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Bloomberg Baytex Energy Corp. agreed to buy rival western Canadian oil producer Raging River Exploration Inc., in a deal valued at C$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) that includes about 260,000 acres in the emerging East Duvernay Shale basin. Under the pact, holders of common shares of Raging River will receive 1.36 common shares of Baytex for each Raging River Share owned, …

Bloomberg On a tropical island just off the coast of Nigeria, hundreds of engineers work around the clock to produce liquefied natural gas at a plant the size of Lower Manhattan. Operator Nigeria LNG Ltd says it will decide later this year whether to invest more than $10 billion to boost capacity by 40 percent. That would allow the Bonny …

HARARE / WAM The UAE and Zimbabwe signed in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, two agreements related to protecting and encouraging investment and avoiding double income taxation, as well as an MoU on the marketing and supply of energy. Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, sig-ned both agreements for the UAE while Dr Sultan bin …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) and the lenders it oversees are running out of time in their push for rules to foster cross-border mergers. European Union regulations need to change so consolidation makes financial sense, the ECB and firms say. But their shared urgency has been stymied by politicians from Germany and smaller states who want to make sure …

Bloomberg World energy ministers representing about two thirds of the global population tussled over how the world can achieve a cleaner energy future. The compromise answer: Natural gas, at least for now. A consensus statement from G20 energy ministers meeting in Argentina cited the potential of natural gas “to expand significantly over the coming decades.” Meanwhile, the group said that …

Bloomberg Rosneft PJSC’s said crude at $70 to 80 a barrel was a “comfortable level” and expressed satisfaction with the results of Russia’s joint supply cuts with OPEC, just a week before talks that could phase them out. The producers working together have “restored balance to the market by cutting oil production,” Russia’s biggest oil company said in a statement. …

LONDON / WAM Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) of Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday announced its intent to create a $400 million fund to invest in leading European technology companies. The fund will be managed by Mubadala Ventures, the venture capital arm of Mubadala. SoftBank Group will participate as a strategic investor via its SIMI US Holdings I, Inc investment subsidiary. The …

Bloomberg Russia plans to propose that OPEC and its allies be allowed to return production to October 2016 levels, rolling back most but not all of their output cuts within three months, according to a person familiar with Moscow’s thinking. All the nations would proportionally share out a 1.8 million barrel-a-day increase to their output limit starting as soon as …

Bloomberg OPEC members Iran and Venezuela could lose almost 30 percent of their oil output next year due to US sanctions and economic upheaval, requiring extra supplies from the group’s Gulf members, the International Energy Agency said. In its first detailed forecast for 2019, the IEA said new oil output from outside OPEC — in particular US shale — should …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. is dipping its toe in the world of oil trading, hiring executives and showing an appetite for expanding its operations. Yet, the US-based company is moving carefully, still far away from building an in-house trading unit similar to the mighty businesses run Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and Total SA. Exxon recently hired Paul Butcher, …