QATAR DEALS IN THE SPOTLIGHT December 6, 2011 ● 4 DECEMBER Qatar signed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell to develop a $6.4bn (£4.1bn) petrochemicals complex in the Ras Laffan industrial city in the Gulf Arab state. ● 13 NOVEMBER Qatar in negotiations to take a stake in an Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project under development by Russian gas producer Novatek ● 30 [...]
Glencore chief to keep stock December 6, 2011 GLENCORE boss Ivan Glasenberg said yesterday that he would not sell any of his shares in the company as long as he worked there. “None of us has sold a single share. Neither before nor after the flotation. And I’ve often said that I’m not thinking about selling any shares as long as I work [...]
UK oil industry suffering from a lack of investment December 6, 2011 The UK oil industry is at risk of under investment in the next twenty years, according to 78 per cent of respondents to a survey of senior executives in the energy sector by Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets. And four-fifths of respondents to the survey thought the industry was not producing engineers in sufficient numbers to [...]
Gulfsands hit by EU action over Syria December 6, 2011 GULFSANDS Petroleum said it was reviewing the impact of the latest EU sanctions on Syria on its production activities and on its contracts with the Syrian government and the General Petroleum Corporation. The EU stepped up its sanctions against Syria’s oil industry last week, blacklisting state-owned firms including GPC that oversee trade and exploration, as [...]
Whitehaven and Aston in $5bn merger discussions December 6, 2011 WHITEHAVEN Coal and Aston Resources are discussing what could be a $5bn (£3.1bn) merger to create Australia’s biggest independent coal company, the two confirmed yesterday, sending Aston’s shares up as much as seven per cent. The coal industry has been Australia’s hottest sector for deals in the past three years, topped by US miner Peabody [...]
Lonmin signs union pay deal December 6, 2011 Lonmin has signed a two-year wage agreement with the South African National Union of Mineworkers. In the first year of the agreement – which will be backdated to 1 October – employees will receive pay increases and improvements in benefits of up to 10 per cent, depending on their job grades. The figures, which will [...]
Ultra Electronics buys two firms December 6, 2011 Ultra Electronics, a supplier for the US Navy, announced yesterday the purchase of two surveillance technology companies for a combined price of $115m (£73.3m), in order to expand its access to work from the US government. Special Operations Technology, purchased for $38.4m, is a communications surveillance systems that manages large amounts of data from mobile, [...]
Lo-Q partners with MasterCard December 6, 2011 Lo-Q, an online queuing system, and MasterCard have agreed to develop a contactless payment solution for theme parks. The agreement between the companies will last three years and is expected to increase Lo-Q’s market value over the long-term. The companies will combine MasterCard’s PayPass payments technology, which allows users to checkout using their mobile phones, [...]
Mecom sells in Norway to cut net debt December 6, 2011 NEWSPAPER group Mecom yesterday agreed the sale of its Norwegian division Edda Media to publishing and broadcasting corporation A-Pressen in a £190m deal. This value represents 7.9 times Edda Media’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2010 and will help Mecom cut its net debt of €302m (£259m), the company said. The [...]
New chair for Trinity Mirror December 6, 2011 PUBLISHING group Trinity Mirror yesterday announced that Sir Ian Gibson will be stepping down as chairman in August 2012 to be replaced by accountant David Grigson (pictured), who will join the board as a non-executive director and chairman designate from 1 January. Grigson is currently the chairman of communications group Creston and a non-executive director [...]
