Day: April 19, 2021

TOKYO: Oil prices were lower on Monday as rising coronavirus infections in India and other countries prompted concerns that stronger measures to contain the pandemic will hit economic activity, along with demand for commodities such as crude. Brent crude was down 23 cents, or 0.3%, at $66.54 a barrel by 0426 GMT, after rising 6% last week. US oil was down 27 cents, or 0.2%, at $62.96 a barrel, having gained 6.4% last week. “The progress of vaccination drives in the developed markets can be seen in road traffic levels,…

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“Gas is over,” proclaimed European Investment Bank chief Werner Hoyer at the beginning of this year as he stated the bank’s vision to end the unabated use of fossil fuels. European officials have since called on the World Bank to phase out lending for gas projects globally, and to end support for coal and oil. US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, pledged in the early days of his presidency to end public finance for fossil fuel development overseas. Policy changes on fossil fuel financing have not been confined to the West.…

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Last week when auto sales data was released, everyone jumped with joy. Why shouldn’t they? Sales figures for March 2021 increased 27% month-on-month, and since year-on-year comparison really isn’t fair due to the lockdown in 2020, everyone saw this as a delightful development for a sector that has various industries associated with its recovery. Figures for the nine-month period – between July 2020 and March 2021 – were even better with sales amounting to near 135,000, a 36% increase year-on-year. Now this figure is worth celebrating even more because, in…

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International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme is not in a strait jacket, so stated Resident Representative of the IMF in Islamabad Teresa Daban Sanchez, but evolves as the situation on the ground changes, recalibrated in Fund speak, with particular reference to the previously agreed timing of the implementation. A change of personnel or ministers “does not affect our role and commitment to the people of Pakistan,” she added. This lays to rest the hype created after Dr Hafeez Sheikh’s departure and his successor Shaukat Tarin’s public statement that he is not…

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A World Bank report throws shade on the results of a new study that says LNG as a fuel offers significant GHG reduction benefits, as orders for LNG-fuelled ships surge. Two studies released on the same day express widely different opinions of the environmental benefits of LNG as a marine fuel, clouding an already murky decarbonisation picture for shipowners. One study, 2nd Lifecycle GHG Emission Study on the use of LNG as a Marine Fuel from Sphera, backed by industry coalitions SEA/LNG and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF), reports…

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