May 20 2013 23:59 BST Market manoeuvres: National brands can punch above their weightWe live in an increasingly globalised economy and the BrandZ rankings reflect this. The most common route to reaching the top 100 is for a brand to become global. Many categories are completely or largely dominated by global brands (cars, luxury, personal care, beer, technology, apparel, soft drinks). However, thereBy Nick Cooper |
May 15 2013 20:23 BST Brazil oil licences raise record R$2.8bnBrazil raised a record R$2.8bn in its first auction of licences for oil exploration blocks in five years, with oil majors including ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP winning blocks, as well as BG Group of the UK. The auction, which will help reinvigorate Brazil's oil industry after years of delays, markedBy Joseph Leahy in São Paulo |
May 15 2013 00:03 BST An industry transformed by politics and science"There's a whole ocean of oil under our feet!" When the film There Will Be Blood was released in 2007, that exclamation by anti-hero Daniel Plainview, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, sounded like an echo from a long-vanished time. The age of the heroic oil wildcatter seemed to be over andBy Ed Crooks |
May 13 2013 17:20 BST Somalia: Oil thrown on the fireAfter an absence of more than 30 years, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed has returned to Somalia, the country of his birth. Last year he gave up his job as a civil servant in the housing sector in Canada to take up a position as one of only 10 ministers in Mogadishu'sBy Katrina Manson |
May 13 2013 11:16 BST Global shale revolution threatens Gulf petrochemicals expansionMiddle East energy producers have long bet on petrochemicals as a way to diversify their economies away from reliance on oil and gas revenue. Industry experts predicted that as US and European plants shut down because of high feedstock costs, the Middle East would become the sector's new centre ofBy Ayesha Daya |
May 12 2013 22:27 BST Legal sanctions force Chevron into Argentina rethinkChevron has been forced to retool a partnership to develop massive shale oil reserves in Argentina because of legal sanctions in Ecuador. Chevron's plans to develop the giant Vaca Muerta shale formation with Argentine energy group YPF had been thrown into question by a legal judgment freezing Chevron's Argentine assets.By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires |
May 08 2013 14:06 BST Chevron hits out at Indonesian court for jailing of contractorUS oil and gas group Chevron has attacked an Indonesian court's decision to jail one of its subcontractors for five years on hotly contested corruption charges, calling the trial process "flawed" and warning that it would undermine the investment climate in one of Asia's hottest emerging markets. Ricksy Prematuri, aBy Ben Bland in Jakarta |
May 07 2013 06:02 BST Hopes rise in Nigeria's battle to beat power deficitOne has underpinned Nigeria's economy for decades, providing about 80 per cent of the government's revenues. The other has held the country back, deterring investors while keeping millions of people in the dark and the rest sleeping to a soundtrack of noisy generators. Now, in 2013, it seems the petroleumBy Xan Rice |
May 03 2013 13:31 BST Letter from Lex: Big numbersApple likes large numbers. After announcing last week that it would not use its $145bn cash pile to fund the return of $100bn to shareholders, it launched the largest-ever corporate bond offering - of $17bn, with orders topping $50bn. Facebook had an impressive number of its own - 38 per |
May 02 2013 12:40 BST Shell CEO: time at the topA common language is not the only thing that divides the UK and the US. So does running an oil and gas company. Shell said on Thursday that Peter Voser would step down next year as chief executive after five years in the job. His predecessor, Jeroen van der Veer, |
