Spotify drops paying subscribers in Russia; free service to remain

Music streaming giant Spotify said Thursday its paid subscription service would no longer be available in Russia, as sanctions had made processing payments in the country impossible.

"Due to new restrictions introduced by major payment providers, payment processing is not currently possible for the majority of Premium users in Russia," a Spotify spokesman told AFP.

Paid premium accounts "will be cancelled if a recurring payment fails and the account will then be automatically moved to our free service," he said in a written statement. 

The company said it had also "paused all advertising campaigns running in Russia."

Spotify did not immediately confirm to AFP how many subscribers it expected lose in Russia.

Spotify's free service would however remain available in Russia "to allow for the global flow of information," it said, adding that "arts and news are a powerful force for good."

The Swedish company, which is listed on the New York stock exchange, already announced last week that it was closing its offices in Russia and removing Russian state-sponsored content, such as news outlets RT and Sputnik, from its service.

Agence France-Presse

Moscow warns: Ban on Russian oil will have ‘catastrophic consequences’

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned Monday that a ban on Russian oil imports would have "catastrophic" consequences, as Western allies considered further sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine.

"A ban on Russian oil will lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market. The surge in prices will be unpredictable — more than $300 per barrel, if not more," Novak said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. 

Novak added that it would be "impossible" to quickly replace Russian oil on the European market. 

"It will take more than one year and it will be much more expensive for European consumers," he said. 

"European politicians should then honestly warn their citizens, consumers what awaits them and that prices at gas stations, for electricity, for heating will skyrocket," he said. 

Novak said talks of an embargo on Russian oil creates "instability and leads to significant harm for consumers". 

He added that in retaliation for the halt on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, Russia could stop supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. 

"So far we have not made this decision. Nobody will benefit from this," Novak said. 

"Although European politicians are pushing us to this with their statements and accusations against Russia," he added. 

Agence France-Presse

Oil price spikes to $139 on talks about Russia oil ban, Iran deal delay

LONDON - Oil prices spiked to their highest levels since 2008 on Monday amid market supply fears as the United States and European allies considered banning Russian oil imports and prospects for a swift return of Iranian crude to global markets receded.

In the first few minutes of trade Brent crude reached $139.13 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) hit $130.50, both benchmarks striking their highest since July 2008.

By 1204 GMT, prices had eased back, with Brent up 6.3 percent at $125.55 per and WTI up 6.7 percent at $123.37.

Global oil prices have spiked more than 60 percent since the start of 2022, along with other commodities, raising concerns about world economic growth and stagflation. China, the world's No. 2 economy, is already targeting slower growth of 5.5 percent this year. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday said the United States and European allies were exploring banning imports of Russian oil, while the White House was coordinating with Congressional committees to move forward with a US ban. 

"We consider $125 per barrel, our near-term forecast for Brent crude oil, as a soft cap for prices, although prices could rise even higher should disruptions worsen or continue for a longer period," UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

A prolonged war could see Brent moving above the $150 per barrel mark, he said.

Analysts at Bank of America said if most of Russia's oil exports were cut off, there could be a 5 million barrel per day (bpd) or larger shortfall, pushing prices as high as $200.

JP Morgan analysts said oil could soar to $185 this year, and analysts at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) said oil may rise to $180 and cause a global recession.

Russia is the world's top exporter of crude and oil products combined, with exports at around 7 million bpd, or 7 percent of global supply. Some volumes of Kazakhstan's oil exports from Russian ports have also faced complications.

The head of Japan's largest business lobby said the country's imports of Russian crude could not be replaced immediately. Russia is Japan's fifth-biggest supplier of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Meanwhile, talks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers were mired in uncertainty after Russia demanded a US guarantee that sanctions it faces over the Ukraine conflict would not hurt its trade with Tehran. China also raised new demands, sources said. 

France told Russia on Monday not to resort to blackmail over efforts to revive the nuclear deal, while Iran's top security official said the outlook for the talks "remains unclear". 

"Iran was the only real bearish factor hanging over the market but if now the Iranian deal gets delayed, we could get to tank bottoms a lot quicker especially if Russian barrels remain off the market for long," said Amrita Sen, co-founder of Energy Aspects, a think tank.

Iran will take several months to restore oil flows even if it reaches a nuclear deal, analysts said. 

Separately, US and Venezuelan officials discussed the possibility of easing oil sanctions on Venezuela but made scant progress toward a deal in their first high-level bilateral talks in years, five sources familiar with the matter said, as Washington seeks to separate Russia from one of its key allies. 

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London and and Scott DiSavino in New York, additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)

-reuters

Oil, wheat and aluminum jump as sanctions on Russia bite

LONDON - Brent crude jumped to near eight-year highs, wheat to 14-year peaks and aluminum hit a record as the Russian attack on Ukraine intensified and Western sanctions disrupted air and sea transport of commodities exported by Russia.

Russian forces were attempting to subdue Ukrainian cities, seven days into an invasion that has sparked massive sanctions, pushing international companies to halt sales, cut ties and dump billions of dollars' worth of investments. 

Brent climbed above $113 a barrel to its highest since June 2014, a gain of more than 40 percent so far this year. 

"Oil has been pushing higher on growing perceptions that Russian oil is unable to be "transacted"," ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst Edward Meir.

"Although oil is not technically under sanction, traders are understandably nervous about taking delivery of Russian crude, let alone storing, shipping and ultimately selling it."

Russia accounts for about 10 percent of global oil supplies. Russia and Ukraine account for about 29 percent of wheat exports. Wheat prices hit $10.59 a bushel, the highest since March 2008.

Corn prices rose to $7.47-3/4 a bushel, the highest since Dec. 2012. 

"Global buyers of grains have been increasingly turning to the US, Europe or South America to secure supplies in the immediate term, given the ongoing conflict," ING said in a note.

"Moreover, demand for stockpiling has also increased due to current uncertainty."

Dutch gas prices hit an all-time high of 185 euros a MWh after the UK ordered its ports to deny entry to Russian-owned ships and European Union countries considered a similar ban after a halt on air traffic. 

Russia supplies the European Union with 40 percent of its gas needs. It accounts for 40 percent of global mined palladium output, 10 percent of nickel supplies and 6 percent of global aluminum production. 

Palladium prices around $2,610 an ounce were trading near the seven month peak hit on Tuesday, aluminum hit a record high at $3,552 a tonne and nickel at $25,530 a tonne, close to the 11-year high hit last week.

"Supply outages from Russia are now but a question of time," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.

"Depending on how long they last, they could cause turmoil – in which case prices would rise significantly further."

Malaysian palm oil futures rose past 7,000 ringgit a tonne to hit a record high, on the prospect of rising demand as the closure of Ukrainian ports hits supplies of sunoil from the Black Sea region. 

Newcastle coal futures jumped to records above $300 a tonne as buyers scrambled to find alternatives to supplies from Russia, the third largest exporter after Indonesia and Australia.

(Reporting by Pratima Desai; additional reporting by Nigel Hunt, Susanna Twidale and Gavin Maguire; editing by Jon Boyle)

-reuters