent residency at Mar-a-Lago and a chainsaw in the form of the so-called 'department of government efficiency', or Doge. 'I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man,' proclaimed Musk, who lorded it over cabinet meetings and in the Oval Office. Trump returned the compliment by turning the White House south lawn into a showroom for Teslas. The pair were as inseparable – and destructive – as Laurel and Hardy pushing a piano up a flight of stairs. Then came last Friday's amicable but peculiar parting, where Musk sported a black eye, brushed off reports of rampant drug taking, praised Trump's tacky gold decor in the Oval Office and was presented with a commemorative gold key. Comedian Jon Stewart quipped: 'Doge has finally rooted out one of America's least efficient government workers and marked him for dismissal.' On Tuesday, Musk waited until the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, was at the podium before unleashing an X barrage. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore,' he wrote, describing a Trump-based tax and spending bill in Congress as 'a disgusting abomination'. He followed up with three days of nonstop posts eviscerating the bill and urging Republicans to reject it. It was the point of no return. The transactional Trump-Musk relationship was on its way to turning septic, sour and rancourous. There are multiple theories as to why. The trouble began in March when it emerged that Musk arranged private Pentagon briefings on China policy without White House knowledge, a significant conflict of interest due to Musk's business ties in China. Trump was especially annoyed to learn about the briefings through the media, and about the perceived notion that Musk was using his position for personal advantage. Second, when Trump travelled to the Middle East, Musk was reportedly piqued that his arch rival, Sam Altman of OpenAI, won a deal to build one of the world's biggest artificial intelligence data centres in Abu Dhabi. Musk worked behind the scenes to try to derail the deal if it did not include his own AI startup, according to the Wall Street Journal. Third, Musk was working at the White House as a 'special government employee', which is limited by law to 130 days; when Musk sought an extension, officials said no, perhaps because he had put so many backs up. Fourth, last Saturday Trump suddenly announced that he was cancelling the nomination of Musk ally Jared Isaacman to be the administrator of Nasa. And fifth, there was the 'big, beautiful bill', currently navigating Republicans in the Senate. Musk said in social media posts that it would increase the already massive budget deficit to $2.5tn, undermining his work at Doge. Notably, it would also the electric vehicle tax credit that helps carmakers including Tesla. On Thursday, after days of uncharacteristic self-restraint, Trump struck back. He told reporters he was 'surprised' and 'very disappointed' by Musk's critiques of the bill, adding wistfully: 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will any more.' Musk returned fire on social media, writing: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51–49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude.' He also agreed with a social media post that called for Trump to be impeached and removed from office. The president replied on his own platform, Truth Social, that he effectively fired Musk. 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' The mad men went nuclear. Trump threatened to cancel Musk's billions of dollars in government contracts, describing it as the easiest way to save money. Musk responded by linking Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: 'Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' The economic burden of Musk's government contracts and the Epstein files allegations were both true before the breakup, but neither man spoke up. Now they seem to have taken a truth serum and discovered a conscience. Raskin observed: 'They basically converged around a common platform of plunder and pillage of the American people and now both of them are telling the truth about the other. It's a happy moment for America that we can finally get to the bottom of things like the Jeffrey Epstein files and all of the billions of dollars of government contracts that Elon Musk has.' Mutually assured destruction? Musk could try to use X to mobilise opinion against Trump and his 'big, beautiful bill'. He could also try to exploit the government's dependence on him. His threat, which he later retracted, to cut off Nasa's use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft would be a huge blow to the space programme. The Pentagon and intelligence agencies have also become reliant on SpaceX. Trump could follow through on his threat to cancel Musk's lucrative government contracts. He could reopen investigations into Musk's companies that were paused when Trump took office. The Trump ally Steve Bannon, whose extremist ideas have a habit of entering the Maga mainstream, called for the South African-born Musk to be deported and SpaceX to be nationalised. Even as Tesla shares lost $150bn in market value, Musk seems to be betting that he has gathered enough dirt on Trump to survive the information war. Trump, now making plenty of his own money from deals in the Gulf and elsewhere, seems to have decided that Musk has outlived his political usefulness. There is no threat to his command of the Republican party, where Musk is seen as something of an interloper. But what of the Democrats? For now they only have to get out of the way and gleefully watch the spectacle unfold. Some suggest an 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' approach to Musk, whose money could swing elections in their favor. Others say a man who gave a Nazi-style salute on inauguration day, and whose Doge cuts have already caused deaths in the world's poorest countries, is beyond redemption. From this perspective, a nihilstic war between the world's most powerful man and the world's wealthiest man brings to mind former secretary of state Henry Kissinger's remark about the Iran-Iraq war: 'It's a pity they can't both lose.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
India's GAIL sells LNG cargo as early monsoons cause weak power demand, say sources
SINGAPORE, June 6 (Reuters) - GAIL (India) Ltd ( opens new tab has re-sold one liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo this week, said three market sources on Friday, as the state-run firm's storage tanks for the fuel are full amid weak power demand in India. Fewer LNG imports by GAIL, the country's largest gas distributor, could reduce India's overall appetite for the super-chilled fuel. India is the world's fourth largest LNG buyer, importing about 26 million metric tons last year as it goes through rapid urbanisation and industrialisation and to meet growing power demand. However, GAIL's LNG tanks are filled to the brim as power demand slumped due to cooler weather from the monsoon season, leading the company to sell its LNG cargo, said two of the sources. GAIL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The three sources did not identify which cargo GAIL sold, but shiptracking data shows two LNG vessels controlled by GAIL diverting from their routes this week. LNG tanker Gail Urja, which is currently in the southern Atlantic Ocean, was en-route to reach the Dahej terminal in India on June 21 before it made a U-turn on June 5 to head to the Gate LNG terminal in the Netherlands, Kpler data showed. The vessel loaded LNG at Cove Point, Maryland, in the United States on May 21-22, Kpler and LSEG data showed. GAIL has a 20-year deal to lift 2.3 million metric tons per annum of LNG from Cove Point. It typically takes about four weeks for LNG tankers to travel from Cove Point to India. Meanwhile another LNG tanker, Grace Emilia, has changed its course several times around Reunion Island and Mauritius since June 2, the data showed. The vessel is now heading towards Asia. India's weather office had forecast an above-average monsoon season for the second straight year in 2025, with annual rains arriving at their earliest in 16 years. The early monsoons had alleviated sweltering temperatures nationwide at the end of summer, with a sharp drop in temperatures cutting electricity consumption and briefly pushing down prices to near zero on power exchanges. Increased generation from hydropower and nuclear had also led to a decline in natural gas-fired power output, which in May fell at the steepest rate in nearly three years.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Russian Urals oil to India sells at narrowest discounts since 2022, traders say
MOSCOW/NEW DELHI, June 6 (Reuters) - Discounts for Russian flagship Urals crude oil for delivery to Indian ports in July hit their narrowest levels since 2022 as spot supplies have tightened, four traders involved in the market said on Friday. Narrowing discounts and tight spot supplies are nudging Indian refiners to scout for alternatives through buying tenders. Spot discounts for Urals crude narrowed to $2.25 per barrel on average for cargoes arriving in India in July, from $2.70 to $3.10 per barrel to dated Brent on delivery ex-ship (DES) basis in the previous month, the sources said. That is the narrowest discount for Urals oil cargoes sold to India since the Ukraine war broke out in 2022. India became the largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude after Moscow diverted its energy supply away from the European Union which imposed a ban. Some Indian refiners which do not have long-term supply agreements with Russian oil companies are not getting enough Urals oil in July, the sources said. India's largest private refiner, Reliance Industries ( opens new tab, locked in a term supply contract with Russian oil giant Rosneft ( opens new tab last year, which reduced the availability of Urals in the spot market, they said. Russian oil traders cited higher demand for the grade from refiners in Turkey, which has recently increased buying, boosting competition with Indian refiners over the supply. Turkey's largest oil refiner, Tupras, resumed buying Urals in April after stopping earlier this year, because of tougher U.S. sanctions on Moscow. Two of the traders also said improving refining margins globally also helped boost Russian oil demand as refiners are eager to increase crude runs. India remains the biggest buyer of Russian Urals oil by sea, with imports hitting a 10-month high in May.
