Between the Broadsheets

In its first annual report since the merger between Gaz de Fance and Suez in July 2008, giant energy group GDF Suez posted a 6.5 billion net profit. - France24

Oil may rise 35 percent to $60 a barrel should OPEC agree to cut production this month, according to BlueGold Capital Management LLP, the London hedge fund that returned 31 percent this year on energy trades. - Bloomberg

Wall Street is trading at its lowest level in more than a decade, some American automakers are on the verge of bankruptcy and the government is bailing out the nation’s biggest banks.
But in these troubled economic times, one big company is bucking the trend.
Exxon Mobil put on a show of strength on Thursday, pledging to increase investments in coming years, chiding rivals for mistimed acquisitions and reminding everyone it had the financial strength to make headway even as other companies pulled back. - The New York Times

U.K. companies can create 400,000 new jobs in the next eight years by cleaning up the environment and curbing pollution, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
Brown, hosting a summit of leaders from the Group of 20 nations in April, says the world should tighten financial regulations and encourage environmental technologies to bolster the economy and save the planet from climate change. - Bloomberg

Britain has barely four days of gas in storage left, new figures showed last night, sparking warnings that the country is at risk of "interruptions to supply." The Tories released figures from the National Grid showing that the UK now only holds enough gas to meet 4.1 days of demand.
Gas reserves are usually at their lowest at the end of winter, but the current holdings are less than half the size of the 9 days of reserves held two years ago, and down from the 4.3 days in storage last year.
The Tories said the figures were a cause for concern. Ministers accused the opposition of scaremongering. - The Daily Telegraph