Commodities
BlackRock eyes $7 billion for new Global Renewable Power Fund
The world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) said it hopes to raise up to $7 billion for its fourth Global Renewable Power Fund as clients ramp up climate-friendly investments.
The fund, focused on projects in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, could invest across wind and solar as well as other clean technologies such as batteries and grid infrastructure.
Demand from institutional investors to back such projects has increased in recent years as more seek to align their portfolios with the transition to a low-carbon economy, BlackRock’s Global Head of Climate Infrastructure David Giordano told Reuters.
The move has also been fuelled by a rapidly changing policy backdrop, with the United States and European Union both introducing major financial backing for clean energy to help cut carbon emissions in the fight against global warming.
“You have folks now that are really trying to focus their portfolio construction around the different sub-sectors in infrastructure,” Giordano said, citing increasing demand from pension schemes attracted to assets that match long-term liabilities.
The demand comes despite some U.S. Republicans pushing back against climate-driven constraints on fossil fuel companies, he said.
“I would say that the commitment of institutional investors to invest in the infrastructure of today and the infrastructure of the future is actually quite strong,” Giordano said.
As a result, the company said it is targeting between $5 billion and $7 billion for its fourth fund, after $4.8 billion was raised for its predecessor, which closed in April 2021.
To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency has said annual clean energy investment will need to more than triple to $4 trillion by the end of the decade.
Among the investments made by the third fund was one in high-power charging network IONITY, which raised 700 million euros in November. It also backed the Waratah Super Battery in Australia, which will be the world’s largest grid-scale battery.
Roughly a third of the latest fund would likely be invested in each major region – Europe, the Americas and Asia – although there are no set targets.
Depending on the amount raised, the fund could make around 18-22 investments across a mixture of early stage and developed projects, Giordano said, and could also consider co-investments.
By Robert Harvey
LONDON (Reuters) -Oil futures jumped by almost 1% on Monday as a potential hurricane approaching the U.S. Gulf Coast helped oil prices to recover some of the previous week’s heavy losses.
rose 58 cents, or 0.82%, to $71.64 a barrel by 1125 GMT while West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 61 cents, or 0.9%, at $68.28.
Prices of Brent crude had fallen in each of the past six trading sessions, retreating by more than 11%, or nearly $9 a barrel, to register the lowest closing price since December 2021 on Friday.
Analysts said Monday’s rebound was partly in response to a potential hurricane near the U.S. Gulf Coast while Libyan supply disruption has also been supporting prices.
Libya’s NOC late last week declared force majeure on several crude cargoes loading from the Es Sider port, with oil production curtailed by a political standoff over the central bank and oil revenue, four trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
A weather system in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico is forecast to become a hurricane before it reaches the northwestern U.S. Gulf Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Sunday. The U.S. Gulf Coast accounts for about 60% of U.S. refining capacity.
“A small recovery in prices is under way this morning, inspired by hurricane warnings that might threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, but the wider conversation remains on where demand will come from and what OPEC+ can do,” said PVM analyst John Evans.
The OPEC+ oil producer group last week agreed to delay a planned output increase of 180,000 barrels per day for October by two months in reaction to tumbling crude prices
Trading houses Gunvor and Trafigura expect oil prices to range between $60 and $70 a barrel because of sluggish Chinese demand and persistent oversupply, executives told the APPEC conference in Singapore on Monday.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley cut its Brent price forecast for the fourth quarter to $75 a barrel from $80, adding that prices are likely to remain around that level unless demand weakens further.
The weakness in Chinese demand is driven by an economic slowdown and growing shift towards lower-carbon fuels, said speakers at the APPEC energy industry event.
Refining margins in Asia have slipped to their lowest seasonal levels since 2020.
A U.S. jobs report on Friday showed that August non-farm payrolls increased by less than market watchers had expected.
A decline in the jobless rate could slow the pace at which the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, analysts said. Lower interest rates typically increase oil demand by spurring economic growth.
(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs adjusted its expectations for OPEC+ oil production saying it now expects three months of production increases starting from December instead of October, the bank said in a note on Friday.
OPEC+ has agreed to delay a planned oil output increase for October and November, the producers group said on Thursday after crude prices hit their lowest in nine months, adding it could further pause or reverse the hikes if needed.
However Goldman Sachs maintained its range of $70-85 per barrel and a December 2025 Brent forecast at $74 per barrel.
The investment bank expects the effects of a modest reduction in OPEC+ supply in the upcoming months to be counterbalanced by easing effects from the current softness in China’s demand and faster-than-expected recovery of Libya’s supply.
“We still see the risks to our $70-85 range as skewed to the downside given high spare capacity, and downside risks to demand from weakness in China and potential trade tensions,” Goldman Sachs said.
Brent crude futures were down $1.63, or 2.24%, to $71.06 a barrel on Friday, their lowest level since December 2021. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.48 on Friday, or 2.14%, to $67.67, their lowest since June 2023. [O/R]
Investing.com — Oil prices settled lower Friday, ending the week with a loss as weaker U.S. nonfarm payrolls stoked concerns about an economic-led slowdown in crude demand.
At 2:30 p.m. ET (1430 GMT), the futures (WTI) traded fell 2.1% to settle at $67.67 a barrel, while contract fell 2.2% to $71.06 per barrel.
U.S. economic slowdown worries resurface after weak jobs report
The US economy added fewer jobs than anticipated in August, but rose from a sharply revised July figure, according to Labor Department data that could factor into the Federal Reserve’s next policy decisions.
Nonfarm payrolls came in at 142,000 last month, up from a downwardly-revised mark of 89,000 in July. Economists had called for a reading of 164,000, up from the initial July mark of 114,000.
Following the release, bets that the Fed will introduce a deeper 50 basis-point rate cut — rather than a shallower 25 basis-point reduction — increased.
Concerns about the demand come just a day after OPEC+ said it had agreed to postpone a planned increase in oil production for October and November.
U.S., Europe working on Iran sanctions
Geopolitical tensions ratcheted up on Friday after the U.S. and Europe they were working on sanctions to impose on Iran after the Tehran sent missiles to Russia.
The U.S. had previously warned Iran about transferring missiles to Russia, saying it would represent a major escalation in Iran’s support of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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