In the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, the Japanese stock market plunged by twenty percent over two days, in the least talked about flash-crash in history, triggering margin calls and putting several brokers and investors out of business. What if anything was not as it seemed? “The Volatility Smirk” is a financial thriller inspired by those events and presents a unique conspiracy theory angle whilst encompassing a wide variety of topics from black swans to Mahayana Buddhism.

The question is whether the terms are attractive enough when nations are competing increasingly aggressively for investment from international oil companies (IOCs) and the potential demand destruction from the energy transition looms over the coming decades. The attractiveness of South Africa’s terms will have ramifications far beyond its borders.

BP profit was $19 million for the fourth quarter and $4.0 billion for the full year.

RusHydro Group announces 4Q and FY2019 operating results

Petronet will invest the money over a five-year period in Tellurian’s proposed $27.5 billion Driftwood LNG export project in Louisiana and the deal will give Petronet an equity stake in the project and rights for up to 5 million tonnes a year of LNG,

"The strength of Shell’s strategy and portfolio has enabled delivery of competitive cash flow performance in 2019 despite challenging macroeconomic conditions in refining and chemicals, as well as lower oil and gas prices. We generated $47 billion in cash flow from operating activities excluding working capital movements and distributed over $25 billion in dividends and share buybacks to our shareholders.

ExxonMobil Earns $14.3 Billion in 2019; $5.7 Billion in Fourth Quarter

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported a loss of $6.6 billion ($(3.51) per share - diluted) for fourth quarter 2019,

Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc announced today that it has formally closed on the sale of Shell’s Martinez Refinery in California to PBF Holding Company LLC (PBF), a subsidiary of PBF Energy, Inc., in exchange for $1.2 billion which includes the refinery and inventory.

CAPP forecasts overall spending for 2020 to rise to C$37 billion from C$35.1 billion. Conventional oil and gas spending is expected to reach C$25.4 billion, up C$1 billion, while spending in the oil sands may climb to C$11.6 billion from C$10.7 billion, CAPP said.

On January 22, 2020 the company completed the previous tranche of its share buyback programme. In aggregate between July 26, 2018 and January 22, 2020, the company repurchased 484,534,678 ordinary shares for an aggregate consideration of $14.75 billion (the ‘aggregate previous tranches’).

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1‑1/2 to 1-3/4 percent.

Kazakhstan’s recovery has continued, with growth in the first nine months of 2019 reaching 4.3 percent. High domestic demand driven by major oil and gas investments and government and household consumption supported by wage increases and consumer lending has underpinned the economy’s strong performance.

The U.S. government will spend $1 trillion more than it collects in 2020 and deficits will reach or exceed that threshold every year for the foreseeable future. As a share of gross domestic product, the deficit will be at least 4.3% every year through 2030.