BP quits North Sea after tax grab Energy BP will sell its North Sea oil division after the government’s tax raid on domestic oil, in a move that will leave the British energy giant without any petrochemicals production in its home market for the first time in decades. The London-listed oil giant told investors it planned to market its assets in the region [...]
Shell launches bumper buyback after earnings more than double on Middle East turmoil Energy Shell has said it will continue its bumper share buyback programme after revealing the Iran war’s effect on oil prices and trading volumes helped it book near-record profit. The Anglo-Dutch giant’s net profit spiked to $9.8bn between April and July, more than double the same period last year and beating analyst estimates. Shares were up [...]
BP eyes finalising sale of solar arm to Kuwait-backed wealth fund Energy Oil giant BP is in advanced talks to sell its solar power business to an investor backed by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund as it moves away from pushing net zero. Private equity firm Qualitas Energy, and Wren House, the infrastructure arm of Kuwait Investment Authority, have joined forces to bid for Lighthouse, BP’s solar business. [...]
Energy operator ‘flying blind’ as net zero push threatens hiked bills and blackouts July 25, 2026 The UK’s net zero push risks leaving the country with higher electricity bills and more susceptible to blackouts, according to a leaked report commissioned by the national grid system. The report, produced by energy consultancy firm Cornwall Insight for the National Energy System Operator (Neso) and shared with The Times by a whistleblower, revealed that [...]
Former Southern Water boss charged with conspiracy to defraud July 22, 2026 The former boss of Southern Water is among four of the water firm’s ex-employees set to face criminal proceedings for conspiracy to defraud. The Environment Agency (EA) alleges that between January 2012 and December 2017 Matthew Wright helped manipulate the operator self-monitoring testing regime by implementing “artificial no-flow events” at wastewater treatment works. The government [...]
As it happened: John Healey named Chancellor as Burnham shakes-up cabinet July 20, 2026 Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. Andy Burnham has become the UK’s newest Prime Minister, succeeding Sir Keir Starmer just two years after his landslide win at the 2024 general election. Starmer visited the King this morning to give him his resignation. In his farewell speech outside Number 10, the outgoing Prime Minister said [...]
Energy minister says AI must ‘bring down bills’ as data centres squeeze the grid July 15, 2026 Power-hungry data centres must help bring down bills rather than place further strain on Britain’s squeezed electricity network, the energy minister has said. Michael Shanks warned public support could drop for the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure unless households saw a clear economic benefit. “We need to deliver energy security here at home, but we [...]
Industry bodies call on Burnham to bring down energy bills to fire up growth July 14, 2026 Andy Burnham’s government must slash green levies on companies’ energy bills and bring forward support for energy-intensive industries if it wants to fire up Britain’s economy and win over a sceptical private sector, two of Britain’s largest industry bodies have said. In a joint report published today, the CBI and Energy UK called on the [...]
Grid delays force Starmer-backed AI data centre to seek alternative power July 13, 2026 One of the UK’s flagship AI infrastructure projects is being forced to source its own energy supplies after discovering it would not be granted grid connection in time for its eagerly anticipated opening. Nscale, the British AI unicorn backed by Nvidia, is now looking beyond conventional electricity connections for its flagship £2bn data centre in [...]
Europe has made a ‘major mistake’ on slow electrification, IEA chief warns July 11, 2026 The head of the International Energy Agency has warned Europe made a “major mistake” by failing to end its economy reliance on imported fossil fuels quickly enough since the 2022 energy crunch. Fatih Birol said Europe’s low electrification rate, electricity’s share of the energy consumed in the EU, of roughly 23 per cent is holding [...]