Royal Dutch Shell has allegedly withdrawn from oil development talks with the Kurdistan regional government in an attempt to protect its southern Iraq investments, according to the Financial Times. The FT speculates that Shell pulled out of talks in the hope of saving a possible $17bn natural gas deal which the Iraqi government cleared on…
Growth in Europe almost came to a halt in the 3Q11 with a weak 0.2 percent increase, the same pace as in 2Q11, according to data released by Eurostat late on Tuesday. GDP growth was driven by Germany, Europe’s largest economy, which rose 0.5 percent in the third quarter due to stronger company and consumer…
UBS on Tuesday confirmed Swiss-national Sergio Ermotti as permanent CEO with immediate effect. The appointment comes just two months after Ermotti was named interim CEO when Oswald Grübel stepped down in September following an alleged $2.3bn rogue trading incident at the bank. The group announced that chairman Kaspar Villiger will stand aside a year earlier…
Russia opposes the Arab League’s decision to suspend Syria and believes Western nations are inciting opponents of President Bashar al-Assad to seek his removal, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Monday. Russian news agencies said Lavrov had also reiterated Moscow’s opposition to any new international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme…
Photovoltaics is a term that is used to describe the technology required to convert sunshine into electricity that can be stored and ultimately used as an energy source for a number of different applications. As interest in alternative energy production has increased, investors who are attracted to the idea of getting in on the ground…
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday confirmed he would resign after implementing urgent economic reforms demanded by the European Union, and said Italy must then hold an election, in which he would not stand.“We have to give Europe and the world an urgent, strong signal that we are taking things seriously,” he told a morning…
US-based electricity company Dynegy said that its Dynegy Holdings unit and four of its wholly owned subsidiaries had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late on Monday. The Houston power producer reached an agreement with some of its bondholders to complete a debt restructuring of around $1.4bn. The deal would be completed by August 2012 via…
Properly evaluating a real estate investment opportunity can sometimes be a tricky endeavor. There are many factors that can come into play, and it can be hard to focus in on the things that really matter. While I don’t propose to have a magical formula for finding great real estate investments, I do have over…
Mining giant Anglo American has agreed to purchase Oppenheimer family’s 40 percent stake in diamond minor De Beers for $5.1bn in cash. The deal with CHL Group, which represents the Oppenheimer family interest, will raise Anglo American’s share in the globe’s largest diamond company to up to 85 percent. Under the current agreement Botswana, the…
Late on Wednesday Russia reached an agreement with Georgia on a bilateral trade deal which will open the door for Moscow’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, said the country’s key negotiator Maxim Medvedkov. The talks ended Russia’s 18-year wait to join the WTO. Moscow’s main hurdle had been coming to an agreement with Georgia…
