(Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin may have succeeded in ending its oil war with Saudi Arabia, yet the pain of crude’s crash is only just starting to hit Russia’s budget.Next month, the nation’s coffers will get less than $1 for each exported barrel of oil, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the data from the Russian Finance Ministry. Oil export duty in May is set to tumble by 87%, compared to April, reflecting crude’s biggest crash in a generation.“This duty level is the lowest since 2002 when the new export duty mechanism was introduced,” a representative from Russia’s Finance Ministry told Bloomberg.Russia’s oil-export tax level is recalculated monthly, based on the average price for Urals, the nation’s main export blend, over a mid-month to mid-month period. The system cushions the budget from any immediate impacts of low prices. Between March 15 and April 14, Urals crude averaged just over $19 a barrel,...
(Bloomberg) -- Lim Hock Chee and his wife used to sell chilled pork at a rented stall in a grocery store.Now, after more than 35 years, his family operates 61 supermarkets across Singapore and has joined the ranks of billionaires.Shares of their Sheng Siong Group Ltd., which competes with Amazon.com Inc. in the city-state, rose to a record Wednesday as supermarkets have become the preferred place to shop after the government imposed a partial lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The stock has rallied more than 30% since a March 19 closing low.The family’s combined fortune, based on their 57% stake in the retailer held mainly by Lim and his two brothers, has surged to $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That would have been inconceivable when Lim started the pork stall to help alleviate a supply glut at his father’s pig farm. The brothers took over the supermarket...
(Bloomberg) -- Oil was anchored near $20 a barrel after closing at an 18-year low as concerns over virus-led demand destruction outweigh an agreement by the world’s biggest producers to curb supply.U.S. crude stockpiles ballooned by a record 19.2 million barrels and gasoline consumption held near the lowest level in three decades last week as efforts to stem the spreading coronavirus curb travel and keep people in their homes. The International Energy Agency said Wednesday that even output cuts by OPEC+ couldn’t counter the demand collapse caused by the pandemic.Oil has erased around two-thirds of its value this year as the outbreak pummeled demand, leading refineries to cut processing rates, drillers to halt production and global storage to swell near capacity. U.S. output has declined only marginally and the glut is looking so severe that the Trump administration is considering paying American companies to leave crude in the ground.“There are still...
China, where the coronavirus pandemic started in December, is cautiously trying to get back to business, but it’s not easy when many millions of workers are wary of spending much or even going out. Millions of families were told to stay home under unprecedented controls that have been copied by the United States, Europe and India. The ruling Communist Party says the outbreak, which killed more than 3,340 people among more than 82,341 confirmed cases as of Thursday, is under control....
The memo was from Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby. Like other U.S. airlines, travel demand for Chicago-based United has cratered as most U.S. states have ordered residents to stay at home in order to contain spread of the coronavirus. United said it flew less than 200,000 people in the first two weeks of April, a 97% drop from the more than 6 million people it flew during the same time in 2019....
Oil rose on Thursday, with U.S. crude rebounding from near-20-year lows in the previous session on hopes that a big build-up in U.S. inventories may mean producers have little option but to deepen output cuts as the coronavirus pandemic ravages demand. Brent crude was up 69 cents, or 2.5%, at $28.38 a barrel by 0102 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 56 cents, or 2.8%, at $20.43....
The news comes as the fast-spreading pandemic led to the extension of the "no sail order" for all cruise ships by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as it looks to curb the spread of the virus. "A majority were layoffs," a company spokesperson said, without specifying separately the percentage of furlough and layoffs....
