Category: Highlights

The U.S. and allies have sanctioned Russian banks and its central bank, and so far the markets are not showing signs of strain. But it’s oil that strategists are watching, since it could drive inflation, affect the economy and affect Federal Reserve policy. “Whatever happens with oil will reverberate across all the other markets … even though the sanctions so far are not aimed at restricting oil,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit. The heavy new round of sanctions on Russia by the U.S. and its allies are…

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Crude oil futures were sharply higher in mid-morning Asian trade Feb. 28 as Russia puts its nuclear deterrence force on alert following a new round of financial sanctions imposed on the country after its military advanced into Ukraine over the weekend. The US, Canada, and European allies on Feb. 26 imposed new financial sanctions on Russian banks, including curbing access to the SWIFT messaging system, but the specific measures and names of Russian banks have yet to be specified. “The massive escalation of sanctions notably by the EU, to cripple…

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The OPEC+ cooperation is facing a possible breakdown following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s aggressive military moves towards Ukraine will have a negative impact on the oil market cooperation between OPEC and Russian-led non-OPEC members. The success formula of Riyadh-Moscow-Abu Dhabi is in serious trouble as Western powers will be putting Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and others, under severe pressure to break up their strategic cooperation with Moscow.  The growing economic, financial and strategic military cooperation that has been built up the last couple of years between mainstream Arab…

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THAR: Pakistan has witnessed a mushroom growth of electricity generating facilities in the last decade, but inefficient power evacuation networks, over-generation capacity and overloaded transmission systems are forcing the producers to downsize their planned expansions. The Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) is among those major players, which has slashed its initial plan of installing 5,280MW power generation plants in Thar Block-II by 50 per cent to 2,640MW. The company is the operator of a coal mine in Thar Block-II and the mine-mouth power plants. It has already commissioned 2x330MW units in…

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The country’s print media this week brought to surface the prevailing state of affairs in the energy sector of the country, exposing the extent to which the sector has slid down. Some of the developments are rather very concerning — notably: — “Large Taxpayers Office (LTO), Karachi has attached all bank accounts of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) to recover Rs 23 billion pending sales tax of which the tax department had successfully recovered Rs 312 million through bank account attachments. — “The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra)…

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