Former World Bank chief and 'voice for the poor' Wolfensohn dies aged 86

Wed, November 25, 2020

FILE PHOTO: Former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn dies aged 86

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - James Wolfensohn, a former investment banker who pushed through debt relief for the poorest nations during a decade at the helm of the World Bank, has died, the Bank said Wednesday. He was 86.

Wolfensohn, a former Salomon Brothers partner, was appointed as president of the global development bank by then-U.S. President Bill Clinton and led the Bank from June 1995 through May 2005. Born in Australia, he became a U.S. citizen in 1980.

In 1979, he helped orchestrate the rescue of Chrysler Corp from the verge of bankruptcy, together with Chrysler's chief executive Lee Iacocca and Paul Volcker, who was then president of the New York Federal Reserve.

Together with the International Monetary Fund, Wolfensohn in 1996 launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, a program that eventually provided more than $53 billion in debt relief to 27 of the world’s poorest countries.

Current IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva mourned the passing of her friend, mentor and former boss.

"He was a hero to me as he was to so many," she said in a statement. "Jim transformed the world of development and he transformed the World Bank. In the process, he became, quite literally, the voice for the poor people on our planet."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Stephen Coates)

FRACKING FAILS

U.S. Shale Bankruptcies Accelerate Despite Pandemic Protection

Editor OilPrice.com
Wed, November 25, 2020

The U.S. oil industry is trying to recover from the worst demand shock in the history of oil markets. Some companies launched the long-awaited consolidation in the sector, while many others filed for bankruptcy as unsustainably low oil prices this year weighed on already weakened balance sheets.

The U.S. shale patch had access to some form of government relief during the pandemic, like all businesses in the United States. The oil and gas industry received tax breaks, royalty relief, and forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to keep employees during the pandemic.

Yet, bankruptcies in the shale patch started to accelerate in the second quarter after oil prices crashed in early March because of the demand collapse and the Saudi-Russian price war. U.S. drillers immediately scaled back capital spending and curtailed more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production between April and June in response to the crash in prices.

Thousands of jobs in the industry have been lost over the past six months, and a good portion of those jobs lost may never return.

The U.S. shale patch has been struggling this year and is bracing for more hardship with the incoming Administration of Joe Biden, who has vowed to ban new oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters.

The federal relief during the pandemic, especially royalty rate reductions on federal land and offshore, has not been very effective because of a lack of uniform decision-making, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last month.

Environmental advocates, of course, point the finger at the mere fact that the federal government dared provide relief for the fossil fuel industry.

Related: Saudi Aramco’s Landmark IPO Is Costing The Kingdom Billions

According to a new analysis by BailoutWatch, Public Citizen, and Friends of the Earth, the fossil fuel industry received between US$10.4 billion and US$15.2 billion in direct economic relief, with more than 26,000 coal, oil, and gas companies benefiting directly. In addition, indirect benefits in the form of bond funds bought by the Fed and billions of newly issued company bonds “pushed government aid to the industry past US$110 billion,” say the activists in their report Bailed Out & Propped Up, which slams government support to the “money-losing dirty energy companies” and shames the firms that made use of federal government programs. The report goes on to recommend that “Congress must explicitly exclude further aid to the fossil fuel industry from any future coronavirus relief packages.”

The Fed wasn’t spared in the report either: “By insisting fossil fuel companies deserve protection and support, the Fed has exacerbated the already dire threat of climate change, prolonging oil and gas companies’ ability to borrow money at lower rates than investors were willing to offer before the pandemic,” the authors say.

Some other analyses have shown that “the dirty energy companies” did not just tap into government money to boost top executive pays and keep dividends to shareholders.

According to a Houston Chronicle analysis from July, the Paycheck Protection Program, with more than US$1 billion in forgivable loans to companies, helped to save more than half of oilfield jobs in Texas. According to the analysis of figures from the Small Business Administration, companies in Texas were able to keep 93,117 jobs or more than half of the 182,500 people employed in the sector in Texas.

Thousands of jobs have been lost since March in the U.S. upstream and oilfield services sectors as the oil industry is becoming leaner in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Related: EIA Sees WTI Crude Averaging $44 In 2021

After a wave of bankruptcies in the third quarter, North American oil producers and oilfield services companies continued to file for protection from creditors at the start of the fourth quarter, law firm Haynes and Boone said in its latest tally to October 31 last week.

Among healthier companies with quality assets, consolidation has been the hottest thing in recent weeks.

There is new-found enthusiasm for M&A deals in the U.S. shale patch, data and analytics company GlobalData said in a new report on Tuesday.

“In all of the recent deals and likely in future mergers, there is a significant acreage in unconventional areas involved, especially in Permian Basin,” said Andrew Folse, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData.

“This basin remains the most attractive acreage in the US Lower 48 and provides very competitive payback periods, measured in months, unlike offshore projects where the payback periods are usually measured in years.”

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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)