Royal Bank of Scotland Threatened by Anonymous Hacker Group

-  Royal Bank of Scotland Threatened by Anonymous Hacker Group



Jul 14, 2011

Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) has been threatened with cyber-attacks by the Anonymous hacker collective for lending financial support to oil projects in Canada, accruing to a report in the Independent this morning. Oil giants Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) are also said to be on the "hit list" of companies to be targeted by Anonymous.

Royal Bank of Scotland is currently below its 50-day moving average (MA) of $13.04 and below its 200-day MA of $13.60. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day MA has fallen 1.13% while the 200-day MA has slid 0.43%.

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BG Group Signs MOU with Bank of China for $1.5B Funding

- BG Group Signs MOU with Bank of China for $1.5B Funding

Monday, June 27, 2011
BG Group plc

BG Group and Bank of China have signed a key cooperation agreement that enhances the existing close working relationship between the organizations and also allows for up to $1.5 billion of new funding options to support the Group's major growth program.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today builds upon existing commercial relationships between BG Group and Bank of China and confirms the intention to make extended credit facilities available that can be used to help deliver the Group's global growth plans - including its operations in China where the Group has an established commercial presence and where an initial offshore exploration program is underway.

The MOU also identifies other areas of potential cooperation including investment banking services, derivatives products, bank deposits, insurance and international settlement and trade finance facilities. Separately, BG Group already has a US$200m lending facility in place with Bank of China which is just one of a series of committed lending facilities that the company has with a group of international banks. These lending facilities in aggregate have been recently increased and extended and now total US$4.4 billion.

On signing the MOU with the Chairman of the Bank of China Gang Xiao, BG Group Chief Executive Sir Frank Chapman said, "This is a significant agreement for BG Group. It affirms and enhances our existing excellent relationship with the Bank of China. BG Group has a well established presence in China as a result of our LNG sales into this valuable and rapidly growing market, through a long-term sales and equity agreement with CNOOC in our QCLNG project in Australia, and with an extensive exploration program offshore China that has already produced a discovery.

"This agreement builds on our existing facilities with Bank of China and provides the option for substantial additional funding for our commitments in China and also our global growth program."

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China Warns Against South China Sea Oil Exploration

China Warns Against South China Sea Oil Exploration

Thursday, March 24, 2011 Dow Jones Newswires

China warned against any oil exploration without its consent in waters it claims in the South China Sea, after the Philippines announced plans for possible drilling.

Manila's Department of Energy said Wednesday that U.K.-based Forum Energy had completed a seismic survey for the Reed Bank, near the disputed Spratly Islands.

The Spratlys are called the Nansha Islands in Chinese and claimed by Beijing.

"China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and the adjacent sea waters," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters when asked for comment on the plan.

"Any activities by countries or companies to explore for oil or gas in the sea waters in China's jurisdiction without the permission of the Chinese government will constitute a violation of China's sovereignty and...will be illegal and invalid."

Jiang didn't make any direct reference to the Philippines or Forum Energy, nor did she say the survey area was actually in waters under Chinese jurisdiction.

Chinese embassy officials in the Philippines earlier requested a copy of the Forum Energy announcement, but didn't return subsequent calls.

On Wednesday, Forum Energy said it used the survey data to evaluate the commercial potential of the block and to "help identify the best location for possible appraisal wells to be drilled."

The Reed Bank lies about 150 kilometers east of the reputedly oil-rich Spratlys, which are claimed in whole or in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and China.

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[Oil and Gas Post] - Japan’s Coal, Gas Demand to Rise After Quake, New Hope Says

Japan’s Coal, Gas Demand to Rise After Quake, New Hope Says

March 22, 2011, 2:07 AM EDT
By Elisabeth Behrmann

(Updates to add closing share price in fourth paragraph.)

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s coal and natural gas demand is likely to rise after the nation’s biggest earthquake this month knocked out nuclear-powered generators, said New Hope Corp., an Australian coal producer.

“I would expect increased requirements to burn coal and gas over the next few years,” Robert Neale, chief executive officer of the Ispwich, Queensland-based company, said today in a phone interview. Coking coal, in particular, would be needed “because you’ll have at least five or more years of reconstruction, which is going to require steel,” he said.

Japan, which depends on imported fuel for most of its needs, is seeking alternatives to nuclear power after the March 11 quake forced the shutdown of 11 reactors. Five years may be needed to rebuild after the disaster, the World Bank said.

New Hope fell 0.2 percent to A$4.89 at the 4:10 p.m. close in Sydney trading. Shares in the company have risen 0.8 percent this year, compared with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index’s 2.2 percent fall.

New Hope reported first-half profit of A$407 million ($409 million), a rise of more than fourfold following the sale of the company’s stake in Arrow Energy Ltd. The company has a cash balance of about A$1.6 billion following the A$238 million acquisition of Northern Energy Ltd., Neale said.

Demand for coal will rise to make up for the lost nuclear capacity because it’s cheaper than oil and gas, and also due to negative public sentiment toward nuclear power, Andrew Harrington, an analyst Patersons Securities Ltd., said in a report. “We believe that the negativity surrounding nuclear energy will see increased demand for fossil fuels including and especially coal.”

Coal producers likely to benefit from increased demand include Gloucester Coal Ltd., New Hope, Whitehaven Coal Ltd. as well as developers Aston Resources Ltd., Cockatoo Coal Ltd. and Riversdale Mining Ltd., said Harrington.

--Editors: Keith Gosman, Andrew Hobbs
To contact the reporter on this story: Elisabeth Behrmann in Sydney at ebehrmann1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Hobbs at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net

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