The Financial Times (FT) reported that seven major Western oil and gas corporations - BP, Chevron, Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, and Equinor - plan to buy back their shares for a total of $41 billion this year, according to RBC Capital Markets' projections. The total sum is slightly lower, at $38 billion, according to Bernstein Research. In any case, this is a new high since 2008, when...

One of Silicon Valley's largest venture capital firms will create a fund for long-term crypto investments of up to $600m. Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital will create a special fund focused on liquid tokens and cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg writes, citing a statement from the firm. The size of the fund will range from $500 million to $600 million. The creation of a separate fund goes against...

According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), US gambling turnover hit an all-time high of $53 billion in 2021, a 21 percent rise over the previous high set in 2019 and a 67 percent increase over 2020 volumes, which were slowed by lockdowns. Casinos, slot machines, and other traditional gambling enterprises made for the lion's share of total turnover - $45 billion, up 6.6 percent from...

Oil production in the main oil and gas producing areas of the U.S., a significant part of production in which is shale oil, in March will increase compared to the current month by 109 thousand barrels per day, or 1.3%, to 8.707 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the Ministry of Energy forecasts. Production in the Permian Basin will increase by 71,000 barrels to 5.205...

The U.S. Federal Reserve will raise the rate seven times during the year, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. In their view, the U.S. regulator will increase the rate by 0.25% at each meeting in order to curb price increases. The Federal Reserve (Fed) in 2022 will raise the rate seven times to curb inflation, expects Goldman Sachs, writes Bloomberg. Earlier, Goldman Sachs expected five rate...

OPEC did not change its forecast for global oil demand growth, expecting an increase of 4.2 million barrels per day in 2022, the organization said in a February report. "In 2022, global oil demand growth is expected to be 4.2 million bpd, unchanged from last month," the report said. Oil demand growth is projected at 1.8 million bpd for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development...

JPMorgan strategists estimated the fair value of Bitcoin at $38,000. This is 14% less than the cryptocurrency's current market price. Strategists at investment bank JPMorgan Chase estimated the fair value of Bitcoin at $38,000, Bloomberg reports. In calculating the fair value of Bitcoin, they assumed that it is about four times more volatile than gold, Bloomberg wrote, citing a research note it...

The price of aluminum in trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose by 3.3% to 3.236 thousand dollars per ton, which is the highest since 2008, according to Bloomberg. Thus, metal prices have surpassed their October peak and are now closer to their historic high, which, as the agency points out, is $3.38 per ton. The rise in the cost of commodities such as industrial metals, gas and oil in...

China expects low inflation in 2022, counting on monetary tightening in other countries to slow the rise in commodity prices. Inflation in China was 0.9% last year. China's inflation will remain low in 2022 if monetary policy changes in other countries dampen the rise in global commodity prices, Bloomberg reported, citing an official statement from China's National Development and Reform...