Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: This is the Bloomberg Dabaker Podcast. Good morning, It's Monday,
Speaker 2: the twenty second of December in London. I'm Caroline Hepgar
Speaker 2: gunboat diplomacy. The US pursues a third tanker off the
Speaker 2: coast of Venezuela, aiming to throttle Maduro's oil revenues. Productive
Speaker 2: and constructive. The US and Ukraine praise weekend talks in
Speaker 2: Florida despite no obvious breakthrough on ending Russia's war, plus
Speaker 2: a new direction uber Lift and by Do joined forces
Speaker 2: to test driverless cars in London. Let's start with a
Speaker 2: roundup of our top stories. The US Coast Guard is
Speaker 2: chasing down a third oil tanker as President Trump's blockade
Speaker 2: of the country ramps up. The tanker, called Bella one,
Speaker 2: is being pursued off the coast of Venezuela after the
Speaker 2: US also sees a different, non sanctioned vessel over the weekend.
Speaker 2: Bloomberg's East America editor Tony Chuchka says the US is
Speaker 2: clearly trying to damage Venezuela's economy.
Speaker 3: Over the weekend. This kind of noose that the US
Speaker 3: that the Trump administration is trying to tighten economically around
Speaker 3: the government of Nicolas Madua and Venezuela has been tightening.
Speaker 3: At the same time, the government has not been very forthcoming,
Speaker 3: sort of come out in dribs and drabs, But the
Speaker 3: overall purpose is very clear, which is essentially a deprived
Speaker 3: Venezuela of its main revenue, which is oil exports.
Speaker 2: Jujka ads that Venezuela's oil exports have dwindled over the
Speaker 2: years and now account for less than one percent of
Speaker 2: global demand. Even so, the Trump administration's military deployment in
Speaker 2: the Caribbean is the largest in the region in decades.
Speaker 2: Mexico and Brazil are among the many Latin American countries
Speaker 2: warning against the foreign intervention, saying that it risks armed conflict.
Speaker 2: The heightened geopolitical tensions are helping to drive gold to
Speaker 2: yet another record high. The prescious metal has climbed one
Speaker 2: and a half percent to surpass its October record as
Speaker 2: traders bet on uncertainty as well as further US interest
Speaker 2: rate cards. The games put gold on track for its
Speaker 2: best annual performance since nineteen seventy nine. The US and
Speaker 2: Ukraine have held constructive talks in Florida, thus according to
Speaker 2: US Special Envoice Steve Whitcoff, who said that White House
Speaker 2: officials joined meetings with Ukrainian and European counterparts as part
Speaker 2: of ongoing efforts to end the war. Speaking ahead of
Speaker 2: the negotiations, US sexty of stage Marker, Rubio described his
Speaker 2: country's participation in the peace efforts.
Speaker 4: We're trying to figure out what can Russia give and
Speaker 4: what do they expect to get. Where can Ukraine beive
Speaker 4: and what can Ukraine expect to get. In the end,
Speaker 4: the decision will be up to Ukraine and up to Russia,
Speaker 4: will not be up to the United States. So that's
Speaker 4: the role we are trying to play in this.
Speaker 2: US sectory of say Marco Rubio. Speaking in a post
Speaker 2: on social media platform x, the Special Envoy Steve Witkoff
Speaker 2: said that discussions included Donald Trump's son in law Jared Kushner,
Speaker 2: top Ukrainian negotiator rustam Umuov, and other security advisors. Ukrainian
Speaker 2: President Voladimir Zelinski also described negotiations as constructive, but noted
Speaker 2: that signals from Russia remain quote only negative. Kremlin envoy
Speaker 2: Kiril Dimitriev said that separate talks between Russia and US
Speaker 2: officials are quote proceeding constructively. Justice Apartment officials were right
Speaker 2: to remove several images from the Epstein files before they
Speaker 2: were released, including one of President Donald Trump. This according
Speaker 2: to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, an image of a
Speaker 2: desk draw with photos, including one showing the future president,
Speaker 2: was removed and then later restored after the Justice Apartment
Speaker 2: determined that it did not depict any Epstein victim. Speaking
Speaker 2: to NBC, Blanche, a former personal attorney for Trump, said
Speaker 2: the decision came as a result of court ordered mandates.
Speaker 5: The statute also requires us to protect victims, and so
Speaker 5: the reason why we are still reviewing documents and still
Speaker 5: continuing our process is simply that to protect victims. So
Speaker 5: the same individuals that are out there complaining about the
Speaker 5: lack of documents that were produced on Friday are the
Speaker 5: same individuals who apparently don't want us to protect victims.
Speaker 2: Yes, STA Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking to NBC's Meet
Speaker 2: the Press. The redactions prompted criticism from lawmakers, with some
Speaker 2: accusing the administration of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act
Speaker 2: and shielding President Donald Trump, which Blanche denied. Now Uber
Speaker 2: and lift A teaming up with the Chinese tech giant
Speaker 2: Baidu to trial driverless taxi in London. The two companies
Speaker 2: have announced a pilot program which we'll start in the
Speaker 2: first half of next year, with commercial services soon to follow.
Speaker 2: Our reporter James Walcock has more it's.
Speaker 6: The core staple of any London taxi drive, a conversation
Speaker 6: with the driver, whether you want it or not, but
Speaker 6: it might be on the way out by do an.
Speaker 6: Uber will start testing out robotaxis next year on the
Speaker 6: streets of London. They're not the only ones. Text firms
Speaker 6: are racing to build data sets for drivers cars where
Speaker 6: May have already started testing in London, and Lived will
Speaker 6: also follow next year. Exciting technology aside, it's not yet
Speaker 6: clear how the companies will make profits from the ventures
Speaker 6: in London. James Worcock Woomberg Radio.
Speaker 2: A private actually consortium led by Permera and Warburg Pinkus,
Speaker 2: has agreed to acquire clear Water Analytics. The deal would
Speaker 2: value the investment and accounting software maker at eight point
Speaker 2: four billion dollars including debt. That's according to a statement
Speaker 2: from the firm. Also included in the buy our group
Speaker 2: are Singaporean state investment company Tamasek and the technology investment
Speaker 2: firm Francisco Partners. The transaction is expected to close in
Speaker 2: the first half of twenty twenty six, and it will
Speaker 2: allow clear Water to consider rival offers until late January.
Speaker 2: That's in corporate news this morning. Let's get to the market.
Speaker 2: It's MSCIASH Pacific index is up by nine tenths of
Speaker 2: one percent this morning. Bit mixed when it comes to
Speaker 2: futures high for the US. For US SOX swifty futures,
Speaker 2: we are down two tenths of one percent. Thinking about gold,
Speaker 2: four hundred dollars is where we sit this morning, up
Speaker 2: by one point four percent, so we've powered through the
Speaker 2: October record high four billion, which had such a strong year.
Speaker 2: The uncertainties in Venezuela mean that oil prices are up
Speaker 2: more than one percent for break Crew futures sixty one
Speaker 2: dollars thirteen the bowl this morning. And then just lastly,
Speaker 2: in terms of ten year US at treasury yields right now,
Speaker 2: they're upper couple of basis points out of four sixteen.
Speaker 2: So those are the markets. In a moment. We're going
Speaker 2: to get into the US actions against Venezuela, this oil blockade,
Speaker 2: and also what happened over the weekend in these various
Speaker 2: negotiations over Ukraine in Florida. But before that, another story
Speaker 2: has caught my eye this morning. An unexpected fantastic bottle
Speaker 2: of booze is always welcome around the holidays, this at
Speaker 2: least according to Bloomberg's Kara Newman. She has a last
Speaker 2: minute list of wine and whiskey for you indulgent, alcoholic
Speaker 2: or not, because, as I discovered to my surprise on
Speaker 2: Sunday going to some actual physical stores in London, last
Speaker 2: minute panic shopping pre Christmas is definitely not dead. So
Speaker 2: relax into the festive season with a few of my
Speaker 2: favorites from this list, including Second Sip, which is a
Speaker 2: low alcohol gin twenty percent proof apparently, and why don't
Speaker 2: you blow the doors off with the nineteen ninety nine
Speaker 2: Paul Voge couve Winston Churchill at a mere twenty pounds
Speaker 2: for a magnum. I love the fact that Colin Newman
Speaker 2: has described all of these wonderful festive treats, and I'm
Speaker 2: going to put a link to it in our show note.
Speaker 2: But of course we aren't ready to put up our
Speaker 2: feet just yet, glass in hand. No, no, We've got
Speaker 2: to get into our top stories today. Now, the United
Speaker 2: States has intensified an oil blockade off the coast of Venezuela,
Speaker 2: boarding or pursuing three oil tankers in total. Joining me
Speaker 2: now is Blomberg's Asia Energy editor, Stephen Stepchinski. Good to
Speaker 2: speak to you, Stephen. Can you just describe the US's
Speaker 2: maritime maneuvers against Venezuela so far?
Speaker 7: You know, it's been really fascinating watching this unfold. So
Speaker 7: earlier this month, the Trump administration seesed a US sanctioned
Speaker 7: oil tanker that was carrying about two million barrels of
Speaker 7: oil and from Venezuela, and that was shortly followed by
Speaker 7: the Trump administration saying that they're going to be having
Speaker 7: a blockade effectively on all sanctioned oil exports from Venezuela.
Speaker 7: And so I think there was an expectation that you
Speaker 7: folks were like, Okay, well, if it's a US sanctioned vessel,
Speaker 7: you're in trouble. If you're not sanctioned by the US,
Speaker 7: you know, you could take your risk, you know, you
Speaker 7: can go there, but maybe the US won't seize the vessel.
Speaker 7: They won't board do they won't have the authority to
Speaker 7: do that. Well, that's not the case. They boarded a
Speaker 7: second vessel over the weekend, and this one was not
Speaker 7: sanctioned by the US. It was carrying crude from Venezuela
Speaker 7: that the US has is sanctioned. The cargo itself is sanctioned,
Speaker 7: So that was reason enough for them to board the vessel.
Speaker 7: And then now they're pursuing a third vessel that's not
Speaker 7: even carrying any crude. It is going to Venezuela, is
Speaker 7: nearing there. The vessels is viewed to be part of
Speaker 7: the shadow Fleet and part of the network that ships
Speaker 7: Venezuela oil elsewhere, like to buyers in China. But it
Speaker 7: does that if you're if you're a shipper, if you
Speaker 7: own a ship, if you're operating in this sector, you're
Speaker 7: really gonna think twice before you go to Venezuela. And
Speaker 7: if the shadow fleet starts to break down, if Venezuela
Speaker 7: can't get the ships there to export their crude, well
Speaker 7: then they're in a lot of trouble.
Speaker 2: So what is person Chump's aim I mean? Is it
Speaker 2: maximum pressure? Is it war? Is it regime changed? Because
Speaker 2: we know that the US is labeled the Maduro government
Speaker 2: a drug trafficking cartel, a foreign terrorist organization.
Speaker 7: You know, I think it's a bit of all the above, right,
Speaker 7: I mean, clearly it's it is a maximum pressure approach.
Speaker 7: They are they are really trying to hit on the
Speaker 7: economy of Venezuela and tighten that as much as they
Speaker 7: possibly we can, because without oil exports, they're just not
Speaker 7: making any money anywhere else. There's there's risks of an
Speaker 7: economic collapse if this continues. The second thing, obviously, it
Speaker 7: does seem to be regime change. The Trump administration has
Speaker 7: been very clear that that they think that Venezuela is
Speaker 7: part of drug problem in the United States, the legal
Speaker 7: immigrant problem in the United States. They've they've labeled them
Speaker 7: all sorts of different things, and Trump has said that,
Speaker 7: you know, attacks on the ground aren't outside of the
Speaker 7: realm of possibility. So with all of that put together,
Speaker 7: it does look like the Trump administration wants a regime change,
Speaker 7: and they're they're kind of pulling every lever they can.
Speaker 7: Right before, we saw them pulling the levers by by
Speaker 7: kind of striking those the drug the ships that were
Speaker 7: carrying that they said were carrying drugs or or or
Speaker 7: members of the cartel. Now you're looking at them hit
Speaker 7: ships of course, uh with by boarding them and harassing them,
Speaker 7: They're they're looking at hitting another aspect of their economy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so then your view on how this affects
Speaker 2: oil markets and what impact it's having in the oil markets,
Speaker 2: you know, I.
Speaker 7: Think this is very interesting because this does have to
Speaker 7: do with oil, and markets are reacting to a degree.
Speaker 7: But this is far has far, far wider impact on
Speaker 7: Venezuela than it does on the global oil market. China,
Speaker 7: the US, other buyers don't need Venezuelan oil, right. Venezuela
Speaker 7: produces exports about less than one percent of global supply.
Speaker 7: The global oil market is actually in a bit of
Speaker 7: an oversupply itself. It's going to get worse at glut
Speaker 7: is going to get worse. In twenty twenty six, we
Speaker 7: have oil price at the lowest level in more than
Speaker 7: four years. All of that together means that there isn't
Speaker 7: going to be any impact on inflation. There's going to
Speaker 7: be no impact on the price of oil at the pump,
Speaker 7: which is something that Trump really cares about, which also
Speaker 7: might speak to the timing of all of this as well.
Speaker 7: Trump knew that if they were to take venezuela and
Speaker 7: oil off the market, it wouldn't see a huge price
Speaker 7: bike that you would see maybe in twenty twenty two
Speaker 7: in the height of the energy crisis.
Speaker 2: Indeed, Stephen, thank you for speaking to me about this.
Speaker 2: Stephen sepchinskis Boomberg's Asia Energy editor. Stay with us. More
Speaker 2: from Bloomberg daybakeuope coming up after this. Ukraine held these
Speaker 2: three days of talks with the US in Florida over
Speaker 2: a possible piece deal, while Russia's Voikiril Dmitriev held some
Speaker 2: separate talks with US officials. Joining US now is Tony Happen,
Speaker 2: who heads our team covering Russia's economy and government. Tony, Hello,
Speaker 2: does Ukraine do you think have a strong and negotiating
Speaker 2: position given that last week we were focused on the
Speaker 2: EU loan akreement it was done that deal. Does that
Speaker 2: strengthen Ukraine's hand?
Speaker 8: Well, I mean they certainly didn't want to go into
Speaker 8: these talks and future talks. In fact, without the protection
Speaker 8: of that loan, Ukraine faced a very real risk by
Speaker 8: April of simply running out of money, not be able
Speaker 8: to fund the government or its own defense. And the
Speaker 8: risk they were really aware of was that Russia would
Speaker 8: take this as a signal that its allies were backing
Speaker 8: away from Ukraine and was simply run down the clock
Speaker 8: knowing that every month that passed would make it more
Speaker 8: and more difficult for Kiv. So yes, without that loan,
Speaker 8: the negotiating position would have been a good deal. Weaker
Speaker 8: with it. Of course, they can enter the talks knowing
Speaker 8: that they still have the back of their European allies.
Speaker 2: Is Russia's position moving? You were reporting on Friday Vlatimir
Speaker 2: Putin saying that it was incorrect to say that Russia
Speaker 2: completely rejected something. This was in that long to Q
Speaker 2: and a that Putin does every year.
Speaker 8: Yeah, So he gave a news conference that lasted some
Speaker 8: four and a half hours on Friday, and in it,
Speaker 8: as you say, he did say that Russia is interested
Speaker 8: in peace and hasn't rejected anything. But they come from
Speaker 8: two very different starting points here. Putin's starting point is
Speaker 8: the Anchorage summit with Donald Trump in August in Alaska,
Speaker 8: where he said that they reached pretty much agreed positions.
Speaker 8: We don't really know fully what those positions were, but
Speaker 8: since then of course, we've had the twenty eight point
Speaker 8: plan that the US and Russia drew up, which has
Speaker 8: been chiseled down to the existing twenty point plan, and
Speaker 8: there are still elements of that plan that Russia doesn't like.
Speaker 8: So I think it's very difficult to say that Russia's
Speaker 8: moved because Putin has a different vision of how this
Speaker 8: war should end. But certainly there's still a lot to discuss.
Speaker 2: What about the war itself, Ukraine continues to be attacked
Speaker 2: whilst Ukraine has also itself intensified attacks on tankers tied
Speaker 2: to Russia's oil trade.
Speaker 8: Yes, when the war is going on every day, there's
Speaker 8: no Christmas or New Year ceasefire on the horizon. Ukraine
Speaker 8: sees a sawce point for Russia in its oil infrastructure.
Speaker 8: It sees that as a weakness that it can attack
Speaker 8: to some effect. It believes that by attacking things like
Speaker 8: oil refineries, oil platforms, tankers, that they can damage Russia's
Speaker 8: ability to get revenues from oil and gas cells and
Speaker 8: therefore weaken the Kremlin's war machine over the long term.
Speaker 8: And they're having some success in that, but at the
Speaker 8: same time they're having to defend against constant Russian attacks
Speaker 8: both from the air against cities and on the ground
Speaker 8: on the battleground, which continues to be a hot one.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe. You're morning brief on this
Speaker 1: stories making news from London to Wall Street and beyond.
Speaker 2: Look for us on your podcast feed every morning on Apple, Spotify,
Speaker 2: and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: You can also listen live each morning on London Dab Radio,
Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 2: Our flagship New York station is also available on your
Speaker 2: Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
Speaker 2: I'm Caroline Hepka and.
Speaker 1: I'm Stephen Carol. Join us again tomorrow morning for all
Speaker 1: the news you need to start your day right here
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe.