COVID 19
Trump Ends Feud with Mask Maker 3M, Announces Deal For 55 Million U.S. Masks Per Month
Rachel Sandler, Forbes, April 6, 2020
Topline: President Donald Trump on Monday said 3M will produce 55.5 million masks per month for health workers in the U.S., ending a days-long conflict between the White House and the mask manufacturer over Trump’s use of the Defense Production Act forcing 3M to prioritize domestic orders. 3M will import 55.5 million N95 face masks per month, primarily from its manufacturing facilities in China, specifically for U.S. health workers, totaling 166.5 million masks over the next three months.
Uncle Sam On Track to Subsidize More Than Half the Workforce
China reopens Wuhan after 10-week coronavirus lockdown
OIL
Graphic:
Oil majors cut 2020 spending by 22% after prices slump
Reuters, April 7, 2020
The world’s biggest oil and gas companies are cutting spending this year following a collapse in oil prices driven by a slump in demand because of the coronavirus crisis and a price war between top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia. Cuts announced by nine major oil companies, including Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, come to a combined $38 billion, or a drop of 22% from their initial spending plans of $175 billion. Exxon on Tuesday cut its 2020 budget by $10 billion to $23 billion. BP has cut its 2020 spending plan by 25% and will reduce output from its U.S. shale oil and gas business.
GAS
US
LNG cargoes resume shipments to China
Carl Surran, Seeking Alpha, April 7, 2020
- Four tankers carrying U.S. liquefied natural gas are on their way to China after the Beijing government started granting tax waivers to some importers, Reuters reports, citing shipping and trade sources.
- It is the first time since March 2019 that shipments have resumed after the trade war during which China raised tariffs on LNG imports from the U.S. to 25%.
- The tankers reportedly are heading to Tianjin, where Cnooc (NYSE:CEO) and Sinopec (NYSE:SNP) operate LNG terminals; two of the tankers reportedly loaded from Cheniere Energy’s (NYSEMKT:LNG) Sabine Pass, La., terminal, and one loaded from Sempra Energy’s (NYSE:SRE) Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana.
MINING
Covid-19 cuts
$280bn swathe through top 50 mining companies
Frik Els, Mining.Com, April 6, 2020
MINING.COM’s ranking of the world’s 50 largest mining companies based on market value shows a beleaguered industry at the end of the first quarter 2020 despite a resurgent gold price and robust precious metals M&A activity. At the end of 2019, the MINING.COM TOP 50 had a combined market value within shouting distance of $1 trillion after adding nearly $160 billion in market capitalization over the course of the year. Three months into 2020, and $282 billion has been wiped from the sector as the covid-19 pandemic sweeps the world.
POLITICS
OPINION: Finance co-chair doesn’t trust rural Alaska with early PFD
Andrew Jensen, Alaska Journal of Commerce, April 7, 2020