Bloomberg Crude production by OPEC and its main ally Russia held steady last month as increases in Saudi Arabia and Iran offset the ongoing deterioration of Venezuela’s oil industry. Output from the 14 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose just 20,000 barrels a day to 32.4 million a day in January, according to a Bloomberg News survey ...

Bloomberg Iran can swiftly increase production of crude if OPEC decides to scrap limits on global output when the group meets next in June, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. The Persian Gulf nation can raise daily production by at least 100,000 barrels within “five or six days” if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decides that crude prices are ...

BEIRUT / Reuters Lebanon has signed its first deal to buy electricity from private companies, the energy minister said, in a model which took years to hammer out and opens the country up to more international investment. Lebanon has been short of electricity since its 1975-90 civil war. Households experience at least three-hour outages each day. Those who can afford ...

Bloomberg France’s nuclear giant has a plan to survive the wave of renewable energy that’s sweeping aside old-fashioned utilities across Europe. First it needs to disprove the conventional wisdom about how reactors work. Electricite de France SA says its fleet of nuclear reactors aren’t just able to provide a steady stream of power, they’re flexible enough to complement a large ...

Bloomberg The biggest independent refiners in the US are lining their pockets with billions of dollars in tax reform windfalls just in time to invest in equipment that meets ever-tightening domestic and global environmental rules, making the “liquid freedom” they export cleaner than ever. “The reduction in the corporate tax rate is a catalyst for incremental investment in the business,” ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure urged European governments to push ahead with plans to strengthen monetary union to avoid stretching his institution’s mandate in the next crisis. “Without further reforms, the next crisis may well force the ECB to test the limits of its mandate,” he said in a speech near Ljubljana, Slovenia. “To assume that ...

Bloomberg UBS AG brought forward its forecast for the next UK interest-rate increase, though it also sounded a warning bell about such a move. Bank of England policy makers will raise their benchmark by 25 points at their May meeting, strategist John Wraith wrote in a report dated January 31. In forecasts published after the BOE’s November rate hike, UBS ...

Bloomberg Czech policy makers raised borrowing costs for the third time in six months to cool one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies and unveiled a hotly anticipated outlook predicting a surge in the currency. The Czech National Bank’s board voted unanimously to increase the benchmark interest rate a quarter point to 0.75 percent, Governor Jiri Rusnok said. The fresh forecasts, which ...

Bloomberg Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. stand to benefit most as US regulators rush to ease a key leverage rule, giving the custody-banking giants room to once again accept deposits they’ve shunned in recent years. The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency may unveil a proposal to ease the leverage ...

Bloomberg Macquarie Group Ltd. is teaming up with a New York-based venture firm to spot the next big thing in energy and infrastructure innovation. The Australian bank will provide specialist knowledge and possibly financial backing for the project with R/GA Ventures, according to a statement. Macquarie’s New York-based program will help develop so-called infratech companies, which typically feature technology and ...