Sharjah / WAM The Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), has launched the “Consumer Empowerment Index” to measure consumers’ knowledge about a number of policies, initiatives and standards of the product and the market. The Index has been released to reveal wrong practices committed by consumers when purchasing, as well as to facilitate the procedure of claiming consumers’ rights. The Department ...

Bloomberg Norway is seeking greater leeway to restrict foreign ownership of its offshore fields, a move seen to be potentially targeting a growing Russian interest in its resources. In recent proposed changes to industry regulations, the Norwegian government beefed up its possibility to rej-ect non-European entities on grounds of national security from acquiring offshore oil and gas licenses. “I would ...

Bloomberg Some of Europe’s biggest utilities joined a project to test blockchain-based trades in wholesale power and natural gas markets. Utilities from Enel SpA to RWE AG will start live trading based on blockchain in the fourth quarter, after tests that start in August, said Michael Merz, managing director at Ponton GmbH, the developer of the project. The software, called ...

CAIRO / Reuters Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, has procured 3 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers since the harvest began in mid-April, the Supply Ministry said in a statement on Monday. The local procurement season runs until July and the ministry has said it is targeting between 3.5 million and 4 million tonnes of local wheat this ...

Bloomberg Oil & Natural Gas Corp.’s quarterly profits missed estimates for a gain as lower gas revenues and a jump in royalty payments outweighed the boost from higher crude prices. Net income at India’s biggest oil and gas producer fell 6.1 percent to 43.4 billion rupees ($673.6 million) in the three months ended March, the company said in a statement. ...

Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd. is assuring shareholders that it’s exploring numerous options for its contentious US shale unit amid pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp. to carry out a wider review of petroleum operations. In a series of meetings in Australia last week, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie stressed to shareholders that the biggest mining company is open to ...

Bloomberg Noble Group Ltd. is seeking a strategic investor to drag the beleaguered commodities trader out of what it calls an “incredibly difficult environment.” The company’s market value has shriveled by more than $1 billion this year as the Hong Kong-based firm reported a first quarter loss, S&P Global Ratings flagged a risk of default and Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut ...

Bloomberg Japan’s jobless rate remained at the lowest in more than two decades last month, and retail sales rose from March, climbing for a fourth month. Highlights of Data Retail sales rose 1.4 percent from March, and were up 3.2 percent compared to April last year. The unemployment rate for April was 2.8 percent, the same as the forecast. Household ...

Bloomberg Adani Enterprises Ltd., controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, said its Australian unit has reached an agreement on royalty payments with the Queensland government, ensuring the $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project moves forward. Shares surged. The agreement with the state government “meets Adani’s expectations and requirements,” the company said in a statement, without providing details of the accord. The ...

Bloomberg The southwest monsoon that waters about half of India’s farmland arrived in the country slightly ahead of its normal schedule, giving a boost to farmers planting rice to soybeans crops in coming weeks. Monsoon rain has reached the southern state of Kerala, K. J. Ramesh, chief of India Meteorological Department, said by phone. The June-September rainy period typically starts ...