Bloomberg In the middle of a viral pandemic, a crash in the price of oil and an economic slump not seen in 100 years, Royal Dutch Shell has unveiled what is likely the most ambitious climate plan of any major oil company in the world. In doing so Shell seems to have one-upped BP, which released its blueprint in February. ...

Bloomberg Oil in New York has slumped to its weakest structure on record as the current contract nears expiration, adding extra volatility to a market that’s grappling with a glut and evaporating demand. West Texas Intermediate crude futures on Monday fell to the biggest-ever discount to those for the following month, a structure known as contango that indicates near-term oversupply. ...

Bloomberg Ayala Corp, the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, aims to fully divest from coal by 2030, a rare rebuke of the fuel in a region where its use is expected to grow. Ayala’s power-generation unit, AC Energy Philippines Inc, will also boost investments in renewable generation as it transitions to a low-carbon portfolio, President Eric Francia said in a live-streamed annual ...

Bloomberg Russia’s oil producers have been told by the Energy Ministry to cut their production by about a fifth to comply with the new Opec+ deal starting May 1, said two people with knowledge of the matter. After days of consultations on how to divide the supply curbs, companies were instructed to split Russia’s 2.5 million barrel-a-day cut proportionally, the ...

Bloomberg Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman has backed the idea of a wealth tax on the country’s rich as the nation to fend off creditors and find money to help cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. The tax would affect 11,000 people with fortunes of at least $2 million, Guzman said, without specifying where that cut-off point might come. He spoke ...

Bloomberg The US will allow companies to defer paying tariffs on many imported goods for 90 days, a move aimed at freeing up cash for pandemic-hit employers while leaving punitive measures against China and other nations intact. “This will protect American jobs and help these businesses get through this time,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The deferral ...

Bloomberg Canada says it will apply extra scrutiny to foreign investment in companies that are related to public health or that supply critical goods during the pandemic. “There are vulnerable businesses that are going to be important to our recovery who are perhaps exposed to foreign purchases,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “We will be strengthening our ...

Bloomberg Spain’s economy could contract this year by more than 12% in a worst-case-scenario forecast by the country’s central bank, the first official figures that spell out the potential toll of the coronavirus pandemic on the European Union’s fourth-largest economy. The economic shock could push the unemployment rate to as high as 21.7% this year, undoing gains achieved in the ...

Bloomberg Germany has pledged 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) to help its beleaguered startups, but the policy has stalled after the country’s governmental departments failed to agree on who has to pay. More than two weeks after the aid plan has been announced, Germany’s finance and economy ministries are yet to find common ground over who is responsible for paying ...

Bloomberg The biggest US companies will slash their cash spending this year amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “We forecast S&P 500 cash spending will decline by an annual record 33% during 2020 as firms prioritize liquidity in a worsening economic environment,” strategists led by David Kostin wrote in a ...