Starmer eases sanctions on Russian oil despite calls to ramp up North Sea drilling May 20, 2026 Keir Starmer is to allow Russian imports of diesel and jet fuel in a major softening of what has been a hardline stance towards Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A licence issued on Wednesday will allow such products to enter the UK “indefinitely”, as long as the oil has been refined in [...]
Shell shares slump after earnings rocket on oil surge May 7, 2026 Shell kicked off a mega share buyback following a bumper first quarter that breezed past expectations on the back of booming oil trading. The FTSE 100 oil major recorded earnings of $6.9bn (£5bn), cruising past the consensus pencilled in by analysts of $6.4bn. It also marked a significant uplift on the $3.3bn pocketed in the [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks down on election day; oil back below $100 as Iran deal hangs in balance May 7, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. It’s local election day in the UK and Keir Starmer’s premiership is hanging in the balance as his Labour Party prepares to take a drubbing in council boroughs across the country. Gilt yields rose at their fastest rate earlier this week as the market prepares [...]
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is right – our energy policy is ‘all over the place’ May 6, 2026 Punchy interventions from chemicals tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe are not rare; most announcements from his company, Ineos, are enriched with a missive from the billionaire on where exactly the UK is going wrong. But these are no mere PR ploys. The stakes are high and he knows what he’s talking about. Yesterday’s confirmation of his [...]
Jim Ratcliffe warns Britain’s energy policy is ‘all over the place’ as Ineos explores North America with Shell May 5, 2026 Europe and the UK’s approach to energy policy is “all over the place” and eroding the region’s security and growth prospects, Jim Ratcliffe has said in an announcement confirming Ineos’s plans to expand its oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. In a statement announcing Ineos’s fresh investment in the US alongside Shell, [...]
After a ‘stunning’ update, what does the future hold for long-suffering BP? April 30, 2026 BP wowed shareholders with its first quarter results – doubling profit and bolstering its balance sheet. But with an activist breathing down its neck, its new boss Meg O’Neill isn’t out of the woods yet, writes Ali Lyon As she sat down to pen her first email to BP’s 100,000 staff, Meg O’Neill opted against [...]
Lloyds fires bank tax warning shot as industry ‘ripe for cash grab’ April 29, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has warned the Treasury not to look at the banks for a tax raid as the industry sets its sights on booming profits in 2026. The FTSE 100 giant beat profit expectations by a cool £200m in the first-quarter after booking £2bn. This was also followed up by an upgrade to its [...]
Shell snaps up Canadian energy firm ARC for $16.4bn in bid to boost production April 27, 2026 Shell is to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resouces in a $16.4bn deal that the oil major says will boost its production and deliver “value for decades”. The London-listed oil major, which has been under pressure from shareholders to increase output and revive its ageing reserves base, will pay for the deal using 25 per [...]
BP suffers shareholder revolt over climate U-turn at crunch AGM April 23, 2026 BP’s turnaround plans were dealt a major blow on Thursday after its shareholders rejected two resolutions backed by the board and a sizeable minority voted against the reelection of its new chair. At a crunch annual general meeting (AGM), investors voted down the energy major’s proposal to dial back its reporting commitments on the climate [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks take a dip as Trump’s ceasefire in doubt April 9, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Hopes for peace in the Middle East are on thin ice with the ceasefire unveiled on Wednesday morning already seemingly in tatters. According to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, the US and Israel have already “violated” Iran’s 10-point ceasefire proposal in three ways. And [...]