LONDON—Oil prices crept higher on Thursday as a lower-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories and a weaker demand outlook kept investors cautious. September Brent futures climbed 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, to$79.52 a barrel by 0929 GMT, while August U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 21 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $75.56 a barrel….

LONDON—World share markets shuffled sideways on Thursday as investors looked ahead to a clutch of key central bank meetings next week and disappointing earnings from Netflix and Tesla pushed Wall Street futures lower. There had been pockets of gains in Asia and in commodities markets overnight after China pledged some additional support for its economy…

Australia’s wholesale electricity and gas prices regained their growth momentum in the June quarter after a period of sharp decline. However, they were much lower than the extreme highs recorded a year ago as production capacity improved. According to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) latest wholesale markets report (pdf), the average spot prices in the…

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy proposed rules this week requiring car manufacturers to increase the sales of electric vehicles and would mandate a total ban of all gas-powered vehicles over the next 12 years. In a news release on Monday, the Democrat governor announced the Advanced Clean Cars II proposal was submitted to the state’s Office…

LONDON—Global oil benchmark Brent hovered above $80 on Wednesday, buoyed by China’s pledge to reinvigorate economic growth and expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates soon. Brent futures rose 38 cents at $80.01 a barrel by 0956 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 20 cents to $75.95 per…

LONDON, SYDNEY—Global stocks and government bonds rallied on Wednesday as good news on UK inflation added to a picture of cooling price pressures, although the data slammed the brakes on sterling’s recent winning streak. Headline British consumer price inflation fell to 7.9 percent year-on-year in June, against expectations for 8.2 percent, in the latest downside…

A new analysis has found that inflation and supply chain issues have caused significant increases in the cost of renewable energy projects in Australia, with cost pressures likely to remain till the end of this decade. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) have released a report…

LONDON—Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as investors weighed a possible tightening of U.S. crude supplies against weaker-than-expected Chinese economic growth. Both contracts fell more than 1.5 percent on Monday, following lacklustre Chinese data and the partial restart of some Libyan oilfields. Brent crude was up 51 cent at $79.01 a barrel by 0956 GMT,…

LONDON—World shares were steady near their recent 15-month highs and the dollar held close to a one-year low on Tuesday as investors paused to take stock of weak economic data from China and waited for U.S. retail sales data and earnings. Asian stocks fell earlier in the session as markets caught up with growth data…

Commentary The International Energy Agency (IEA) is again demonstrating its usefulness in creating whips for Western governments to flagellate themselves with. Last time, it was their Net-Zero report, which recommended building no new fossil-fuel-fired power stations. Ever. It was released the day before Australia approved a new gas-fired power station. This time, it is the…