Oil sheds bulk of war-driven gains in 2nd weekly decline

Bloomberg Oil retreated for a second week in the wake of plans for massive stockpile releases, a demand-sapping virus outbreak in China and a hawkish turn from the US Federal Reserve. West Texas Intermediate fell 1% this week, with the US benchmark giving back most of its gains since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Oil rallied to the highest ...

Read More »

UK’s unemployed face biggest drop in benefits in 50 years

  Bloomberg Britain’s unemployed face a further blow when the value of their welfare benefits is set to fall the most in half a century, according to new research. Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows the decline comes with the real value of out-of-work benefits already at historically low levels because the Treasury froze payouts or increased them by ...

Read More »

Geothermal powerhouse Iceland struggles with lack of electricity

  Bloomberg Isolated from any other country’s power networks, Iceland has this winter faced a new predicament: running out of electricity. Sitting in the Atlantic Ocean, 850 kilometres (530 miles) from the Scottish coast, the country had to be self-sufficient in electricity generation, and power was always so plentiful that a large aluminum-smelting industry emerged half a century ago to ...

Read More »

Quebec LNG backers seeking EU boost to revive rejected project

  Bloomberg Promoters of a stalled project to build a C$9 billion ($7.2 billion) terminal to export liquefied natural gas from Quebec in Canada are seeking to revive the plan by garnering support from Europe, which is scrambling to find alternatives to Russian supplies. GNL Quebec Inc’s Energie Saguenay project was rejected by both the federal and provincial authorities recently ...

Read More »

Russia’s invasion supercharges push to make new green fuel

Bloomberg Europe’s push to wean itself off Russian natural gas is sparking billions of dollars in new commitments toward building a market for low-carbon hydrogen. A nearly 450% jump in European gas prices the past year made the green fuel of the future cost-competitive about a decade ahead of schedule, according to BloombergNEF. Now, investment funds are joining governments and ...

Read More »

Spirit to talk with JetBlue about $3.6b takeover bid

  Bloomberg Spirit Airlines Inc will hold talks with JetBlue Airways Corp over its $3.6 billion cash takeover bid that’s threatening to disrupt a pending combination between Spirit and rival deep discounter Frontier Group Holdings Inc. JetBlue’s offer could lead to a superior proposal, Spirit said in a statement after assessing the bid with financial and legal advisers. JetBlue’s unsolicited ...

Read More »

Lufthansa debt climbed to $11b due to Covid-19

Bloomberg Deutsche Lufthansa AG has about 10 billion euros ($11 billion) more debt because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to CEO Carsten Spohr. “That’s the price tag,” Spohr said in an interview with newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende. “It was expensive.” The German carrier hopes that its Swiss airline will pay back its pandemic-related government-backed loans by the end of the ...

Read More »

Dutch watchdog rules KLM’s ‘carbon zero’ ad is misleading

Bloomberg The Dutch advertising watchdog ruled that a KLM promotion telling customers they could fly carbon-emission free is misleading. The ad’s tag line, “Be a hero, fly CO2 zero,” is an absolute claim, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee said in a verdict seen by Bloomberg. As such, the company has the burden of proving the statement and didn’t meet that ...

Read More »

US bans Russia’s Aeroflot, others from receiving parts

  Bloomberg The US issued orders suspending Aeroflot PJSC, Russia’s biggest airline, and two others from receiving US parts and services for their planes, a step that officials expect over time will limit their ability to fly. The denial orders for Aeroflot, Azur Air, and UTair Aviation PJSC announced by the Commerce Department mark the first enforcement action for violation ...

Read More »

Airbus ships 63 jets as ‘oil price’ fails to quell demand

  Bloomberg Airbus SE delivered 63 planes last month, boosting the firm’s plans to ramp up output despite concern that surging oil prices and the conflict in Eastern Europe could dent demand. The handovers took the first-quarter tally to 142. Net deliveries were reduced by two after trade sanctions imposed over the Ukraine invasion prevented the handover of A350 long-haul ...

Read More »