oil

Royal Dutch Shell and BP are under investigation for colluding to rig oil prices for more than a decade.

BP will pay a record criminal penalty in the US as part of the settlement for the Deepwater Horizon disaster after a Louisiana court approved the charge.

Oil company EnQuest has launched a 5.5 per cent retail bond, maturing in 2022.

After a stronger-than-expected quarter, BP has said it will raise its dividend by 12.5 per cent to nine US cents (5p), making it the most-bought stock by the users of Interactive Investor, our sister website, on Tuesday.

A number of oil giants will stride on to the reporting scene in the coming five days, with BP and Shell among them.

Oil and gas firms operating in the North Sea will be guaranteed tax relief for the costs of retiring old rigs and platforms, and be given new field allowance totalling £3 billion for large and deep fields to open up west of Shetland.

Oil giant BP has announced a 14 per cent rise in its quarterly dividend as it published its 2011 final results.

Both oil and gold rallied strongly on Thursday 28 January after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the rate-setting body of the US Federal Reserve Board, said it expected low interest rates to be kept in place until late 2014.