City corruption: Company of Tory donor Ayman Asfari paid tens of millions in bribes across Middle East October 3, 2021 A company whose biggest shareholder is a major Tory donor did not stop its employees from paying out more than £32m in bribes in order to secure a range of contracts across the Middle East. Petrofac, one of the world’s largest service providers to oil and gas producers, won business worth £2.7bn in Iraq, Saudi [...]
Petrol bosses warn fuel shortage is ‘getting worse’ in London and south-east October 2, 2021 Fuel shortages are getting worse rather than improving, especially in London and the south-east of England, the chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has warned. Brian Madderson said it remains a “really big problem” in this part of the UK, and told the BBC’s Today programme: “In London and the South East and possibly [...]
Oil price surges above $80 a barrel for first time since 2018 September 28, 2021 Oil prices have surged above $80 a barrel for the first time in three years, as markets braced for even tighter supplies due to resurgent demand that showed no signs of stopping in some locations. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose as much as 0.8 per cent to touch $80.19 a barrel during Asia trading [...]
Government denies there is shortage of fuel amid BP and Esso closing gas stations September 24, 2021 The government is urging Brits “buy fuel as normal”, after the ongoing lorry driver shortage issue reached gas stations yesterday. BP said a number of its filling stations are closed due to a lack of fuel available, while Esso owner ExxonMobil also said a “small number” of its Tesco Alliance petrol forecourts have been impacted. [...]
Drill, baby, drill: Arctic set for £230bn oil and gas bonanza with JPMorgan, Barclays and Citi piling in September 23, 2021 Oil and gas companies are set to ramp up production in the Arctic by 20 per cent in the next five years, according to a new report shared with City A.M. this morning. The main Arctic expansionists – Gazprom, Total and ConocoPhillips – are backed by hundreds of billions of pounds from dozens of City [...]
UK energy provider Bulb seeks emergency fund injection September 19, 2021 The UK’s sixth largest energy company, Bulb, is racing to secure an emergency cash injection to avoid collapse as a record spike in energy prices uproots the sector. The energy startup, which supplies electricity and gas to 1.7m customers in the UK, is seeking advice from investment bank Lazard in an attempt to shore up [...]
Oil prices push back as effects of Hurricane Ida hit supply September 10, 2021 Global oil prices pushed past the $73 mark this morning as crude supplies tightened on the back of Hurricane Ida. Worldwide standard Brent crude rose 2.2 per cent to $73.02, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 2.4 per cent to $69.80. Since Ida made landfall in the US at the end of August, causing [...]
Oil prices plummet on surging Covid cases August 3, 2021 Oil prices plummeted on Tuesday as the resurgence in Covid cases globally driven by the Delta variant fuelled concerns that restrictions on economic activity may be reimposed. Global benchmarks WTI and Brent Crude slid 1.39 per cent and 1.12 per cent to hit $70.41 and $72.22 respectively – WTI briefly dipped below $70. Prices have [...]
BP’s dividend edges up as profit beats estimates on climbing oil prices August 3, 2021 BP this morning said it will increase its dividend by 4 per cent and will kick off $1.4bn worth of share buybacks after its profit sprinted past estimates and rose to $28bn in the second quarter, buoyed by higher oil and gas prices. The oil giant raised its dividend to 5.46 cents, beating analysts’ expectations [...]
Oil prices plummet after Opec+ end deadlock July 19, 2021 Oil prices plummeted on Monday after Opec+ broke through a deadlock to reach an agreement on oil production. Brent Crude and WTI Crude both fell sharply on the news, down 2.41 per cent at and 2.55 per cent respectively. Opec+ agreed to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels a day on Sunday. As part of [...]