Bloomberg Oil posted the longest run of weekly gains since April as prices followed equities higher and a government report showed US crude inventories falling to the lowest in two months. Futures in New York were little changed, clinging to a three-month high. The Energy Information Administration reported that oil inventories fell 5.47 million barrels while supplies at the key …

Bloomberg Iraq, Opec’s second-biggest producer, halted output from a southern oil field as protesters walked close to installations. Other southern fields will make up the amount from the shutdown, which won’t affect the country’s output. The halt is temporary until the Nasiriya field, which produces 80,000 to 85,000 barrels a day, is clear of protesters. The closure was a precautionary …

Bloomberg The incoming head of the largest US power market is under pressure even before he begins his new job. A consumer watchdog has accused Manu Asthana — who starts as chief executive officer of PJM Interconnection LLC on January 1 — of mismanagement at his previous company. That risks casting a shadow over his new role, in which he …

Bloomberg Nigeria LNG Ltd decided to proceed with the construction of the country’s seventh liquefied natural gas production train, which will boost the company’s output by 35%. Train 7 will increase the company’s competitiveness in the global LNG market, state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp, said in a statement on its Twitter account. “We are going to put in place a …

Bloomberg YouTube spent 2019 answering critics with some of the most drastic changes in its 15-year history. With each step, it gave those activists, regulators and lawmakers more reasons to attack its free-wheeling, user-generated business model. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube’s chief executive officer, announced her goals in April. “My top priority,” she wrote, “is responsibility.” Her company spent the year trying …

Bloomberg Sony Corp is working around the clock to manufacture its in-demand image sensors, but even a 24-hour operation hasn’t been enough. For the second straight year, the Japanese company will run its chip factories constantly through the holidays to try and keep up with demand for sensors used in mobile phone cameras, according to Terushi Shimizu, the head of …

Bloomberg Dish Network Corp’s Sling TV is gearing up for a big election news cycle, with the addition of Fox News, MSNBC and CNN’s HLN to its live TV streaming service. But the change comes with a price increase, the second since its launch almost five years ago. Subscriptions to the multiscreen Blue plan will rise to $30 a month …

Bloomberg China’s central bank ordered lenders to adopt a new loan-pricing regime for all credit from next year, marking an end to the previous benchmark and another step towards liberalising the financial system. Financial institutions should stop using the old lending rate as the pricing reference for all credit from January, while gradually converting existing loans to a new base …

Bloomberg President Ivan Duque named a University of Illinois-trained economist with policy-making experience to take a seat on the board of Colombia’s central bank. Arturo Jose Galindo was chief of the Inter-American Development Bank’s strategy development division. He previously worked as an economist at the Colombian central bank and as an adviser to the nation’s banking association. He will replace …

Bloomberg The pound is set for a yearly gain against the dollar, but it may struggle to take off further in the first quarter of 2020. Sterling has recovered almost 10% since hitting an almost three-year low in September, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s snap election in December lifted political deadlock in Westminster. The re-elected government’s solid majority should help …