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  Tokyo / DPA Otochika Ichikawa is a friendly, elderly man, who smiles and is good at making eye-contact as he speaks. The 70-year-old Japanese enjoys conversation. He knows, from bitter experience, how important social contact is. “When my daughter was 14 she refused to go to school,” Ichikawa says. His daughter spent hours leafing through the pages of all ...

  Bloomberg The oil industry will shake off the effects of the biggest downturn in a generation this year as they more than double project approvals and increase exploration spending for the first time in three years, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Companies will green-light more than 20 oil and gas fields for development compared with nine in 2016, the ...

  Bloomberg Oil advanced from the lowest level in a month as investors weighed production cuts from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members against a projected gain in U.S. crude output. Futures gained as much as 1 percent in New York after dropping 5.9 percent the previous two sessions. Saudi Arabia was said to reduce February crude sales to China ...

  Bloomberg Debt-laden energy companies that still don’t have a financial escape plan in place are running out of time and willing lenders even after oil doubled from its February lows. Crude prices topping $50 a barrel helped to ease pressure on distressed energy companies, allowing at least 27 issuers to sell $16 billion of junk-rated bonds in last year’s ...

  Reuters Resources for the state fund intended to cover Algeria’s budget deficits had declined by 59.5 percent at the end of 2016 from the previous year because of falling oil prices, Finance Minister Hadji Baba Ammi said. State finances were already under pressure in Algeria, where the government had forecast foreign exchange reserves would reach $114 billion by the ...

  Reuters India’s gasoline consumption continues to grow rapidly as an increasing number of individuals purchase their first motorised vehicle, helping drive the fastest growth in fuel demand in the world. India’s gasoline consumption rose more than 12 percent in 2016 compared with 2015, according to preliminary fuel sales figures compiled by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Motor ...

  Bloomberg Special prosecutors called Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee for questioning as a suspect in a bribery investigation, deepening an influence-peddling scandal that has already led to the impeachment of South Korea’s president. The de facto head of the Samsung Group was summoned to appear at 9:30 a.m. in Seoul on Thursday, special prosecution spokesman Lee ...

    Bloomberg Garena, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup, picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to lead a planned initial public offering that could fetch about $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Singapore-based online gaming portal and e-commerce provider plans to select additional banks as soon as this month, the people said. Garena is considering listing ...

  Bloomberg China Communication Technology is among final bidders for Asia Broadcast Satellite, the communications operator being sold by European private equity firm Permira, people familiar with the matter said. CCT, a Shenzhen-based provider of military communication equipment, is in the advanced stages of negotiations with Permira, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are confidential. ...

  Bloomberg China is becoming more dependent on overseas natural gas as it seeks to wean itself off coal and avoid the toxic smog that suffocates the country every winter. The world’s largest energy user will increase imports of liquefied natural gas about 30 percent this year as domestic production stagnates and the government pushes cleaner fuels in an effort ...