China is sowing the seeds of a bull market in wheat and corn September 19, 2010 SHARP rises in food prices over the summer raised the ugly spectre of riots and civil unrest across the developing world and rampant inflation in Western countries. In August a Russian ban on wheat exports caused the price to spike, prompting some countries like Egypt to aim for self-sufficiency. The surge was short-lived but the [...]
BP to launch $20bn sale of stake in Prudhoe Bay oil field September 5, 2010 BP has put its $20bn (£12.9bn) stake in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oil field up for sale as part of the oil major’s move to cover the rising costs of the Gulf of Mexico spill. The sale falls in line with plans announced by BP to auction off roughly $30bn in global assets to help pay [...]
PIMCO’S GROSS ISSUES WARNING OVER A BRAZEN PONZI SCHEME: QE October 27, 2010 PIMCO’S resident bond expert Bill Gross yesterday, in his usual verbose fashion, issued a stark warning over the upcoming second round of quantitative easing (QE) in the US – dubbing it no less than a “Ponzi scheme” on the part of the Federal Reserve. “Check [sic] writing in the trillions is not a bondholder’s friend; [...]
Ex-BP traders in court fight August 2, 2010 SIX former BP traders sued by the oil major for breach of contract in Singapore have applied to the court to set aside a search order that had allowed BP’s lawyers to seize their personal computers and mobile phones, according to court documents yesterday. BP has accused the six of engineering the mass departures of [...]
City Moves | who’s switching jobs August 25, 2010 Borro Paul Gratton, formerly chief executive of Egg, has been elected to the board of the online pawnbroker. Gratton, who founded the surveyor Shepherd Direct, was part of the founding team at First Direct. His experience in the mortgage broking market is intended to assist Borro’s new venture, which will launch at some point during [...]
BP in Venezuelan asset sale talks with Russian JV July 29, 2010 BP IS currently negotiating a deal that could see it sell off some of its Venezuelan assets to joint venture partner TNK-BP. The Russian group, which is split between BP and a consortium of oligarchs known as AAR, is considering the South American purchase in a bid to pursue plans to expand internationally. Analysts estimate [...]
BP’s Hayward to head east June 20, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, BP’s embattled chief executive, is to launch a Russian charm offensive in a bid to calm the nerves of President Dmitry Medvedev over the group’s future. Although the timing of the meeting has yet to be confirmed, Hayward intends to meet with Medvedev to reassure him that BP can survive the liabilities of [...]
BP’s Hayward to head east June 20, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, BP’s embattled chief executive, is to launch a Russian charm offensive in a bid to calm the nerves of President Dmitry Medvedev over the group’s future. Although the timing of the meeting has yet to be confirmed, Hayward intends to meet with Medvedev to reassure him that BP can survive the liabilities of [...]
BP boss calms Russian fears June 28, 2010 TONY HAYWARD, the embattled BP chief executive, yesterday launched a campaign to reassure top Russian officials of the group’s stability. Hayward, who met with government figures, is on a charm offensive to reassure the Kremlin over BP’s local operations. A number of concerns have been expressed by the country’s government over the future of the [...]
Hayward sent off to Siberia July 26, 2010 BP’S BELEAGUERED chief executive Tony Hayward will stand down in October and is expected to be nominated for a non-executive board directorship with TNK-BP, the group’s Russian joint venture. The oil major is set to announce Hayward’s departure this morning and will reveal that Mississippi-born Bob Dudley, the man in charge of the oil spill [...]