Saturday 30 September 2023

#Dubai-Based Blue Carbon Signs MOU With Zimbabwe on Carbon Credits From Landmass - Bloomberg

Dubai-Based Blue Carbon Signs MOU With Zimbabwe on Carbon Credits From Landmass - Bloomberg

Blue Carbon, a Dubai-based company, signed a memorandum of understanding with Zimbabwe to generate carbon credits from about a fifth of the African country’s 150,000 square-mile landmass.

The planned deal, which Blue Carbon Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum said may bring $1.5 billion of climate finance into the country, was announced on Friday in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.

The deal, based on forest protection and rehabilitation, is the latest foray into Africa by Blue Carbon. The company is already working to produce the offsets from 10% of Liberia’s land.

Oil Posts Strongest Quarter in More Than a Year Amid OPEC Cuts - Bloomberg

Oil Posts Strongest Quarter in More Than a Year Amid OPEC Cuts - Bloomberg



Oil posted its largest quarterly rally since the initial jolt from the war in Ukraine as lower Russian fuel exports threaten to further tighten a market wrestling with OPEC+ production cuts.

Industry data released Friday show Moscow is planning almost no diesel exports next month in order to reduce domestic prices. The move sent European diesel futures rallying back above the psychologically key level of $1,000 a ton.

US benchmark crude futures cemented their biggest quarterly gain since the period ended in March 2022 on Saudi-led OPEC+ supply cuts and critically low stockpiles at the Cushing hub in the US. On Friday, West Texas Intermediate reversed its earlier gains and slipped to settle below $91, largely tracking the path of US equities.

Many of this week’s most significant oil-market moves have come away from headline prices. Key timespreads have exploded higher amid fears about the availability of US supplies. Meanwhile, gasoline’s premium over crude in the US has plunged in a potential sign that higher crude prices are starting to impinge on margins.

S&P upgrades #Oman to 'BB+' on firmer macroeconomic fundamentals | Reuters

S&P upgrades Oman to 'BB+' on firmer macroeconomic fundamentals | Reuters

S&P Global Ratings on Friday upgraded Oman's credit ratings, stating favourable oil sector dynamics coupled with higher non-hydrocarbon sector output to sustain real economic growth over 2023-2026.

S&P raised its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Oman to "BB+" from "BB". It also upgraded its transfer and convertibility assessment to "BBB-" for the country.

Oman, a relatively small oil producer, is more sensitive than its hydrocarbon-rich Gulf neighbours to oil price swings.

"The upgrade reflects the improved resilience of the Omani economy to external shocks on the back of continued supportive oil sector prospects along with sovereign balance sheet deleveraging and broader structural reforms," S&P said in a statement.

The ratings agency now expects the country's GDP growth to average about 2% over 2023-2026 after a year of slowdown due to voluntary oil production cuts.