Toshiba closes in on Landis+Gyr deal
With two private equity groups having pulled out of the bidding, Toshiba is closing in on a $2bn deal to buy Landis+Gyr, the world’s largest smart-meter maker by revenues.
The battle for the company shows how big an opportunity companies and governments view demand-side management. L+G already has orders to provide 62,000 meters to Finland’s Oulu Energy; and more than 10,000 to six provinces in China, which will create the world’s largest smart grid.
Can nuclear operators now breathe a sigh of relief?
Wednesday has been an important day for the nuclear industry.
First of all, Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan (pictured) told reporters he wanted to remodel entirely his country’s energy supply around renewable technology. He said:
I have repeatedly said that we need to rethink our basic energy policy from scratch… The direction that it may take will likely be centered around wind, solar, and biomass energy.
They should have done their homework. That’s the view of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on the collapse of the BP-Rosneft deal. And it’s hard to fault his conclusion, delivered at a mega press conference on Wednesday that was broadcast live.
Although he did not say so, his criticisms were aimed at both BP and Rosneft – and deputy prime minister Igor Sechin, the former Rosneft chairman, who was forced to leave the company earlier this year on Medvedev’s orders. And the confident-looking president even allowed himself a little swipe at Russia’s most powerful man, prime minister Vladimir Putin.
The president implied that BP and Rosneft should have anticipated opposition from the Russian oligarchs who are BP’s partners in its current Russian venture, TNK-BP. “Those who prepared the deal should have paid closer attention to the nuances of the shareholder agreement,” Medvedev said.
Libyan oil chief said to have defected
Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of the Libyan National Oil Corporation, has left the country for Tunisia, in what is being called by the Libyan rebels and the British foreign office a defection.
Two days ago, Libyan officials were denying the story, but Moussa Ibrahim, Libyan government spokesperson, has said he had not managed to contact Mr Ghanem on the phone since Monday night, when speculation about his defection had already begun.
Mr Ibrahim added that, even if Mr Ghanem had defected, it would not be a “big deal” and would be “his decision”. He added that high-ranking regime officials had defected before. “We are not relying on any one individual,” he said.
Energy headlines: BP under fire after deal collapse
- BP under fire as Russia deal collapses – FT
- BP frozen out of Arctic deal – FT
- BP investors furious after Rosneft fiasco – The Times
- Dudley and BP set for tough questions – FT
- Some BP investors relieved – WSJ
- Svanberg should fall amid Russian retreat – The Times
- BP playing for high stakes were nothing is straightforward – The Telegraph
- Sunday summit to secure TNK-BP buy-out – FT
- United front in face of fears for TNK-BP – FT
- BP: all is not lost in Russia – FT Lex
- BP’s defeat puts Arctic oil trove back in play – Bloomberg
- Shell CEO stresses interest in Russian Arctic – WSJ
- Wildcat strikes spread in Iraq as BP lifts first oil cargo – The Telegraph
- $35bn Alaskan pipeline scrapped amid shale boom – FT
- Senate blocks bill to end Big Oil tax breaks – NY Times
- Libya’s oil head Shokri Ghanem has ‘defected’ – Dow Jones
- UK agrees tough carbon targets – FT
- Fukushima reactors will be stable by January, insists Tepco – The Guardian
- China forced to ration electricity – FT
- Colombia Ecopetrol stake sale to start this year – WSJ
- Enel’s €2.5bn coal conversion plan blocked – FT
- Anger at Treasury plans to tax oil platform helicopters – The Times
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