■ENERGY
KOGAS, Chevron sign deal
State-owned Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) has agreed to buy 1.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year from Chevron Corp over 15 years in the largest long-term LNG deal ever signed between Australia and South Korea, the vendor said yesterday. The gas will come from the Gorgon gas field that Chevron and its joint venture partners, ExxonMobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell, announced on Monday would be developed off the northwest Australian coast. Under an agreement signed overnight on Tuesday, KOGAS has an option to extend the 15-year agreement for a further five years, Chevron said in a statement. South Korea is the world’s second-largest importer of LNG after Japan.
■BANKING
Senior bankers leave SG
Thirty senior bankers from Societe Generale (SG) have left to set up their own hedge fund business, amid growing pressure on French banks to curb bonuses for top staff, the Financial Times (FT) said yesterday. The team, including the head of SG’s global hedge funds business and several of his most senior colleagues, have left in a move backed by a US equity firm, the report said. The new hedge fund venture will be called Nexar Capital and will be based in Paris with an office in New York, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources. Nexar aims to raise US$10 billion in assets under management, excluding acquisitions, within five years.
■METALS
Rusal mulls HK listing
Russian aluminum giant Rusal is considering listing in Hong Kong in what could be one of the largest offerings on the stock market here, the South China Morning Post said yesterday. Hong Kong is one of two markets the metals company is looking at, the report said, quoting Rusal deputy chief executive Artem Volynets said. “One potential attraction of Hong Kong for us is the big Chinese metals and mining companies listed there,” Volynets said. “Instead of buying mines, the Chinese raw material producers listed in Hong Kong can buy Rusal shares.”
■MEDIA
‘WSJ’ to charge fees
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) plans to start charging as much as US$2 per week to read its stories on BlackBerry and other mobile devices. The mobile fees will be imposed in the next month or two, said Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of the WSJ’s owner, News Corp. Murdoch mentioned the upcoming fees during an investor conference in New York on Tuesday. Unlike most US newspapers, the WSJ has long required a subscription to read most of the stories on its Web site. The strategy has paid off so far, with the paper boasting more than 1 million online subscribers. Now Murdoch is trying to generate more revenue through other channels, to help offset a steep drop in advertising in the print edition.
■SOUTH KOREA
Employment rate rises
The number of South Koreans with jobs rose last month year-on-year, official figures showed yesterday, in another sign the economic downturn may be ending. The number of employed people was 23.62 million last month, up 3,000 from August last year, the National Statistical Office said. Last month’s unemployment rate of 3.7 percent was unchanged from the previous month, but the economy lost 76,000 positions year-on-year in July.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from