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Enbridge Inc ENB-T is increasing apportionment on its Mainline pipeline system, which ships the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the United States, as demand to transport barrels climbs due to rising production and colder weather. Enbridge will apportion December deliveries on its heavy crude system by 11% and ration space on the light oil system by 13%. The rationing is the highest it has been since last winter and comes after a period of very low or zero apportionment in 2022. Higher apportionment, or rationing of pipeline space, on the 3.1 million-barrel per day (bpd) Mainline system could lead to crude getting backed up in Alberta and weigh on prices at the Hardisty storage hub, where benchmark Canadian heavy oil is already trading at a steep discount to U.S. grades. “If this is the beginning of real additional tightness it’s going to really hurt,” said Rory Johnston, founder of the Commodity Context newsletter. “Having a transportation backlog on top of the quality discount wou...

Foxconn said on Thursday a pay-related “technical error” occurred when hiring new recruits at a COVID-hit iPhone factory in China and apologized to workers after the company was rocked by fresh labour unrest. Men smashed surveillance cameras and clashed with security personnel as hundreds of workers protested at the world’s biggest iPhone plant in Zhengzhou city on Wednesday, in rare scenes of open dissent in China sparked by claims of overdue pay and frustration over severe COVID-19 restrictions. Workers said on videos circulated on social media that they had been informed that the Apple Inc AAPL-Q supplier intended to delay bonus payments. Some workers also complained they were forced to share dormitories with colleagues who had tested positive for COVID. “Our team has been looking into the matter and discovered a technical error occurred during the onboarding process,” Foxconn said in a statement, referring to the hiring of new workers. “We apologize for an input error in the comp...

Foxconn’s flagship iPhone plant in China is set to see a further reduction in November shipments after the latest bout of worker unrest this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday, as thousands of employees quit. The world’s largest Apple AAPL-Q iPhone factory has been grappling with strict COVID-19 restrictions that have fuelled discontent among workers and disrupted production ahead of Christmas and January’s Lunar New Year holiday, as many workers were either put into isolation or fled the plant. Following Wednesday’s escalation that saw workers clash with security personnel, Foxconn could now see more than 30 per cent of the site’s November production affected, up from an internal estimate of up to 30 per cent when the labour issues erupted in late October, the source said. The factory is the only one that makes premium iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 Pro, and the source said it is unlikely to resume full production by the end of this month. Foxc...

Shares of Apple Inc AAPL-Q fell about 2 per cent on Monday as growing unrest at a key Chinese plant fanned worries of a bigger hit to the already constrained production of higher-end iPhone 14 models. Reuters reported on Friday that the Foxconn-operated plant, which is the world’s biggest iPhone factory, could see a further drop in November shipments due to worker unrest and rising COVID-19 cases in the country. Separately, Bloomberg News reported citing a source earlier in the day that there could be a shortfall of 6 million iPhone Pro units this year due to production-related problems. “The ongoing challenges around delays in returning to a normal level of production at the Zhengzhou facility could limit the pace with which supply-demand equilibrium can be reached in the coming months,” J.P. Morgan analysts said. They added that lead times for Pro models have moderated except in China where the timeline remains elevated. Customers in the United States wait for about 33 days for the...

Tesla Model 3 vehicles during a delivery event in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 7, 2020. Aly Song/Reuters Tesla is developing a revamped version of Model 3, according to four people with knowledge of the effort, as the top EV maker aims to cut production costs and boost the appeal of the five-year-old electric sedan. One focus of the redesign code-named “Highland” is to reduce the number of components and complexity in the interior of the Model 3 while focusing on features that Tesla TSLA-Q buyers value, including the display, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the revamp has not been announced. The previously unreported redesign comes as the electric sedan faces increased competition from models from the likes of China’s BYD, Hyundai and coming releases from other major automakers. The revamp of the battery-powered sedan, which could also include some changes to the Model 3′s exterior and powertrain performance, will go into production at Tesla’s factory in Shangh...

Analysts at Piper Sandler on Thursday cut their revenue and iPhone sales estimates for Apple Inc’s AAPL-Q December quarter, as Beijing’s strict lockdowns crimp production at the world’s biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China. The brokerage now expects $119-billon in revenue for the current quarter from an earlier projection of $127.3-billion, with iPhone unit sales of about 74 million against 83 million previously expected. “More than 50 per cent of assembled iPhones come from Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant. Majority of the disruptions took place in the month of November where utilization for the plant may have fallen to 50 per cent or below,” the analysts said. China’s manufacturing and services activities shrank further in November to seven-month lows, official data showed, stung by the country’s zero-COVID policy and rising infections that analysts said will hurt the economy well into 2023. Production woes for Apple were heightened by a rare example of large-scale labour unrest in ...

Pebble Beach on the shore of Lake Superior in the town of Marathon, Ont. Toronto-based Generation Mining Ltd. has received provincial and federal approval to proceed with its Marathon palladium and copper project in northwestern Ontario. David Jackson/Tausi Insider The federal government is giving the go-ahead to the construction of a new Ontario critical minerals mine that should help Canada establish a bigger foothold in a key automotive metal largely controlled by Russia. Toronto-based Generation Mining Ltd. has received provincial and federal approval to proceed with its Marathon palladium and copper project in northwestern Ontario. The company hopes to start building the mine next year, and once in production, it will operate for 13 years, and feed metals to the North American and European automotive industries. Ottawa’s approval of the new critical minerals mine comes after two significant setbacks at the federal level for large resource projects. Last month, Northern Affairs M...

Oil rig floorhands from Akita Drilling at Cenovus Energy's Christina Lake SAGD project, south of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Aug. 15, 2013. Todd Korol/Reuters Cenovus Energy Inc. CVE-T has forecast a bump in its capital spending next year, as the Calgary-based company looks to increase both oil production and refining. The move reflects a wider trend among fossil fuel companies, many of which have cautiously raised forecast capital spending after reaping record profits because of sky-high global energy prices. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., for example, announced last week it expected to spend $5.2-billion in its capital budget next year to help grow production, and Suncor Energy Inc. also forecast higher capital expenditures. Alex Pourbaix, the president and chief executive officer of Cenovus, said in an interview Tuesday that most of the oil and gas industry has been cautious about increasing capital spending over the past two years. But he said he expects that to change. “Almos...

Canfor Corp. CFP-T is temporarily reducing its Canadian production due to what it says are very weak market conditions. The Vancouver-based company says there will be curtailments at all of its solid wood facilities in B.C. and Alberta. It says the move will reduce production by about 150 million board feet in December and January. Canfor chief executive Don Kayne says the company will work to mitigate the affects on employees by providing support and identifying meaningful work during the downtime. The curtailments will begin to be implemented on Dec. 19 and range from one to four weeks across its Canadian operations. Canfor says it will continue to adjust operating rates to align with market conditions and anticipates that the majority of its B.C. facilities will operate below full capacity in the new year. https://www.tausiinsider.com/canfor-temporarily-reducing-its-canadian-production-due-to-weak-market-conditions/?feed_id=330426&_unique_id=644b2c6677ecd

Oil rig floorhands from Akita Drilling at Cenovus Energy's Christina Lake SAGD project, south of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Aug. 15, 2013. Todd Korol/Reuters Cenovus Energy Inc. CVE-T has forecast a bump in its capital spending next year, as the Calgary-based company looks to increase both oil production and refining. The move reflects a wider trend among fossil fuel companies, many of which have cautiously raised forecast capital spending after reaping record profits because of sky-high global energy prices. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., for example, announced last week it expected to spend $5.2-billion in its capital budget next year to help grow production, and Suncor Energy Inc. also forecast higher capital expenditures. Alex Pourbaix, the president and chief executive officer of Cenovus, said in an interview Tuesday that most of the oil and gas industry has been cautious about increasing capital spending over the past two years. But he said he expects that to change. “Almos...

Vale Canada's Copper Cliff Complex South Mine Project in Sudbury, Ont., on Oct. 13. Gino Donato/Tausi Insider Vale SA plans to sell up a 10-per-cent stake in its underperforming base metals unit, as the big Brazilian miner attempts to cash in on a worldwide rush for battery metals. Vale plans to raise billions from the sale of the minority stake, and use the proceeds to expand output, so it can feed demand from the auto industry for copper and nickel used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Ahead of the sale, the miner intends to legally separate the base metals unit from Vale’s much bigger iron ore division. The unit includes copper and nickel operations in Brazil, Indonesia and Canada, where Vale has large mines in Sudbury and Voisey’s Bay, N.L. Base metals will function as a stand-alone entity, have its own board of directors and fund itself. Currently, Vale can divert profits from the highly profitable iron ore division to the less-profitable base metals division, a dynamic t...

An Exxon gas station in Upper Darby, Pa., on April 26. Matt Rourke/The Associated Press Exxon Mobil Corp XOM-N on Thursday said it will lift capital spending next year by about 10%, to between $23 billion and $25 billion, and boost share buybacks. Exxon led rivals with record profits in the second and third quarters of this year, aided by its highly criticized decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to double down on fossil fuels as European competitors shifted to renewables. Wall Street on Thursday cheered the increase in buybacks. Exxon shares rose more than 1% even as most other oil stocks fell on weaker oil prices. Exxon is up 65% so far this year. Share buybacks will average $17.5 billion annually for the next two years, from $15 billion this year, the company said. Exxon is distributing more cash to shareholders than it is investing in new production – $30 billion between share buybacks and dividends this year. It kept unchanged its annual capital investment range of $20 billion-...

Toyota Motor Corp TOYOF reported on Monday a 1.5% rise in November global vehicle output, reaching a new record of 833,104. Domestic production slid 3.3% to 266,174 vehicles, while overseas output rose 3.8% to an all-time high of 566,930 for the month. Global sales and production in November exceeded last year’s levels due to solid demand, particularly in North America, and a recovery in parts supplies that had been impacted by COVID-19 slowdowns, Toyota said. The automaker reported earlier this month it expected to produce 700,000 vehicles in January and held to a reduced goal of 9.2 million in the year through March. Toyota had previously expected to make 9.7 million autos this fiscal year, but was forced to lower the target in November as it struggles with rising materials costs and a shortage of semiconductors. That’s still ahead of last year’s production of about 8.6 million units. https://www.tausiinsider.com/toyotas-november-global-vehicle-production-rises-1-5-to-record-8...

Oil prices were steady after hitting a three-week high on Tuesday as restarts at some U.S. energy plants shut by winter storms offset gains stemming from hopes of a demand recovery as China eases its COVID-19 restrictions. Brent crude was up 41 cents, or 0.5%, at $84.33 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled 3 cents lower at $79.53 per barrel. Both benchmarks hit their highest level since Dec. 5 earlier in the session. UK and U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Christmas holiday. Refineries along the Gulf Coast began to resume operations and ramp up production after an Arctic blast sent temperatures well below freezing and led to power, instrumentation and steam losses at facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The cold also cut oil and gas production from North Dakota to Texas. Output of about 450,000-500,000 barrels of oil per day was curtailed over the Christmas weekend in the Bakken oilfields, the North Dakota Pipeline Authority said, adding that operator...

Canadian oil and gas companies are expected to increase spending in 2023, but analysts say it will be another year of modest growth and not a return to boom times. For Canada’s energy industry, 2022 was the year that finally snapped a decade of weak commodity prices and brought prosperity back to the sector. With the lifting of global pandemic restrictions, the war in Ukraine, and the cumulative impact of years of underinvestment in oil and gas, energy prices hit record highs in 2022 and Canadian companies reaped record profits. But most of these profits went to paying down debt and rewarding shareholders, not into major construction or infrastructure projects. And even though commodity prices are expected to remain healthy in 2023, that theme is likely to remain. “The oil producers have become far more financially disciplined over the last six or eight years,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management, adding the threat of a looming recession in 2023...

A CNOOC booth during the China International Fair for Trade in Services, in Beijing, on Sept. 1, 2022. FLORENCE LO/Reuters China’s CNOOC Ltd has raised its 2023 production target by around 8 per cent to a record 650 million to 660 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), it said on Wednesday. The state-controlled offshore oil and gas company produced about 620 million boe last year, exceeding its goal of 600-610 million boe, CNOOC said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange outlining its annual strategic outlook. CNOOC is aiming for 6 per cent average annual production growth by 2025 when output is forecast to hit 2 million boe a day, Chief Executive Officer Zhou Xinhuai told reporters following the release. Under its stated strategy to boost the share of natural gas in its portfolio, CNOOC is stepping up the development of large domestic finds like Baodao 21-1 in the Qiongdongnan basin of South China Sea as well as gas reservoirs in global projects. CNOOC has made a “good disco...

The Cobre Panama copper mine in Donoso, Panama. Abraham Teran/The Associated Press Panama says it has no intention of seizing the Cobre Panama mine from First Quantum Minerals Ltd., FM-T despite excoriating the Canadian copper company for allegedly misrepresenting the tenor of their talks. Vancouver-based First Quantum and Panama have toiled for more than a year to try to come up with a new tax and royalties contract for the mine. Talks broke down last month, at which point Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo ordered the mine to cease operations. Other Canadian miners have seen their assets expropriated after clashing with foreign governments, including Centerra Gold Inc. in 2021. Its flagship Kumtor mine was nationalized by the Kyrgyz Republic. But there appears to be almost no chance of that happening in this case. “At no point has the government considered, or will it consider, expropriating any mine,” Federico Alfaro, Panama’s Minister of Commerce and Industries, said in an i...

The Sherloc technology currently installed on the Mars Rover, in a handout photo. HO/The Canadian Press The same technology used to search for signs of ancient life on Mars could be key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the Canadian oil sands. At least that’s what members of the Pathways Alliance – an industry consortium of this country’s six largest oil sands companies – appear to believe. On Thursday, the group announced Impossible Sensing Energy, the Calgary-based affiliate of U.S. space exploration company Impossible Sensing, as the winner in an industry-sponsored global competition aimed at helping to accelerate the wide-scale use of steam-reducing technologies in oil sands operations. The company won with a proposal to use optical imaging technology, adapted from its Sherloc system currently installed on the Mars Rover, in an oil sands application. Just as optical imaging can be used to search for faint traces of potential carbon-based past life on Mars, it can also det...