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Oct 5 (Stats Perform) – Results from the MLB games on Sunday (home team in CAPS) TORONTO 13 NY Yankees 7 NYY 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 – 7 TOR 0 2 3 6 1 1 0 0 X – 13

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LAS VEGAS — Despite escaping Game 1 with a narrow victory after a once-in-a- lifetime bench performance, the Las Vegas Aces knew they needed more from Jackie Young and A'ja Wilson if they were serious about raising a third championship trophy. In response, the Aces got a banner performance from the duo that is quickly becoming the most potent the league has seen. The pair combined for 60 points, leading Las Vegas to a decisive 91-78 win and a 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday. Young scored 21 of her 32 points in the third, setting the record for the most points in a single WNBA Finals quarter. After a 3-of-13 performance from the field in Game 1, which Young attributed to fatigue, the All-Star guard promised coach Becky Hammon that she'd have her legs back for Game 2. "(Jackie) is a player that never wants to come out of the game," Hammon said. "So, when she tells me she doesn't have any legs and she pulls herself out basically, I know she's hurting and doesn't have anything left in the tank. "Yesterday, I asked her how she felt and she said ‘Good, I'll have my legs tomorrow,' and that was pretty much it. I believed her." Wilson also had a banner day of her own on Sunday, scoring 20 of her 28 points in the first half and 13 points in the second quarter to help Las Vegas take control in the second quarter and set the tone for a dominant second-half effort. While there are certainly more forward-facing stars in the league, Young has quietly become perhaps the most consistent guard in an era of women's basketball where backcourt positions are being played at the highest level in league history. "It's a joy (playing with Jackie), Wilson said. "Take the numbers away, I'm just so proud of her. Honestly, like she's a perfectionist, and when you see someone that works so hard every single day and then you get to see the hard work paying off, it's a beautiful thing to witness. "I'm so grateful just to be her teammate, to come to work with her every single day. I'm a pain in the ass sometimes when she's not doing her job, because I know that it's there. I know that Jackie Young's there. So I try every single day to bring it out of her. To be able to witness it and live it has been a lot of fun." The Aces still need to win two more games to clinch the first best-of-seven WNBA Finals in history. Chelsea Gray (10 points, 10 assists) was the only other Aces player to score in double figures, and Wilson added a game-high 14 rebounds. Kahleah Copper scored 23 points, Satou Sabally had 22 points and nine rebounds and Alyssa Thomas put up 10 points to pace the Mercury. Despite getting the usual scoring consistency out of its "big three", the most obvious observation is that Las Vegas' depth simply overmatches Phoenix's core. If the Mercury want any chance of making a comeback, they have to get more from their role players. "I'm super confident in that group," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. "They've helped carry us all season long, right? Our big three has probably got going the most during the playoffs. This is a group that we trust. We believe in each other. We've got to see the ball go in a little bit to start feeling good about ourselves." Las Vegas stretched its lead to 17 points in the third quarter and held firm control with a 76-61 lead going into the fourth, thanks to an outburst from Young that saw the All-Star guard score 21 on a torrid 8-of-11 shooting (2-of-4 from 3) in the period. The Aces led by as many as 22 points in the final frame. The Aces took control with a dominant second quarter, outscoring Phoenix 22-10 to bring a 46-37 lead into the locker room at halftime. Wilson led all scorers in the first half, recording 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting in addition to grabbing eight rebounds. The MVP's first-half output also marked just the third time a player scored 20 points in the first half of a WNBA Finals game. After Copper built on a hot first quarter by putting Phoenix ahead 33-27 with her first attempt of the second, Las Vegas broke through with a 19-4 run to close the second quarter. Wilson poured in 13 points to anchor that stretch. The Mercury led 27-24 after a first quarter where both teams traded runs. Copper came out of the gates scorching just like she did in Game 1, leading all scorers with 11 points in the frame on 4-of-5 shooting overall and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Phoenix opened the game on a 12-5 run, but the Aces immediately answered with a 13-4 run of their own to grab a brief first lead of the game on a Gray pull- up with 3:17 remaining in the quarter. –Will Despart, Field Level Media

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(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) * OPEC+ agrees to increase output by another 137,000 bpd in November * As production increases, group's spare capacity dwindles * But OPEC+ might not have as much spare capacity as thought By Ron Bousso LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – OPEC+'s continued oil output increases are eroding the group's spare production capacity, a vital cushion that has helped to mitigate volatility in recent years. Energy traders may therefore face rockier days ahead. The prevailing belief in oil markets over the past three years has been that any supply shortfalls could be swiftly met by OPEC+, the group of producers and allied nations including Russia, after they jointly cut output in 2022, ultimately slashing production by as much as 5.85 million bpd, or around 5.5% of global demand. This resulted in an increase in global “spare capacity,” what the International Energy Agency defines as "capacity levels that can be reached within 90 days and sustained for an extended period." In other words, the amount of additional supply that could be quickly and sustainably injected into global markets. SHOCK ABSORBER RAPIDLY THINS The existence of this buffer likely helped mitigate spikes in oil prices during the Israel-Iran war last June and has probably tamped down volatility as the war in Ukraine has escalated. If OPEC+ could ramp up production rapidly, markets had no reason to panic in the face of any potential supply disruption. But that shock absorber has rapidly thinned since OPEC+'s core eight members started unwinding those cuts in April. The group on Sunday agreed to increase production by a further 137,000 bpd in November, which would bring total targeted production increases since April to more than 2.7 million bpd. As the group increases output, its spare capacity naturally diminishes. And by some estimates, that buffer might already be smaller than previously assumed. CHALLENGES IN RAMPING UP PRODUCTION OPEC+'s estimated total spare capacity stood at 4.1 million bpd as of August, with almost 60% held by Saudi Arabia and another 20% by the United Arab Emirates, according to data from the IEA. That might sound like a lot. But the challenges countries have faced in ramping up production since April suggest that some members are finding it hard to rapidly and sustainably tap this supposed excess capacity. OPEC+ delivered between April and August only 75% of production increases on average, according to a Reuters analysis, undershooting the 1.92 million bpd targeted production increase by around 500,000 bpd. This indicates that the level of spare capacity may have declined in the past three years, likely because oil wells that are shut for extended periods take significant time and investment to revive – potentially more than expected. Of course, part of the shortfall since April was due to members like Iraq deliberately scaling back production to compensate for past excesses. Additionally, OPEC+ actually exceeded its target by 760,000 bpd in August, primarily due to Iraq's overproduction, according to IEA data. However, moving forward, most producers appear to have limited scope to ramp up production sustainably. Kazakhstan, which far exceeded its production quota at the start of the year, today has little to no room to raise output. Algeria and Oman also appear to be producing at full capacity. Russia, whose oil and gas industry faces heavy Western sanctions, has struggled to raise output, and Ukrainian drone attacks on its infrastructure in recent months risk further reducing its output. WHAT IS SAUDI'S TRUE CAPACITY? What the market really wants to know, however, is the true capacity of Saudi Arabia. The world's top crude exporter – which has access to vast oil reserves with low break-even prices – produced 9.69 million bpd in August, which, when combined with its estimated spare capacity, means it could theoretically ramp up output to above 12 million bpd. Saudi is set to increase its production to 10.06 million bpd in November under the new OPEC+ agreement. But recent history shows that the Kingdom has only breached the 12 million bpd threshold once, for one month in April 2020. Production quickly plummeted to 7.5 million bpd as global consumption collapsed due to COVID-19 lockdowns, according to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative. Moreover, Saudi production has only hit 11 million bpd in two brief periods in 2018 and 2023. And it has only breached the 10 million bpd threshold a handful of times, with the longest periods between March 2015 and December 2016, when production averaged 10.4 million bpd. It also boosted output above 10 million bpd between December 2021 and April 2023 as the global economy recovered from the pandemic. What’s more, Saudi Arabia's energy ministry in January 2024 instructed its national oil company Aramco to target maximum sustainable capacity of 12 million bpd, abandoning plans to ramp it up to 13 million bpd. It is therefore likely that Saudi Arabia currently only has between 600,000 and 1 million bpd of true spare capacity, based on historic precedents. BUFFER AT THE LOW END HISTORICALLY Where does that leave OPEC+ overall? When combining the 1.3 million bpd estimated combined spare capacity of the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq with the revised Saudi figure, OPEC+ is left with a buffer of around 2 million bpd, around 2% of global demand. That is at the low end of the historical average. So even though the group’s decision to flood the market with oil is currently weighing on crude prices, the struggles it faces in actually doing so could potentially result in upward pressure ahead. Either way, at a time when the world faces growing geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East, the energy market could use a shock absorber. And OPEC+ appears to be rapidly exhausting its own. Want to receive my column in your inbox every Monday and Thursday, along with additional energy insights and links to trending stories? Sign up for my Power Up newsletter here. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI),your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by David Holmes)

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Oct 6 (Reuters) – Openlearning Ltd: * TRADING HALT PENDING CAPITAL RAISING ANNOUNCEMENT Further company coverage:

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Oct 6 (Reuters) – Kuniko Ltd: * SEEKS TRADING HALT UNTIL FOR CAPITAL RAISE ANNOUNCEMENT Further company coverage:

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