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16 NEWS WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE 2016
CITYAM.COM
Crude gushes to 2016 high on softer
dollar, strikes and supply outages
JESSICA MORRIS
@jssmorris
OIL PRICES raced to a fresh 2016 high
yesterday, energised by a weaker US
dollar and supply outages.
Brent crude, the global benchmark,
rose 1.2 per cent to $50.91 per barrel,
after gushing to an intra-day peak of
$51.30 earlier, its highest since
October.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the
US benchmark, jumped one per cent
to $50.22. It touched a fresh 2016 peak
of $50.37, also its highest since last
October.
“With Brent staying above $50, oil
is on an upward momentum with the
restart of French refineries that were
shut during strikes and pipeline
attacks in Nigeria,” Kaname Gokon,
an analyst at brokerage Okato Shoji,
said.
Crude received support from
falling Nigerian output following a
state of attacks on oil infrastructure
there.
Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude output
is down by an estimated 170,000
barrels per day (bpd) following attacks
on pipeline infrastructure, according
to one source.
Commodities are also being lifted
by the US dollar which sank Friday
after a worse-than-expected US jobs
report pushed back expectations for
an interest rate rise by the Federal
Reserve.
Oil has swelled by more than 80 per
cent since hitting a 12-year low earlier
this year due to supply disruptions
and declining US output.
Oil prices are gaining momentum after falling from $110 a barrel in 2014
Covert defence
procurement
raises concerns
JAMES NICKERSON
@nickersonjw
UNITE the union yesterday raised concerns
over the defence secretary’s
decision to buy American without
competitive tendering.
The union said it was worried about
the lack of “offset agreements” in a
proposed Boeing deal, work that
could be earmarked for UK defence
firms to safeguard skilled jobs.
The deal to buy nine Boeing Poseidon
P-8A patrol aircraft, estimated to be
worth £2.2bn, is expected to be signed
at next month’s Farnborough air show,
the union said.
Unite assistant general secretary for
manufacturing Tony Burke said: “At a
time of increased international tension
and security concerns, defence secretary
Michael Fallon needs to come
clean with the British public on the secretive
nature of the UK’s arms procurement
policy.
“As a first step, the government needs
to ensure that a substantial amount of
P-8A production work is undertaken in
the UK, with all the support work to
maintain these aircraft in the years
ahead.
“Apparently, the P-8A will not be
using UK weapons, which is a disgrace.”
The new generation of planes is
to bulk up the UK’s maritime surveillance
capabilities.
The Ministry of Defence hit back at
Unite’s claims, when it said negotiations
are still yet to be finalised.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson
said: “Procuring the Boeing P-8A Poseidon
through a Foreign Military Sales
arrangement allows us to get the capability
we need and in the timeline we
want.”
The plans began in November, when
the government said in its national security
and defence review that Boeing
P-8A maritime patrol aircraft will “increase
further the protection of our nuclear
deterrent and our new aircraft
carriers. These aircraft will be based in
Scotland and will also have an overland
surveillance capability”.
Unite was further incensed as it
comes after reports that Boeing could
sign a deal for as many as 50 Apache
helicopters,without specifying whe -
ther they will be serviced by Yeovilbased
AgustaWestland. While the
original Apaches were also bought
from the US, they were previously fitted
out and serviced by AgustaWestland.
More than 40 per cent of people who charter a private jet fly the same day
London and Paris top the list of
popular private jet destinations
JAMES NICKERSON
@nickersonjw
LONDON, Paris and Las Vegas rank
among the most popular global
destinations for private jet customers,
new research has found.
Data from PrivateFly, which
compiled all its booking, enquiries
and search data for the first three
months of this year, also found 132
different airports were used in
Europe. More than 75 airports were
used in North America and 237 were
used worldwide.
“The last eight years have seen the
shutters come up in order for the
industry to recover from the econ -
omic downturn,” PrivateFly chief
executive Adam Twidell said.
“A surge of innovative companies
are using technology to push for ward
for growth, and with this technology
comes greater unders tanding and
insight.” The data also revealed that
the average price of chartering a jet
was £52,000 per flight for long-range
and £8,750 for a small plane. Mean -
while, 44 per cent of people chartering
a private jet fly the same day.
GE snaps up
stake in lithium
battery maker
JESSICA MORRIS
@jssmorris
GENERAL Electric has bet on
renewable energy storage by
snapping up a stake yesterday in a
lithium battery startup.
GE Ventures, the engineering
giant’s venture capital arm, paid a
“double-digit million sum” for a
slice of Bavaria-based startup
Sonnen, which has become
Europe’s largest maker of lithiumbattery
energy storage systems.
Sonnen, formerly Sonnenbat -
terie, competes with the likes of
Elon Musk’s Tesla and Samsung to
manufacture lithium home solar
battery packs.
Battery technology helps
overcome the intermittency of
renewable energy by allowing it to
be stored. While storage solutions
are becoming cheap enough to be
used by households, they are still
too expensive for widespread
adoption.
The company has sold 11,000
lithium battery units to date,
making it the European market
leader in the segment, Philipp
Schroeder, one of Sonnen’s
managing directors, said.
“Sonnen is helping to reshape the
energy industry,” Jonathan Pulitzer,
managing director at GE Ventures,
added. “We believe in Sonnen’s
vision and that is why we are
excited to partner to provide clean
and affordable energy for all.”
UberPool notches up 1m passengers
in the capital in its first six months
UberPool is designed to reduce congestion and pollution through sharing rides
LYNSEY BARBER
@lynseybarber
UBER’S ride-sharing service UberPool
has hit a milestone in London, with
more than a million people making
journeys via the service in the six
months since its launch.
The billion-dollar startup which
recently landed billions more in
funding from Saudi Arabia’s
sovereign wealth fund, claims more
than 700,000 driving miles have been
saved by UberPool in the capital since
it was introduced in November last
year.
The service reduces the number of
journeys made by each car as they are
shared by people travelling in the
same direction and offers customers
cheaper fares than the basic UberX
solo journey.
The firm revealed the figures on its
uptake in London for the first time
yesterday, adding that it had saved
52,000 litres of petrol and more than
124 metric tons of CO2 – the equiv -
alent of over 132,000lbs of burnt coal.
“We’re really pleased so many
Londoners have chosen to share their
journeys in the first few months of
this new service. Not only does carsharing
save consumers money, it’s
also good for our city as it means
fewer miles driven and less air
pollution,” said Uber’s Jo Bertram.