Australia’s Woodside Petroleum has begun producing LNG from its Pluto LNG Project near Karratha in Western Australia, the company announced today.

Woodside will soon be loading its first cargo aboard the Woodside Donaldson LNG tanker for shipment.

The project processes gas from the Pluto gas field, located in the Carnarvon Basin about 190 kilometres north-west of Karratha.

Ford Motor Company has reported 2012 first quarter pre-tax operating profit of $2.3 billion, and net income of $1.4 billion, led by a strong performance in North America.

The overall results are down from 2011 first quarter pre-tax operating profit of $2.8 billion, and net income of $2.6 billion, partly due to weaker economic conditions in Europe, and partly due to tax considerations and special charges, such as buyouts of hourly workers in the US in accordance with the 2011 UAW agreement.

Vancouver-based Methanex, the world’s largest supplier of methanol to major international markets, is to relocate one of its plants from Chile to Louisiana in the United States.

Methanex has four plants at its Cabo Negro complex in southern Chile, but they are operating significantly below capacity, mainly due to curtailments of natural gas supply from Argentina.

German car manufacturer Daimler has reported a steep rise in its quarterly profits, boosted by record sales of Mercedes-Benz cars.

The company’s net profit for the first quarter of the year increased by 20 per cent to €1.42 billion, with revenue rising nine per cent to €27 billion.

Royal Dutch Shell reported results for Q1 2012 today, with profits up through a combination of improvements in performance and volumes, as well as strong oil prices.

Shell’s first quarter 2012 earnings were $7.7 billion compared with $6.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago – an increase of 11 percent.

“We are making good progress against our targets to deliver a more competitive performance,” said chief executive officer Peter Voser.

Schneider Electric is in the business of improving energy efficiency; but rather than just telling others what to do, Jeff Daniels has discovered that Schneider has also shown the world what to do.

The world wouldn’t be quite as white as it is without an expanding titanium minerals mining operation in the wilds of Mozambique, as Alan Swaby learns from managing director Michael Carvill.

Raleigh, one of the UK’s best-known brands, has been sold to Netherlands-based Accell Group for €60 million.

Accell said the acquisition of Raleigh adds well-known global brands to its portfolio, further strengthening its position in North America and the UK in the markets for bicycles and bicycle parts & accessories.