North Sea explorers get boost as US clamps down on Iran oil exports April 23, 2019 Toughened sanctions against Iran helped push up oil prices over the weekend, lighting a fire under London-listed exploration companies today. The cost of international standard Brent crude has risen 2.9 per cent over since Friday, hitting $74.68 per barrel – its highest point since October. Read more: FTSE 100 climbs to fresh six-month high as [...]
BP sanctions next stage of $6bn Caspian Sea oil field development April 19, 2019 A joint venture involving BP has sanctioned the next stage of a $6bn oil field development in the Caspian Sea. The development includes a new offshore platform and facilitates designed to process up to 100,000 barrels of oil a day and is expected to achieve first production in 2023, producing up to 300m barrels over [...]
UK dividends jump to first quarter record due to huge one-off payouts April 15, 2019 UK dividends hit record highs in the first three months of the year thanks to huge one-off special payouts from some companies, new analysis has shown. Read more: Ranked: The best-performing assets of 2019 so far Yet underlying growth was weaker than expected from larger and smaller companies alike as a slowing global economy acted [...]
Major companies could be exempt from joint audit rules in competition watchdog report April 14, 2019 The UK’s competition watchdog reportedly could exclude some major companies from a new rule that would require many business to appoint joint auditors. Sky News reported that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to publish its long awaited report into the audit sector this week. According to the report, the CMA has been [...]
FTSE 100 ends week strong with biggest gain in two months April 6, 2019 The FTSE 100 ended the week strongly as it gained 0.61 per cent during Friday's session and saw its biggest weekly increase for two months. The index continued its six-month high, outshining its European peers despite the on-going Brexit saga. Optimism grew early on as US President Donald Trump said a deal to end the US-China [...]
Amazon tops Linkedin list of top 10 companies to work for April 3, 2019 A list of the top 10 companies that are seen as most attractive for workers released by Linkedin this morning revealed a varied mix of preferences for job hunters in the UK. Amazon, which recently raised wages after coming under criticism for employment practices and warehouse conditions, took the number one spot, with firms such as [...]
Petrofac workers to strike at BP oil rigs after disagreement over paid leave March 20, 2019 Union bosses have said Petrofac workers plan to walk out of all BP’s North Sea oil rigs amid a dispute over leave. Unite members had demanded three weeks paid leave, but today voted for industrial action at the platforms after only being offered two. Read more: Petrofac faces potential £400m lawsuit following bribery revelations Alternatively [...]
Norwegian $1 trillion wealth fund to drop oil and gas investments March 8, 2019 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund will drop oil and gas exploration companies from its benchmark index, the country’s finance minister announced today. The move aims to reduce risk to the $1 trillion fund, which is the largest in the world, from a “permanent oil price decline”. Read more: Norwegian wealth fund buys up old Amazon HQ [...]
Blockchain oil firm taps former JP Morgan director as new chief February 13, 2019 A firm that wants to reinvent commodities trading by using blockchain technology has hired a former energy trader from JP Morgan and Mercuria as its next chief executive. Vakt, which aims to eliminate paper-based trading and secure audit processes by putting it on the blockchain, has been backed by major oil firms such as Shell, Chevron [...]
BP shares rise as oil giant more than doubles profit in bumper 2018 February 5, 2019 Oil major BP’s profit more than doubled in 2018, its fourth-quarter financial results showed today, sending shares up five per cent to 545.7p in early trading. The figures BP grew profit to $9.383bn (£7.19bn) in profit attributable to shareholders for the full year, up from $3.389bn in 2017. Return on average capital was 11.2 per [...]