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TOPSHOT – Aerial view of the Essequibo region taken from Guyana on December 12, 2023. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his Guyanese counterpart, Irfaan Ali, will meet on December 14, 2023 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, on their countries’ growing dispute over the oil-rich region of Essequibo, amid mounting international warnings against escalating the row. (Photo by Roberto CISNEROS / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO CISNEROS/AFP via Getty Images)

Roberto Cisneros | Afp | Getty Images

Venezuela and Guyana have agreed not to use force or threaten one another in their long-standing dispute over a border region with enormous oil reserves.

The resource-rich territory of Essequibo has been thrust into the global spotlight after Venezuela recently revived its claim to the land following a 2015 discovery of oil off the region’s coast.

In a tense meeting held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali reaffirmed their commitment to “good neighborliness” and “peaceful coexistence.”

The two countries declared that they would “not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two States.”

Maduro and Ali also agreed to establish a joint commission of foreign ministers and officials to address any matters relating to Essequibo, a 61,600 square-mile region that covers most of Guyana.

Both countries said they plan to meet again in Brazil within the next three months to resolve any outstanding issues.

“I am satisfied to have been face to face as I wanted it for a long time,” Maduro said Friday via X, formerly known as Twitter, according to a Google translation. He thanked Guyana’s Ali “for his candor and willingness to engage in broad dialogue.”

“It was worth it to raise the flag of truth, to raise our historical reasons and to seek, with Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy, the path of dialogue and understanding to channel this historical controversy,” Maduro said.

The Essequibo dispute

The dispute over Essequibo stretches back over a century, but tensions have flared recently after Maduro claimed sovereignty over the region following a disputed referendum.

Venezuelans on Dec. 4 approved a referendum to claim sovereignty of Essequibo, a result which sparked outcry in Guyana.

In 1899, an international arbitral tribunal awarded the territory of Essequibo to Britain, when Guyana was still under its colonial rule. Venezuela has actively disputed this ever since. Indeed, Maduro in November accused Guyana, the U.S. and oil firms of robbing Venezuela of its territory through “legal colonialism.”

Guyana has maintained that the accord is legal and binding, and in 2018 sought the International Court of Justice to rule it as such.

The International Court of Justice on Dec. 1 ordered Venezuela to refrain from making any move that would change Guyana’s control over Essequibo.

— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.

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If you’ve wanted a high-end mid-drive e-bike, the $1,295 Prodigy XC is an insane deal

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If you've wanted a high-end mid-drive e-bike, the ,295 Prodigy XC is an insane deal

Fancy German-made mid-drives are often considered the premier option for electric bikes, offering higher precision engineering and an overall more sophisticated experience. But they’ve also been quite pricey, at least until Ride1Up began running an incredible sale on its normally $2,195 Prodigy XC electric mountain bike, marked down to just $1,295.

I reviewed the urban version of this bike back when it was at full price, and it was a great buy even at its MSRP. But now with this killer Black Friday price, this is a deal that is unlikely to ever be seen again.

The Class 3 electric bicycle can hit speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h), and comes with all the benefits of that nice Brose TF Sprinter mid-drive motor. That means you get the smooth and refined torque sensor-based pedal assist, the color screen, and the higher-end ride quality.

Other nice components found on the bike include the Maxxis Forekaster off-road tires, the Tektro quad-piston hydraulic disc brakes, and the 120mm-travel air suspension fork.

At this price, Ride1Up is almost certainly selling the bike at below cost, meaning you’re getting it for less than it costs the company to build these highly-acclaimed e-bikes.

Why would they do that? Because this is the previous generation of the bike, which was eclipsed by the second-generation Prodigy V2. But hey, if this bike was good enough when it came out a year before the V2 (and it was), then it still a great bike today. For those who don’t need the nicest and newest version of a piece of tech, this is an incredible steal of a deal.

Ride1Up is all but certain to be moving these Prodigy XCs at such a low price to clear up shelf space in their warehouse, so when these are gone, they’re gone for good. And this isn’t only a Black Friday price – the company has been moving these bikes for several months at this crazy sale price. That further underscores that this is a clear-out-the-previous-version sale that will be gone for good when the bikes are gone.

At this price, there’s simply no other German-made mid-drive e-bike out there with the bang-for-buck offered by the $1,295 Prodigy XC right now, that’s for sure.

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Oil watchers say inflation risks will stave off Trump’s Canada tariff threat

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Oil watchers say inflation risks will stave off Trump's Canada tariff threat

Working oil pumps against a sunset sky.

Imaginima | E+ | Getty Images

Higher fuel prices could be in the cards if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his tariff threats on Canada, according to industry experts, who are skeptical on whether the new levies will ever be implemented.

Trump on Monday pledged to implement additional tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico on day one of his presidency, according to his posts on social media platform Truth Social. He said he would sign an executive order on Jan. 20 imposing a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, a move that may breach the terms of a regional free trade agreement.

Goldman Sachs’ Co-Head of Global Commodities Research Daan Struyven said that if a 25% levy hit Canadian crude exports to the U.S. “that could, in theory, lead to some pretty significant consequences for three groups.”

U.S. refiners who rely on Canadian oil barrels could face lower profit margins, and consumers may potentially face higher prices, surmised Struyven. Lastly, Canadian producers may suffer revenue losses if they are unable to reroute their barrels that would have otherwise gone to the U.S.

America’s imports of Canadian crude oil hit a record of 4.3 million barrels per day in July 2024 after the expansion of Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

If we were to see a 25% tariff on Canadian energy exports, I think it could have some very significant ramifications for trade flows.

Daan Struyven

Goldman Sachs

Additionally, refiners in the Midwest, which are more adapted to process Canada’s heavy sour crude rather than the low sulfur sweet crude produced domestically, could also have problems switching should the Canadian imports be interrupted, Struyven told journalists at an online conference.

“If we were to see a 25% tariff on Canadian energy exports, I think it could have some very significant ramifications for trade flows,” Struyven said. 

Mexico and especially Canada have “notable tightly integrated linkages” with the U.S. when it comes to the oil, natural gas and auto industries, Citigroup wrote in a note following Trump’s announcements this week. 

“Absent carve-outs, this would increase costs for U.S. refiners and U.S. consumers,” said the bank’s research team led by Energy Strategist Eric Lee.

However, Goldman highlighted that it is unlikely that the tariffs will be implemented as announced, on the premise that the Trump administration is focused on reducing energy costs.

Mexico and Canada tariffs would 'never be introduced', but there will be no rollbacks for China

Trump cannot allow inflation to get out of control in the 15 months before the midterm election season, Viktor Shvets, global strategist at Macquarie Capital, told CNBC. Shvets believes that tariffs are used as a negotiating tool to achieve certain objectives such as strengthening the border.

“I do not believe for a second that there will be a massive increase in overall tariffs because that will represent a tax on U.S. domestic manufacturers. That will also represent a tax on U.S. exporters,” said Shvets.

Canada’s trade bodies have shared their concerns, too.

“As Canadians, we need to be eyes-wide-open on the President-elect’s promise for across-the-board tariffs,” the CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Lisa Baiton, reportedly said.

Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta which accounts for the largest production of crude in Canada, said that the Trump administration has “valid concerns related to illegal activities at our shared border,” and urged the federal government to resolve said issues immediately to avoid any “unnecessary tariffs” on Canadian exports.

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Gavin Newsom isn’t afraid of Elon, 650 hp Kia EV6, and Green Machine deals

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Gavin Newsom isn't afraid of Elon, 650 hp Kia EV6, and Green Machine deals

On today’s fact-checking episode of Quick Charge, we’ve got a showdown brewing between California Governor Gavin Newsom and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, an updated 650 hp Kia EV6 GT that’s ready to take on the world, and some sweet deals on battery-powered goodies.

We’ve also got new electric buses at UCLA that are powered by inductive current in the road itself, and a massive new solar project on a site more famous for coal than clean. All this and a little bit of fact-checking on some fresh musky nonsense – enjoy!

Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Learn more at this link.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

Read more: E-quipment highlight | Palfinger FLS 25 eDRIVE truck mounted forklift.

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