Exxon Bearish On Oil In Private While Dividend Protected At All Costs

GILLIAN RICH
11/25/2020

Exxon Mobil's (XOM) internal forecasts on oil prices reportedly grew bearish recently as the energy giant cuts jobs and capital spending to protect its dividend. Exxon stock fell.


Logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro


In September, Exxon lowered its oil price expectations by 11% to 17% for the next seven years, according to a Wall Street Journal report. It now sees Brent oil prices between $50 and $55 per barrel for the next five years before hitting $60 in 2026 and 2027.

Oil prices have remained in $40-to-$49-per-barrel range as Covid-19 lockdowns hit global demand. U.S. oil prices even went negative in April. On Wednesday, U.S. crude futures were around $45 a barrel with Brent at $48, both hitting their highest levels since early March.

Exxon doesn't publish its oil price expectations but has been positive about the long-term outlook for its business in public. During the Q3 earnings call, Exxon officials said the company wasn't canceling any projects that were in execution or in the funding process.

"We remain confident in our long-term strategy and the fundamentals of our business, and are taking the necessary actions to preserve value while protecting the balance sheet and dividend," CEO Darren Woods said in the earnings statement.

To keep investors happy, Exxon is maintaining its quarterly dividend at 87 cents a share. But to protect its payout, the company is cutting spending and jobs. Exxon sees 2021 capital program at $16 billion-$19 billion, down from the 2020 target of $23 billion. And it plans to eliminate about 14,000 positions.

Analysts have questioned the sustainability of the Exxon stock dividend as increased borrowing is necessary to support it.

Exxon to cut up to 300 jobs in Canada

Wed, November 25, 2020

(Reuters) - U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it plans to reduce up to 300 positions in Canada as part of an ongoing cost-cut plan due to a coronavirus-driven slump in oil prices.

Reductions will include positions at Imperial Oil Ltd, ExxonMobil Canada Ltd and ExxonMobil Business Centre Canada ULC, the company said.

Oil producers, including Exxon, have been slashing costs due to a collapse in oil demand and ill-timed bets on new projects. The top U.S. oil company had earlier outlined more than $10 billion in budget cuts this year.

Suncor Energy, Canada's second biggest oil company, said last month it would cut its workforce by up to 15% over the next year and a half.

Canadian energy companies have also suffered from scarce capital due to chronic pipeline congestion and high emissions.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koy

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

‘Admiral’ Who Bought Storied Canada Firm Is Accused of Fraud

Paula Sambo
Thu, November 26, 2020



(Bloomberg) -- Canadian entrepreneur Gary Ng has been accused by the country’s investment regulator of falsifying documents and creating fake brokerage accounts to secure the money to buy one of Vancouver’s oldest investment firms, PI Financial Corp.

Ng allegedly altered documents to include his name on corporate client accounts and created other fake account balances to use as collateral against C$172 million ($132 million) in loans, according to a statement of allegations filed by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

The actual collateral he owned might have amounted to only C$1.9 million, IIROC said. Ng’s business partner, Donald Metcalfe, assisted in the effort, the regulatory body alleged in the documents. None of the allegations have been proven.

Ng did not reply to requests for comment. Metcalfe couldn’t be reached. Both men are accused of failing to cooperate with investigators, as well as “fraudulent conduct with respect to loan financing,” according to the documents.

Ng and Metcalfe resigned from PI Financial in February after the firm raised concerns with the regulator. Its investigators scheduled interviews with Ng in July and Metcalfe in August, but neither man showed up.

“We identified unusual correspondence during an unrelated document request, immediately alerted our regulators, and have been cooperating with IIROC on its investigation,” Jean-Paul Bachellerie, chief executive officer of PI Financial, said in an email. “None of the alleged misconduct was related to the firm’s capital or client accounts.”

The firm reviewed its internal controls and found they were not, and are not, deficient. Neither its client accounts nor the firm’s own capital were at risk, Bachellerie said. IIROC said it has not found any evidence of client losses.

Fleet of Firms

Ng’s first purchase of a financial firm was a Toronto-based father-and-son shop which he renamed Chippingham Financial Group Ltd., an amalgam of British terms for trading and hamlet. Ng then spent C$100 million in late 2018 to buy PI.

Ng, who called himself the Admiral of the fleet of financial firms he snapped up, financed the PI deal with two loans, one worth C$80 million from a U.S. investment firm and a C$20 million loan from a Canadian asset manager. As collateral, he put up securities he said he held in his personal investment accounts, according to IIROC.

PI was sold this summer to a joint venture controlled by two investment firms, H.I.G. Capital LLC and RCM Capital Management, for an undisclosed amount. H.I.G manages about $41 billion in assets and RCM makes direct debt and equity investments in North American companies.

Ng also borrowed an additional C$40 million in 2019 and 2020 from the asset management firm based in Canada and another C$32 million from a third lender, a private company based in Canada, also based on falsified collateral, according to IIROC.

“Ng and Metcalfe perpetrated a fraudulent scheme by deceiving lenders into providing them with millions of dollars in loans in reliance on falsified and fictitious documentation purportedly evidencing substantial financial assets as security when this was not true,” the regulator said.

Ng deepened his push into Canada’s financial industry with the purchase of an undisclosed stake in private lender Bridging Finance Inc. in 2019. About a year later he sold his stake back to Bridging’s founder David Sharpe, according to Sharpe.

Ng, a self-described “financial entrepreneur,” told Bloomberg in a interview last year that he started working as a coder for Redknee, renamed Optiva Canada, at 16, and became an Internet millionaire during the tech mania of the late 1990s. He said he plowed that into a Chinese glass factory that was eventually sold to Industrial Bank of China, giving him a $150 million windfall.

Ng represented himself to others as someone

A hearing into the allegations is scheduled to begin Jan. 6.

(Updates with additional details of allegations in paragraph four)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Norway gas exports could be hit by strike escalation from Friday

 FILE PHOTO: NewGas Import Terminal of Gassco

By Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Buli
Thu, November 26, 2020

OSLO (Reuters) - The planned escalation of a strike by Norwegian security guards could begin to shut the Nyhamna gas processing plant and two large gas fields from Friday, which would reduce Norway's exports to Europe by a quarter, system operator Gasco said.

Some 2,300 security guards organised by the Norwegian Union of General Workers (NAF) are on strike nationwide over pay, and an additional 85 will go on strike from Saturday unless the dispute is resolved first.


A gradual shutdown would have to start on Friday to prepare for the strike the following day, Gassco's systems operations chief Alfred Hansen said.

"In order to shut down a facility like Nyhamna and to do it in a safe and proper manner, we would have to start a while before," Hansen said. "So we warned our shippers in the transportation system that this potential is now clear and that we are preparing for this scenario tomorrow."

The Norwegian government, which can invoke emergency powers to end workplace conflicts, said it was closely monitoring the situation but declined to say whether it would step in.

Nyhamna processes gas from the Ormen Lange and Aasta Hansteen fields, which would also have to shut because of the strike, Gassco and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG) said.

Export capacity from Nyhamna stands at 84 million standard cubic metres (mcm) of gas per day, about a quarter of Norway's expected 330 mcm export volume on Thursday.

The NAF union confirmed that security guards working at Nyhamna were among those who would join the strike, but declined to give numbers.

Security guards are also on strike at heliports from which crews and equipment are flown to and from offshore platforms, and the gradual escalation of the conflict could disrupt supply lines, oil major Equinor said.

While governments can end strikes, they are generally reluctant to do so. In 2012, the government ended a strike after 16 days when employers threatened a lockout of workers that would have shut down all oil and gas output.

"The ongoing dispute is for the parties to solve, but the ministry is following the situation closely," a spokeswoman for the labour ministry said.

(Writing by Terje Solsvik; editing by Alexandra Hudson and Barbara Lewis)

Florida homeowner files lawsuit against HOA over order to remove BLM flag

Stephanie Guerilus
Wed, November 25, 2020

Antoine Mickel has sued his Florida HOA after they demanded his Black Lives Matter flag be removed but had no similar requests for those who supported Trump or Blue Lives Matter

A Florida homeowner is suing the HOA over their mandate that he remove a Black Lives Matter flag, but had no similar demands of other residents in support of different causes.

Antoine Mickel has lived in his Arlington neighborhood, where he and his neighbors have expressed their various views through the use of flags adorned on their homes, for 20 years. Some of the flags have included support for President Donald Trump, Blue Lives Matter, LGBTQ, sports, and those that are seasonal.

(Photo by Natasha Moustache/Getty Images)

However, Mickel was informed last month by his homeowner’s association that he had to remove his banner that reflected his commitment to Black Lives Matter. On Tuesday, he responded by filing a federal lawsuit and claimed his freedom of speech was being violated, News4Jax reports.

River Point Community Association, River City Management Services, the community’s president, and its property manager are named in the suit. Mickel told the outlet he respected the views of others and simply wanted the same courtesy extended to him.

“I can’t even sit in my home and feel comfortable,” Mickel said, adding that he is being made to feel like an outcast.

HOAs are given liberty to make and enforce their own rules. However, federal law will take precedence and Mickel believes that he is being unfairly targeted.

The National Fair Housing Alliance chairperson is supporting Mickel and he has recruited famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump in his efforts.

“The first day that he put up his Black Lives Matter flag, he was met with retaliation from the homeowners association,” Crump said. “If he did not take down the flag, they threatened him with fines and eviction.”

Read More: Sasha, Malia Obama joined summer BLM demonstrations, Barack says



Antoine Mickle exercised his 1st amendment right to free speech by flying a #BLM flag at his home — until his HOA threatened him with fines and eviction. Now here’s the double standard: His neighbors expressed their support for #Trump2020 and #BlueLivesMatter without reprimand! pic.twitter.com/PM3qVw9ypU

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) November 25, 2020

Crump also said that there seems to be two justice systems that exist in America and that Black people did not reap the same benefits of their white counterparts.

“Not only in policing but also in every aspect of our legal system. A justice system for Black people and a justice system for white people, when we should have equal justice for the United States of America,” he said.

“And so when we think about how this unfolded, the fact that Mr. Mickel saw other neighbors in his community putting up flags and expressing all kinds of flags—whether it was political flags, supportive of police or any number of positions—but the one day that he says ‘I too have a right to the first amendment. I too have a right to protest a position that others think differently from me on.’ The first time he said, ‘I’m putting on my Black Lives Matter flag,’ he was met with retaliation from the homeowners association.”

The HOA issued a statement to News4Jax over their matter and disputed whether it was actually a flag on Mickel’s home.

“It was the fact that a non-specific time period flag was flying off of his house, not on a flagpole. A letter would have been sent had he flown a Blue Lives Matter flag off of his house. At this time, the Association does not intend to take any further action and considers the matter closed.”

The post Florida homeowner files lawsuit against HOA over order to remove BLM flag appeared first on TheGrio.

Peat compost is 'environmental vandalism', Monty Don says

Press Association
Wed, November 25, 2020

Important peat habitats are destroyed to meet demands for compost, conservationists say - PA

TV gardener Monty Don has joined horticultural and environmental charities to call for a ban on the use of peat in compost by 2025.

Environmental groups have warned that voluntary targets to end peat in compost for gardeners and professional plant growers have failed.

Without a legal ban, important peat habitats will continue to be destroyed and it will be hard for the Government to meet its goals to boost nature and tackle the climate crisis, they said.

The National Trust, Friends of the Earth, the RSPB, the Royal Horticultural Society, Plantlife International, CPRE the countryside charity, The Wildlife Trusts, Garden Organic, and Wildlife and Countryside Link are calling for a ban.

Healthy peatlands trap in carbon, helping to reduce emissions and tackle climate change, as well as helping to control flooding by holding water and encouraging plants and vegetation that provide homes for an array of wildlife.

But they lose these functions if the peat is damaged, for example by being dug up and removed for sale, and emit carbon emissions instead, the groups warn.

In an open letter to Environment Secretary George Eustice, they say a total ban on peat in compost, including its extraction in the UK, its import, export and sale in both the retail and professional sectors, should be brought in by 2025 at the latest.

Joining their call, Mr Don warned that the continued use of peat in compost is "an act of environmental vandalism".

The move comes after figures from the horticultural industry showed the use of peat declining, but at a rate which would take decades to phase it out altogether.

A voluntary target to end its use by amateur gardeners by 2020, set by the Government in 2011, has been missed, with peat continuing to make up 44.6% of compost sold in the retail sector in 2019.

And in the professional growing sector peat use was down from 63.9% of growing material in 2015 to 62.9% in 2019, putting it off track to meet a target to phase out peat by 2030.

More than two million cubic metres of peat was sold or used in the UK in 2019, the majority imported from the Republic of Ireland and other EU countries, with the remainder coming from the UK.

Mr Don said: "There is no garden, however beautiful, that justifies the scale of environmental damage or contribution to climate change that peat use causes.

"The extraction of peat for horticultural use is an act of environmental vandalism. It causes irreparable environmental damage.

"The fact that it also significantly contributes to the release of CO2 and aggravates the effects of climate change adds salt to a grievous wound."

The broadcaster, writer and celebrity gardener added: "The time has come for the Government and Parliament to impose a total ban on all peat production and sales."

Paul de Zylva, nature campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: "It is extraordinary that the Government is allowing peat use to undermine its ability to act on climate change and restore nature.

"The gardening sector has had a decade to end peat use and to start giving its customers genuine choice to buy truly peat-free composts.

"An outright ban or a levy on its sale could be the only way to stop garden centres and DIY stores profiting from the sale of this natural asset at rock-bottom prices."

Environmental groups are also calling for publication of the long-awaited England peat strategy, with targets and funding to restore peatlands in the country.

Buried under a Serbian cornfield, Roman military headquarters slowly sheds its secrets

Thu, November 26, 2020,
KOSTOLAC, Serbia (Reuters) - Buried under a Serbian cornfield close to a coalmine, the well-preserved remains of a Roman legion's headquarters are being excavated by archaeologists who say its rural location makes it unique.

Covering an estimated 3,500 square meters, the headquarters - or principium - belonged to the VII Claudia Legion. Its location was deduced in the spring during a survey.

There are over 100 recorded principiums across the territory of the Roman empire, but almost all are buried under modern cities, said Miomir Korac, lead archaeologist of digs there and at the Roman provincial capital Viminacium that the compound served.

"A very small number of principiums are explored completely (and) ... so we can say (preservation of) this one is unique as it is undisturbed."l

The compound, which lies east of Belgrade and around one metre (3 ft) under the surface, had 40 rooms with heated walls, a treasury, a shrine, parade grounds and a fountain.

So far only a quarter has been explored, with excavations scheduled to resume next spring.

Inside one room, archaeologists found 120 silver coins that "must have been lost during an emergency" such as an invasion or a natural disaster, said the principium's lead archaeologist Nemanja Mrdjic.

"The distribution of coins from a corner to the door, ... suggests they (coins) spilled while someone was fleeing."

The VII Claudia Legion was active between 2nd and 5th centuries AD, and its walled camp and principium were separated from the rest of Viminacium, which had its own fortifications.

Excavations of Viminacium have been ongoing since 1882, and finds there include a Roman ship, golden tiles, jade sculptures, mosaics and frescos, along with 14,000 tombs and the remains of three mammoths.

Archaeologists estimate that they have only uncovered 4% of the site, which they say its bigger than New York’s Central Park.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; editing by John Stonestreet)

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Rocky, tiny owl rescued from Rockefeller Christmas tree, takes flight

Wilson Wong and Tim Stelloh
Wed, November 25, 2020



The tiny owl found in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree took flight on Tuesday after being treated at a wildlife rehabilitation facility for several days.

The Ravensbeard Wildlife Center said on Tuesday that Rocky — short for Rockefeller — was cleared for take off at dusk by avian veterinarians and owl experts.

“Rocky's release was a success!” the center said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “She is a tough little bird and we're happy to see her back in her natural habitat.”


"We are sure that Rocky will feel your love and support through her journey south," the post continued.

Dozens of people expressed their gratitude on social media for her swift recovery and safe release.

On Tuesday, a Facebook user said: “This made me tear up a little, in a good way! Happy life Rocky.”

The adult Saw-whet owl was rescued last week after accompanying the 75-foot Norway spruce from Oneonta, in upstate New York, for the 170 mile ride to New York City.

When the owl was found, she hadn’t eaten or drunk in days, but began to recover after getting fluids and food. A worker who helped transport and secure the tree discovered the owl and his wife called the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center.

The center said a return trip to Oneonta would likely be too traumatic to the bird, so it planned to release it on facility grounds in the upstate town of Saugerties.

Lithuania finds its first coronavirus cases in mink

Thu, November 26, 2020

FILE PHOTO: Denmark mink culling process


VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania's health agency said on Thursday it had found the first cases of coronavirus among its mink, as 22 dead mink on a farm in central Lithuania tested positive.

The tests at the 60,000-strong mink farm started after minks began dying unexpectedly, and the farm now suspects the mink got the virus from an infected worker, its director told local media.

"At this moment the farm is in isolation, but we only told to cull 40 mink who were in close contact with the infected. The rest are under close surveillance and any decisions would be taken as the situation develops", said a health agency spokeswoman.

Lithuania has 1.6 million mink on 86 farms, she added.

Denmark said last week a new, mutated strain of the coronavirus stemming from mink farms in the country was "most likely" extinct.

All farmed minks in Denmark have been culled because of coronavirus outbreaks among the animals and the discovery of the mutated strain, which authorities said showed reduced sensitivity to antibodies, has caused fears it could compromise vaccines.

Lithuania's mink herd is vastly smaller than Denmark's, which was one the world's biggest.

France and Poland have found the first cases of COVID-19 in their mink over the past week.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Tom Brown)

UK must treat Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as Iranian hostage, husband says

Campbell MacDiarmid
Thu, November 26, 2020

the UK must acknowledge that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an Iranian hostage, says husband Richard Ratcliffe, pictured with his daughter Gabriella, 6 - Clara Molden for The Telegraph

The UK needs to recognise Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention in Iran as a state-sponsored hostage taking, her husband said Thursday, the day after Tehran released a jailed British-Australian academic in an apparent prisoner swap.

Melbourne University lecturer Kylie Moore-Gilbert was released from Tehran’s Evin prison on Wednesday after serving over two years of a 10-year sentence for spying. Australia refused to confirm she was freed in a prisoner exchange, saying only that her release followed “diplomatic engagement with the Iranian government”.

Thailand said Thursday it had repatriated three Iranians involved in a failed 2012 bombing targeting Israeli diplomats. While Thai officials declined to call it a swap, Iranian state television showed the garlanded men being hailed as returning heroes in the same segment showing Dr Moore-Gilbert departing Tehran airport.

“It’s very certainly transactional from their point of view,” said Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife has been detained for four-and-a-half years in Iran.

The British-Iranian mother of one from north London was jailed in 2016 on charges of trying to overthrow the government, something her and her employer Thomson Reuters Foundation strongly deny. But the 42-year-old’s release has been tied to repayment of a long-standing £400 million debt that London owes Tehran.

The UK has acknowledged it owes the debt – which arose over non-delivery of 1,500 Chieftain tanks ordered and paid for by the Shah of Iran shortly before his 1979 overthrow – but says repayment must not breach sanctions.

However Mr Ratcliffe said that the UK’s position of not linking repayment of the debt to the release of Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe ignored the reality of her case. “They picked her up for that money and they have made it increasingly clear about what that’s about,” he said.

He called on the UK to acknowledge that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was a victim of hostage diplomacy and not simply a citizen in need of consular assistance.

“I think it would protect her and protect others in the future to call Iran out for taking hostages,” he said. “Hostage taking and torture is no different than any other kind of abuse, you do not protect people from abuse by euphemising it away. You need a clear accountability so people do not do it with impunity.”

But publicly at least, the UK has been reluctant to speak out forcefully.

“I welcome news that Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been able to return to Australia and her family,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Wednesday. “I call on the Iranian government to release all the remaining dual British nationals arbitrarily detained and allow them to reunite with their loved ones.”

Currently on temporary home release in Tehran, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe will complete her sentence in March. But an Iranian court issued a new charge against her in September.

“I would still take seriously the threat of a new prison sentence,” said Mr Ratcliffe. “I would expect if we wait long enough she will be sent back to prison again.”

While the Foreign Office remains tight-lipped about efforts to free Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her husband said he was skeptical that their current approach is working. “The British government preference seems to be to wait for the other side to be less unreasonable, well we’ve been waiting a long time.”

From Tehran’s perspective, its success in exchanging one prisoner for three jailed citizens may be encouraging.

Michael Stephens, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “I think what Kylie's release proves is that all along she was innocent, and that this was a cheap shot policy by Iran to get some of its captives out of jail. Ultimately it confirms that Iran has a policy of taking hostages and using them as leverage, and that it appears to get them what they want.”

But for Mr Ratcliffe, the release of one prisoner means his wife’s release must be “a bit closer”.

“It's a happy day for Kylie, one more family starts to heal again,” he said. “We’d like to be next.”

Kylie Moore-Gilbert: Academic says Iran detention was 'long and traumatic'

 
Thu, November 26, 2020

A British-Australian academic who has been freed from jail in Iran has thanked supporters for getting her through "a long and traumatic ordeal".

Kylie Moore-Gilbert has consistently denied accusations of espionage since her arrest in Iran in September 2018.

She had been serving a 10-year sentence but was released in a swap for three jailed Iranians, Tehran said.
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Dr Moore-Gilbert's family said they were "relieved and ecstatic" that she was free.

The Melbourne University lecturer had been travelling on an Australian passport in 2018 when she was detained at Tehran airport as she tried to leave following a conference.

Concerns for her wellbeing escalated in August when news emerged that she had been transferred to Qarchak, a notorious prison in the desert.

On Thursday, Dr Moore-Gilbert said Australian officials had worked "tirelessly" to secure her freedom. She thanked them and other supporters who had "meant the world to me" while in detention.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert was reported to have been on several hunger strikes while in Evin prison in Tehran

"I have nothing but respect, love and admiration for the great nation of Iran and its warm-hearted, generous and brave people," she said in a statement.

"It is with bittersweet feelings that I depart your country, despite the injustices which I have been subjected to. I came to Iran as a friend and with friendly intentions, and depart Iran with those sentiments not only still intact, but strengthened."

The Cambridge-educated scholar - who was tried in secret - had endured "over 800 days of incredible hardship", her family added.

"We cannot convey the overwhelming happiness that each of us feel at this incredible news," they said in a statement released by the Australian government.

According to Iranian state media, she was exchanged for an Iranian businessman and two Iranian citizens "who had been detained abroad". They have not yet been named.

Video of the apparent exchange was published by state broadcaster IRIB news and the Tasnim website.


نخستین تصویر تبادل جاسوس صهیونیستی با سه تاجر ایرانی pic.twitter.com/Y0lEIFLY5J

— باشگاه خبرنگاران جوان | YJC (@yjc___agency) November 25, 2020

The footage, which had no commentary, showed Dr Moore-Gilbert wearing a grey hijab and being driven away in a mini-van. Three men are seen being met by officials. One is in a wheelchair.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declined to comment on whether a swap had taken place, but said no-one had been released in Australia.

"The injustice of her detention and her conviction, Australia has always rejected, and I'm just so pleased that Kylie's coming home," he told local network Nine.

In letters smuggled out of Tehran's Evin prison earlier this year, Dr Moore-Gilbert said she had "never been a spy" and feared for her mental health. She said she had rejected an offer from Iran to become a spy.

"I am not a spy. I have never been a spy, and I have no interest to work for a spying organisation in any country," she wrote.

She was later visited by Australia's ambassador to Iran, Lyndall Sachs, who reported that she was "well".

Dr Moore-Gilbert was reported to have spent long periods in solitary confinement and undertaken hunger strikes while in detention.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the release "was achieved through diplomatic engagement with the Iranian government".

She added Dr Moore-Gilbert would "soon be reunited with her family" but did not specify when she would be returning to Australia.

Melbourne University Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell said he was "delighted" at the news, adding: "We have waited a long time for this day."

Iran has detained a number of foreign nationals and Iranian dual citizens in recent years, many of them on spying charges. Human rights groups have accused Tehran of using the cases as leverage to try to gain concessions from other countries.

British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed on spying charges in 2016. She has always maintained her innocence.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, welcomed reports of Dr Moore-Gilbert's release.

"Nazanin and I are really happy for Kylie and her family," he told the BBC. "They have been through so much, borne with such dignity. And it is an early Christmas present for us all, that one more of us is out and on their way home, one more family can begin to heal."

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, said news of Dr Moore-Gilbert's release was "an enormous relief".

"There may now be renewed grounds for hoping that UK-Iranian dual-nationals like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori will also be released from their unjust jail terms in Iran in the coming days or weeks," she said.

Anoosheh Ashoori, a retired civil engineer from London, was jailed for 10 years in July 2019 after being convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.