The International Energy Agency (“IEA”) has said it expects the U.S to account for more than 80% of global oil production growth over the next 10 years and to produce 30% more gas than Russia in the same period. Speaking at ‘COP-23’ the UN Convention’s on climate change, taking place in Bonn, Germany, IEA head Fatih Birol, said the United States, whose upstream energy industry has seen a resurgence with the development of fracking technology, would become the “undisputed leader of oil and gas production worldwide” and that “this has implications for the oil markets, prices, trade flows, investment trends and the geopolitics of energy,” He said the IEA expected oil markets to rebalance in 2018 if oil demand remained “more or less” as robust as it was now and if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) and its allies extended output cuts.

The London Metal Exchange and LME Clear (together, “LME”) have set out their strategic pathway in response to its users views on its discussion paper on market structure. As part of its strategic pathway the LME has identified matters for immediate action as well as matter for development in the longer term. Among the matters for immediate action, the LME will reduce carry fees and intends to introduce a new financial over the counter OTC fee with effect from 1 January 2018 to ensure fairness in LME fee structures.

On 30 June 2017, Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick) announced the completion of the sale of a 50% interest in its Veladero mine in San Juan province, Argentina to Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd, (Shandong Gold) for US$960 million. Shandong Gold was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2003 and 2016 had produced approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold. It is currently the only Chinese mining company categorized as a National Environmentally Friendly Enterprise by the Chinese Government. Following the sale Barrick and Shandong Go will form a 50/50 joint venture, which will explore and jointly develop the Pascua-Lama deposit and the El Indio Gold Belt on the border of Argentina and Chile.

On 22 December 2015, the Myanmar Government approved amendments to Myanmar’s 1994 Mines Law (Mining Law). The amendments will become law 90 days from the date of approval. The original Mining Law categorised mining activities as mineral exploration, measurements, production, and large-scale and small-scale mining. The new draft amendments introduce provisions relating to medium-scale production, as well as purifying and trading activities. The licence period for large-scale mining has been extended from five to 15 years whereas the licence period for small-scale mining has been increased from three to seven years. inal Mining Law categorised mining activities as mineral exploration, measurements, production, and large-scale and small-scale mining. The new draft amendments introduce provisions relating to medium-scale production, as well as purifying and trading activities.

ASX-listed Evolution Mining Ltd (Evolution) has made a takeover offer (Evolution Offer) for fellow ASX-listed Phoenix Gold Limited (Phoenix), providing Phoenix’s shareholders with an alternative to the offer made by Zijin Mining Group Ltd (Zijin and Zijin Offer). Evolution currently holds a 19.8% share in Phoenix. The Evolution Offer valued Phoenix’s shares at AU$0.12 each or AU$56.4 million in total which according to Evolution represents a 20% premium to Zijin Offer. The Zijin Offer was conditional upon Zijin securing at least a 50.1% stake in Phoenix.

LME Clear, the clearing house of the London Metal Exchange (LME) market, has announced that it will now accept offshore Renminbi (RMB) as eligible cash collateral. The announcement follows regulatory approval for the initiative from the Bank of England. According to SWIFT, the RMB is one of the top five global payment currencies. The initiative highlights LME’s commitment to attract and connect market participants from Mainland China and is an example of strengthening of ties between Hong Kong and London.

Myanmar has issued an invitation to tender to foreign companies in relation to the establishment of a joint venture (JV Company) with the Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE) for the purposes of importing, storing, distributing and selling oil products. The closing date for tender applications is 20 October 2015. The MPPE will hold a 51% share in the JV Company to be established.

Shanxi based Sino Oil and Gas Holdings (Sino Oil) has announced that it expects to receive Government approval for its proposed mass coal-bed methane production project by the end of the third quarter 2015. China is estimated to be home to the world’s third-largest reserves of coal-bed methane, which is largely untapped due to technical challenges and insufficient spending on drilling and infrastructure.

The Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (FMG), the world’s fourth-biggest exporter of iron ore, has been forced to scrap a bid to borrow US$2.5 billion (AUS$3.2 billion) as part of a plan to refinance part of its existing debt. FMG’s shares fell 5.3% to AUS$1.865 in Sydney on 18 March 2015, the lowest close since January 2009, after it announced that the sale had been postponed, citing volatile US credit markets and a failure to achieve the terms it wanted. According to Chief Executive Officer Mr. Nev Power, “Debt capital markets were not favourable at this time and as a result we think it is a disciplined and prudent decision to defer the voluntary refinancing at this stage.”

The London Metal Exchange (LME) has published its responses to the legal and logistical consultation process (Consultations) it launched in November 2014 regarding its physical delivery network. The LME also issued a discussion paper including the final two elements of the LME’s warehouse reform package and possible further structural reforms. In addition, a new proposal was put forward to increase the loadout rate of metal at warehouses affected by structural queues, by adjusting one of the parameters of the ‘Linked Load-in / Load-out rule’.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved plans by Sinopec Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp. (Sinopec), to build a grassroots refinery in the Caofeidian Industrial Zone, Tangshan, Hebei Province. The US$4.3billion refinery will have a crude oil processing capacity of approximately 12 million tonnes per year and will have additional processing units for residual fluid catalytic cracking, hydro-treating, hydrocracking, isomerization, alkylation, and desulfurization. A firm timeline for the project, which initially included a 200,000-b/d refinery scheduled to be commissioned by 2015, has not yet been disclosed.

In January 2015 UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) published “Opportunities for British companies in Burma’s oil and gas sector” (UKTI Report). The report provides an overview of Myanmar’s oil and gas industry, information on recent licence awards, investment opportunities and Myanmar’s production sharing contracts (PSCs). The British Government opened a UKTI office in Myanmar in July 2012 to support responsible British investment and trade.

Myanmar is estimated to possess 3.2 billion barrels of oil and 18 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Its unproven resources may be vastly greater. Currently Myanmar is the 10th largest producer of natural gas globally – the bulk of which is exported to China and Thailand.