Business

(Reuters) – Wall Street futures fell on Monday, setting all three major U.S. stock indexes for a dour start to the week, as investors worried about hawkish signals from Federal Reserve policymakers in the face of slowing economic growth.

A four-week summer rally for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 snapped last week as megacap growth companies slumped on Friday, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hitting nearly 3% on inflation fears.

High-growth and technology companies such as Apple Inc and Tesla Inc fell 1.5% and 2.1%, respectively, in trading before the bell on Monday.

Lenders JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America fell more than 1% each amid a broader risk-off mood. Banking giants collectively face more than $1 billion in regulatory fines for employees’ use of unapproved messaging tools, including email and apps such as WhatsApp.

The CBOE Volatility index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, rose to 23.10, its highest level in over two weeks.

Focus this week is on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at a central banking conference in Jackson Hole on Friday for further cues on the central bank’s monetary policy tightening path.

“The market is now going through a digestion phase, triggered by weaker-than-expected economic reports and anxiety ahead of statements and policy indications expected to emerge from the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.

“The big uncertainty remains the size of the rate hike at the September FOMC meeting.”

According to economists in a Reuters poll, the Fed will raise rates by 50 basis points in September amid expectations inflation has peaked and growing recession worries.

Traders are also expecting a slightly higher chance of a 50 bps hike over a third 75 bps hike, even as several Fed policymakers have pushed back against expectations of a dovish pivot and emphasized the fight against inflation is ongoing.

Investors will also be looking for details on the central bank’s plans to reduce its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet, a process that started in June.

The Fed’s favored inflation gauge, the PCE price index, will also be released this week.

With recession fears lingering and investors eager for any clues about the economy’s strength, other U.S. data will be closely awaited this week, including flash PMIs, the second estimate of second quarter GDP and University of Michigan consumer sentiment.

At 07:07 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 286 points, or 0.85%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 46 points, or 1.09%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 193.25 points, or 1.46%.

Signify Health Inc jumped 40.5% following a report on Sunday that UnitedHealth Group Inc, Amazon.com Inc, CVS Health Corp and Option Care Health Inc are bidding to acquire the company.

AMC Entertainment Holdings tumbled 31.5% after peer Cineworld, the world’s second-largest cinema operator warned of a possible bankruptcy filing.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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(Reuters) – AMC Entertainment Holdings’ shares tumbled nearly 40% in premarket trading on Monday after UK-based Cineworld’s warning of a possible bankruptcy spooked investors ahead of the American cinema chain’s preferred stock listing.

AMC’s preferred stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday under the ticker “APE”. The shares will have the same voting rights as common stock and trade as a separate security for now, the company said.

“The AMC distribution of “APE” is somewhere between a stock split and a stock dividend,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.

“AMC has been on a very fine balancing act between trying to have enough liquidity to meet its debt and not destroying the stock price until its fundamentals would seem to be lower.”

The decline in AMC shares was sparked after Cineworld, which owns Regal cinemas in the United States, warned that it was staring at a possible bankruptcy filing as it struggles to cut debts that soared during the pandemic.

Retail favorite AMC looked set to hit two-month lows at market open if losses hold, after reiterating on Friday a “relatively weak” film slate in the third quarter of 2022.

“A broader change in how previous cinema-goers want to watch the latest hit is a trend unlikely to reverse or get any easier for cinema chains,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown

The COVID-19 lockdowns severely impacted the business of cinema operators. However, AMC managed to raise $1.8 billion in 2021, capitalizing on the rally triggered by retail investors’ interest in meme stocks, in a sharp contrast to Cineworld’s fate.

AMC shares have jumped over 150% since the end of 2019, whereas Cineworld lost about 99% of its share value in the same period.

(Reporting by Medha Singh, Anisha Sircar and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — In the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, buzzing chainsaws interrupt the serenity. Crews are hustling to remove charred trees and other debris that have been washing down the mountainsides in the wake of the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history, choking rivers and streams.

Heavy equipment operators are moving boulders dislodged by the daily torrential summer rains that have followed the flames.

Workers have dug trenches and built barriers to help keep the flood of muddy, ash-laden runoff from causing more damage so it won’t further contaminate the drinking water supply for the community of more than 10,000 that sits at the edge of the forest.

The clock is ticking for Las Vegas, a college town and economic hub for ranchers and farmers who have called this rural expanse of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range home for generations.

It has less than 30 days of drinking water left.

Events have been canceled in an effort to discourage more people from coming to town. Residents are showering with buckets in hopes of salvaging extra water for other uses. Restaurants are worried they may have to cut back on serving their signature red and green chile dishes. The three universities that call Las Vegas home are coming up with conservation plans as the school year kicks off.

“It is disheartening to our families and our children to not know that they may not have water in a month from now,” said Leo Maestas, the city manager.

It was just months earlier that thousands of residents from Las Vegas and dozens of surrounding mountain villages were forced to pack up their belongings, load their livestock into trailers and flee as the wildfire raged, fueled by unprecedented hot, dry winds.

They watched from a distance as an area larger than Los Angeles was devoured by a conflagration sparked by the federal government when two planned burns meant to reduce the threat of wildfire went awry due to a combination of human error and outdated modeling that didn’t account for extreme weather. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and livelihoods lost.

Amid an undercurrent of heartbreak and anger, residents are feeling the sting yet again as their water supply dwindles as a result and the pressures of climate change show no signs of letting up.

“I mean what else could possibly happen?” asked Las Vegas Mayor Louie Trujillo, not wanting to tempt fate.

Trujillo said the community is no stranger to watering restrictions as drought has long been part of life in northern New Mexico. He and other residents have become experts at using just half the water of the average American, or about 44 gallons.

“So asking the citizens to do even more is quite an imposition. It’s very hard,” said Trujillo, as he prepared for federal emergency managers to arrive with another truckload of bottled water for distribution to community members.

Utility managers have been unable to tap into their usual source — the Gallinas River — since it has been choked by ash and debris.

Trujillo declared an emergency in late July and New Mexico’s governor followed with her own declaration, freeing up funding to help pay for the installation of a temporary treatment system that will allow for water from a nearby lake to be used to supplement supplies.

City officials expect that system to be installed next week. It will be capable of treating about 1.5 millions gallons (5.7 million litres) a day, about what the city consumes daily. But it’s only a Band-Aid, Trujillo said.

Like other western cities, Las Vegas is in search of alternative sources of water as nearby rivers and reservoirs shrink amid hotter, drier conditions. The wildfire complicates matters.

New Mexico’s largest city, for example, was forced to stop pulling water from the Rio Grande this year as it dried up within Albuquerque city limits for the first time in decades. And for the second year in a row, Arizona and Nevada will face cuts in the amount of water they can draw from the Colorado River as the western drought becomes more acute.

Las Vegas is hoping the temporary treatment system will slow down the ticking clock as crews continue work upstream to keep more ash, debris and sediment from clogging the Gallinas River that feeds the city’s reservoirs.

Trujillo said a permanent treatment system on the river could cost more than $100 million, far beyond the city’s means. There’s no timetable for designing or building such a system.

What is heartbreaking for the mayor is that the region is experiencing one of the best monsoon seasons in several years. Had it not been for the fire and the contamination, the city would have been able to capture the storm runoff pulsing through the river and bolster its reservoirs for the future as drought persists.

For Trujillo, his neighbors, the governor and members of Congress, the blame for the current water crisis falls squarely on the federal government.

“We’re going to continue to hold them responsible and expect them to pay for all of the improvements that we’re going to have to make,” the mayor said.

Daniel Patterson, a resource adviser with the U.S. Forest Service, called it an all-hands-on-deck approach as the agency works with local officials to protect the watershed that supplies Las Vegas. He acknowledged the Forest Service’s responsibility to restore the watershed as well as people’s access to their private property and traditional practices like gathering firewood from the forest.

“Those are all top priorities right now,” he said. “But it’s a heavy lift and it’s a long haul.”

President Joe Biden flew over the burn scar during a quick visit in June, promising the federal government would step up. Still, many residents feel abandoned.

Danny Lopez, who owns a ranch just outside of Las Vegas, called the past few months a nightmare. The fire charred nearly one square mile of land where he used to graze his cattle. His fences burned and the roof of his home was singed, damage now worsened by the summer rains.

His alfalfa fields have been compromised by the mud, ash and debris rolling off the surrounding hillsides. And with electricity cut off for months, he and his neighbors lost everything they had stockpiled in their fridges and freezers.

His request for aid from FEMA is tangled in red tape, with federal officials requiring something that simply does not exist for many rural properties — a street address.

“They don’t understand the devastation,” said Lopez, who has been forced to reduce his herd by half. “They don’t know how the people live here and how they get by here.”

Charlie Sandoval is the owner of Charlie’s Bakery Café on Las Vegas’ historic plaza. It has served as a gathering spot for the community and travelers for decades, made famous by its homemade chile recipes, fresh tortillas and cinnamon rolls.

It takes as much as 13 gallons (49 litres) of water to make one big batch of chile. Then there’s the water needed for the tortillas and the dough for the pastries.

“Everything that we do just takes water,” Sandoval said. “And it just really scares me. What would happen if we run out of water, you know?”

The bakery is using more plastic and paper items to cut down on dishwashing. But supplies are expensive, and the bottom line is taking a hit.

If more restrictions are imposed, Sandoval worries about how long he can keep the bakery open and what that might mean for his employees.

At the end of July, the city implemented Stage 6 restrictions, meaning no more outdoor watering, no refilling of swimming pools, restaurants cannot serve water to customers unless requested, and no new water accounts can be activated.

For City Manager Maestas, it’s been a sleepless month. More than once he’s jumped into his pickup in the middle of the night and rushed down to check on a diversion point along the Gallinas River. Standing there, he stares down an impossible decision: If the contaminated river rises fast enough post-monsoon, will he direct the flow into town and flood homes? Or will he further pollute the city’s back-up drinking water supply?

Fear, sadness and then anxiety set in. He wants to make the right decision.

“No city official or government official should ever be put in that predicament,” he said.

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Qantas Airways Ltd will offer A$50 ($34) vouchers, loyalty status extensions and lounge passes to frequent flyers to apologise for a rise in delays, cancellations, lost baggage and staffing issues since travel demand rebounded.

Airlines around the world, including domestic rival Virgin Australia, are facing similar problems but Qantas had attracted significant negative local media coverage given its position as the dominant carrier.

In response, the airline said on Sunday it would send frequent flyer members an email and video message on Monday from its long-serving chief executive Alan Joyce, whose home was pelted with eggs and covered in toilet paper last month amid vicious customer criticism on social media.

“On behalf of the national carrier I want to apologise and assure you we are working hard to get back to our best,” Joyce said in the video message, which was also posted on YouTube.

Qantas said it was rolling out a range of initiatives to improve on-time performance and mishandled baggage as it also dealt with high levels of staff sick leave and an industry-wide labour shortage.

The carrier, which cut thousands of jobs during the pandemic and put most of its staff on leave without pay for long periods, said it had hired 1,500 new people since April, with more to come.

Qantas is due to release its full-year financial results on Thursday.

($1 = 1.4552 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by William Mallard)

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By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s government said on Monday it had transferred Kiwibank’s assets to a new state-owned company, since the lender no longer fit within the long-term plans for two state entities that currently own it.

Kiwibank, which is New Zealand fifth-largest retail bank, was owned by state-owned entities New Zealand Post, Accident Compensation Corporation and sovereign wealth fund New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

The government said in a statement that the transaction valued at NZ$2.1 billion will be done through a transfer of assets from the entities to a newly incorporated company that will also be owned by the state.

It said the government will fund the purchase through a multi-year capital allowance. The purchase was already part of the borrowing programme published in 2022.

“The Government is fully committed to supporting Kiwibank to be a genuine competitor in the banking industry – ensuring the bank has access to capital to continue to grow on a commercially sustainable basis and offer a viable and competitive alternative for New Zealanders,” said New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson.

($1 = 1.6194 New Zealand dollars)

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer, editing by Deepa Babington)

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NEW YORK (AP) — “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter insisted Sunday that he’ll still be rooting for CNN even after his show was canceled this week, but stressed that it was important for the network and others to hold the media accountable.

CNN gave Stelter the chance to host a final episode of the 30-year Sunday morning program on the media even after it was learned this week that he and the show would be exiting — a gesture that’s relatively rare in television.

Stelter said that it was not partisan to stand up for decency, democracy and dialogue.

“It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues,” he said. “It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces. But we also must make sure we are representing the total spectrum of debate and representing what’s going on in the country and the world.”

It was Stelter’s most direct reference to what is believed to be the reason for his demise; CNN hasn’t talked publicly about it. Since he started this spring, new CNN chief executive Chris Licht has made clear he wants to tone down opinion, particularly as it made Republicans resistant to the network.

Stelter, who wrote a book about Fox News Channel and was frequently critical of Fox, was a lightning rod for conservatives’ complaints.

Some of his final “Reliable Sources” guests were more direct. Eric Deggans, NPR television critic, said he hopes CNN will continue to give viewers context and not be reduced to false equivalency. “Just the facts” isn’t enough, he said.

“Will CNN have the courage to do that?” Deggans asked. “I hope so.”

Stelter, who hosted the show for nine years, also had Watergate scribe Carl Bernstein as a guest and brought back the first guest from the first “Reliable Sources” in 1992 — then-local journalist Brian Karem.

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WOODSTOCK, Ga. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. plans to appeal a $1.7 billion verdict against the automaker after a pickup truck crash that claimed the lives of a Georgia couple, a company representative said Sunday.

Jurors in Gwinnett County, just northeast of Atlanta, returned the verdict late last week in the yearslong civil case involving what the plaintiffs’ lawyers called dangerously defective roofs on Ford pickup trucks, lawyer James Butler Jr. said Sunday.

Melvin and Voncile Hill were killed in April 2014 in the rollover wreck of their 2002 Ford F-250. Their children Kim and Adam Hill were the plaintiffs in the wrongful death case.

“While our sympathies go out to the Hill family, we do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence, and we plan to appeal,” Ford said in a statement to The Associated Press on Sunday.

Butler said he was stunned by evidence in the case.

“I used to buy Ford trucks,” Butler said on Sunday. “I thought nobody would sell a truck with a roof this weak. The damn thing is useless in a wreck. You might as well drive a convertible.”

In closing arguments, lawyers hired by the company defended the actions of Ford and its engineers.

The Michigan-based automaker sought to defend the company against accusations “that Ford and its engineers acted willfully and wantonly, with a conscious indifference for the safety of the people who ride in their cars when they made these decisions about roof strength,” defense lawyer William Withrow Jr. said in his closing arguments, according to a court transcript.

The allegation that Ford was irresponsible and willfully made decisions that put customers at risk is “simply not the case,” another defense lawyer, Paul Malek, said in the same closing argument.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs had submitted evidence of nearly 80 similar rollover wrecks that involved truck roofs being crushed that injured or killed motorists, Butler’s law firm, Butler Prather LLP, said in a statement.

“More deaths and severe injuries are certain because millions of these trucks are on the road,” Butler’s co-counsel, Gerald Davidson, said in the statement.

“An award of punitive damages to hopefully warn people riding around in the millions of those trucks Ford sold was the reason the Hill family insisted on a verdict,” Butler said.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A proposal circulated Friday by California Democratic legislators would reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to extend the lifespan of the state’s last operating nuclear power plant — and instead spend over $1 billion to speed up the development of renewable energy, new transmission lines and storage to maintain reliable power in the climate change era.

The legislative plan obtained by The Associated Press reveals mounting tension between the Democratic governor and some members of his own party over a politically volatile issue.

The rift was revealed one week after Newsom proposed giving plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric a forgivable loan up to $1.4 billion as part of a plan to keep the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant running beyond its scheduled closing by 2025.

Newsom has argued that as hotter temperatures drive up the demand for power, the twin-domed reactors along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco would provide a necessary buffer against electrical blackouts, as the state transitions to power from solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.

The legislative plan drops the idea of keeping the decades-old reactors running. Instead, it would funnel the $1.4 billion Newsom proposed for PG&E into speeding up other zero-carbon power and new transmission lines to get the electricity to customers.

The legislative plan included a series of related, but separate, proposals for investing over $1 billion to install install energy-efficient cooling and lighting for low-income Californians, at no cost to qualifying residents. It would also place $900 million in an “electric ratepayer relief fund” to provide bill credits to offset ratepayer costs. Another $900 million would got toward funding solar and storage systems for low-income households, among other programs.

The conflict over Diablo Canyon reveals deep anxiety among some legislators that Newsom wants an abrupt, complex turnaround in state energy policy with less than two weeks left in the legislative session, which ends for the year at the end of August.

Newsom’s proposal also came with many unanswered questions and concerns, including how ratepayers across the state might be impacted, the risk of sidestepping environmental rules and whether continued power from the reactors for years to come might crowd out wind and other renewables expected to start production in the future.

It was not immediately clear how broadly the Democratic alternative was supported in the Legislature.

Newsom’s proposal to reverse course restarted a decades-long fight over seismic safety — several earthquake faults are near the nuclear plant, with one fault running 650 yards (594 meters) from the reactors. Critics said Newsom’s plan for the plant guts environmental safeguards while providing a huge financial giveaway to the investor-owned utility.

Newsom spokesperson Anthony York said the governor “wants California to go faster to meet our climate goals, while ensuring we can keep the lights on and safely transition to clean power.”

York said the proposal came out of the state Assembly and “feels like fantasy and fairy dust, and reflects a lack of vision and a lack of understanding about the scope of the climate problem.”

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s office declined comment.

The governor’s late-hour proposal amounts to an attempt to unspool a complex 2016 agreement among PG&E, environmentalists and plant worker unions to close the reactors by 2025, which Newsom supported at the time as lieutenant governor. The joint decision also was endorsed by California utility regulators, the Legislature and then-Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.

With the state’s legislative session ending for the year at the end of the month, there is little time to work out a compromise on a vastly complex issue. PG&E CEO Patricia “Patti” Poppe told investors in a call last month that state legislation would have to be signed by Newsom by September to open the way for the utility to reverse course.

PG&E also would have to obtain a new operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to run the plant beyond 2025. The utility is following two tracks — assessing the possibility of a longer run, while simultaneously continuing to plan for closing and dismantling the plant, as scheduled.

In a statement, the utility said it was aware of continuing discussions to potentially extend Diablo Canyon’s lifespan and PG&E stands ready “should there be a change in state policy.”

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By Rachael Levy

(Reuters) – Elon Musk has approached brain chip implant developer Synchron Inc about a potential investment as his own company Neuralink plays catch-up in the race to connect the human brain directly to machines, according to four people familiar with the matter.  

Musk reached out to Synchron’s founder and chief executive, Thomas Oxley, in recent weeks to discuss a potential deal, the sources said. It is not clear if any transaction would involve a tie-up or collaboration between Synchron and Neuralink.

Synchron, which is based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, is ahead of Neuralink in the process to win regulatory clearance for its devices, the sources said. It has not decided whether it would accept an investment and no deal is certain, the sources added.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential.

Representatives for Musk and Neuralink did not respond to requests for comment. A Synchron spokesperson declined to comment.

The approach comes after Musk, who is also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc and rocket developer SpaceX, expressed frustration to Neuralink employees over their slow progress, four current and former employees said. That frustration was not conveyed to Oxley when Musk reached out to him, two of the sources added.

It is not clear where Neuralink stands in its application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials. An FDA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk said in a 2019 public presentation that Neuralink, which he launched in 2016, was aiming to receive regulatory approval by the end of 2020. He then said at a Wall Street Journal conference in late 2021 that he hoped to start human trials this year.

Founded in 2016, Synchron has developed a brain implant that would not require cutting in to the skull to install it, unlike Neuralink’s product. Its goal is to help paralyzed patients operate digital devices with their mind alone.

Synchron crossed a major milestone last month by implanting its device in a patient in the United States for the first time. It received FDA clearance for human trials in 2021 and has completed studies in four people in Australia.

Synchron has about 60 employees and has raised about $65 million so far from investors, according to market research firm Pitchbook.

Neuralink is larger, with 300 employees split between San Francisco and Austin, Texas. It has raised $363 million from investors so far, according to Pitchbook.

Only two of Neuralink’s eight founders have remained with the company – Musk and implant engineer Dongjin “DJ” Seo, who has a leadership role. Max Hodak, who stepped down as Neuralink’s president last year, is now an investor in Synchron.

Musk has approached Neuralink’s competitors in the past. In 2020, he held discussions with brain technology company Paradromics Inc, according to three people familiar with the matter. Musk subsequently abandoned those talks, two of these sources added. 

(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous “and” in paragraph 9)

(Reporting by Rachael Levy in Washington; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Matthew Lewis)

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By Chen Aizhu

(Reuters) – Russia held its spot as China’s top oil supplier for a third month in July, data showed on Saturday, as independent refiners stepped up purchases of discounted supplies while cutting shipments from rival suppliers such as Angola and Brazil.

Imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and seaborne shipments from Russia’s European and Far Eastern ports, totalled 7.15 million tonnes, up 7.6% from a year ago, data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed.

Still, Russian supplies in July, equivalent to about 1.68 million barrels per day (bpd), were below May’s record of close to 2 million bpd. China is Russia’s largest oil buyer.

Imports from second-ranking Saudi Arabia rebounded last month from June, which was the lowest in more than three years, to 6.56 million tonnes, or 1.54 million bpd, but still slightly below year-ago level.

Year-to-date imports from Russia totalled 48.45 million tonnes, up 4.4% on the year, still trailing behind Saudi Arabia, which supplied 49.84 million tonnes, or 1% below the year-ago level.

China’s crude oil imports in July fell 9.5% from a year earlier, with daily volumes at the second lowest in four years, as refiners drew down inventories and domestic fuel demand recovered more slowly than expected.

The strong Russian purchases squeezed out competing supplies from Angola and Brazil, which fell 27% year-on-year and 58%, respectively.

Customs reported no imports from Venezuela or Iran last month. State oil firms have shunned purchases since late 2019 for fear of falling foul of secondary U.S. sanctions.

Imports from Malaysia, often used as a transfer point in the past two years for oil originating from Iran and Venezuela, soared 183% on the year, to 3.34 million tonnes, and up from June’s 2.65 million tonnes.

Here is the detailed breakdown of oil imports, in metric tonnes:

July y/y pct Jan-July y/r pct

change change

Saudi 6,563,472 -1.60 49,835,011 -1.20

Russia 7,145,611 7.60 48,453,258 4.43

Iraq 3,639,508 -22.10 30,375,600 -1.30

Angola 2,125,769 -27.00 19,314,320 -15.50

Brazil 1,026,900 -58.00 14,025,389 -27.00

United 128,527 -84.00 4,585,464 -49.00

States

Malaysia 3,344,832 183.00 14,420,592 69.70

Iran 0 – 780,392 –

Venezuela 0 – 0 –

Oman 2,764,238 -25.00 23,793,940 -10.70

UAE 3,562,013 86.00 22,992,753 42.00

(1 tonne = 7.3 barrels for crude oil conversion)

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Richard Pullin and Clarence Fernandez)

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