Shell to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resources for $16.4bn

Shell has agreed to buy Canadian shale producer ARC Resources for $16.4bn, five years after Europe’s biggest gas and oil producer sold its US shale business.The deal, which includes $13.6bn in cash and shares and taking on ARC’s $2.8bn debt, would be Shell’s biggest acquisition since it bought BG Group a decade ago

Goldman raises oil price forecasts as Iran war deadlock continues; Shell buying Canada’s ARC in $13.6bn deal – as it happened

The deadlock in the Middle East confict has prompted Goldman Sachs to raise its oil price forecast.Goldman Sachs now estimate that Brent crude will trade at about $90 a barrrel in the last quarter of this year, up from an earlier projection of $80. US crude is forecast to average $83 in October-December, up from $75 before.Goldman blames “lower Persian Gulf production” for the upgrade, telling clients:double quotation markWe now assume a normalisation in Gulf exports by end-June (v mid-May prior) and a slower Gulf production recovery. The economic risks are larger than our crude base case alone suggests because of the net upside risks to oil prices, unusually high refined product prices, products shortages risks, and the unprecedented scale of the shock

Musk and Altman’s bitter feud over OpenAI to be laid bare in court

The bitter rivalry between two of the tech world’s most powerful men arrives in court this week, as Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI heads to trial in Oakland, California. The case is set to feature some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, and its outcome could affect the course of the AI boom.Musk’s suit, filed in 2024, focuses on the formative years of OpenAI when he, Altman and others co-founded the artificial intelligence company as a nonprofit with a grand purpose.“OpenAI is a non-profit artificial intelligence research company. Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return,” reads the company’s mission statement, published in late 2015

UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres

One vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower.The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers.The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) thinks AI datacentres will consume 6GW of electricity by 2030. The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) appears to think they will use less than a tenth of that

Higgins ends O’Sullivan’s attempt for eighth world snooker title as Selby blasts ‘horrific’ conditions

Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted he got what he deserved after seeing his attempt for a record-breaking eighth Crucible crown shattered by a stunning comeback from John Higgins while Marc Selby branded the playing surface “horrific” after a 13-11 defeat by China’s Wu Yize.O’Sullivan twice led by five frames but lost six in a row across the final two sessions, and Higgins fired three centuries on Monday before holding his nerve to get over the line in the decider and complete a memorable 13-12 win to make the quarter-finals.Four-time champion Selby drew on his years of experience to push 22-year-old Wu all the way but expressed his frustration afterwards, saying: “I felt like the conditions were the worst I’ve experienced here at the world championship, for sure.”O’Sullivan shrugged off his loss and revealed he had booked a flight back to his base in Ireland for Monday morning having been so convinced before their high-profile showdown that he was set to lose the match with a session to spare.“I’ve got to be honest with you, I had a flight booked home early this morning because I wasn’t sure if I’d get to the third session before the match started,” said O’Sullivan, who has played sporadically on the circuit this season

‘I can run 1:58’: Sabastian Sawe sets new target after historic London Marathon win

Sabastian Sawe believes it is only a matter of time before he runs a ­marathon in one hour and 58 ­minutes after his superb sub-two hour ­performance in London on Sunday.Sawe ran 1hr 59min 30sec to break the world record by 65sec and the 31-year-old Kenyan confirmed that he plans to race again in the autumn, although he has not decided where.It will probably be in Berlin, which is a faster course than ­London, in September. When Sawe was asked whether he agreed with his coach, Claudio Berardelli, that 1:58 was possible in his next race, he smiled. “It’s only a matter of time