It’s a hat trick: ScottishPower to cut gas bills by 4.8 per cent January 20, 2015 ScottishPower has become the third energy company to announce price cuts, saying it will reduce its standard domestic gas prices by 4.8 per cent, saving households an average of £33 a year. It also said it will launch a new fixed-price tariff with an average dual fuel bill value of £930, which it reckons is [...]
Fall in oil prices provides boost for UK economy January 18, 2015 The UK economy is set to benefit from the collapse in oil prices, according to the most recent quarterly forecast from the EY-sponsored Item Club. The economic forecasting group has stated that the decline in oil and other commodity prices will provide a “shot in the spending arm” for UK consumers, who will have more [...]
Saudi increased oil exports as Opec discussed output cuts January 18, 2015 Saudi Arabia’s oil exports rose to a seven-month high in November, the same month that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided to keep production levels unchanged in the face of falling oil prices. According to the statistics provider Joint Organisations Data Initiative, Saudi exports rose to 7.3m barrels a day, up from [...]
Opec is dead: The oil war could crown America as the global swing producer January 18, 2015 I well remember suffering through my college macroeconomic class, steeling myself to stay awake through the consumption of gallons of coffee. However, one of the rare things that piqued my interest was the theory of cartels. Properly defined, an efficient cartel possesses three basic properties: the ironclad discipline of its membership; a commanding market position; [...]
Interest rates to remain at historic lows until 2016 amid falling oil price January 18, 2015 The collapsing price of oil could see interest rates remain at their historic lows until 2016, according to top economists. The UK is likely to grow at 2.9 per cent this year, say the EY Item Club in part thanks to lower oil prices. The group hiked their forecast by 0.5 per cent point since [...]
Long-term policies more than falling oil prices are needed for sustainable wage growth business groups tell Cameron January 17, 2015 Long-term solutions rather than the short-term gains from falling oil prices are needed to boost wages, business groups have said. David Cameron urged businesses to pass on the benefits of falling oil prices to staff through higher wages on his visit to Washington yesterday. Business groups have responded saying lower oil prices are already creating [...]
Ed Miliband: Britain “choking on their cornflakes” over Cameron’s pay rise from oil price plea January 17, 2015 Ed Miliband has slammed David Cameron for urging businesses to pass on savings from falling oil prices to staff in the form of higher wages. The Labour leader said the country were “choking on their cornflakes” after hearing Cameron’s plea, speaking at the Fabian Society conference. He accused the Prime Minister of years of “denial, [...]
Cameron tells business to pass on falling oil price benefits to staff through higher wages January 17, 2015 Businesses reaping the rewards of plummeting oil prices have been urged to pass on the savings to staff in the form of higher pay by David Cameron. Asked about the matter on a visit to Washington, the Prime Minister told reporters: "Obviously I want to see companies’ success passed through in terms of wage increases. [...]
BP saves £2.6m after it turns out Gulf of Mexico spill was smaller than thought January 16, 2015 It's not often the UK's oil producers get good news these days, so BP must be doubly pleased with the reprieve it's been issued by a US court, which ruled yesterday that the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was quite a lot smaller than originally thought. A judge ruled that 3.2 million barrels of [...]
Sir Ian Wood calls for oil tax cuts and warns 40,000 jobs are at risk January 16, 2015 Former chief executive of Wood Group Sir Ian Wood has warned that if the government doesn't cut taxes on the oil industry, the sector could suffer heavy job losses. A leading authority on the oil industry, Wood said the government should cut taxes on the sector by ten per cent to mitigate the threat to [...]