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Tuesday newspaper round-up: BP, Scottish energy, Coryton
Tue, 22 May, 2012
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Tuesday newspaper round-up: BP, Scottish energy, Coryton
Tue, 24 Jan 2012, 07:12:00
British and European Union officials are working to persuade the US Congress to exempt a
BP
project from new American sanctions aimed at stopping Iran's nuclear programme. The $20bn project in the Caspian Sea, called Shah Deniz II, is intended to reduce European dependence on Russian gas. It is being undertaken by an international consortium headed by the British oil giant. But the Iranian state-owned oil company, Naftiran Intertrade, also holds a 10% stake in the venture, putting it within reach of proposed new sanctions aimed at preventing Western companies from doing business with Iran's energy sector. The project underlines the difficulties Western governments are facing as they try to isolate Tehran without harming their own energy security, The Times says. Billionaire investor
Warren Buffet
has pledged to donate a chunk of his riches to pay down the US national debt - provided that a minority of its politicians do the same. The so-called Sage of Omaha said he would donate 15% of his income to the government, provided that 10% of Congress agreed to do so too. The comments from Mr Buffett, the 81-year-old chairman and chief executive officer of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, mark the latest step in his campaign for America's rich to pay more taxes to help close its trillion-dollar budget deficit. "If you can get a significant percentage of Congress to do that, I would do it," he said. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Mr Buffett said people who are making millions of dollars should be moved up to the "mid 30s" in terms of the percentage of their income they pay in tax, as most Americans do, The Telegraph writes. A £7bn plan to rewire the
Scottish electricity grid
so that power from its wind farms can be transmitted to England has been approved. ScottishPower and Scottish and Southern Energy will upgrade hundreds of kilometres of lines over the next ten years, creating more than 1,500 jobs. Ofgem is keen that the work be carried out and has taken the unusual step of speeding up the consultation process, but the plan, to be funded by consumers, is likely to meet resistance north of the Border because of fears that it will lead to more pylons, according to The Times. Chief executives'
pay awards
should be set partly according to how much they pay their rank-and-file staff under new government rules proposed yesterday. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said that shareholders would get new powers to enforce executives' pay deals, and that they would be told to take account of "pay differentials" between the best-paid and ordinary workers. Independent analysts said the changes would leave Britain with the toughest rules on executive pay in the world. Conservative MPs described Mr Cable's statement as "claptrap" that would harm the economy, The Telegraph reports. One of the main oil refineries to London and the South East has been closed by its Swiss owner, raising the prospect of fuel shortages on the capital's forecourts. Fuel sales from the
Coryton refinery
in Essex were stopped on Monday with "immediate effect" by Petroplus as the company's shares were suspended from trading on the Swiss market because of a dispute with creditors. In an email seen by The Daily Telegraph, Petroplus told clients all oil sales from Coryton were "suspended until further notice" and that it was "unsure when supplies will be recommenced". Coryton is a leading supplier of fuel to London and the South East, processing 220,000 barrels of crude a day and the indefinite closure of the refinery threatens major disruption to the region's petrol stations. The
Conservatives
have forged a five-point lead over Labour, according to the latest Guardian/ICM poll, suggesting David Cameron would stand on the verge of an outright majority if an election were held now. The Tories are on 40%, up three percentage points from December, while Labour has drifted down one to 35%. The Liberal Democrats are on 16%, up one. The Tories' standing is their highest since before the general election inthe Guardian/ICM series - they last stood at 40% in March 2010. Their lead is the biggest since the eight-point edge they enjoyed in June 2010, a few weeks after Cameron moved into Downing Street. Talks to restructure
Greece's
debt hit a new impasse after Eurozone finance ministers rejected an offer from private bondholders because the cost of sweeteners on new Greek bonds were too high. Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurozone finance ministers' group, last night confirmed that the group wants a rate below 4% and insisted that rates must be on average 3.5% or below until 2020. Eurozone officials have insisted that there are no plans to increase the €130bn of official financing for Greece under a second bailout package agreed in October, The Telegraph says. AB
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