Friday 5 May 2017

Russia Investors Find No Company Is Safe in Sechin's Crosshairs - Bloomberg

Russia Investors Find No Company Is Safe in Sechin's Crosshairs - Bloomberg:

"If a Russian company’s share price gets an endorsement from President Vladimir Putin, investors might be forgiven for thinking it’s a safe bet.

Not when Rosneft PJSC Chief Executive Igor Sechin has it in his crosshairs.

When Putin publicly proclaimed in late 2014 that he hoped the share price of Sistema PJSC would “restore its position on the market and get beyond this,” the market took it as a sign that the troubles of its embattled billionaire owner, Vladimir Evtushenkov, were behind him. Sistema shares more than doubled over the next six months."



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Oil rebounds on Saudi assurances Russia will extend supply cuts | Reuters

Oil rebounds on Saudi assurances Russia will extend supply cuts | Reuters:

"Oil prices closed 1.5 percent higher on Friday, rebounding from five-month lows, following positive U.S. jobs data and assurances by Saudi Arabia that Russia is ready to join OPEC in extending supply cuts to reduce a persistent glut. The market, however, remained in technically oversold territory with futures trading down as much as 19 percent from highs in mid April, prompting some speculators to exit their long positions. Brent futures gained 72 cents, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $49.10 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 70 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $46.22 per barrel."



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Aramco splits IPO advisory roles, appoints Brunswick | Reuters

Aramco splits IPO advisory roles, appoints Brunswick | Reuters:

"Saudi Aramco has appointed advisory firm Brunswick to join FTI Consulting in running media and investor relations for what is set to be the world's largest initial public offering (IPO), sources said.

The decision to split the role underscores the mammoth task facing Saudi Arabia's national oil giant which hopes to list in 2018 in several countries around 5 percent of the company in a share sale which could raise $100 billion.

Brunswick was recently appointed to run the external and media communications for the IPO while U.S.-based FTI will focus on managing investor relations, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter."



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Jihad Azour: The IMF’s new man for all seasons | The National

Jihad Azour: The IMF’s new man for all seasons | The National:

"The IMF’s Jihad Azour can be fairly described as an archetypal international technocrat. He has the kind of CV you would expect for the fund’s newly appointed top man for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (Menap). The 50-year-old former Lebanese finance minister is a dual national, Lebanese and French, with an academic background that is very much in the Grandes Écoles tradition, with two advanced finance degrees, including a doctorate, from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, as well as a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University. But Mr Azour shows a politician’s touch when dealing with the kind of criticisms that have often been levelled at the IMF as coldly pursuing capitalism-friendly austerity policies that do not take into account the human costs. "You have to make sure there are certain issues and groups that are protected in the mix of fiscal adjustments," says the soft-spoken economist, who started his career as a McKinsey & Co consultant. "As a fund, we have stretched our engagement in the region and now have financial commitments totalling US$24 billion across seven active programmes.""



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Big Oil's Message to OPEC: We're Making Good Money, Thanks - Bloomberg

Big Oil's Message to OPEC: We're Making Good Money, Thanks - Bloomberg:

"From Exxon Mobil Corp. to Total SA, the world’s largest listed oil companies have sent a message to skeptical investors and rivals at OPEC: we can get by in a world of $50 a barrel crude.

Big Oil generated a gusher of cash in the first quarter. The surge shows how a mix of cost-cutting and assets sales -- plus the tailwind of new output from projects approved several years ago -- helped companies to survive and then thrive with prices that are less than half what they were a few years ago.

“Oil majors have adapted to the low-price environment,” said Olivier Jakob, head of oil consultant Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland."



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Oil tumbles to its lowest since November

Oil tumbles to its lowest since November:

"Brent crude’s slide below $50 a barrel took it to its lowest level since November as confidence faded in Opec’s ability to overpower a resurgent US shale industry and ease a global oil surplus. The international oil benchmark dropped by a further 2.1 per cent on Friday to $47.41 adding to its 4.8 per cent fall over the previous session. West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, also continued to fall, losing a further 2.4 per cent to $44.45. It also fell 4.8 on Thursday. Both benchmarks have erased all of the gains made since some of the world’s biggest producers agreed to curb supplies in an effort to end the worst oil crash in a generation."



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Oil's Plunge Accelerates Below $45 as U.S. Shale Confounds OPEC - Bloomberg

Oil's Plunge Accelerates Below $45 as U.S. Shale Confounds OPEC - Bloomberg:

"Oil slid below $45 a barrel for the first time since OPEC agreed to cut output in November as U.S. shale confounds the producer group’s attempts to prop up prices.

In less than 10 minutes on Friday, futures slumped more than $1 amid a surge in volume. They have collapsed 10.5 percent this week, sliding to the lowest since Nov. 15 -- two weeks before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries signed a six-month deal to curb production aimed at easing a global glut. The decline is being driven by expanding U.S. output before OPEC is set to decide whether to prolong its cuts."



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