Author: CensorBiz

The European Union has agreed to expand its third round of sanctions being imposed on Russia to target a larger number of oligarchs and officials close to President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The French Presidency of the European Council said in a series of tweets on March 9 that the new sanctions added would apply to “Russian leaders and oligarchs and their family members implicated in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

The third round of sanctions being imposed on Russia, the largest EU package agreed since the invasion began on February 24, includes a freeze on the Russian central bank’s assets in the bloc and a ban on Kremlin media in the European Union.

The French Presidency said the new sanctions approved on March 9 also include targeting the maritime sector and measures aim at excluding three Belarusian banks from the SWIFT financial payment messaging system, while also clarifying the issue of cryptocurrencies and giving a complete list of technologies and goods that cannot be sold between Russia and the bloc.

It did not detail which banks in Belarus, which has assisted Moscow in the invasion, are affected or which technologies and goods are included in the sanctions.

“These sanctions will be formally adopted by the Council by written procedure with a view to their rapid publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,” it said.

The EU has now sanctioned 680 people and 53 entities since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, recognized the independence of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, and invaded the country in February.
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Global oil prices soared Tuesday as President Joe Biden announced that the United States will ban imports of Russian energy — a move that could have a dramatic impact in punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime for its invasion of Ukraine. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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The U.S. is banning all imports of Russian oil and gas, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday — a move that he said “will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine” as the Russian army continues its assault on Ukraine.

This step, outlined in an executive order, is the latest move by Washington to squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, accused by critics of filling his pockets with ill-gotten gains from his energy-exporting nation. Under the executive order, the U.S. is also banning all imports of crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, coal and coal products and banning any American from investing in Russia’s energy sector.

Last year, the U.S. imported nearly 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia — a far cry from the some 4.5 million barrels of Russian oil that Europe imports each day.

“We’re moving forward on this ban understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us,” Biden said. “The United States produces far more oil domestically than all the European countries combined. In fact, we’re a net exporter of energy. So we can take this step when others cannot.”

Meanwhile, Britain on Tuesday said it would phase out imports of Russian oil and oil products by the end of this year.

Biden also announced Tuesday that International Energy Agency members agreed to a collective release of 60 million barrels of crude oil from strategic petroleum reserves, with the United States committing half of that amount.

Biden said he has received support from his political allies and critics, with Republican U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, saying “this action is a necessary step for the world. Vladimir Putin’s war chest is dependent on revenue [that] comes from selling energy — some of it to Americans when we have more than enough oil and gas for ourselves and most of the rest of the world.”

He added “Because of this, oil is a weapon for Putin. It’s about time the Biden administration recognized this weaponization of energy. This import ban is designed to further cripple Putin’s financial stream to wage war on the freedom-loving people of Ukraine and a host of other mischief.”

Biden has repeatedly said he has no intention to send U.S. troops to Ukraine, and that these economic moves are a strong deterrent for Putin.

“Yesterday I spoke with my counterparts in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom about how Russia is escalating violence against Ukraine and the steps that we’re going to take together with our allies and partners around the world to respond to this aggression,” Biden said.

“We are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history and it’s causing significant damage to Russia’s economy.”

This report contains information from Reuters.
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A growing number of Western businesses are either halting operations in Russia or exiting altogether over that country’s military incursion of neighboring Ukraine.

The major hit to Russia’s economy will likely come from the crucial oil and gas industry. British-based BP announced Sunday that it is divesting its $14 billion stake in Russian state-owned oil and gas company Rosneft.  

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden of Britain-based Shell Oil Company issued an apology Tuesday for buying Russian crude oil last week, and said it would end all of its operations in Russia, including pipeline gas and liquid natural gas. Shell previously announced it was abandoning its joint venture with state-owned Gazprom and the now-suspended Nord Stream 2 pipeline, built to carry natural gas from Russia to western Europe. 

Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan have announced plans to suspend production at their plants in the western port city of St. Petersburg and end all vehicle exports to Russia. A third Japanese automaker, Honda, has also halted all exports to Russia, including motorcycles and engines.  

Another major manufacturing firm cutting ties with Russia is U.S.-based aviation giant Boeing, which has suspended buying titanium for use in building airplanes. 

In the clothing sector, legendary U.S.-blue jeans maker Levi Strauss announced Monday that it is suspending sales of its products and ending any new investments in Russia, saying that any business considerations “are clearly secondary to the human suffering experienced by so many.” Levi Strauss said it would donate $300,000 to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine launched by the International Rescue Committee and CARE.  

Financial services companies are also cutting ties. Credit card companies Visa and Mastercard, along with payments company PayPal, all announced last week they were suspending operations in Russia, with high end rival American Express announcing on March 1 that it is halting relationships with Russian banking partners. U.S.-based Vanguard, the world’s top mutual fund investment firm, says it has ended purchases of Russian securities from its actively managed funds and is working to exit its holdings across all of its index funds.  

Tech and entertainment companies are also turning their backs on Russia over Ukraine. U.S.-based streaming video service Netflix has suspended all services in Russia and is ending all future projects and acquisitions there, while Hollywood giants Warner Brothers, Disney and Sony Pictures are all delaying the release of new films in Russia. Apple has blocked Russia-based RT News and Sputnik News from its app store outside of Russia, while Google and TikTok have blocked Russian state media channels from their platforms.

Meanwhile, Apple has stopped selling iPhones and other devices inside Russia, while U.S.-based computer maker Dell Technologies has suspended sales of its products in both Russia and Ukraine.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Like in much of Africa, women in Kenya own only a small fraction of property, and less than 14% of Kenya’s real estate brokers are women. For VOA, Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi on the challenges women face in the real estate industry.
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Chocolate makers are expected to raise prices this year due to higher costs of cocoa from exporters like Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer.

Hershey, the largest producer of chocolate products in the United States, said last month it will raise prices on its products across the board due to the rising cost of ingredients.   

Meanwhile, chocolate makers like Dana Mroueh said they are seeing cocoa prices rise in Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer.  

“We’ve noticed the price of cocoa is going up these few years, especially organic cocoa. So, from the beginning to today, those five years, we can say the price has risen 20 percent,” Mroueh said.  

Demand for chocolate in America increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and cocoa producers in Ivory Coast are struggling to keep up with that demand.   

Experts say one reason is the impact of climate change.  

Harvard University says that by 2030, parts of West Africa will be too hot and dry to adequately produce cocoa. The West African countries of Ghana and Ivory Coast alone produce 70 percent of global supply.  

Cocoa farmer Raphael Konan Kouassi took VOA to his plantation, a shady orchard where fat green and yellow cocoa pods hung from tree trunks. He said trees are yielding less due to rising temperatures and poor rains.  

“Almost all of the young plants die in the high season. If you have not been able to get water to them, you have no cocoa,” he said.  

Kouassi receives government assistance in the form of cocoa trees, which are more resilient to the fluctuations of climate change, but he said government distributions happen at the wrong time of year for the saplings to survive.  

Christian Bunn of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, a global scientific organization, said information about how the climate is changing can inform farmers on how to better nurture their crops.  

“What we’re seeing is that the onset of both dry and wet season can change. It’s less reliable. During the season, there may be breaks in terms of rain during the dry season, or there’s a dry spell during the wet season, and the overall distribution or amounts of rainfall they’re receiving may change,” Bunn said.  

The data shows it may be better for farmers to stop producing cocoa and diversify into other crops, he said.   

However, Olga Yenou, the CEO of an Ivorian company that supplies The Hershey Company, said higher prices for cocoa could be welcomed by farmers.  

“My opinion is that these farmers should have better prices, should earn more, because they work hard. Most are poor,” Yenou said.  

Her wish appears to be coming true. As climate change continues to bite, prices continue to surge.  

 
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Wall Street had its biggest drop in more than a year Monday as another leap for oil prices threatened to squeeze inflation’s grip on the global economy. 

The S&P 500 fell 3%, its biggest decline in 16 months, after a barrel of U.S. oil surged to $130 overnight on the possibility the U.S. could bar imports from Russia. Stocks around the world also fell earlier in the day, taking their cue from oil’s movements. 

The benchmark S&P 500 fell 122.78 points to 4,201.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 797.42 points, or 2.4%, to 32,817.38. 

The Nasdaq composite slid 482.48 points, or 3.6%, to 12,830.96. The tech-heavy index is now 20.1% below its record set in November. Such a decline means the index is now in what Wall Street calls a bear market. The S&P 500 is down a more modest 12.4% from the peak it set in early January. 

Gold and a measure of nervousness on Wall Street also rose, though not by quite as much as when oil prices hit their peak. The price of gold briefly rose above $2,000 an ounce before settling at $1,995.90, up 1.5%. 

“This could be something that drags on for a while as the tensions in Ukraine persist, as oil prices remain elevated,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “The higher and longer oil prices stay elevated, the greater the eroding impact that they will have on economic growth.” 

Oil prices have soared recently on worries that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will upend already tight supplies. Russia is one of the world’s largest energy producers, and oil prices were already high before the attack because the global economy is demanding more fuel following its coronavirus-caused shutdown. 

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her colleagues on Sunday that “the House is currently exploring strong legislation” to further isolate Russia because of its attack on Ukraine. That could include a ban on imports of Russian oil and energy products, she said. 

It’s a major step that the U.S. government has not yet taken, despite a long list of moves to punish Russia, as the White House has said it hopes to limit disruptions to oil markets. It wants to limit price jumps at the gasoline pump. 

Reports also said U.S. officials may be considering easing sanctions against Venezuela. That potentially could free up more crude oil and ease concerns about reduced supplies from Russia. 

A gallon of regular already costs an average of $4.065 across the country after breaching the $4 barrier on Sunday for the first time since 2008. A month ago, a gallon averaged $3.441, according to AAA. 

A barrel of U.S. crude oil settled at $119.40 per barrel, up 3.2%, after earlier touching $130.50. Brent crude, the international standard, settled at $123.21 per barrel, up 4.3%, after earlier topping $139. 

Meanwhile, smaller company stocks also fell sharply. The Russell 2000 index fell 49.57 points, or 2.5%, to 1,951.33. 

Markets worldwide have swung wildly recently on worries about how high prices for oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region will go because of Russia’s invasion, inflaming the world’s already high inflation. In the United States, prices for consumers jumped last month from their year-ago level at the fastest rate in four decades. 

The conflict in Ukraine also threatens the food supply in some regions, including Europe, Africa and Asia, which rely on the vast, fertile farmlands of the Black Sea region, known as the “breadbasket of the world.” 

The war puts extra pressure on central banks around the world, with the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates later this month for the first time since 2018. Higher rates slow the economy, which hopefully will help rein in high inflation. But if the Fed raises rates too high, it risks forcing the economy into a recession. 

“Their reaction to geopolitics can’t really be measured, so there’s uncertainty around that,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. 

Some investors have seen the war in Ukraine as potentially pushing the Fed to go easier on rate increases. Investors love low rates because they tend to boost prices for stocks and all kinds of markets. 

But that may not necessarily be the case this time, Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a report. With prices for oil, wheat and other commodities potentially rising even more, the threat is higher for sustained, high inflation to settle on the economy. That could flip the Fed’s traditional playbook. 

“After several decades in which economic, financial, or political shocks invariably caused interest rates to fall, markets may have to relearn that the opposite can also be true,” Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius wrote. 

Beyond sanctions brought on Russia by governments because of its invasion of Ukraine, companies are also levying their own punishments. The list of companies exiting Russia has grown to include Mastercard, Visa and American Express, as well as Netflix. 

The value of the Russian ruble continued to slide amid all the financial pressure, falling 12% to 0.7 cents. 

Treasury yields climbed. The 10-year yield rose to 1.78% from 1.72%. 

 
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A delegation of senior U.S. officials visited Venezuela Saturday for talks with members of President Nicolas Maduro’s government to explore the possibility of easing U.S. sanctions against the major oil producer, according to sources who participated in the talks.

The sources say the talks – with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strongest ally in the Western Hemisphere – had been in the works behind the scenes for months, as the Biden administration weighs easing sanctions as a bargaining chip for the release of U.S. citizens being held in Venezuela. But they say the talks took on new urgency with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. under former President Donald Trump broke off diplomatic relations with Venezuela in 2019, after the U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate president, accusing Maduro of rigging the presidential reelection. The Trump administration also blocked all U.S. revenue to Venezuela’s national oil company.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in recent weeks some U.S. investors have called on the Biden administration to lift sanctions on Venezuela so it can send more crude oil into the market. That would fill the gap if Western nations decide to impose a boycott on Russian oil. Chevron has also lobbied the administration to modify its license to accept and trade oil in Venezuela.

The sources say the U.S. delegation to Venezuela was led by Juan Gonzalez, National Security Council senior director for the Western Hemisphere; James Story, ambassador to Venezuela; and Roger Carstens, special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. Carstens was the top U.S. diplomat in Caracas when the Trump administration broke off relations with Maduro in 2019.

Carstens previously traveled to Caracas in December and met in jail with six oil executives from Houston-based Citgo, former U.S. Marine Matthew Heath and two former Green Berets arrested in connection with a failed raid aimed at toppling Maduro that was staged from neighboring Colombia.

The White House, the U.S. State Department and Venezuela’s Information Ministry declined direct comment on the talks. But Reuters reports little progress was made as both sides made what were characterized as “maximalist demands,” reflecting longtime tensions between the Western Hemisphere’s main power and one of its biggest ideological foes.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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As international sanctions on Moscow have triggered a decrease in the ruble’s value, North Korean workers in Russia are struggling to meet the remittance quotas set by Pyongyang, according to multiple sources in Russia and official North Korean documents obtained by VOA’s Korean Service.

North Korea is believed to use the hard currency to fund development of its weapons.

North Koreans working at Pyongyang’s entities and front companies contracted with enterprises in Russia are paid in rubles. As of 2020, there were 1,000 North Koreans working in Russia, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Because the regime prefers dollars to rubles, the North Koreans convert their rubles before remitting them to Pyongyang. The sharp drop of the ruble has slashed the amount of dollars North Korean workers can send back to Pyongyang. When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, $1 was worth 84.05 rubles. On March 4, $1 was worth 106.47 rubles.

VOA’s Korean Service is in regular contact with several sources in Russia who are familiar with the situation of North Korean workers there. Only the most trusted North Koreans are allowed to work in Russia and elsewhere outside their country.

Workers are “feeling extreme pressure from their supervisors” at North Korean enterprises operating in Russia, said one source who said the workers fear further devaluation of the ruble and are in a panic-driven rush to convert rubles to dollars.

The service has verified the credibility of the sources in Russia and to protect their identities, cannot reveal further information about them.  The sources provided several documents including the list of monthly remittance quotas and instructions for meeting them.

Devalued ruble

The ruble plunged below $0.01 in value this week after the U.S. and European countries imposed sanctions against Russia on Feb. 26 to financially isolate and punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

Included in the sanctions was a ban on several Russian banks from accessing the SWIFT global bank payment system.

Eager for foreign currency, Pyongyang has long dispatched North Korean workers to Russia to make money. The U.S. estimated 30,000 were in Russia before the U.N. issued sanctions in December 2017 banning countries from authorizing work permits to North Koreans. Many remain in Russia and work using student or travel visas.

North Koreans work in various sectors but most are employed on construction or logging projects.

From January to August 2022, each North Korean construction worker was expected to remit $6,500 in dollars, according to a monthly list of quotas set by Pyongyang and obtained by VOA’s Korean Service.

That was equivalent to 710,000 rubles using the current exchange rate of 110 rubles per dollar. In October 2021, $6,500 was equivalent to 460,000 rubles when the exchange rate was 70 rubles per dollar.

This means North Koreans must now earn 30% to 40% more to fulfill the required remittance quotas.

North Korea “doesn’t need rubles and requires the payments in dollars only,” said a source.  “It won’t reduce the quota amounts that were ordered to be submitted unconditionally” despite the ruble’s fall.

A copy of a document obtained by VOA’s Korean Service included instructions for workers to meet quotas “unconditionally.”

In addition to the money destined for Pyongyang, each worker must earn approximately 30,000 rubles per year to pay to Russian universities to obtain a student visa.

Financial pressure

In December, the U.S. ostracized Moscow-based university European Institute Justo and its provost for sponsoring student visas for North Korean workers whose income the Treasury Department said supported Pyongyang’s weapons program.

Additionally, the SWIFT ban on Russian banks restricted North Korean workers from sending money to Pyongyang. The dollar-based SWIFT global messaging network is used by more than 11,000 financial institutions in 200 plus countries to send and receive information about cross-border transactions.

North Korean workers in Russia now “can’t send money” using their old method, said Heo Kang Il, a former manager of a North Korean restaurant in China, who spoke with VOA’s Korean Service.

Heo said North Korean entities in Russia used to deposit their earnings to North Korean banks operating secretly in Russia. Then the banks would wire the money to a global online payments system using online accounts created under pseudonyms in China. From there, the money was sent to Pyongyang.

VOA’s Korean Service contacted the North Korean mission to the U.N. to obtain Pyongyang’s position on the economic impact the drop in the ruble’s value is expected to have on Pyongyang but did not get a reply.

William Brown, a former CIA analyst who closely monitors the North Korean economy, said difficulties faced by heavily sanctioned countries like North Korea and now Russia could lead them to forge closer trade and financial relations.

“They are going to create a sort of an island of sanctioned countries – North Korea, Russia now, and Iran,” said Brown.

“So the more this island gets bigger, the more they’ll trade and invest within that group,” he said. “In the Cold War era, we didn’t do much business with any of the bloc [made of] China, Russia, Eastern Europe, all those countries. There were essentially two separate financial systems. They did a lot of trade finance amongst themselves.”

Bradley Babson, a former World Bank adviser and current advisory council member of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said Pyongyang will now forge even closer economic ties with its top trading partner China.

The North Koreans “are going to have to rely almost entirely on China for whatever economic benefits that they can get out of opening up their trade relationship and whatever remittances they might be able to receive from North Koreans working in China as opposed to Russia.” 
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Libya’s national oil company said Sunday that an armed group has shut down two crucial oil fields, causing the country’s daily production of oil to drop by 330,000 barrels.

The state-run National Oil Corporation said the group closed pump valves at the Sharara field, Libya’s largest, and el-Feel, effectively stopping production in both areas. Before the shutdown, Libya’s production of oil was at around 1.2 billion barrels per day.

Company head Mustafa Sanallah announced a force majeure, a legal maneuver that lets a company get out of its contracts because of extraordinary circumstances.

He said the closures cost Libya more than $160 million ($34.6 million) per day in lost revenues.

Sanallah said the NOC has urged public prosecutors “to take deterrent measures” and reveal “the planners, executors and the beneficiaries” of the shutdown. The same militia disrupted oil production at both fields in 2014 and 2016, he added.

An oil official in the capital Tripoli said the militia that shut down the fields is from the mountainous town of Zintan, around 136 kilometers (over 84 miles) southwest of Tripoli.

Tribal leaders in the area were negotiating with the militia leaders to allow the resumption of oil production, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The shutdown came as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken markets worldwide, causing crude oil prices to soar above $115 per barrel.

Libya has the ninth-largest known oil reserves in the world, and the biggest oil reserves in Africa.

The dizzying developments in Libya’s oil fields have come amid a mounting standoff between two rival governments which threaten to again drag the country into chaotic infighting.
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Mastercard and Visa are suspending their operations in Russia, the companies said Saturday, in the latest blow to the country’s financial system after its invasion of Ukraine.

Mastercard said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any Mastercard issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs.

“We don’t take this decision lightly,” Mastercard said in a statement, adding that it made the move after discussions with customers, partners and governments.

Visa said it’s working with clients and partners in Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days.

“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” Visa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said in a statement.

The twin suspensions were announced within 16 minutes of each other, and they followed a private video call earlier in the day between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and U.S. lawmakers. During that conversation, Zelenskyy “asked us to turn off MasterCard and Visa for Russia,” Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, tweeted. “I agree,” he added, before Mastercard and Visa made their announcements.

Earlier in the week, Visa and Mastercard had announced more limited moves to block financial institutions from the networks that serve as arteries for the payments system. Russian people have already been hit hard by heavy sanctions and financial penalties imposed by the U.S. government and others.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the value of the Russian currency, the ruble, has plunged by more than a third to a record low. That’s pushing up inflation for Russian households, and all the fear has helped cause long lines at ATMs.

Many other companies around the world have also made moves to increase the financial pressure on Russia and its people because of its attack on Ukraine. Some are selling their stakes in Russian companies, such as energy giant BP, while others like Harley-Davidson halted product shipments to the country.

“This war and the ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values,” Visa’s Kelly said.

The moves by Mastercard and Visa could make real differences to their bottom lines. Russia accounted for 4% of all of Visa’s net revenue in its last fiscal year, including money made from domestic and cross-border activities. Ukraine accounted for about 1%, Visa said in a filing with U.S. securities regulators this week.

Mastercard said in its own filing that about 4% of its net revenues during 2021 came from business conducted within, into and out of Russia. Another roughly 2% was related to Ukraine.
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Nigeria has agreed to supply natural gas to Equatorial Guinea at Nigeria’s International Energy Summit in Abuja. African energy experts are urging quick implementation of the gas deal amid high demand and supply disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This week’s signing of a gas deal by Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, and his Guinean counterpart, Gabriel Lima, is a testament to Africa’s untapped gas market.

The deal seeks to supply Nigerian gas to Guinea’s processing site in Punta Europa.

Sylva said the deal would allow much of Nigeria’s unused gas to access the global market within two years — a timely development, experts said.

Gbenga Komolafe, head of Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, said, “The supply disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in an upward surge of crude oil prices, surpassing $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014. This development offers market potential for Nigeria to key into maximizing its oil and gas assets.”

African energy experts at the signing urged officials of both countries to expedite the implementation of the deal.

Komolafe said African countries need to carry out increased exploration and adopt advanced technology to maximize production yields to increase oil and gas reserves.

Gas supply

Nigeria ranks among nine countries with the highest gas reserves in the world. In January, Nigeria’s gas reserves rose by 1.4% from the previous year. But the market remains largely untapped and previous attempts by authorities to initiate gas deals fell apart.

Nigerian authorities last week said they were willing to invest more and focus on natural gas exploration.

Simbi Wabote, executive secretary at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, said, “It is time for us to synergize as Africa in order to expand that opportunity beyond the shores of Nigeria.”

But officials said a lack of prior investments in the energy sector could limit this opportunity for African countries.

“There’s a clear demand and supply gap that we’re seeing today, and that’s why we’re seeing the $104 oil prices in the market today,” said Mele Kyari, managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission. “No one has invested significantly in the last 10 years, more so in the last five years, to an extent that we’re seeing the effect of what that truly means.”

For now, officials and experts will be eager to see how this gas deal changes the status quo.
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Argentina has signed a $45 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help restructure and delay its debt payments.

Negotiations about revamping the country’s debt payments have taken almost two years. That’s leaving Argentina now racing to finalize the deal with the IMF ahead of an essential “cliff payment” deadline this month, which could amount to about $2.8 billion.

Argentina’s finance minister and chief negotiator for the IMF, Martín Guzman, says the bill may be sent to the lower house of congress next week.

If the bill is approved in congress, President Alberto Fernández says payments would start being made in 2026 and would be completed by 2034. While the government said it will replace a $57-billion loan from the IMF 2018 bailout in January 2023, IMF head Kristalina Georgieva says there is still much more work to be done, referring to potential political opposition in congress.

The IMF says the executive board will meet once the Argentine National Congress signs off on a bill to assent to “the economic and financial program embodied in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies.”

“The law that enables the treatment of the Memorandum of Understanding with the IMF for its approval or rejection will formally enter into this chamber,” the head of Argentina’s lower house said in a statement on Wednesday.

The agreement contains measures to promote growth and protect social programs as part of a 30-month Extended Fund Facility to confront “the country’s most pressing economic challenges,” according to a statement from the IMF on Thursday.

Some information in this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
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U.S. employers added a robust 678,000 jobs in February, another gain that underscored the economy’s solid health as the omicron wave fades and more Americans venture out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels despite surging inflation.

The Labor Department’s report Friday also showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 4% to a low 3.8%, extending a sharp decline in joblessness as the economy has rebounded from the pandemic recession.

The latest jobs data follows recent reports that have shown an economy maintaining strength as new COVID infections have plummeted since late January. Consumer spending has risen, spurred by higher wages and savings. Restaurant traffic has regained pre-pandemic levels, hotel reservations are up and far more Americans are flying than at the height of omicron.

Friday’s hiring figures were collected before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has sent oil prices surging and has escalated risks and uncertainties for economies in Europe and the rest of the world.

The report showed that average hourly pay in the United States barely rose last month but has increased 5.1% in the past year, a sign that companies feel compelled to raise wages to attract and keep workers. Many employers, in turn, have been raising prices to offset their higher labor costs, a process that has fueled inflation.

The strong hiring in February occurred across most of the economy, with restaurants, bars and hotels adding 79,000 jobs, construction 60,000 and transportation and warehousing 48,000. The economy still has 2.1 million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic erupted two years ago this month, though the gap is closely fast.

After months of concerns about labor shortages holding back businesses, there were tentative signs last month that more people are taking jobs or looking for work. The number of people who said they avoided job hunting because they were concerned about COVID fell to 1.2 million in February, down 600,000 from January, when omicron was raging.

Yet consumer inflation has reached its highest level since 1982, squeezing America’s households and businesses, with price spikes especially high for such necessities as food, gasoline and rent. In response, the Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates several times this year beginning later this month. Those increases will eventually mean higher borrowing rates for consumers and businesses, including for homes, autos and credit cards.

Chair Jerome Powell said this week that he plans to propose that the Fed raise its benchmark short-term rate by a quarter-point when it meets in about two weeks. Powell has acknowledged that high inflation has proved more persistent and has spread more broadly than he and many economists had expected.

The Fed chair cautioned that if inflation failed to ease later this year as he expects, he would consider carrying out half-point increases at future central bank meetings. Larger hikes would raise the risk of weakening the economy or even tipping it into recession.

Powell also warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will lead to higher prices for gas as well as for such other commodities as aluminum, wheat and corn, thereby keeping inflation higher than it would otherwise have been. Oil prices, which have been soaring since war began more than a week ago, are critically important to the global economy.

For now, though, despite high inflation, the rapid fading of the omicron variant is likely to accelerate the U.S. economy and job growth. A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Americans are now much less worried about COVID than they were in December and January. Mask mandates and other restrictions are ending. More companies are returning to pre-pandemic operations, including working in offices.

Data from the restaurant reservation software provider OpenTable showed that seated diners surpassed pre-pandemic levels late last month. And figures from the Transportation Security Administration reflected a sharp increase in the number of people willing to take airplane flights.

During the omicron wave, businesses barely wavered in their demand for workers. Job openings at the end of December reached near-record levels, with an average of 1.7 available positions for every unemployed person. Historically, there are usually more people out of work than there are jobs.

With many companies desperate for employees, layoffs have plunged. The number of people receiving unemployment aid fell two weeks ago to its lowest level since 1970.

Americans’ concerns about inflation have eroded their optimism about the economy. The Conference Board’s measure of consumer confidence slipped in February for a second straight month.

Still, other surveys show that Americans are increasingly satisfied with their own financial situations. And people clearly see that many jobs are available, the Conference Board’s survey shows.
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It’s unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin expected the sanctions that followed his invasion of Ukraine. But their severity could have far-reaching economic consequences for Russia. Oksana Bedratenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
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The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has left global oil and gas markets in the uncertain and unstable, causing supply issues and price spikes, with oil reaching levels of more than $110 a barrel Thursday. The uncertain duration of the conflict, though, makes it difficult to predict how much of the disruption will be permanent and how much is just temporary.

Washington-based Gulf analyst Theodore Karasik tells VOA there are many “wild cards” in the ongoing military confrontation that “could drive energy prices up even further.” He argues that “in any case, there are big changes occurring in the energy industry.”

“The energy situation and the pricing is contingent upon how long this [conflict] goes for and to what degree it ends. We’ve already seen extensive sanctions put on Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Those sanctions against Russia in the energy field are going to affect how the Russian energy industry operates, and we just don’t have a clear picture of that yet,” Karasik said.

In the meantime, buying of Russian crude has stalled on the back of rising uncertainty over the possibility of direct western sanctions on energy exports, sending prices into freefall and prompting buyers to find alternatives.

The Russian export blend Urals — which trades as a differential to Atlantic Basin benchmark Dated Brent — touched record lows in recent sessions.

A source within the oil trading industry, who specializes in global markets told VOA that European buyers are now actively sourcing alternative crude supplies — Poland’s PKN Orlen is taking supplemental cargoes from term supplier Aramco — and much of that will come from local North Sea production as well as West Africa and the United States.

The source who chose to be unnamed said that the Chinese refiners, particularly those in Shandong province’s refining hub, are key buyers of Russian crude grades Urals and ESPO Blend.

“They have proven less concerned with sanctions, having purchased significant volumes of Iranian crude in the past year. But ongoing disruption to the global banking system as a result of SWIFT sanctions means that even willing buyers are struggling to pay for cargoes. Sanctions against Russian fleet Sovcomflot have only added to the logistical difficulties of buying Russian crude,” the analyst said.

Experts believe that Russian firms may eventually seek to set up accounts with Chinese banks to facilitate such transactions. And cargoes of Urals loading now in the Baltic Sea look likely to head to north China in bulk shipments, with or without earmarked buyers.

“But that entails losses — current market structure means long-haul arbitrage economics are marginal and storage economics are negative. Shipping a cargo to Shandong and floating for months is a losing proposition, even if that cargo has nowhere else to go,” sources in the energy industry told VOA.

Paul Sullivan, a Washington-based Middle East analyst, argues there is no end to the number of wild cards that could change the energy situation. “The conflict increases risk and therefore costs of energy by adding risk premiums,” he says.

On the flip side, “sanctions [on Russia],” he adds, “could hammer the world economy and push energy prices down.” Meanwhile, “some oil and gas companies are leaving Russia or divesting from Russia … [and that] could disrupt supply chains.”

Sullivan goes on to say that potential “terror acts in Russia towards pipelines could push prices up,” while “Turkey closing off the straits to Russian war ships” could also “affect energy ships,” as well.

Experts note that the majority of Russian spot crude is sold through international trading firms like Trafigura, Vitol and Glencore — only a small share is marketed directly by Russian firms like Surgutneftegaz. If Russian crude oil comes under sanction, then the longstanding dynamics that underpin trade in Russian seaborne exports could change, mirroring recent developments in the country’s upstream sector which has seen an exodus as western oil majors exit projects.

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek tells VOA that countries in North Africa, like Egypt and Algeria, are being sought out to increase their gas exports to Europe to compensate for Russian gas, which makes up 40% of European imports.

“North African states that produce gas — Algeria, Egypt — Egypt have limited stock, but they have been increasing by 365% [quantities of] liquified gas, because 90% of Egyptian gas is used domestically, 10% is exported, and then we get gas from Israel and Cyprus and transfer it into liquified gas [to] export,” Sadek says.

The expert adds that Qatar also is being solicited to increase LNG exports to Europe, but the tiny Gulf emirate already sends much of its gas to Asia: “A lot of contracts — long term — have already been signed between Qatar, South Korea, Japan, China, which cannot be revoked.”

Sadek emphasizes the Middle Eastern state that could conceivably make up the difference for lost Russian gas exports to Europe is Iran, and he thinks some European countries are hoping to lift sanctions on Tehran to allow oil and gas exports to resume. He questions, however, if Iran — an ally of Russia — would be willing to “stab Russia in the back.”

Some Middle Eastern and north African states, Sadek points out, are facing a potential food crisis, as well, “because they import large quantities of wheat from both Russia and Ukraine. “Countries like Tunisia, Sudan and Lebanon cannot afford more expensive alternative sources of wheat,” and they could eventually face instability if a major staple like bread runs short.
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Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week reflecting a low number of layoffs across the economy.

Jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending February 26, from 233,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 6,000 to 230,500.

In total, 1,476,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 12, a small uptick of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised number, which was its lowest level since March 14, 1970.

First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department releases its February jobs report on Friday. Analysts surveyed by the financial data firm FactSet forecast that the U.S. economy added 400,000 jobs last month.

In January, the U.S. economy added a whopping 467,000 jobs and revised December and November gains upward by a combined 709,000. The unemployment rate stands at 4%, a historically low figure.

The U.S. economy has rebounded strongly from 2020’s coronavirus-caused recession. Massive government spending and the vaccine rollout jumpstarted the economy as employers added a record 6.4 million jobs last year. The U.S. economy expanded 5.7% in 2021, growing last year at the fastest annual pace since a 7.2% surge in 1984, which also followed a recession.

Inflation is also at a 40-year high — 7.5% year-over-year — leading the Federal Reserve to ease its monetary support for the economy. The Fed has said it will begin a series of interest-rate hikes this month in an effort to tamp down surging prices.

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week reflecting a low number of layoffs across the economy.

Jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending February 26, from 233,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 6,000 to 230,500.

In total, 1,476,000 Americans were collecting jobless aid the week that ended Feb. 12, a small uptick of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised number, which was its lowest level since March 14, 1970.

First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department releases its February jobs report on Friday. Analysts surveyed by the financial data firm FactSet forecast that the U.S. economy added 400,000 jobs last month.

In January, the U.S. economy added a whopping 467,000 jobs and revised December and November gains upward by a combined 709,000. The unemployment rate stands at 4%, a historically low figure.

The U.S. economy has rebounded strongly from 2020’s coronavirus-caused recession. Massive government spending and the vaccine rollout jumpstarted the economy as employers added a record 6.4 million jobs last year. The U.S. economy expanded 5.7% in 2021, growing last year at the fastest annual pace since a 7.2% surge in 1984, which also followed a recession.

Inflation is also at a 40-year high — 7.5% year-over-year — leading the Federal Reserve to ease its monetary support for the economy. The Fed has said it will begin a series of interest-rate hikes this month in an effort to tamp down surging prices.
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