Energy

UK oil explorer Regal Petroleum has backed an improved takeover bid from Energees Investments, which came on the back of a rival bid from a Ukrainian billionaire.

The offer from Energees values its proposed 70 per cent stake in Ukraine-focused Regal at around £85 million.

Energees is the main holding company of Ukraine's Smart Holding Group.

The revised offer comes following a rival proposal from Cyprus-based Heamoor and oil explorer Geo-Alliance. Both Heamoor and Geo-Alliance are controlled by the Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk.

Dutch oil giant Shell has reported profits of $18.6 billion (£11.5 billion) for 2010, on the back of increased production and rising oil prices.

Profits were nearly double that of last year, with earnings in the final quarter soaring by almost 400 per cent to $5.7 billion.

Commenting, Shell’s CEO Peter Voser said: “Our 2010 earnings increased substantially from 2009 levels, driven by improving industry fundamentals, and Shell’s production growth and cost performance.”

Aker Solutions has completed the sale of the principal operations of its Process and Construction business area to Jacobs Engineering Group, one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of technical, professional and construction services.

Aker Solutions, a global oil services company providing engineering and construction services, technologies, product solutions and field-life solutions for the upstream oil and gas industry, intends to concentrate its future strategic efforts on its core oil and gas business.

Employment in the UK’s wind power industry has surged 91 per cent in just three years, according to a report commissioned by trade body RenewableUK.

Figures in today’s report show a 91 per cent increase in full-time employment in the sector between 2007/8 and 2009/10.

The study was jointly commissioned by RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skills—the Sector Skills Council for the power sector—from Warwick University’s Institute for Employment Research (IER) and Cambridge Econometrics.

Iceland has little in the way of natural resources with the exception of clean energy, which it is putting to good use to boost the economy, as Alan Swaby discovers.

Gianni Porta, operations directorfor Sub-Saharan Africa at civil engineering construction firm Impregilo S.p.a., talks to Jane Bordenave about the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme.

Maintaining growth at a manageable rate is hard enough, without the added complications of red tape when that growth is cross-border. Wayne Hartmann gives Andrew Pelis an insight into the strategy behind an ambitious international expansion programme.

City Power Johannesburg (Pty) Ltd is realising its vision to become a world class electricity distributor. Jayne Alverca reports.

City Power Johannesburg (Pty) Ltd is a municipal-owned enterprise which was created in 2000 as the best way to meet the city’s current and projected electricity needs. In keeping with Johannesburg’s intention to become a world class African city, the vision of City Power is to perform as a world class electricity distributor.

The Bujagali Hydropower Project in Uganda will not just provide a reliable source of clean energy for the Uganda grid, but will also spur employment opportunities in the future.

DCNS, a French naval submarine and nuclear technology group, has paid €14 million for a stake in the Irish tidal energy developer OpenHydro.

Paris-based DCNS, a state-owned specialist in naval defence and nuclear energy systems, is taking an eight per cent stake in OpenHydro for €14 million, valuing the Irish company at €175 million.