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  Bloomberg The world’s top oil companies are back in acquisition mode, targeting smaller exploration and development firms to boost oil and gas reserves rather than the mega-mergers that followed previous slumps in crude prices. Since late November, major oil companies have announced 11 deals worth more than $500 million each with a combined value of $31 billion, the clearest ...

  Bloomberg Oil resumed gains after the biggest drop in more than a week as industry data showed US crude stockpiles declined, while OPEC and other producing nations trim production to ease a global glut. Futures rose as much as 1.4 percent in New York after sliding 2.7 percent on Wednesday amid a surge in the dollar. US crude supplies ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s largest petrochemicals maker by market value, is in talks with banks to raise as much as $2 billion of loans, according to two people familiar with the matter. At this stage, Sabic, as the company is known, has no plans to raise debt, Chief Executive Officer Yousef al Benyan told reporters in ...

  Bloomberg Guards and officials at major ports in Libya’s eastern Oil Crescent say they are hoping foreign workers will soon return as they struggle to build on output gains with meagre resources. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) reopened three ports in the curve of coastline south of Benghazi in September, after the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa ...

  Bloomberg As cash continues to flood out of China, expectations are growing that the authorities will erect higher barriers. With the nation’s capital outflows last year estimated at $728 billion by Standard Chartered Plc, and the yuan predicted to continue declining against the dollar in 2017, analysts have been casting forward to what the authorities may do next to ...

  Bloomberg Bidders for troubled air-bag maker Takata Corp. are leaning toward a court-mediated bankruptcy in Japan to shield them from liabilities, a move that the company had opposed on concern it would disrupt the supply of replacement parts, according to people familiar with the matter. Takata, which is seeking a sponsor after triggering the biggest safety recall in automotive ...

  Bloomberg Singapore’s three-year decline in home prices could see relief from an unexpected quarter in 2017: Hong Kong. So says Cushman & Wakefield Inc., which expects the slide in the city-state’s home prices to end this year as foreign investors turned off by Hong Kong’s move to increase the stamp duty for overseas buyers look to Singapore instead. Desmond ...

  A report published in the journal Space Weather this week makes for sobering reading. In four scenarios envisaging the economic impact of a solar storm, the mildest triggers a daily loss to the US economy of $6.2 billion, or 15 percent of daily output; the worst case sees a cost of $41.5 billion, wiping out every dollar the world’s ...

  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. slimmed down in 2016 — and not just because the Trump administration was recruiting. The New York-based bank reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat Wall Street expectations, helped in part by cost-saving measures that included lowering headcount by 500 positions. The decline brought reductions for the year to 2,400, or 7 percent of staff ...

  The Venetian Republic and the British Empire built their economies on ocean trade. Dwindling naval power heralded their decline and fall. It’s a thought that should provoke a shiver of recognition in Hong Kong and Singapore, given the way their airborne fleets are falling victim to a new Great Power struggle. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. will cut jobs and ...