Bloomberg Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) inventories slumped to a seven-month low as colder weather increased demand and Europe hoarded shipments of the super-chilled fuel. LNG shipments — particularly those exported from US projects — are rerouting from Asia to Europe to take advantage of more attractive prices. That’s leaving less supply for Asian importers, and the cargoes that are …

  Bloomberg The UK government will probably wait until March to announce measures to help consumers facing record bills amid the nation’s worst energy crisis in decades. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is due to give an outlook for the economy and public finances in his Spring Statement on March 23. It would be “unusual” for any aid to be announced by …

  Bloomberg UK retail sales plummeted in December as the spread of the Omicron variant kept shoppers at home. The volume of goods sold in stores and online fell 3.7% from November, the biggest drop since January 2021’s lockdown, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Economists had expected a decrease of 0.6%. Sales excluding auto fuel declined 3.6%. The …