oil

BP has reached agreements with 100,000 individual plaintiffs to resolve claims from the 2010 oil spill - costing the company $7.8bn.

Commodity prices could rise by as much as 20% in the second half of 2012 while forecasts for falls in mining stocks are overdone, according to Credit Suisse.

OIL

Oil prices edged back slightly from a three-week high on hints the world's largest oil producer is poised to boost output.

RISING OIL PRICES

Jenny Cosgrave talks to a trio of wealth managers about their outlook for the commodities sector and finds out which strategies stand out from the crowd

Geopolitical events may cause aggressive short-term moves in the oil price but there is still room for optimism, writes Tom Nelson, co-manager of the £206.3m Guinness Global Energy fund

Increasing tensions between the West and Iran have helped push Brent crude to an eight-month high of $121 a barrel, leaving many concerned over the longer-term impact.

The price of Brent crude hit a six-month high last night amid fears Iran had halted exports to Europe.

UK oil leviathan BP today announced its first dividend hike since it resumed payouts a year ago, after revealing profits had soared in the fourth quarter of 2011.