[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
Edward McAllister
NEW YORK
Tue Jan 5, 2010 3:10pm EST
Oil rises to near $82, cold weather supports
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose on Tuesday, up for the ninth straight day as cold weather in the United States and Europe boosted demand for heating fuel.
U.S. crude for February delivery closed up 26 cents at $81.77 a barrel, off an earlier high of $81.99, a cent below the October 2009 high. London Brent crude closed up 47 cents at $80.59.
"Oil prices are on a cold-weather rally, with heating oil demand seen rising for the next few weeks amid forecasts for temperatures for much of the country to be much below normal in that period," said Andy Lebow, broker at MF Global in New York.
"At the same time, economic indicators showing the economy is improving implies higher demand for diesel fuel," he added.
Crude markets have in recent months looked to wider economic data for signs of a turnaround that could bolster flagging oil demand.
The Dow industrials slipped as a plunge in November pending home sales increased concerns about the housing market, although a sign of improvement in the manufacturing sector limited losses.
U.S. retail gasoline demand fell 3.5 percent in the week to January 1, compared with the previous week, according to a MasterCard SpendingPulse report. Consumption was up 1.2 percent over the four-week period compared with year-ago levels.
Investors were also awaiting weekly U.S. oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) later on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast the data will show a drop in distillate and crude stockpiles.
COLD SNAP CONTINUES
Frigid temperatures in the United States were expected to boost the country's heating demand to 21 percent above normal, with consumption in the U.S. Northeast -- the largest heating oil market -- seen 11 percent above average levels.
Unusually cold weather in Britain is expected to continue into the second half of January after the coldest December since 1995, while lower temperatures in Europe were seen gradually spreading from the northeast to the southwest during the next few days.
Heavy snow and biting cold also hit parts of Asia on Monday, with unusually harsh winter weather snarling transport across north China, South Korea and India.
Investors were watching for any further developments between Russia and Belarus after an oil dispute saw Russia briefly cut off supplies to the Eastern European nation. Belarus sent a delegation to Moscow on Tuesday for talks to resolve the dispute that has raised the specter of winter supply problems for the European Union.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New York, Joe Brock in London and Jennifer Tan in Singapore; Editing by Christian Wiessner and Lisa Shumaker)
[Green Business]
Tova Cohen
TEL AVIV
Tue Jan 5, 2010 8:26am EST
China's Sanhua invests in Israeli solar firm
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Zhejiang Sanhua signed an agreement on Tuesday to invest $10.5 million in solar thermal systems developer HelioFocus, marking the first direct investment by a Chinese company in an Israeli firm.
HelioFocus Chief Executive Uri Zik said Sanhua, a producer of components and control parts for air-conditioning systems, would be not just a financial investor in the company, but will also produce some solar thermal components.
"We will be able to reduce costs and move relatively quickly to manufacturing," Zik told Reuters. "Components that can be made at lower cost in China will be produced there."
Sanhua, which will hold 30 percent of HelioFocus, will invest $9.25 million directly in the company and will acquire $1.25 million worth of shares from its founders.
IC Green Energy, the renewable energy investment arm of holding company Israel Corp, is the largest shareholder in HelioFocus with a 40 percent stake. It will invest $2.3 million in HelioFocus alongside Sanhua's investment.
The rest of HelioFocus, which was founded in 2007 and has raised over $20 million, is held by workers and management.
Zik said the company, whose system converts the sun's rays into hot air to produce electricity, will release its first product in 2012 and is working on a pilot project in Israel. Funds raised from Sanhua will be used by HelioFocus to continue its research.
"We believe that the thermo-solar market will grow significantly, together with the rapid global development and ongoing legislation in the clean energy market," Yom Tov Samia, chairman of HelioFocus and president and CEO of IC Green Energy, said in a statement.
Jacky Eldan, Israeli consul general in China, said the door opened by Sanhua will pave the way for more cooperation and investments of Chinese companies in Israel.
(Editing by David Holmes)
[Green Business]
PARIS
Tue Jan 5, 2010 9:20am EST
Big French firms to pay variable carbon tax
PARIS (Reuters) - Large French companies that pollute heavily will be penalized under new carbon tax legislation but are likely to pay variable rates, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said in remarks published on Tuesday.
More than 1,000 companies would be penalized according to how much energy they use to produce and how much competition their sectors face, Lagarde told French daily Les Echos.
The companies had been exempted from paying carbon tax in France under legislation that was annulled two days before it was due to come into force on January 1.
France's constitutional council argued that the initial version of the carbon tax included too many exemptions that violated the principle of equality among taxpayers.
"We are working on the possibility of applying reduced rates and of putting in place other incentive mechanisms or platforms," Lagarde told the paper.
"The competitiveness of companies is important and there is no question of taxing all these sectors indiscriminately including those that are economically fragile," she said.
The government is racing to piece together new legislation for a carbon tax by January 20, when it is supposed to be presented to the cabinet.
In a separate interview on France 2 television, Lagarde said the new version would not include big changes given that the blueprint pointed in the right direction and would help to improve consumption patterns.
Companies in France that were already subjected to European Union emission quotas would not be taxed again in France, she said.
Set at 17 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide and promoted by President Nicolas Sarkozy as a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change, the tax has been criticized by some as hurting big emitters and by others as giving them an easy ride.
The government could find it difficult to persuade lawmakers to back the plan so close to regional elections in March.
(Reporting by Tamora Vidaillet; editing by Sue Thomas)
[Green Business]
WASHINGTON
Tue Jan 5, 2010 9:26am EST
U.S. ethanol output rises in October: EIA
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. daily ethanol output rose in October, after two months of declines, amid stronger demand for the alternative motor fuel, the Energy Information Administration said.
Distillers made 740,000 barrels per day of the fuel in October, up from 725,000 bpd in September, the EIA said in a monthly report last week.
Matt Hartwig, a spokesman at industry group the Renewable Fuels Association, said a few plants started initial production in October, while others that had been running partial capacity increased output of the fuel.
Fuel blenders and refiners mixed about 703,258 bpd of ethanol into gasoline in October, up from 678,800 in September the EIA said.
U.S. mandates call for increasing amounts of ethanol to be blended into gasoline in an effort to help wean the country off foreign oil. The mandate for ethanol made from corn and other grains hits a maximum of 15 billion gallons a year by 2015.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner)
[Green Business]
Edward McAllister
NEW YORK
Tue Jan 5, 2010 3:10pm EST
Oil rises to near $82, cold weather supports
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose on Tuesday, up for the ninth straight day as cold weather in the United States and Europe boosted demand for heating fuel.
U.S. crude for February delivery closed up 26 cents at $81.77 a barrel, off an earlier high of $81.99, a cent below the October 2009 high. London Brent crude closed up 47 cents at $80.59.
"Oil prices are on a cold-weather rally, with heating oil demand seen rising for the next few weeks amid forecasts for temperatures for much of the country to be much below normal in that period," said Andy Lebow, broker at MF Global in New York.
"At the same time, economic indicators showing the economy is improving implies higher demand for diesel fuel," he added.
Crude markets have in recent months looked to wider economic data for signs of a turnaround that could bolster flagging oil demand.
The Dow industrials slipped as a plunge in November pending home sales increased concerns about the housing market, although a sign of improvement in the manufacturing sector limited losses.
U.S. retail gasoline demand fell 3.5 percent in the week to January 1, compared with the previous week, according to a MasterCard SpendingPulse report. Consumption was up 1.2 percent over the four-week period compared with year-ago levels.
Investors were also awaiting weekly U.S. oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) later on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast the data will show a drop in distillate and crude stockpiles.
COLD SNAP CONTINUES
Frigid temperatures in the United States were expected to boost the country's heating demand to 21 percent above normal, with consumption in the U.S. Northeast -- the largest heating oil market -- seen 11 percent above average levels.
Unusually cold weather in Britain is expected to continue into the second half of January after the coldest December since 1995, while lower temperatures in Europe were seen gradually spreading from the northeast to the southwest during the next few days.
Heavy snow and biting cold also hit parts of Asia on Monday, with unusually harsh winter weather snarling transport across north China, South Korea and India.
Investors were watching for any further developments between Russia and Belarus after an oil dispute saw Russia briefly cut off supplies to the Eastern European nation. Belarus sent a delegation to Moscow on Tuesday for talks to resolve the dispute that has raised the specter of winter supply problems for the European Union.
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New York, Joe Brock in London and Jennifer Tan in Singapore; Editing by Christian Wiessner and Lisa Shumaker)
[Green Business]
Tova Cohen
TEL AVIV
Tue Jan 5, 2010 8:26am EST
China's Sanhua invests in Israeli solar firm
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Zhejiang Sanhua signed an agreement on Tuesday to invest $10.5 million in solar thermal systems developer HelioFocus, marking the first direct investment by a Chinese company in an Israeli firm.
HelioFocus Chief Executive Uri Zik said Sanhua, a producer of components and control parts for air-conditioning systems, would be not just a financial investor in the company, but will also produce some solar thermal components.
"We will be able to reduce costs and move relatively quickly to manufacturing," Zik told Reuters. "Components that can be made at lower cost in China will be produced there."
Sanhua, which will hold 30 percent of HelioFocus, will invest $9.25 million directly in the company and will acquire $1.25 million worth of shares from its founders.
IC Green Energy, the renewable energy investment arm of holding company Israel Corp, is the largest shareholder in HelioFocus with a 40 percent stake. It will invest $2.3 million in HelioFocus alongside Sanhua's investment.
The rest of HelioFocus, which was founded in 2007 and has raised over $20 million, is held by workers and management.
Zik said the company, whose system converts the sun's rays into hot air to produce electricity, will release its first product in 2012 and is working on a pilot project in Israel. Funds raised from Sanhua will be used by HelioFocus to continue its research.
"We believe that the thermo-solar market will grow significantly, together with the rapid global development and ongoing legislation in the clean energy market," Yom Tov Samia, chairman of HelioFocus and president and CEO of IC Green Energy, said in a statement.
Jacky Eldan, Israeli consul general in China, said the door opened by Sanhua will pave the way for more cooperation and investments of Chinese companies in Israel.
(Editing by David Holmes)
[Green Business]
PARIS
Tue Jan 5, 2010 9:20am EST
Big French firms to pay variable carbon tax
PARIS (Reuters) - Large French companies that pollute heavily will be penalized under new carbon tax legislation but are likely to pay variable rates, French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said in remarks published on Tuesday.
More than 1,000 companies would be penalized according to how much energy they use to produce and how much competition their sectors face, Lagarde told French daily Les Echos.
The companies had been exempted from paying carbon tax in France under legislation that was annulled two days before it was due to come into force on January 1.
France's constitutional council argued that the initial version of the carbon tax included too many exemptions that violated the principle of equality among taxpayers.
"We are working on the possibility of applying reduced rates and of putting in place other incentive mechanisms or platforms," Lagarde told the paper.
"The competitiveness of companies is important and there is no question of taxing all these sectors indiscriminately including those that are economically fragile," she said.
The government is racing to piece together new legislation for a carbon tax by January 20, when it is supposed to be presented to the cabinet.
In a separate interview on France 2 television, Lagarde said the new version would not include big changes given that the blueprint pointed in the right direction and would help to improve consumption patterns.
Companies in France that were already subjected to European Union emission quotas would not be taxed again in France, she said.
Set at 17 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide and promoted by President Nicolas Sarkozy as a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change, the tax has been criticized by some as hurting big emitters and by others as giving them an easy ride.
The government could find it difficult to persuade lawmakers to back the plan so close to regional elections in March.
(Reporting by Tamora Vidaillet; editing by Sue Thomas)
[Green Business]
WASHINGTON
Tue Jan 5, 2010 9:26am EST
U.S. ethanol output rises in October: EIA
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. daily ethanol output rose in October, after two months of declines, amid stronger demand for the alternative motor fuel, the Energy Information Administration said.
Distillers made 740,000 barrels per day of the fuel in October, up from 725,000 bpd in September, the EIA said in a monthly report last week.
Matt Hartwig, a spokesman at industry group the Renewable Fuels Association, said a few plants started initial production in October, while others that had been running partial capacity increased output of the fuel.
Fuel blenders and refiners mixed about 703,258 bpd of ethanol into gasoline in October, up from 678,800 in September the EIA said.
U.S. mandates call for increasing amounts of ethanol to be blended into gasoline in an effort to help wean the country off foreign oil. The mandate for ethanol made from corn and other grains hits a maximum of 15 billion gallons a year by 2015.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner)
※コメント投稿者のブログIDはブログ作成者のみに通知されます