The daily business briefing: March 13, 2023

1. Yellen: U.S. will backstop Silicon Valley Bank deposits

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday her department would back deposits of the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, but she said the federal government would not bail out the company. "We're not going to do that again," Yellen said on CBS's Face the Nation. "But we are concerned about depositors, and we're focused on trying to meet their needs." The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Friday it was taking over the bank, giving regulators control of nearly $175 billion in customer deposits at SVB, which was known for providing capital for tech startups. Regulators announced Sunday that New York-based Signature Bank had failed and was also being taken over by regulators. With $110 billion in assets, Signature is the third-largest U.S. bank ever to fail.

The Associated Press The New York Times

2. Saudi oil giant Aramco posts record profit

Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco on Sunday reported the biggest profits ever for an energy company. The company said its annual net profit was $161.1 billion last year, up 46 percent from 2021. The increase came thanks to a big jump in oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine, disrupting energy markets. In February, international rivals BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron also reported a surge in profits, some climbing into record territory. After supply concerns stoked by the war in Ukraine eased, prices fell due to weak demand from top oil importer China. Aramco said it would continue to focus on expanding production, saying that "the risks of underinvestment in our industry are real" because "oil and gas will remain essential for the foreseeable future."

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CNN The Guardian

3. Report: Biden administration to approve Alaska drilling project

The Biden administration is preparing to approve the $8 billion Willow oil drilling project in the North Slope of Alaska, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing two people familiar with the decision. The move would be one of the administration's "most consequential climate decisions," according to the Times. President Biden, who called for increasing oil production when prices soared last year but has battled to halt new oil drilling on public lands, has faced intense pressure from Alaska lawmakers and oil companies to clear the way for the oil drilling. Biden on Monday is expected to announce protections for 16 million acres of land and water in Alaska as the administration braces for criticism from climate activists and young voters over the Willow plans.

The New York Times The Washington Post

4. Saudi Arabia to launch new airline

Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that it would launch a new airline, Riyadh Air, that "will leverage Saudi Arabia's strategic geographic location between the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe." The airline will be owned by the country's sovereign-wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The fund is close to a deal for a big order of Boeing jetliners, The Wall Street Journal reported. The record oil profits at Saudi Arabia's oil giant, Aramco, have helped make the move possible, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman uses the extra cash to push forward with his efforts to diversify the oil-rich kingdom's economy and stabilize it after long exposure to the oil industry's booms and busts, according to the Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

5. U.S. stock futures mixed after Friday's losses

U.S. stock futures were mixed early Monday, stabilizing after Friday's big losses as federal regulators announced they would backstop uninsured depositors at Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.2 percent at 6:30 a.m. ET. S&P 500 futures were little changed. Nasdaq futures were up 0.4 percent. The three major U.S. indexes lost more than 1 percent on Friday as concerns spread of fallout from the bank's failure. But the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC issued a joint statement announcing "decisive actions to protect the U.S. economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system."

CNBC