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Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Canadian oil sands company evacuates workers due to wildfire threat
CALGARY, May 30 (Reuters) - MEG Energy ( opens new tab said on Friday it has evacuated all non-essential workers from its oil sands site in northern Alberta due to wildfires burning in the area. The company said it has not curtailed its oil production.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Who Will Win Guyana's Oil? Chevron and ExxonMobil Face Off
A high-stakes corporate clash is unfolding between Chevron CVX and ExxonMobil XOM — two of the world's largest oil companies. At the heart of the dispute is Guyana's offshore Stabroek Block, a massive oil field with over 11 billion barrels of recoverable reserves. Chevron's planned $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation HES, which owns a 30% stake in the block, is now facing fierce resistance from ExxonMobil, the project's operator and 45% stakeholder. ExxonMobil, along with its Chinese partner CNOOC (25% stake), claims it has a contractual right of first refusal (ROFR) that would allow it to either block or match Chevron's and Hess argue that the clause doesn't apply in this case. They maintain the ROFR is triggered only in direct asset sales, not in full corporate mergers like theirs. ExxonMobil, meanwhile, contends that because Hess's value is overwhelmingly tied to its Guyana interest — reportedly around 70% — the distinction between an asset and entity sale is largely irrelevant. With both sides unwilling to back down, the issue has landed in arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce. The confidential hearing is set to begin today, with a final ruling expected by the end of the third quarter. For Chevron, the stakes are enormous. Its oil and gas reserves fell to 9.8 billion barrels at the end of 2024, the lowest level in over a decade. Adding Hess's Guyana stake is seen as vital to reversing that trend and improving its reserve replacement ratio. A win in arbitration would give Chevron access to one of the few remaining high-growth, low-cost basins, helping to secure its long-term production outlook. A loss, however, would leave it scrambling for another transformative acquisition at a time when large-scale opportunities are transaction has already been approved by Chevron's shareholders and cleared by U.S. regulators, but its fate now rests on the tribunal's interpretation of a joint operating agreement drafted more than a decade ago. In anticipation of a positive outcome, Chevron has bought roughly 5% of Hess's outstanding shares in the open market. Traders and hedge funds are also heavily invested, with more than $10 billion worth of Hess stock purchased by merger-arbitrage funds betting on a favorable ruling. ExxonMobil views Hess' exit to Chevron as a disruption of a long-standing partnership and a threat to its control of the Guyana project. Exxon CEO Darren Woods has defended the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company's position, arguing that it took early development risks when few others would and that its rights under the operating agreement must be upheld. Behind the legal battle lies a strategic concern. Letting Chevron in could weaken Exxon's influence in what is quickly becoming the most important oil basin in the Western Hemisphere. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks dispute has cooled what was once a cordial relationship between Woods and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth. Legal observers believe the case may come down to how a few key terms are interpreted in the joint operating agreement. The ruling, expected by Q3, could set a precedent for how future pre-emption rights are applied in corporate acquisitions, especially in high-value energy matter how the arbitration ends, the case will have a lasting effect. Whether Chevron gains a critical growth engine or Exxon consolidates control, the outcome will shape strategic decisions across the Oil/Energy sector for years to come. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hess Corporation (HES) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Arabian Business
26-05-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
Saudi Aramco weighs asset sales to boost liquidity, say sources
Saudi state oil giant Aramco is reportedly exploring potential asset sales to free up funds, apparently to fund its international expansion plans. The move is also said to be to cushion the impact of lower crude prices. Aramco is looking to improve efficiency and cut costs, and an option under consideration would be asset sales, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. Lower crude price drags Aramco profits down to $26.01bn The company has asked investment bankers to pitch ideas for how to raise funds from its assets, the report said. Reuters, however, said its sources declined to say which assets could be sold or name the banks involved. The wire service said the firm declined to comment on the issue. Aramco is the world's largest oil-producing company and the main source of Saudi state revenue. Oil price hits Aramco The Reuters report said the firm will slash dividend payouts by nearly a third this year as lower oil prices hit its income. Aramco is the engine of the Saudi economy, and its sprawling business includes units for aviation, construction and sports. It has retained majority stakes during previous asset sales, such as its deals around its pipeline infrastructure. The Saudi government is putting pressure on its industries to improve profitability amid low crude prices and as it spends its hydrocarbon wealth on new sectors to cut reliance on oil. The kingdom faces a widening budget deficit, with the International Monetary Fund saying Riyadh needs an oil price of over $90 per barrel to balance its books, compared to prices of around $60 per barrel in recent weeks. Aramco has in recent years made a push to grow its global footprint, including investing in Chinese refineries, Chilean fuel retailer Esmax and US-headquartered LNG firm MidOcean.
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
How Trump has turbocharged a Canadian province's quest for independence
For Canadians, there's nothing new about a province contemplating secession. Two referendums on Quebec's potential independence – in 1980 and 1995 – brought the country uncomfortably close to the precipice. Today, it's not Quebec but the oil-rich western province of Alberta that is chafing under the constraints of Canadian confederation. US president Donald Trump's tariffs and comments about turning Canada into the 51st state have set in motion a chain of political events that will probably result in a referendum on Albertan independence sometime in 2026. Conservative political leaders in Alberta have traditionally stoked resentment of the federal government in Ottawa without crossing the line to advocate separation. The grievances are largely economic and in recent years have focused on environmental policies. The Conservative-led Alberta provincial government has portrayed these policies as hostile to the oil and gas industry, and consequently an attack on the province's affluence and identity. The current Alberta premier, Danielle Smith, has opened the door to a referendum by lowering the threshold for a citizen initiative to hold a referendum to a mere 10% of the votes cast in the most recent election. In practice this means that gathering just 177,000 signatures would be enough to put the measure before voters next year. Although Smith claims to want a united Canada, her actions have empowered separatists, who have busily begun collecting names of those willing to sign the petition. Separatism had previously been relegated to the fringes of Alberta's politics. Every provincial election features a few small separatist parties running candidates and winning few votes. In fact, the idea of separation garners more public support than the parties advocating for it. This support tends to follow national Liberal party wins. Until recently, the high-water mark had been about 30% support after the 2019 federal election, when the re-election of tJustin Trudeau's Liberals sparked the Wexit movement, but it then ebbed as the pandemic disrupted politics. If, as had been expected, the Conservatives had won the 2025 federal election, the Alberta separatist movement would have remained on the fringe. Instead, Trump's musings about Canada becoming the 51st state upended Canadian politics, allowing the Mark Carney-led Liberal party a miraculous political recovery. Predictably, after a Liberal win in the national general election, support for separation has once again increased in Alberta, this time to 36%, according to a recent Angus Reid poll. The separatist impulse in Alberta is closely tied to partisan politics. For all but four of the past 50 years, the province has been governed by a conservative party. In federal elections, around two-thirds of Alberta voters support the federal conservative party. (Provincial and federal conservative parties consider themselves part of the same movement, but are not formally affiliated.) The separatist movement occupies the far right of the political spectrum and its supporters are overwhelmingly conservative. Recent polling shows that many Albertans who would consider separation would change their view if the national-level Conservative party formed a federal government, or even if the federal government were to agree to some of Alberta's demands for building pipelines and dropping environmental regulations. In this regard, separatist sentiment looks more like an expression of frustration with Canadian politics than a movement that truly aspires to form a new sovereign state. However, Trump's comments about the country's future have altered the terrain for this vote. Proponents of independence no longer have to make the case that Alberta could 'go it alone' as a country. Instead, they allude to Trump's invitation to statehood. Recognising the potential of the moment, one of the fringe parties advocating for Alberta's independence has renamed itself in preparation for its desired future: the former Buffalo party of Alberta is now the Republican party of Alberta, ready to don a red baseball cap and make America great by adding Alberta to its union. These sympathies aren't restricted to fringe parties either. Many in the Alberta provincial conservative base identify with Trump's Maga movement. The imagined grievances that animate Maga are reflected in some of the party's policy agenda. In recent months, it has placed strict limits on the development of renewable energy, amended the Human Rights Act to protect freedom not to vaccinate, and limited transgender rights and medical treatment. Trump's expansionist desires do more than answer the practical questions of how Alberta would govern itself. They may also offer meaningful support to the independence campaign. Just as Russia intervened to bolster support for Brexit, we can expect some US interests to lend support to the Alberta secessionists. Even with these interventions, a majority vote to support independence is unlikely. A solid majority of Albertans have no desire to contemplate separation from Canada. A conversation about the practicalities of secession would probably dissuade many voters from casting a ballot to leave. Even if a majority of voters supported it, there is no clear path to statehood. First, all of the province is treaty land, meaning its status is granted by agreements signed between the federal government of Canada and the Indigenous peoples of the territory now called Alberta in the late 1800s. Indigenous leaders from the three treaty organisations assert that Alberta cannot unilaterally extinguish their agreements with the Canadian state by voting to secede. And also, after the close outcome in the 1995 Quebec secession referendum, the federal parliament passed the Clarity Act, which gives it authority to determine in advance whether a referendum question is clear and establish the threshold for a clear outcome. If these tests are passed, then the province seeking to leave enters into a constitutional negotiation with the federal government. With majority support for remaining within Canada, significant objections by Indigenous communities and a high threshold imposed by the Clarity Act, the impending vote on separation is unlikely to result in a quick exit from Canada. Why, then, would the provincial government pave the way for a referendum? Perhaps as a means of improving the province's negotiating stance. Perhaps to allow an activist fringe to blow off steam. Whatever the reason, the referendum poses significant risks for the province. It is likely to exacerbate political tensions, pitting separatists against federalists. It is likely to drive investment in sectors other than oil and gas out of the province, making economic diversification more difficult. It also draws the Trump administration's attention to the province, inviting unpredictable interventions. Premier Smith and the proponents of Albertan separation have drawn a dubious lesson from Quebec's sovereignty referendums. They believe that Quebec's credible threat of separation has empowered it within the Canadian federation, and they seek to emulate its 'win'. This view ignores what decades of separatist foment have cost Quebec, from an exodus of head offices from the province to a politics focused primarily on the question of secession. By opening the door to a referendum on separation, Alberta's government has invited similar uncertainty and conflict that could dominate its politics for years. Lisa Young is professor of political science at the University of Calgary
E&E News
21-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
EU ministers seal fresh sanctions package against Russia
EU foreign ministers on Tuesday approved a 17th round of sanctions against Russia over the Kremlin's ongoing war against Ukraine. The package doubles the number of banned ships in Russia's so-called shadow fleet, the ill-maintained flock of oil and gas tankers that Moscow uses to circumvent a maximum oil price agreed on by the West. 'While Putin feigns interest in peace, more sanctions are in the works. Russia's actions and those who enable Russia face severe consequences,' the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said in a statement. Advertisement Aside from the shadow fleet, the EU also put restrictions on a Russian oil company and a shipping business. EU entrepreneurs are also forbidden to do business with more than 45 entities and individuals in the military industry. A Chinese state-owned company was added to the same list, along with two others from that country.
