Nationalising the Big Six could leave British pensioners out of pocket June 18, 2019 A trade union plan to nationalise the UK’s biggest energy suppliers could favour foreign investors to the detriment of British pensioners, a city lawyer has warned. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party, which has pledged widespread nationalisation of the energy industry, welcomed the proposal from the Unison, one of Britain’s largest trade unions, to bring the Big [...]
US shale production set to reach new highs in July June 18, 2019 US shale oil production is expected to hit record levels in July, authorities have said, as domestic production continues to weigh on international prices. The output from the country’s seven major shale formations is expected to rise by 70,000 barrels per day. Read more: Oil prices fall for second day as US-China trade war bites [...]
Fires in the Gulf: How a tiny waterway worries international oil traders June 17, 2019 Oil prices soared four per cent last Thursday as observers reported seeing smoke rising from a Norwegian oil tanker off the coast of the UAE. Later, reports emerged that a second tanker, the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, had also taken damage and its 21 crew were evacuated. It happened as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was [...]
Net-zero carbon advocate Lord Deben cleared in conflict of interest probe June 17, 2019 The government’s climate adviser Lord Deben has been cleared of wrongdoing after accusations his advice to government benefited companies which were clients of a family-run business. Sancroft, an environmental consultancy which Lord Deben chairs, was paid £600,000 by clients which “stood to make millions from his advice to ministers”, the Mail on Sunday alleged in [...]
Going, going, gone! Sotheby’s sold in $3.7bn deal with telecoms mogul June 17, 2019 Auctioneers Sotheby’s is being taken private, in a deal which values the business at $3.7bn (£2.9bn), the company said today. Patrick Drahi, the founder of telecoms giant Altice Europe, will pay $57 per share, a 61 per cent premium to the firm’s close on Friday. The billionaire art collector will take Sotheby’s into private ownership [...]
Reabold shares soar on discovery of massive gas field June 17, 2019 Reabold Resources has found what could be Britain’s largest onshore gas field, it said today, sending shares skywards. The small London-listed explorer said it estimates the West Newton site near Hull could contain 189bn cubic feet of gas. This would make it the biggest discovery of hydrocarbons onshore since 1973, the company said. “The results [...]
SFO drops probe into how it handled ENRC investigation June 16, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office is dropping an inquiry into its handling of an investigation into former London-listed miner ENRC. Sir David Calvert-Smith has been asked to abandon his work after being appointed to head the independent inquiry last year, the Sunday Times reported. The SFO dropped the inquiry after ENRC decided to sue it for [...]
Serco tried to merge with struggling Babcock June 16, 2019 Outsourcing giant Serco has tried twice to merge with its considerably bigger rival Babcock as they both grapple with a tough industry. Serco’s chair, Sir Roy Gardner, reportedly contacted Mike Turner, who heads Babcock’s board, at the end of 2018. Turner rejected the proposal, the Sunday Times reported. However, this did not stop Serco from [...]
Credit Suisse prepares to sue HMRC over tax on bonuses June 16, 2019 Lawyers representing Credit Suisse are preparing for a battle to reclaim more than £200m from the taxman over bankers’ bonuses. The bank was forced to pay a 50 per cent tax on bonuses above £25,000 in 2010. However, it is now looking to claim back at least £239m, claiming the temporary tax unfairly affected its [...]
48m without electricity as power down in all of Argentina and Uruguay June 16, 2019 Around 50m people were thought to be without electricity yesterday as a major fault shut down power in the whole of Argentina. The country’s grid “collapsed” early in the morning, authorities said. Meanwhile, supplies were affected in neighbouring Paraguay and Uruguay. Energy distribution company Edesur Argentina, tweeted this morning that a massive failure in the [...]