Regional News

Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd. has received first-round bids for its US shale portfolio from oil majors including BP Plc and Chevron Corp., valuing the unit at $7 billion to $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, partnering with private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, also submitted a bid for the entire unit late in May, ...

Bloomberg A tentative deal to revamp US biofuel policy appeared to collapse when the White House indefinitely delayed an expected announcement of the planned changes, according to three people familiar with the move. The postponement of a directive outlining the deal may mark the end of the latest effort to overhaul the American renewable fuel mandate with an eye on ...

Bloomberg Repsol SA, Spain’s largest oil producer, plans to raise dividends and investments over the next two years on a bet that crude will remain above $50 a barrel. The scrip dividend — a payout to shareholders in stock — will climb to 1 euro in 2020 from a planned 90 euro cents this year, according to a strategy update ...

Bloomberg They are the building blocks of our daily stuff, from sports shoes to computer keyboards, created when oil and natural gas molecules are split, or cracked, to produce ethylene, propylene and other chemicals. The petrochemicals are big business in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, and they’re poised for further growth. Energy producers view these compounds increasingly as a key to ...

Bloomberg Petroleo Brasileiro SA jumped on news that its chief financial officer is taking over as interim CEO, offering some continuity to investors rattled by political pressure at the state-controlled oil producer. Ivan Monteiro was named after the resignation of Pedro Parente, as Brazilian politicians called for a chief executive officer more focussed on the good of the nation than ...

Bloomberg Canadian crude surged by the most ever after Enbridge Inc. said it won’t implement a new procedure to stop shippers from claiming more space than they can use on a key pipeline linking Alberta’s oil sands with US refineries. Western Canadian Select jumped as much as $12.20 a barrel to $13.80 below the US benchmark, the narrowest spread since ...

Bloomberg France’s biggest energy company expressed skepticism about the economics of hydrogen-powered vehicles as the government unveiled subsidies to promote the gas as way of cutting fossil-fuel consumption and fighting climate change. “We find it difficult to be convinced it has a future in 10 years time,” Total SA Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in an interview with local ...

Bloomberg OPEC and its allies in the global oil output cuts stressed the need to maintain their cooperation to stimulate adequate investments to ensure stable oil supply. Energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria and Oman held an unofficial consultative meeting in Kuwait City, the Kuwait News Agency reported, citing a statement from the joint ministerial ...

Bloomberg Thailand has joined the global wave of anxiety over climbing energy costs. A social media furor over pump prices erupted in the past week, prompting state-run oil refiner PTT Pcl to defend itself in a Facebook post by Chief Executive Officer Tevin Vongvanich. The country’s military government rolled out fuel subsides for diesel and cooking gas. The developments signal ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration is slated to unveil biofuel policy changes, including efforts to tamp down costs for refiners while broadening the market for ethanol, according to people familiar with the action. The announcement follows weeks of negotiations by the Agriculture Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department to flesh out a tentative deal struck at the White House last ...