Alberta targets $1.5 billion upgrader to get more from oil

Bloomberg Alberta is working to encourage construction of a C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) partial-upgrading facility that would turn more of the province’s sludgy bitumen into higher-value products. The facility, designed by Calgary-based Value Creation Inc, would be located near Edmonton and process 77,500 barrels of diluted bitumen a day into products like medium synthetic crude and ultra-low sulfur diesel. The ...

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Kinder Morgan weighs carbon dioxide unit sale

Bloomberg Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan Inc is weighing a sale of the largest transporter of carbon dioxide in North America, which could fetch more than $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Its shares rose on the news. The Houston-based company is working with advisers to seek buyers for its CO2 business, said the people, who asked to ...

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Gulfport share buybacks sought by investor

Bloomberg One of the largest investors in Gulfport Energy Corp. is urging changes at the natural gas and oil company, saying its board lacks the experience needed to correct its lagging performance. Firefly Value Partners, which said it and its affiliates own 8.1 percent of Gulfport, also wants the company to implement a $500 million share buyback program, according to ...

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Amazon Go attracts a host of cashierless imitators

Bloomberg Mighty AI spent much of its first five years building software that helps self-driving cars recognise real-world objects. The Seattle startup went so far as to open a Detroit office to cozy up to the auto industry. Then last February, Mighty AI’s sales team received an unusual request: Instead of identifying pedestrians and cars, could they track items plucked ...

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Tencent, Netease still frozen out as China approves latest games

Bloomberg Tencent Holdings and Netease Inc were again left out when regulators green-lit the latest batch of online games, spurring concern that China’s largest gaming companies may have to wait longer than anticipated to start making money off hit titles. Neither company appeared on a list of 93 domestic games approved for licenses in January and were also absent from ...

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Boeing flying car shows glimpse of the future

Bloomberg A Boeing Co flying car designed to whisk passengers over congested city streets and dodge skyscrapers completed its first test flight, offering a peek into the future of urban transportation the aerospace giant and others are seeking to shape. A prototype of its autonomous passenger air vehicle completed a controlled takeoff, hover and landing during the test conducted in ...

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Apple appoints battery executive from Samsung SDI

Bloomberg Apple Inc has hired an executive from Samsung SDI Co, the battery making affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co, to help lead its own battery work. Soonho Ahn joined Apple in December as global head of battery developments, after working as a senior vice president at Samsung SDI since 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile. At Samsung SDI, Ahn led ...

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ECB keeps policy unchanged to battle economic slowdown

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) pledged to keep interest rates at record lows at least through the summer after policy makers met amid rising concern about the region’s growth outlook. The decision came just hours after a report signalled the euro area’s economic slowdown is set to drag on, with the region beset by political strife and global risks ...

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Big US banks let stress tests make decisions

Bloomberg If you’re a bond trader at a major bank, the next time you ask for an increase in your position limit, the answer is likely to be based on regulatory stress tests. Seventy-eight percent of global banks now use the tests to assess concentrations and set limits internally, according to a Deloitte survey. That’s up from 67 percent in ...

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Banks’ presence shrinks in US corporate bond market

Bloomberg The biggest issuers of US corporate bonds are easing up on selling new securities, which could translate to gains for investors holding the debt. Banks and other financial companies have sold around $50 billion of bonds so far this year, down more than 40 percent from the same period a year ago. For the largest US banks the decline ...

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