Business

TotalEnergies Plans $10 Billion Energy Investments in Argentina: October 1, 2026

PARIS — French energy major TotalEnergies plans about $10 billion of investments in Argentina across offshore gas and Neuquén shale projects, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné said Thursday at Argentina Week in Paris, Reuters reported.

Pouyanné said the portfolio includes a new offshore development in Tierra del Fuego and expansion of gas production in Neuquén, with an aim of boosting output toward 16 million cubic metres per day and roughly $4 billion to $5 billion of spending over the next decade on the gas side alone. Argentine and regional outlets said the Tierra del Fuego project was dubbed “Alberdi” after talks with President Javier Milei, with about $1.5 billion earmarked offshore and a large San Roque shale-oil push in Vaca Muerta potentially seeking RIGI investment incentives.

Pouyanné linked the renewed appetite to Argentine policy changes including freer dividend remittances and the RIGI large-investment regime. TotalEnergies has operated in Argentina for years; the fresh package marks one of the largest European energy commitments announced into the Milei-era investment push.

Sources: Reuters via MarketScreener, Infobae

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Australia Inflation Leaps to 4% After Fourth RBA Rate Hike of 2026: September 30, 2026

SYDNEY — Australia’s annual inflation rate jumped to 4.0% in the year to August from 3.5%, stoking fears the Reserve Bank will raise interest rates again before Christmas after lifting the cash rate to 4.6% — its fourth increase of 2026, The Guardian reported citing Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers blamed higher global oil prices tied to the Middle East conflict for the rise, noting fuel prices surged 15% last month after the government ended a fuel-excise cut. Underlying inflation held at 3.6%, still well above the RBA’s 2.5% target. Home building costs rose 5.4% over 12 months as builders passed on higher materials and labour costs, the ABS said.

EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy said another rate hike looked likely by year-end. RBA Governor Michele Bullock said the previous day that inflation was “too high” and driven by domestic capacity pressures, while also pointing to the Middle East conflict and AI-related data-centre spending. Both headline and underlying measures remained above target despite the rise being slightly less than economists had anticipated.

Sources: The Guardian, ABC News Australia

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Dangote and Kenya Break Ground on $16 Billion Lamu Oil Refinery: September 30, 2026

LAMU, Kenya — Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and Kenya’s President William Ruto broke ground on a $16 billion (£12 billion) oil refinery in Lamu on Kenya’s northern coast, despite protests by some residents seeking more compensation for land, BBC News reported.

When complete, the plant is expected to process 700,000 barrels of crude a day, making it East Africa’s largest industrial project by capacity and Kenya’s biggest infrastructure venture since independence. Leaders of Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo and Benin attended the ceremony. Dangote has offered regional governments a combined 30% stake, according to Reuters. He told the BBC protests were “games” by local marketers and international players and insisted the refinery would be ready by 2030.

Walid Ali, co-founder of the Save Lamu campaign, said the group wanted the environmental impact assessment and mitigation measures published, warning environmental concerns had been overlooked on past projects. Dangote said his Lekki refinery in Nigeria proved African-built mega-projects could succeed and that Lamu must prove they can be repeated.

Sources: BBC News

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Burkina Faso Opens First Gold Refinery as Junta Seeks Home Processing: September 29, 2026

OUAGADOUGOU — Burkina Faso inaugurated its first gold refinery on Monday as junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traoré pressed to refine metals at home rather than export raw ore, BBC News reported. “We want to refine all our metals on site… we want to have the entire value chain on site,” Traoré said at the Raffinor-BF plant in the capital.

The presidency said the project cost more than 11 billion CFA francs (about $19 million), financed by the state including through Sonasp with private partners. Initial capacity is 164 tonnes a year — above current national output — with a stated path toward 515 tonnes so the plant could also process regional gold. Foreign miners must already cede a 15% state stake and train local workers; the World Gold Council said second-quarter 2026 output rose 17% year on year.

Authorities have long struggled to police artisanal mining and alleged that some illicit gold helps finance al-Qaeda- and Islamic State-linked insurgents controlling large rural areas. Mines Minister Yacouba Zabré Gouba said: “This is the day we take back the keys to our own house.” Neighbours including Guinea, Ghana, Mali and Ivory Coast are also pushing domestic refining.

Sources: BBC News

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Sydney Project Mars Data Centre Scrapped After Community Push-Back: September 28, 2026

SYDNEY — Goodman Group, Australia’s biggest property company, withdrew its application for a controversial A$1.2 billion ($841 million), 90-megawatt data centre known as Project Mars in Sydney’s Lane Cove suburb after intense community push-back, BBC News reported Monday.

The facility would have stood about 20 metres from the nearest homes. A planning consultation drew 374 submissions, only nine in support—reportedly the most ever for a data-centre application locally. In a letter to the New South Wales Department of Planning, Goodman cited an evolving “policy and regulatory environment” and community views in deciding not to proceed. NSW MP Anthony Roberts called it “a huge win for the Lane Cove West community” and a message that large centres must be “appropriately located.”

The scrap comes amid a national debate over AI-driven data-centre demand versus water, energy and neighbourhood impacts. NSW last month announced a fast-track assessment programme for centres that meet standards and fund extra water and energy supply—underscoring both government appetite for investment and local resistance when projects sit metres from homes.

Sources: BBC News

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Trump Approves Sharply Lower Fuel Economy Standards, Ends Biden EV Push: September 27, 2026

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will finalize sharply lower vehicle fuel-economy standards through 2031 on Monday, reversing a Biden-era push that steered automakers toward building more electric vehicles, officials said Saturday, Reuters reported.

President Donald Trump said he had approved the new standards, which he cast as a win that will lower new-vehicle prices. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said “a major victory for America’s auto workers is coming Monday.” The department previously proposed a fleetwide average of about 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031, down from 50.4 under Biden rules, estimating average new-vehicle costs would fall by roughly $930.

The same analysis projected higher fuel use — on the order of 100 billion gallons through 2050 — and about 5% more carbon dioxide emissions. Former Biden transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said lowering standards would hand clean-tech leadership to China and leave Americans paying more at the pump. The move lands as U.S. drivers face elevated fuel prices since the wider Middle East war began in February.

Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera

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Lula Bans Online Betting in Brazil as Reelection Race Tightens: September 26, 2026

SAO PAULO — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday announced a ban on online betting operations in Latin America’s largest economy and unveiled a new household debt-relief program, the latest measures ahead of next month’s election, Reuters reported.

The executive order takes immediate effect but must be approved by Congress within 120 days to remain in force. It comes less than two years after Brazil opened a legal framework for the industry. Finance Minister Dario Durigan called online betting “a public health issue,” saying app stores and network providers must block betting websites on October 6. Polls show Lula locked in a tight race with Senator Flavio Bolsonaro ahead of the October 4 first-round vote; Bolsonaro called the ban “populist, hypocritical and politically motivated.”

The Finance Ministry estimates Brazilian households spend about 60 billion reais ($11.6 billion) a year on online betting. Lula also said the government will hold a November auction to buy and restructure household debt, spending 15 billion reais to acquire up to 150 billion reais of delinquent loans at deep discounts.

Sources: Reuters

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Trump Sees No Urgency for Canada Trade Deal as Dispute Deepens: September 26, 2026

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration is comfortable maintaining its trade standoff with Canada even as new U.S. import bans on Canadian products take effect next week and Washington threatens 50% tariffs on Canadian autos, parts and steel from January, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday, Reuters reported.

“We’re comfortable with where we are. … There’s no urgency on our side,” Greer told CNBC, noting the United States is still receiving Canadian oil, gas and potash. The looming bans cover a broad range of Canadian goods including alcoholic beverages, motorcycles and dairy. Canada’s own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods took effect earlier this month after the United States imposed 50% tariffs on some $20 billion of Canadian goods last month.

The breakdown has strained the longtime allies and cast doubt on the future of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Some experts say Washington may first seek a deal with Mexico to gain leverage with Ottawa. The Canadian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

Sources: Reuters

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Volkswagen Sets Aside €16 Billion for Job Cuts and Plant Overhaul: September 10, 2026

BERLIN — Volkswagen has set aside roughly €16 billion ($18.6 billion) to fund job cuts and potential plant closures under a landmark restructuring pact approved last week, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The figure covers Europe’s biggest carmaker’s costliest overhaul in decades as it confronts Chinese competition, tariffs and surplus factory capacity. German magazine Der Spiegel first reported the earmark; a Volkswagen spokesperson declined to comment on the cost total.

According to the reporting, up to about €10 billion would cover measures such as severance and early-retirement schemes tied to eliminating roughly 60,000 positions over time, while about €6 billion would be reserved for the possible end of vehicle production at four German plants — Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm — that lack defined model plans for the 2030s. No final closure decisions have been made.

The supervisory board unanimously backed “Future Plan 2030” on September 3, adding tens of thousands of planned reductions on top of cuts already under way since late 2024. Works-council representatives have stressed that compulsory layoffs remain ruled out through 2030 under existing agreements and have framed headcount targets as planning assumptions linked to margin goals.

CEO Oliver Blume has argued the company must slim its lineup, raise efficiency and protect investment capacity even as capital spending plans are tightened. For drivers and dealers, the industrial story is the product pipeline: fewer models, a sharper EV transition and uncertainty for communities built around German assembly plants.

The cost disclosure lands as European auto makers reassess where they can still make money building cars. Volkswagen’s bet is that paying for a smaller footprint now is cheaper than defending overcapacity through the end of the decade.

Sources: Reuters; Financial Post

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