Get ready for higher bills as energy costs are forecast to climb by 30 per cent October 7, 2021 Analysts warned this morning that millions of Brits will face energy bill hikes of around 30 per cent. Research agency Cornwall Insight has predicted further volatile gas prices and the potential collapse of even more suppliers could push the energy price cap to about £1,660 in summer. The forecast is approximately 30% higher than the [...]
Bulb keeping options open amid rising prices and takeover speculation October 4, 2021 Green energy firm Bulb are keeping their options open as speculation increases that it could soon become a takeover target. Ovo Energy are the latest believed to be sniffing around Bulb, which serves some 1.5m customers. Octopus Energy were also rumoured to be weighing up a bid. The Sunday Telegraph first reported Ovo’s interest. Bulb [...]
Public opinion and hungry investors push more farmers to convert land as number of solar farms swells to 2,500 October 4, 2021 The number of solar farms in the UK increased 12 per cent last year, from 2,250 in 2019/20 to 2,510 last year, according to new data shared with Morning Wire today. This growth is coming from farmers who are increasingly using their land to erect solar farms. Converting this land to be used as solar [...]
UCL professor resigns from Science Museum board over oil and gas cash October 4, 2021 Professor of Climate Science Chris Rapley CBE resigned this weekend from the Science Museum’s Advisory Board over the issue of fossil fuel sponsorship and the museum’s willingness to accept money from major oil and gas companies, including Shell. Rapley, who is currently Professor of Climate Science at UCL, has long-standing ties with the Science Museum, [...]
Fuel crisis: City traders circle BP and Shell as they take positions for more price hikes October 4, 2021 Investors are not banking on a swift resolution to the UK fuel crisis against a backdrop of continuing queues on forecourts and the Army being put on standby to help with deliveries, according to data shared with Morning Wire this morning. Analysis of investor movements with regards to BP, Royal Shell and Glencore shows that [...]
Going for gold (and copper): Great Southern Copper plots £3.5m London IPO October 4, 2021 Copper-gold exploration company Great Southern Copper (GSC) has told Morning Wire it is targeting a listing on London’s main market in the coming weeks, as it capitalises on copper’s central role in the growing electric vehicle (EV) market. GSC, which focuses on tier-one assets in the largest copper producer in the world, Chile, is seeking [...]
City corruption: Company of Tory donor Ayman Asfari paid tens of millions in bribes across Middle East October 3, 2021 A company whose biggest shareholder is a major Tory donor did not stop its employees from paying out more than £32m in bribes in order to secure a range of contracts across the Middle East. Petrofac, one of the world’s largest service providers to oil and gas producers, won business worth £2.7bn in Iraq, Saudi [...]
Petrol bosses warn fuel shortage is ‘getting worse’ in London and south-east October 2, 2021 Fuel shortages are getting worse rather than improving, especially in London and the south-east of England, the chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has warned. Brian Madderson said it remains a “really big problem” in this part of the UK, and told the BBC’s Today programme: “In London and the South East and possibly [...]
Record high: Energy bills for 15m UK households to increase by at least £139 October 1, 2021 As suppliers grapple with soaring wholesale prices, energy bills for around 15m UK households will increase by at least £139 to a record high from today under Ofgem’s latest price cap. The regulator decided in August that energy customers on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see the sharpest jump in prices since the [...]
Analysis: What the fuel crisis is all about and what may happen next September 30, 2021 Despite the government urging people to stop “panic-buying” petrol and return to their normal pattern of purchasing, pumps have run dry in some forecourts. Here Morning Wire helps you to understand what is happening and who is involved. So who are the biggest players? The UK’s biggest operator is the Motor Fuel Group. Other companies [...]