BP goes on the front foot in US court battle October 5, 2014 OIL FIRM BP is to go on the offensive against a court ruling that it had been “grossly negligent” and “reckless” in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill case. BP has applied to the Eastern District of Louisiana court for either a new trial or a revised judgment. The oil giant has alleged that [...]
Plymouth pairs with Ovo in new energy launch October 5, 2014 THE FIRST joint venture between Ovo Energy and a local council was announced at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Glasgow yesterday, where it was revealed that Plymouth City Council had partnered with Ovo to form Plymouth Energy Community. The company was formed as part of Ovo’s scheme aimed at turning groups such as local [...]
US oil firm eyes sale of UK asset while Brent price falls continue October 5, 2014 OIL AND gas operator Apache is looking at withdrawing from its North Sea fields and either selling them off as an individual asset or spinning its entire international business into a new company. Steve Farris, the company’s chairman, chief executive and president, said: “Apache continues to evaluate the separation of its international business through capital [...]
Balfour Beatty share price falls despite sale of Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospital stake October 2, 2014 Balfour Beatty’s £61.5m sale of its stake in Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospital will not be enough to buoy shareholder confidence following the firm’s profit warning on Monday, analysts have said. The company disposed of its 50 per cent interest in the public-private partnership (PPP) yesterday, selling to an HCIL subsidiary, and also announced three new [...]
Brent crude oil price drops to two-year low October 2, 2014 BRENT crude oil fell to a two-year low yesterday, dropping 1.2 per cent to $92.93 a barrel, with analysts blaming a lack of demand for the decline. Daniel Sugarman, market strategist at ETX Capital, said any turnaround in the market would depend on the political situation in the Middle East. He told City A.M.: “Islamists are [...]
Boris Johnson’s deputy Kit Malthouse slams support for electric cars October 1, 2014 Boris Johnson’s deputy Kit Malthouse is battling against fellow politicians to drive hydrogen as the clean fuel source of the future, describing battery-powered vehicles as “a temporary technology”. Speaking at Canaccord Genuity’s Hydrogen – The New Energy Landscape conference in London yesterday, Malthouse, deputy mayor for business and enterprise, told attendees that uptake of hydrogen-fuelled [...]
Regulator slaps £10,000 fine on Ageas for phantom phone calls October 1, 2014 OFCOM has handed a £10,000 fine to Ageas Retail for making abandoned calls to its UK customers. The watchdog found that the insurer made 148 of these calls, where consumers answer the phone to find there is no one on the line, on three separate days within a seven-week period. A spokeswoman for Ageas said the [...]
Five-in-one joy as firms scoop £3.2bn MoD deal October 1, 2014 BABCOCK, the UK engineering firm which manages naval bases at Devonport and Clyde, has been awarded a contract worth £2.6bn by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Meanwhile, BAE Systems, which manages Portsmouth Naval Base, has struck a £600m deal. Both new contracts will run until 2019. The MoD said the new arrangement, which brought five [...]
Crude oil prices finally on the up after slumping to two-year low October 1, 2014 BRENT crude oil futures stabilised yesterday, rising by $1 after falling to a two-year low earlier in the week. Brent, the international benchmark, fell to $94.67 (£58.52) per barrel on Tuesday. The drop marked a 16 per cent loss for the quarter, the biggest in two years. US crude also fell to a two-year low. Analysts [...]
Hong Kong protests: UK companies defiant in face of continued unrest September 30, 2014 UK companies are not putting restrictions on travel to Hong Kong, despite continuing protests in the city, according to market sources. Although several London-based banks declined to comment on the situation in the region, insiders said there were no immediate plans to follow the example of French cosmetics company L’Oreal, which yesterday banned all staff [...]