Bloomberg The merger of Alberta’s two main conservative parties creates a new political force in the heart of Canada’s oil patch that threatens to unseat Premier Rachel Notley and kill the province’s carbon tax. Members of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties voted to create the United Conservative Party. Combined, those parties hold 30 of 87 districts, though they received …

Bloomberg Calfrac Well Services Ltd. surged after Texas investment firm Wilks Brothers LLC boosted its stake in the fracking company in a bet on a rebound in Canada’s beaten down oil patch. Calfrac rose 4.5 percent at 1:20 p.m. in Toronto to its highest intraday since June 14, even as US oil prices fell. The company’s shares have risen more …

Bloomberg The UK government plans to invest 246 million pounds ($320 million) in battery technology as part of an updated industrial strategy. The four-year investment will include a coordinated program of competitions to boost the research and development of expertise in battery technology, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in an emailed statement on Monday. The government-established …