IHS Markit estimated Wednesday that world oil demand in Q1 will be 3.8 million barrels per day lower than a year earlier, marking the biggest quarterly drop ever and topping the previous record seen in Q1 2009, when demand fell by 3.6 million bpd. Source Investor’s Business Daily
Construction on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea is set to resume next week, a company spokesman said on Saturday.
Work on the pipeline was at a standstill for a year as companies working on the project pulled out under the pressure of sanctions from the United States.
The company leading the project told news agency DPA it aims to get back to work by December 5.
The 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) pipeline will bring natural gas from Russia’s Siberian gas fields to Germany, Europe’s biggest economy. Source Deutsche Welle
France last year applied a 3 percent levy on revenue from digital services earned in France but suspended collection of the tax. The French Finance Ministry has sent out notices to big tech companies liable for its digital service tax to pay the levy as planned in December, the ministry said on Wednesday. Source NBCNews
- Bitcoin soared above $19,000 on Tuesday for the first time in nearly three years, bringing the cryptocurrency within spitting distance of its 2017 record.
- The price of Bitcoin jumped as much as 3.3%, to $19,272.21, through the morning.
- Cryptocurrencies have garnered new interest from both Wall Street and Main Street in recent weeks as companies and traditional investors embrace digital tokens.
- The rally lifted other popular cryptocurrencies including Ethereum and Ripple. Source BusinessInsider
