Bloomberg With brand-name drillers unwilling to jump in, Venezuela is resorting to a newly formed US company for help in shoring up production from its crude reserves, the largest in the world. Schlumberger Ltd and Halliburton Co, the world’s biggest oil-service providers, have announced over $2 billion in combined write-offs for unpaid bills in Venezuela since the second quarter of ...

Bloomberg Jobs in the Texas oil patch dropped for the first time in almost two years, according to the state’s workforce commission. The number of workers handling exploration and drilling duties fell by 500 to 247,700 in November 2018 compared with the previous month, according to the latest data from the Texas Workforce Commission. Snapping a streak of 23 months ...

Bloomberg Brent crude surged to its best weekly gain in more than two years, as encouraging economic news out of the US helped oil markets turn the page on 2018’s price collapse. The global benchmark closed higher, ending the week up 9.3 percent for its best showing since December 2016. Oil rallied alongside the US stock market following a strong ...

Bloomberg Renewable energy muscled out coal to become Germany’s biggest source of electricity for the first time last year, helped by a surge in solar panel installations and coal-plant closures. Wind, solar, hydro and biomass produced just over 40 percent of Germany’s electricity in 2018, overtaking coal’s 39 percent share, according to the Fraunhofer Institute. An almost 20 percent increase ...

Bloomberg State Grid Corp of China has started up the world’s longest and most-powerful ultra-high voltage power line from its far northwest to the heavily populated east. The 1,100-kilovolt direct-current Changji-to-Guquan project stretches 3,293 kilometers (2,046 miles), the nation’s biggest electricity distributor said in a statement. That’s roughly the distance between Los Angeles and Cleveland. The 40.7 billion yuan ($5.9 ...

Bloomberg India should provide long-term finance at lower interest rate to all hydro power projects for their viability and to keep tariff competitive with other generation sources, a lawmakers’ panel said in a report. The report recommended promotion of hydro power on the lines of solar energy by making its purchase mandatory in overall consumption. India should categorise hydro power ...

Bloomberg India’s economy grew at a faster pace than most major nations in 2018, and this year, it’s poised to overtake the UK to become the world’s fifth-biggest. But that journey won’t be smooth. The outcome of a general election due by May is a potential pitfall for a nation already battered by emerging market turmoil and a currency rout ...

Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co.’s former chairman Carlos Ghosn, indicted on suspicion of violating Japan’s financial reporting laws, will mount a “vigorous defense” at his first hearing on Monday, his son, Anthony, told France’s Journal Du Dimanche in an interview. Carlos Ghosn will attend a hearing of the Tokyo district court on Monday after his legal team requested an explanation of ...

Bloomberg The Hong Kong government has no plan to ease property-cooling measures, including the stamp duty on second homes or for overseas buyers, as many residents still can’t afford to purchase homes in the city, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a blog. The government also doesn’t plan to lift the special stamp duty, which levies home owners who sell ...

Bloomberg Xiaomi Corp. bought a stake in Chinese home-appliance maker TCL Corp as the two companies agreed to cooperate on the development of smart products and electronic devices. Xiaomi bought 65.2 million shares, or 0.48 percent, of TCL from the secondary market as of January 4, Guangdong-based TCL said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sunday. TCL ...