Politico.com : Trump administration to push for oil drilling off Pacific, Atlant

Trump administration to push for oil drilling off Pacific, Atlantic, Florida coasts

The Trump administration is expected to announce Thursday that it will propose opening up nearly all federal waters for oil and gas drilling, giving the energy industry access to fields in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the eastern Gulf of Mexico that have been off limits for decades, according to two sources familiar with the plan.

The expansion is likely to trigger huge political backlash, particularly on the West Coast and in Florida, where offshore drilling has generated sharp opposition from residents, environmental groups and businesses who fear a spill like BP’s in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 could devastate beaches and destroy the tourist industry that is vital to the regional economies.

But the announcement of the proposal for a new five-year offshore drilling plan would follow through on President Donald Trump’s pledge to try to drive up U.S. oil production by opening up federal areas to companies seeking to drill.

The Interior Department will unveil the new plan during a conference call Thursday afternoon, the sources said. Interior had planned to make the announcement last month but canceled it shortly before its scheduled start time.

Interior did not immediately respond to questions.

FT : Oil giant Saudi Aramco to change its legal status

Oil giant Saudi Aramco to change its legal status
Concrete step taken towards IPO, though questions remain over how, where and when

Saudi Arabia is changing the legal status of state energy giant Saudi Aramco in a sign it is pressing ahead with plans for a 2018 initial public offering that is tipped to be the biggest ever.

The move to bring the state-backed company’s status in line with other Saudi corporations is a concrete step towards a stake sale, though questions remain over the kingdom’s readiness and willingness to list the company internationally.

The kingdom has said it wants to sell 5 per cent of Saudi Aramco in a stock market flotation, as the centrepiece of ambitious plans to reform the country’s economy led by powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Prince Mohammed believes the listing could value the company at $2tn, although industry analysts predict a much smaller figure.

Saudi Arabia expects to list shares on the domestic Tadawul stock exchange but it is also considering a listing abroad. New York, London and Hong Kong are among the venues in the running. A private sale is also being weighed by Riyadh.

A government document dated December 20 2017 that has been circulating among advisers and lawyers familiar with the IPO preparations said a law specific to Saudi Aramco, which was made 30 years ago and defines its legal status, would be scrapped from January 1 2018 to bring it in line with other corporations. The change would also affect wholly owned subsidiaries of the company, such as some domestic refineries.

According to the document, which has been signed by the king: “Companies wholly-owned — directly or indirectly — by Saudi Aramco are given a grace period of 5 years to adapt their status in order to be in compliance with Companies Law, and the Council of Ministers may extend this period as needed.”

While two people familiar with the IPO preparations could not verify the document, they said a legal change converting Saudi Aramco into a joint stock company was due to take effect, which would enable the company to sell shares to outside investors. They said the change was “procedural”.

A third person said the change had already taken place and was “long-planned” in order to allow Saudi Aramco to list on the Tadawul exchange and be regulated by the Saudi Capital Markets Authority according to the same rules as other corporations.

It would also be necessary for any potential international listing, although the change could also take place without any IPO following.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is still not clear which structure Riyadh will choose for the IPO, even though the country’s finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told the Financial Times late last year that the government was expected to make a decision by the end of 2017.

There has been a split among Saudi Arabian officials about where to list. The country’s highest authorities have ambitions to list in New York, while ministers and Saudi Aramco executives have said London might be a better fit. Advisers say Hong Kong is an increasingly likely option if an international listing takes place, because of legal and regulatory hurdles in New York and London.

Others believe a delay in any foreign listing is likely.

Bankers and financial advisers for Saudi Aramco have helped to overhaul company accounts to make them more presentable to potential outside investors.

They have separated finances and operations related to the company’s core business from their obligations as an arm of the state. Historically, not only has Saudi Aramco built hospitals and schools, it has carried the financial burden of subsiding fuel for the population and other state-owned entities such as the country’s electricity company.

FT Saudi Arabia: gas lite

Saudi Arabia: gas lite
The kingdom’s domestic production cannot keep pace with demand

Saudi Arabia produces a lot of the world’s energy; it consumes a terrific amount, too. Its economy is an eighth the size of Japan’s, its population a quarter. Yet it uses nearly as much natural gas. The kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic plan envisions a diversified economy utilising more than double its current 109bn cubic metres. It cannot meet this target without imports.

The notion of a major energy exporter forced to import gas for domestic needs may well dent the pride of state producer Saudi Aramco. On paper, the Saudi peninsula is awash with gas. Its proved reserves of 8.4tn cubic meters cover 77 years of existing demand. Most, about 70 per cent, sits on top of its oil. This means releasing the gas usually requires producing the crude; something Opec’s swing member does not always wish to do.

Furthermore, the country’s output cannot match its needs for much longer. While demand has jumped by half over the past decade, proven gas reserves have inched up by less than a fifth. Worse, while half its electricity production uses gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the other half burns crude oil, curtailing its export potential.

All this explains why Saudi energy minister (and chairman of Saudi Aramco) Khalid al-Falih visited Russia’s Yamal liquefied natural gas project last month. He discussed financing the next phase of Yamal, already on stream, run by Novatek and France’s Total. It looks like the new regime in Saudi Arabia, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, recognises that it needs to import gas.

If so, swapping stakes with international oil companies in LNG projects for gas exploration rights within Saudi Arabia seems possible. Companies were invited to explore the peninsula’s Empty Quarter 15 years ago. The name turned out to be apt. More prospective acreages will be required this time. Saudi Arabia needs to put more energy into sourcing natural gas, and soon.

>>> Zalando lower on that article on new H&M secret project...



From: LAURENT CHEKROUN (MAKOR SECURITIES LO) At: 01/04/18 15:30:27
To: LAURENT CHEKROUN (MAKOR SECURITIES LO )
Subject: H & M's new secret venture - will curb branded clothing on the net




H & M's new secret venture - will curb branded clothing on the net
H & M has quietly launched a new digital giant project under the code "P12".
Klättjätten plans to sell branded clothing online at retail prices and has already signed an agreement with some 60 brands.
Launch is expected in mid-April.

The tip seemed almost too good to be true. But at the same time the intelligence facilitator sounded very credible:
The clothing giant H & M would secretly work on building something that could almost be described as a giant digital outlet. A brand new e-commerce platform where H & M would sell clothes at highly discounted prices. The betting code name: "P12".
"It's a bit like the Galne Gunnar concept on the net. H & M will buy outbound batches from other clothing retailers and sell them on this platform, "said my source.
The Galne Gunnar reference may not say so much to Breakit's younger reading circle but for us over 40, the name is known. Galne Gunnar was a low-priced chain that H & M started in 1988 and most of it consisted of almost 20 department stores.The idea was that H & M would offset larger items of goods purchased by buyers, but did not really fit into H & M's regular supply. The investment got a lot of attention over a few years but did not seem to have been commercial when H & M laid down the concept in the early 2000s.
H & M now seemed to be on the go with some kind of hot digital version of Galne Gunnar, at least according to the source. And that was not a small bet we were talking about either.
"The launch will take place in the beginning of 2018. I have not been there myself, but they are on a whole floor at Mall of Scandinavia, compared to many other startup projects that you read about this, it must be much bigger," said my information provider .
The information he came with seemed both initiated and well-founded - but could it really sue that 50, maybe 100, people for many months worked on such a project without leaking it? According to the source, H & M had already contacted a number of clothing brands to bring them to the platform at the start.
I decide to try to clarify the matter myself. With the address on my pocket, I will leave the editorial office on Wednesday afternoon with the destination Mall of Scandinavia outside Stockholm.
No company with connection to H & M is registered at the address but when I enter the entrance to the anonymous office complex, the clothesline's logo is on the wall.
It proves nothing in substance. But as I step off the elevator on the fifth floor, things happen.

Inside the glass walls (the detail, H & M's information managers must think about the next time they build a secret project), a display clearly shines on what's going on:
# The code name for the project is "P12".
# Launch will take place in the week starting on Monday, April 16 (based on the 16 week to launch task on screen).
# 63 different brands have so far said yes to join ("63 brands signed", it is on screen).
# The new platform is described as "The style and dealhunting paradise".
Exactly what brands will come from starting from the platform are a bit more difficult to figure out. But on another wall inside the office is a board where the brands appear to be listed.
I can not get married but on top of the list of brands, I find it possible to distinguish the name "NA-KD". And it would hardly be a pioneer that H & M wants to start with NA-KD, the Nordic region's fastest growing online store online.
Inside the office there is full activity and I count almost 100 offices, although far from everyone is busy this weekend. The large office area gives a clear indication that this is a project that H & M has invested heavily in.
Assuming that hundreds of people work with what is called "P12" and that the project was run throughout 2017, one can assume that H & M has invested 50-100 million. And then we have not counted on any consultants and the real marketing campaign that will come in connection with the launch.
Already in 2016 , "P12" was mentioned as one of two secret projects that H & M worked with . The fact that H & M starts new brands and stores outside of the "core H & M" itself is not a new one. The Galne Gunnar concept is an example of this, a more successful case is the Cos chain store, which sells billions of billions.Two other H & M startups that still live are the chain & Other Stories (launched in 2013) and H & M Home selling home furnishings.
H & M with the CEO and Major Owner Karl-Johan Persson has recently been under severe pressure. Two weeks before Christmas, he delivered a real cold shower to the stock market - sales fell by 2 percent during the fourth quarter of clothing. The fact that a growth phenomenon like H & M is no longer growing was a roger and an important explanation is that the clothing giant has come to a halt digitally.
Now Karl-Johan Persson is doing everything to convince investors that H & M's digital strategy will accelerate growth again. An important part of the charm offensive is the capital market day that H & M has invited in early February. There, H & M has promised more meat on its legs around the company's digital efforts.
There is no daring guess that Karl-Johan Persson reveals the launch of a new concept that has hitherto been under the code name "P12".
From H & M itself it is hard to get any clarity. When I on Thursday afternoon confronted the company's head of investor relations, Nils Vinge, with the information I received, he says:
"We always have several new projects in progress, we recently launched Arket. But for natural reasons, we never talk about these bets before they are launched.Therefore, I have no comments on your information. "

H & M's new secret venture - will curb branded clothing on the net





H & M's new secret venture - will curb branded clothing on the net
H & M has quietly launched a new digital giant project under the code "P12".
Klättjätten plans to sell branded clothing online at retail prices and has already signed an agreement with some 60 brands.
Launch is expected in mid-April.

The tip seemed almost too good to be true. But at the same time the intelligence facilitator sounded very credible:
The clothing giant H & M would secretly work on building something that could almost be described as a giant digital outlet. A brand new e-commerce platform where H & M would sell clothes at highly discounted prices. The betting code name: "P12".
"It's a bit like the Galne Gunnar concept on the net. H & M will buy outbound batches from other clothing retailers and sell them on this platform, "said my source.
The Galne Gunnar reference may not say so much to Breakit's younger reading circle but for us over 40, the name is known. Galne Gunnar was a low-priced chain that H & M started in 1988 and most of it consisted of almost 20 department stores.The idea was that H & M would offset larger items of goods purchased by buyers, but did not really fit into H & M's regular supply. The investment got a lot of attention over a few years but did not seem to have been commercial when H & M laid down the concept in the early 2000s.
H & M now seemed to be on the go with some kind of hot digital version of Galne Gunnar, at least according to the source. And that was not a small bet we were talking about either.
"The launch will take place in the beginning of 2018. I have not been there myself, but they are on a whole floor at Mall of Scandinavia, compared to many other startup projects that you read about this, it must be much bigger," said my information provider .
The information he came with seemed both initiated and well-founded - but could it really sue that 50, maybe 100, people for many months worked on such a project without leaking it? According to the source, H & M had already contacted a number of clothing brands to bring them to the platform at the start.
I decide to try to clarify the matter myself. With the address on my pocket, I will leave the editorial office on Wednesday afternoon with the destination Mall of Scandinavia outside Stockholm.
No company with connection to H & M is registered at the address but when I enter the entrance to the anonymous office complex, the clothesline's logo is on the wall.
It proves nothing in substance. But as I step off the elevator on the fifth floor, things happen.

Inside the glass walls (the detail, H & M's information managers must think about the next time they build a secret project), a display clearly shines on what's going on:
# The code name for the project is "P12".
# Launch will take place in the week starting on Monday, April 16 (based on the 16 week to launch task on screen).
# 63 different brands have so far said yes to join ("63 brands signed", it is on screen).
# The new platform is described as "The style and dealhunting paradise".
Exactly what brands will come from starting from the platform are a bit more difficult to figure out. But on another wall inside the office is a board where the brands appear to be listed.
I can not get married but on top of the list of brands, I find it possible to distinguish the name "NA-KD". And it would hardly be a pioneer that H & M wants to start with NA-KD, the Nordic region's fastest growing online store online.
Inside the office there is full activity and I count almost 100 offices, although far from everyone is busy this weekend. The large office area gives a clear indication that this is a project that H & M has invested heavily in.
Assuming that hundreds of people work with what is called "P12" and that the project was run throughout 2017, one can assume that H & M has invested 50-100 million. And then we have not counted on any consultants and the real marketing campaign that will come in connection with the launch.
Already in 2016 , "P12" was mentioned as one of two secret projects that H & M worked with . The fact that H & M starts new brands and stores outside of the "core H & M" itself is not a new one. The Galne Gunnar concept is an example of this, a more successful case is the Cos chain store, which sells billions of billions.Two other H & M startups that still live are the chain & Other Stories (launched in 2013) and H & M Home selling home furnishings.
H & M with the CEO and Major Owner Karl-Johan Persson has recently been under severe pressure. Two weeks before Christmas, he delivered a real cold shower to the stock market - sales fell by 2 percent during the fourth quarter of clothing. The fact that a growth phenomenon like H & M is no longer growing was a roger and an important explanation is that the clothing giant has come to a halt digitally.
Now Karl-Johan Persson is doing everything to convince investors that H & M's digital strategy will accelerate growth again. An important part of the charm offensive is the capital market day that H & M has invited in early February. There, H & M has promised more meat on its legs around the company's digital efforts.
There is no daring guess that Karl-Johan Persson reveals the launch of a new concept that has hitherto been under the code name "P12".
From H & M itself it is hard to get any clarity. When I on Thursday afternoon confronted the company's head of investor relations, Nils Vinge, with the information I received, he says:
"We always have several new projects in progress, we recently launched Arket. But for natural reasons, we never talk about these bets before they are launched.Therefore, I have no comments on your information. "