Energy & Environment

Asia's most externally vulnerable economies - India, Indonesia and the Philippines - have just taken a one-two punch.

Shares of smaller independent U.S. refiners with less complex facilities surged in the stock market in the first quarter as investors expect strong earnings growth thanks to a fall in price of their primary cost - light, sweet crude oil coming out of West Texas - to more than three year lows.

As OPEC's efforts to balance the oil market bear fruit, U.S. producers are reaping the benefits - and flooding Europe with a record amount of crude.

Many U.S. stocks cheapened up during the first quarter's choppy trading scene, relieving some concern investors had about lofty valuations.

Asian oil demand will hit a record in April just as global crude values are lifted to levels not seen in three years by Middle East supply risks and top exporter Saudi Arabia withholding output and noisily pushing for prices at $80 to $100 per barrel.

(In April 13 story, corrects paragraph 3 to show investment is $50 million, not 50 million euros)

Talks between Exxon Mobil and Iraq on a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure contract have reached an impasse, Iraqi officials and two industry sources said, in a potential setback to the oil major's ambitions to expand in the country.

Workers at a rural South Korean factory are busy extracting some of the world's most coveted metals, used in the batteries that power electric cars.

A pledge by Pakistan's ruling party to end electricity outages ahead of a general election in mid-2018 is being undermined by the possibility of further delays in new power plants that run on General Electric's flagship gas turbines.

The United Nations' shipping agency is under pressure this week to agree on a plan to cut carbon emissions from the sector, following years of slow progress, but the strategy could fall well short of what is required to limit global warming.