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Power of Siberia: Russia’s 3000 km gas pipeline to China 99% complete

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

In 2019, the company is planning to invest 147.5 billion rubles ($2.24 billion) into the project which is set to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to China annually, according to Gazprom’s Investor Day presentation in Singapore.

Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) sealed a 30-year agreement for gas supplies via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline in 2014. In September, Gazprom reported that the Russian part of the pipeline, running from Yakutia gas production centers to China’s border, was almost complete.

The Russian part of the pipeline goes through three Russian regions, including the Irkutsk and Amur Regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Construction on the Chinese territory started in April 2017, and is currently close to completion.

Gazprom is planning to conduct the test of the 3,000km (1865 miles) pipeline, bridging all the gaps by December.

The Russian firm announced plans to invest 320 billion rubles ($4.8 billion) into the Amur gas processing plant which is expected to get gas from the Irkutsk and Yakutia gas production centers as part of the Eastern Gas Program.

Gazprom intends to become China’s biggest supplier, making up for more than 25 percent of gas imports by 2035 as the country’s demand for natural gas grows. China is the world’s largest importer of oil and second-biggest buyer of natural gas.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/452550-russia-mega-pipe-siberia-china/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

Sky Bridge: China’s horizontal skyscraper nears completion (VIDEO)

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Known as Raffles City Chongqing’s ninth ‘horizontal skyscraper’, the sky bridge, or ‘The Crystal’, is said to be one of the world’s highest. It is 300 meters in length, 32.5 meters wide, and 26.5 meters high. The construction is nestled above four of the 250-meter skyscrapers and links two adjacent towers by cantilevered bridges. At night, it transforms into a giant light beam, illuminating the sky with a rousing light show.

The megaproject was developed by one of Asia’s largest real estate companies, CapitaLand.

“After six years of construction using state of the art engineering technologies, we are proud to present in Raffles City Chongqing an iconic architectural form resembling a powerful sail surging forward on the historic Chaotianmen site,”said Lucas Loh, president (China Investment Management) at CapitaLand.

“Upon Raffles City Chongqing’s structural completion, we are now focusing on the interior fit-out works, including transplanting trees to enliven The Crystal sky bridge, which will feature the tallest observation deck across Western China,” he added.

The megaproject occupies an area of 9.2 hectares and brings together a 235,000-sq m shopping mall, office spaces, residential apartments, residences, and a hotel. Two of its skyscrapers are 350 meters tall and are known as Chongqing’s tallest buildings; one of them was also named China’s tallest residential tower. The other six skyscrapers are about 250 meters tall. The ambitious development is strategically located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/452542-china-horizontal-skyscraper-crystal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

An Economist’s Argument for Preserving Communities

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

These threads dissolve in the hundreds of pages of vaguely sketched economic history that follow. While ably describing how both a growing market and a growing state have eroded the community’s relevance and vitality over time, Rajan gradually redefines the third pillar from “communities whose members live in proximity” to merely democracy or the “voting public.” An intrinsically valuable and varied local institution congeals into a homogeneous tool for ensuring that the market and state behave.

When genuine community does make a return in the book’s section on prescriptions, Rajan sacrifices it willingly. Having shown how the state has weakened community by seizing the role of safety net, he nevertheless wants to go further in that direction. America’s variety of antipoverty programs, “strung together with the help of the state government, the local government, private efforts and charitable funds” (in other words, “community”), are “inadequate,” he says, calling instead for “a basic level of unconditional federal economic support” along with universal health care. On one page, Rajan recommends that “powers should stay at the most decentralized level consistent with their effective use,” but on the next he declares that “when inclusiveness goes up against localism, inclusiveness should always triumph.”

Rajan’s real aim seems to be movement “toward one borderless world,” with stronger communities a perhaps helpful means to that end. “A central concern in this book,” he writes, “is about the passions that are unleashed when an imagined community like the nation fulfills the need for belonging that the neighborhood can no longer meet.” He recalls wistfully the days when “technocrats … did not have to spell out these arguments to the wider public.” Sure, “the elite did not engage” in any debate “as they abandoned the integrated community,” but he finds it “hard to fault their choice.” After all, “the meritocratic markets now demanded it.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/books/review/raghuram-rajan-third-pillar.html?emc=rss&partner=rss

Filed Under: Small Business

BP boss Dudley says US shale is ‘a market without a brain’

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

“The US is probably the only country that completely responds to market signals… like a market without a brain. It just responds to price signals,” Dudley said at the International Petroleum Week conference in London, as cited by Reuters.

“Unlike Saudi Arabia and Russia, which adjust their output in response to gluts or shortages in oil supplies, the US shale market responds purely to oil prices,” the CEO added.

Also on rt.com Half-billion dollars’ worth of sanctioned oil sitting offshore Venezuela

US production volumes saw a weekly growth of around 100,000 barrels per day, reaching a record level of 12 million barrels a day as February 15. At the same time, inventory levels beat analysts’ forecasts, rising for the fifth consecutive week and amounting to 3.7 million barrels.

According to experts, US production will extend the current growth, and is poised to evoke further concerns about oversupply. New York-based Citigroup expects US shale output to hit 13 million barrels per day by the end of the current year with an average daily level to hover around 12.5 million barrels during the year.

The US shale oil sector needs oil to trade at $40-$60 per barrel to be profitable for both the country’s economy and crude-producing companies. Last year, shale production helped the US to become the world’s biggest oil producer.

Also on rt.com Wall Street loses faith in shale

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump once again blasted the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its leading member Saudi Arabia for repeated attempts to stabilize global prices for crude.

“OPEC, please relax and take it easy,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “World cannot take a price hike – fragile!”

Brent crude rose slightly and was trading at $65.51 a barrel at 07:22 GMT on Wednesday, while US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 40 cents to $55.90 a barrel.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/452533-bp-dudley-us-oil-brain/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

Nonfiction: An Economist’s Argument for Preserving Communities

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

These threads dissolve in the hundreds of pages of vaguely sketched economic history that follow. While ably describing how both a growing market and a growing state have eroded the community’s relevance and vitality over time, Rajan gradually redefines the third pillar from “communities whose members live in proximity” to merely democracy or the “voting public.” An intrinsically valuable and varied local institution congeals into a homogeneous tool for ensuring that the market and state behave.

When genuine community does make a return in the book’s section on prescriptions, Rajan sacrifices it willingly. Having shown how the state has weakened community by seizing the role of safety net, he nevertheless wants to go further in that direction. America’s variety of antipoverty programs, “strung together with the help of the state government, the local government, private efforts and charitable funds” (in other words, “community”), are “inadequate,” he says, calling instead for “a basic level of unconditional federal economic support” along with universal health care. On one page, Rajan recommends that “powers should stay at the most decentralized level consistent with their effective use,” but on the next he declares that “when inclusiveness goes up against localism, inclusiveness should always triumph.”

Rajan’s real aim seems to be movement “toward one borderless world,” with stronger communities a perhaps helpful means to that end. “A central concern in this book,” he writes, “is about the passions that are unleashed when an imagined community like the nation fulfills the need for belonging that the neighborhood can no longer meet.” He recalls wistfully the days when “technocrats … did not have to spell out these arguments to the wider public.” Sure, “the elite did not engage” in any debate “as they abandoned the integrated community,” but he finds it “hard to fault their choice.” After all, “the meritocratic markets now demanded it.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/books/review/raghuram-rajan-third-pillar.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Economy News

Indian & Pakistani stocks turn red on escalation of cross-border hostilities

February 27, 2019 by Leave a Comment

India’s stock market index Sensex slid 189.54 points on Wednesday to 35,784.17, while the Nifty 50 (the National Stock Exchange of India’s benchmark broad based stock market index) dropped 68.10 points to 10,767.20. The rupee was also trading lower, at 71.47 per dollar.

Pakistani markets have also extended their losses. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE100 Index) was trading 1,476 points lower at 37,345, down three percent. It’s the index’s biggest fall since July 11, 2017.

“Indian markets are in range-bound position till the 50-stock Nifty trades in between 10,500 to 10,950 levels. Bull or bear run into the Indian markets would become clear as and when the Nifty breaks either sides of the range,” Simi Bhaumik, a SEBI registered technical equity analyst, told Zee Business Online.

According to the managing director of Equinomics Research, G Chokkalingam, “War will be a difficult option with both countries sitting on nuclear weapons. There can be escalation of conflict, but it is unlikely to turn into a full-fledged war,” he told the Economic Times.

“Logically it should die down in some time,” he said, adding: “There could be other risks to the market, but a risk of war is improbable.”

Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated dramatically following a suicide car bomb attack in Indian-held Kashmir this month which killed 44 Indian paramilitary police officers. The suicide attack on a large convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was the deadliest attack on security forces in the disputed region since the 1989 insurgency began.

Also on rt.com Pakistan downs 2 Indian aircraft inside its airspace, pilot arrested – military

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), an organization with ties to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

In response, India began airstrikes against the terrorist group, accusing Pakistan of failing to crack down on terrorist activity in the area.

READ MORE: 1st VIDEO of captured and injured Indian pilot released by Radio Pakistan

On Wednesday, the Pakistani Army said it shot down two Indian Air Force aircraft after they crossed into its airspace. One aircraft fell on the Pakistani-controlled area, and a pilot was arrested on the ground. Pakistan has closed its airspace for Indian flights.

Indian Air Force jets intercepted Pakistani military jets after they crossed into Indian airspace over disputed Kashmir. Karachi said its jets didn’t cross the border and avoided “human loss.”

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/452530-india-pakistan-markets-tensions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Filed Under: Global Business

Fiat Chrysler Plans Michigan Investment With 6,500 Jobs

February 26, 2019 by Leave a Comment

The plan is the first major initiative announced by Mr. Manley, who was named chief executive in July after his predecessor, Sergio Marchionne, died unexpectedly after shoulder surgery. Mr. Manley had headed the Jeep brand under Mr. Marchionne.

Fiat Chrysler intends to convert its Mack Avenue Engine plant in Detroit to produce a new seven-passenger Jeep model and the new version of its Jeep Grand Cherokee, a move that will add 3,850 jobs. Mr. Manley said construction would start in the second quarter. Plans for the plant’s conversion had surfaced in news reports in December.

The company will also update another Detroit plant, known as Jefferson North, to be able to make the next-generation Grand Cherokee as well as the Dodge Durango, another S.U.V., creating 1,000 additional jobs. A third plant in Warren, Mich., that currently makes an older version of the Ram 1500 pickup truck will be modified to also make two other new vehicles — the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. That will bring 1,400 jobs to the Warren factory.

Mr. Manley said the plant modifications would allow Fiat Chrysler to start making electric versions of its Jeep models, if customer demand increased.

While the company is expanding in Michigan, it said it would lay off 1,371 of the 5,464 workers at its plant in Belvidere, Ill. The factory, where Fiat Chrysler makes Jeep Cherokees, employs three crews of workers, and runs two 10-hour shifts six days a week. The job cuts will take effect May 6, after which the plant will operate two eight-hour shifts five days a week.

A Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman said the carmaker had no plans to transfer Belvidere workers to the Michigan plants where jobs are being added.

Fiat Chrysler was ahead of most of its competitors when it stopped making sedans in 2016 to focus on pickups, S.U.V.s and other large vehicles, whose sales were rising as gasoline prices declined. G.M. and Ford are now scrambling to catch up.

G.M. announced last year that it would close two plants in the United States and a third in Canada that make cars. Ford said last year that it would stop making sedans, and is undergoing a broad restructuring to improve profitability. Both G.M. and Ford are eliminating thousands of salaried jobs as part of their cost-cutting efforts.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/business/fiat-chrysler-jeep-plant.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Economy News

U.S. Loses Appeal Seeking to Block AT&T-Time Warner Merger

February 26, 2019 by Leave a Comment

William P. Barr, who was confirmed as attorney general this month, was a member of the Time Warner board until last June. He told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would recuse himself from the agency’s efforts to dismantle the merger. Mr. Barr held more than $4.2 million worth of Time Warner stock at the end of March and sold his shares sometime before the end of June.

After ATT closed the deal that month, it quickly appointed an executive to oversee the new acquisition. The move led some people to worry that the company would foist its mechanized methods onto Time Warner. But ATT has said it plans to preserve the entertainment giant’s culture of talent and creativity.

ATT also has to prove to its investors that it can pay off its staggering debt load of $171 billion, much more than most public companies carry. The company borrowed $40 billion to finance the Time Warner acquisition. Mr. Stephenson has said ATT should be able to pay off about $30 billion of its debt this year.

The lower court’s approval of ATT’s merger with Time Warner touched off an intense round of deal making. Comcast and The Walt Disney Company clashed in a fiercely contested bidding war for the bulk of 21st Century Fox, the media empire created by Rupert Murdoch.

Disney eventually won, securing the rights to Mr. Murdoch’s film studios, including 20th Century Fox, and several of his cable networks. Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, separately won a bid for British satellite broadcaster Sky, which had been controlled by the Murdoch family. (Mr. Murdoch will continue to control Fox News and Fox broadcasting, as well as sports network FS1 and business network Fox Business.) CBS and Viacom, both controlled by the Redstone family, could pursue a merger this year.

The government’s approach to the ATT-Time Warner merger contrasts sharply with its relatively quick approval of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment properties. That agreement, in which Disney said it would pay $71.3 billion for Fox’s television and movie business, was approved last June, about six months after it was announced. Transactions of such size typically take a year or longer.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/business/media/att-time-warner-appeal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business

Emma Thompson Letter Explains Why She Backed Out of Movie Over Lasseter

February 26, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Last month, Skydance Animation raised many eyebrows when it announced that John Lasseter — one of the most influential figures in the animation field and a co-founder of Pixar — would become its new head. After all, Lasseter had left the Walt Disney Company last year following employee complaints about unwanted touching.

But reaction in some corners went beyond a raised eyebrow: Emma Thompson, the two-time Oscar winner who had previously worked on the Pixar film “Brave” with Lasseter, wanted out of a Skydance project.

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter, citing anonymous sources, reported that Thompson had backed out of a voice part in “Luck,” a Skydance movie with Alessandro Carloni attached to direct, because of concerns about working on a project for a studio run by Lasseter.

Thompson had actually left the project, it turns out, on Jan. 20, 11 days after Lasseter’s hiring was officially announced. Three days later she sent a scathing letter to Skydance, detailing her decision to leave, that was published on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times. A representative for Thompson confirmed its contents.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/movies/emma-thompson-letter-john-lasseter.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business

In ‘Green Book’ Victory, Oscar Critics See an Old Hollywood Tale

February 26, 2019 by Leave a Comment

After the three men accepted the prize, Mr. Jackson and Ms. Larson stepped back to the microphone to open the adapted screenplay envelope. A euphoric Mr. Jackson shouted Mr. Lee’s name for “BlacKkKlansman,” and the director jumped into his buddy’s arms when he got to the stage.

It was Mr. Lee’s first Oscar win. He shared the prize with his fellow writers Kevin Willmott, who is black, and Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz, who are both white.

Speaking to reporters backstage after the ceremony, Mr. Lee at first declined to comment on his film’s losing best picture to “Green Book.” Then he compared “Green Book” to “Driving Miss Daisy,” the racial reconciliation fantasy that won for best picture in 1990, when Mr. Lee’s groundbreaking “Do the Right Thing” was not even nominated.

“I’m snakebit,” he said. “I mean, every time somebody is driving somebody, I lose.”

Mr. Lee also compared the best-picture win by “Green Book” to his beloved New York Knicks’ losing a close game.

“I thought I was courtside at the Garden, and the ref made a bad call,” he said.

Mr. Lee added, however, that the academy was changing, noting the organization’s aggressive efforts to diversify its membership after the #OscarsSoWhite outcries of 2015 and 2016. At least “BlacKkKlansman” was nominated this time, he said, so it wasn’t a complete example of history’s repeating itself.

“They opened up the academy to make the academy look more like America,” Mr. Lee said. “So that’s why three black women, if I’m counting correctly, won Oscars.” He was correct: Regina King won the supporting-actress award for “If Beale Street Could Talk,” while two “Black Panther” department heads, Hannah Beachler (production design) and Ruth E. Carter (costumes), became the first African-Americans to receive Oscars in their categories.

Mr. Willmott, who got his start in Hollywood two decades ago, summed up both the euphoria and disappointment.

“Tonight is a huge step forward, I think, in many different ways,” he said. “It’s still frustrating at times.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/25/business/media/green-book-spike-lee-reaction.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business
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