HOUSTON - The price of oil has dropped around 20 percent in recent weeks, but remains more than double what it was just a couple of years ago. The high price has given oil companies the incentive to revisit old fields long ago abandoned as unprofitable. New technology has made it possible to extract more […]

WASHINGTON - Oil prices have plummeted for a second day in a row, following a report on U.S. oil inventories.
The price of crude oil in New York dropped more than $6 in trading Wednesday, falling below $133 a barrel.
The movement followed a U.S. Energy Department report saying the country’s supplies of crude oil rose by […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says fuel price subsidies are not the remedy for rising oil prices.Bodman told reporters in Aomori Japan Saturday that although global demand for oil is increasing, oil production has been capped at 85 million barrels a day for the last three years. He called for an increase in […]

FLORIDA - The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, is set to build a factory in the southern U.S. state of Florida to make executive jets. The move by the world’s fourth-largest aircraft manufacturer comes as the U.S. economy is in a downturn and continues to lose manufacturing jobs. However, Embraer executives say they have confidence in […]

NEW YORK - New York City business leaders say the U.S. visa system has become so restrictive that the city is losing out to other cities in the search for global talent. The business group Partnership for New York City says security fears and the political debate over immigration have resulted in added restrictions on […]

WASHINGTON - Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP announced record profits for the first quarter of this year, driven by the surging price of crude oil.Royal Dutch Shell says its first quarter net income jumped 25 percent to more than nine billion dollars.  BP says its profits soared 63 percent to about $7.6 billion.
Both […]

HONG KONG - Japan’s jobless rate has risen for the first time in five months, and Chevron Corporation has discovered large offshore natural gas deposits in Vietnam.
Japan’s unemployment rate has risen for the first time in five months, partly because exports to the United States fell. Japanese officials say the jobless rate rose to 3.9 […]

NEW DELHI - India’s biggest vehicle maker, Tata Motors, has clinched a deal to buy luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover from U.S. carmaker Ford.  The latest acquisition is yet another sign of the expanding global footprint of Indian companies. 
Mumbai-based Tata Motors says it will buy British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from […]

CAPE TOWN - China depends on Africa for roughly one-third of its imported oil.  And, many Chinese companies also see Africa as a lucrative market to sell oil drilling equipment.  Several Chinese firms are attending this year’s oil industry convention, underway in  South Africa. 
There are roughly 200 vendors at this year’s Oil Africa conference and […]

NEW YORK - Top corporate leaders from around the world gathered in New York Monday to unveil new strategies to fight worldwide piracy and counterfeiting. The business leaders say an epidemic of intellectual property theft undermines creativity, jeopardizes investments and creates consumer health risks.
In 2004, the International Chamber of Commerce launched BASCAP, Business Action to […]

HONG KONG - A group of six international companies has announced plans to build an ultra-high speed, undersea, fiber-optic cable under the Pacific Ocean, between Japan and the United States.  The project is meant to improve Internet and other telecommunication traffic between the U.S. and Asia, and comes as several other companies have begun similar […]

MIAMI - Venezuela says it has halted oil sales to U.S.-based ExxonMobil as part of a legal dispute over compensation for the firm’s assets in the country. Venezuela also has criticized U.S. officials for allegedly backing ExxonMobil against the socialist government.  
State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela said it “paralyzed” exports to Exxon and cut all […]

WASHINGTON - Venezuela’s state-run oil company has announced it is cutting crude sales to ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, because of Exxon’s efforts to seize Venezuelan assets.Petroleos de Venezuela said in a statement Tuesday its move is retaliation for what it calls ExxonMobil’s economic harassment.
ExxonMobil has not yet responded to Venezuela’s decision.
British and Dutch […]