Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries

Clustered along the US Gulf coast are some of the largest and most complex heavy-oil refineries in the world. These sprawling industrial hubs, owned by major US oil companies, stand ready to emerge as some of the major victors of Donald Trump’s swoop on Venezuela.In some ways, these refineries are a relic of another time; built to process the heavy, unctuous crude imported from Latin America before the boom in lighter US shale oil emerged earlier this century.Venezuelan oil is particularly dense and sticky. The high-sulphur crude more closely resembles a semi-solid tar than the far clearer liquids produced in US shale heartlands, making it more difficult to extract and process into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstock for the chemicals industry

Prax Lindsey oil refinery bought out of administration by US rival

The Prax Lindsey oil refinery in north Lincolnshire is to merge with a neighbouring former rival after the US energy company Phillips 66 bought the site, which collapsed into administration last summer.The US company plans to integrate the Prax operations with the nearby Humber refinery, which it already owns. It said it would not restart “standalone refinery operations” at the Lindsey site in North Killingholme as this was “not viable in [its] current form”.Prax Lindsey, in the Humber estuary, was one of only five refineries left in the UK when it collapsed in June with production stopping immediately.The refinery had been bought in 2021 by Winston Soosaipillai and his wife, Arani, in an attempt to build an energy empire

US energy stocks rise as Trump vows to unlock Venezuela’s oil

US energy stocks rose on Monday, briefly hitting an all-time high, after Donald Trump promised to unlock Venezuela’s vast crude oil reserves following the US capture of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.Shares in Chevron, which already operates in Venezuela under a special licence provided by the Trump administration, were up 5% on Wall Street. Exxon Mobil was up 2.2%, while Halliburton, which provides products and services to the oil and gas sector, jumped 7.8%

Aldi reports record Christmas sales after shoppers moved to cut festive grocery bills

Aldi has reported record Christmas sales as cost-conscious shoppers aimed to cut their festive grocery spending.The UK arm of the German discounter said sales rose by 3% year-on-year in the four weeks to 24 December to £1.65bn, with a 5% surge of £500m in the final week.The retailer did not provide comparable sales figures for outlets open at least a year, the industry standard reporting measure. Aldi opened 40 stores last year and now has 1,081, with a long-term goal of 1,500 outlets in the UK

HSBC becomes first big UK lender to cut its mortgage rates in 2026

HSBC has become the first major lender to cut mortgage rates this year, a move that could spark a price war over the coming months.The banking group, which is one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders, has cut rates across a range of residential and landlord buy-to-let mortgage products. The new rates come into effect on Monday.The move follows a reduction in the Bank of England base rate in December to 3.75%

Battery electric cars will overtake diesels in Great Britain by 2030, analysis suggests

Battery electric cars are poised to overtake diesels on Great Britain’s roads by 2030, according to analysis that suggests London will be the first UK city to go diesel-free.The number of diesel cars on Great Britain’s roads in June had fallen to 9.9m in June last year, 21% below its peak of 12.4m vehicles, according to analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank focused on the transition to electric cars. Electric car sales are still growing rapidly, albeit more slowly than manufacturers had expected