Sorry, the UK has just run out of money to produce oil and gas| Banking Direct

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Sorry, the UK has just run out of money to produce oil and gas

In the erratic financial atmosphere that we are living through, nothing should surprise us anymore. However the news that the UK’s oil and gas production from the North Sea is in jeopardy should be enough to wipe the file from the face of even the most diehard optimist. And why is this about to happen? Because the government has spent all of its money bailing out banks, insurance companies and building societies and had little money left to finance continued exploration. If a major scources of finance does not become available and soon, the unbelievable facts are one of the western worlds most important deposits will not be capable of realizing its total potential. .

Oil discovery experts now claim that the number of exploration wells being drilled in the North Sea has fallen by a staggering 78 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison to the same period in 2008.

The news that British Telecom is to consider cutting several thousand jobs as part of their cost reduction program for the financial year 2009/2010 continues to hang in the air. The cuts will come in addition to the 10,000 jobs cuts that BT arrived at in their last financial year, and comes in the light of further profit warnings issued by the company.

Another tarnished communications giant, International Business Machines or IBM as we all know and love them have announced that they will also be lying off thousands of staff in locations across the globe, including the UK. The company intends to transfer jobs to Eastern Europe, China, India and South America. Indian employees at IBM reputedly earn about 10 percent of the amount paid to U.S. employees performing similar tasks.

After the long holiday weekend, the FTSE index is expected to open with a rise, on the optimistic news that Goldman Sachs posted a much higher first-quarter profit than expected.

Before the Easter holiday the FTSE100 closed up 1.5 percent (58.19 points at 3,983.71) on Thursday, with the FTSE 250 closing at 6,978.65

At close of trade on Thursday, sterling had risen slightly against the dollar and the Euro and held its price against the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc:

Pound/US dollar 1.4867
Pound/Euro 1.1181
Pound/Japanese Yen 148.05
Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6941

Wall Street was open for trade yesterday and enjoyed a mediocre day.

The Dow Jones Average dropped 25.5 to close at 8057.81. Nasdaq did better, even rising 0.77 of a point to 1653.31

It was obvious on trading that the market was looking for some kind of a pick-me-up, with none forthcoming. Investors were unsettled by the news that filing from General Motors were considering filing bankruptcy. All in all Wall Street is facing a crucial week for corporate earnings and economic data, with some of its biggest names scheduled to unveil quarterly results, among them JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup from the banking sector; Intel, Google and Nokia from the hi-tech sector and industrial giants Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and Mattel. The hope is that the tone has been set by Goldman Sachs' who beat all first-quarter forecasts, in a sign a further sign that the worst may be over for financial firms.

In the meantime AIG confirmed that its financial products unit, whose soured bets on credit default swaps forced the company into government hands last year, has failed to sign up for the overhaul of the global derivatives market which was given added impetus by the troubles at the US insurance group.

Growing optimism in Asia is evidenced by the news that Chinese stocks have climbed to their highest levels for nearly eight months as data showing a record surge in bank lending and money supply last month fuelled hopes of an early economic recovery in the country.

On Monday, the Shanghai Composite index rose 2.8 per cent to 2,513.48

On early trading Tuesday some Asian stocks fell backwards as disappointing profit reports at Qantas and Sumitomo Realty were announced.

The Nikkei was down -1.61% (143.45 points to 8,780.98) whiles the Hang Seng rose by 1.75% (260.37 points to 15,161.78)