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Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell Thursday said "strong" oil prices and rising output had helped the company to register a 16 per cent hike in its profits.

Britain's Gross Domestic Product contracted by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, pushing it into the first double-dip recession since the 1970s, but Prime Minister David Cameron has committed not to abandon his austerity plan.

Global ratings agency Standard Poor's Wednesday lowered its outlook on India to negative from stable, warning of a downgrade because of worsening fiscal deficit and diminishing growth prospects in a "weakened political setting".

State oil company Ecopetrol announced a new crude discovery at an exploratory well in Tisquirama, a block in northern Colombia that has been in commercial production for more than a half century.

Oil and gas giant Shell Tuesday said it will be buying Africa-focused Cove Energy for $1.8 billion in a bid to get access to East Africa's huge gas reserves and thus ending a month- long bidding war on the Mozambique-focused exploration group.

A strike Monday effectively halted work on Brazil's giant Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, a controversial project in the heart of Amazonia that has drawn bitter opposition from environmentalists and locals.

JERUSALEM A state-run Egyptian energy company decided to abruptly end gas supplies to Israel, leading to widespread concern. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an effort to stave off any diplomatic crisis, termed it as a "business dispute".

China's manufacturing activity may have picked up some momentum in April, according to a preliminary survey by HSBC released Monday, easing concerns about a possible slowdown of the second biggest economy of the world.

In a bid to enhance its presence in the infant food segment, Swiss food major Nestle has agreed to pay $11.85 billion to acquire Pfizer Nutrition, which has a strong presence in high-growth markets.

China's net foreign financial assets hit 1.77 trillion U.S. dollars as of the end of 2011, up from 1.68 trillion U.S. dollars one year earlier, the country's top foreign exchange regulator said Monday.