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UK housing crisis: brick stocks hit record low: Brick stocks in the UK have reached the lowest level on record as merger mania grips the sector. Stockpiles of the vital building blocks dipped to 323m at the end of October, down almost a third from 500m in 2012, after stocks of more than 1bn were recorded in 2009, according to monthly reports from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, and the Office for National Statistics.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.64% or $0.38 higher at $59.83 per barrel, as increasing tensions in Libya led to supply concerns from the nation. On Friday, the contract declined 1.31% or $0.79, to settle at $59.45 per barrel, amid continued concerns about the glut in the oil market. Moreover, the commodity was further pressurised after the Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories advanced 7.2 million barrels in the week ended December 19, the most in two months.

Shell Andrew Critchlow With oil prices slumping 45pc in the last six months and most experts predicting further falls ahead, few investors are willing to dip their toes in the energy space in 2015. But in a sector that is expected to see consolidation, job losses and capital expenditure cuts over the next 12 months, Royal Dutch Shell stands out as potentially good value. Despite the convulsions caused by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in global energy markets, shares in the UK’s largest oil and gas company will close the year more-or-less where they kicked off in January, at around £22.81. The British oil major has perhaps the best portfolio of any of its major rivals to weather the current storm in oil prices. Shell controls 10pc of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, equal to about 26m tons per year of the fuel. In addition it has a further 7.5m tons per year of LNG capacity in the pipeline. The company’s focus on gas provides it with a significant revenue cushion should oil prices fall further. Although Standard & Poor’s recently downgraded its outlook on Shell along with other European oil majors to negative, the Anglo-Dutch company remains the best bet for investors in the energy sector in 2015.

Opec: Oil blaze in Libya could stem plunge in prices A prolonged outage from Libya could drive oil prices back above $60 per barrel

How downturn in oil price could benefit Scotland’s offshore sector: The 45% collapse in oil prices to a five-year low of $60 per barrel in just six months led to a barrage of warnings earlier this month from industry groups and trade unions that Scotland’s offshore oil and gas ­industry is “close to collapse” and that up to 35,000 jobs could be lost.

Greenwich leads market with house prices up by quarter in 2014: The London borough of Greenwich tops a list of towns and cities recording the largest increase in house prices in 2014, according to the U.K.’s largest mortgage lender.

Greenwich leads market with house prices up by quarter in 2014: The London borough of Greenwich tops a list of towns and cities recording the largest increase in house prices in 2014, according to the U.K.’s largest mortgage lender.

Londoners miss out as homes built as ‘safe deposit boxes’ for foreign buyers: The control of plans for tens of thousands of new homes in London is now in the hands of foreign investors who are increasing their grip on the capital’s prime property assets, figures obtained by the Guardian have revealed.

Credit card insurer CPP plans £20 million rescue fundraising: CPP Group has told investors to accept a new £20 million rescue fundraising, warning that without exisiting shareholder support the troubled credit card insurer could close.

Oil majors’ finances strained by price slump: The sudden fall in the price of crude oil, from $120 to just $60 a barrel in six months, is the biggest economic shock of 2014 and the fallout is expected to be profound and long-lasting, especially for the oil majors.

Russia’s crisis has no end in sight as $50 oil looms, says OECD: Russia is moving towards autarky in the face of falling oil prices and tensions with the West that have left no end in sight for the country’s economic woes, says OECD Chief Economist.

Oil prices declined this past week, after Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister reiterated OPEC’s policy of not cutting oil production even if prices dropped to $20 per barrel. Moreover, Iraq’s Oil Minister announced that they were planning to raise their oil output next year, pressurising the commodity further. Meanwhile, encouraging comments by OPEC producers, expecting oil prices to rebound to $70 to $80 per barrel by the end of next year, helped to cap losses. Separately, the API and the EIA, both reported that US crude oil stockpiles increased in the last week. Brent crude oil prices fell 3.1% to $59.45/barrel.

Scottish rents hit record high Returns for landlords rise to 8.4% per year

Oil price extends fall as US crude stockpiles swell

U.K. home sales fall below 100,000 for first time in a year: The number of homes sold in the U.K. fell below 100,000 in November for the first time in a year, Government figures have shown.

Russia faces oil export catastrophe, snared in Opec price trap: Russia's crude exports to drop to $95 billion over next 12 months as Saudi Arabia and Opec take aim with oil price weapon.

Opec: the year of cartelling dangerously: The group kept production unchanged at 30 million barrels a day at its November meeting. Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, says Saudi Arabia and other big players would rather expand market share than cut output and maintain prices. He has even raised the idea of $20 oil. He talks a good game. Saudi production costs, by some estimates, are below $10 a barrel so the kingdom can make money even at very low prices. Yes, oil at that level causes problems for the budget. But, unlike rivals, it would have no problem borrowing to make up for lost revenues. Elsewhere, low oil prices are far more painful. Oil majors have planned developments in tricky places, such as the deep waters of Gulf of Mexico. They will not go ahead at low prices. Barclays already estimates $12 billion of capital spending cuts by 25 North American oil companies alone next year. That hurts the producers, and the services companies that work for them. Pain has also spread to the export earnings of countries that essentially increased debt under the cover of high oil prices — both inside (Venezuela) and outside (Russia) Opec. They may clamour for Opec to cut in time. So it becomes a question of how long Saudi Arabia can resist peer pressure.

Commodity chorus in the bleak midwinter: The year may be skidding to a painful end for the world’s oil majors and mining giants — and their investors — but there is little sign of relief on the horizon.

At 0430GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.73% or $0.45 lower at $61.24 per barrel ahead of the Energy Information Administration weekly oil stockpiles data to be released later today. Yesterday, the contract climbed 2.63% or $1.58, to settle at $61.69 per barrel, as upbeat US GDP data during the third quarter increased demand expectations. Moreover, optimistic comments by OPEC producer, projecting oil prices to bounce back to around $70 to $80 per barrel by the end of next year boosted the commodity further. Separately, the American Petroleum Institute reported that US oil inventories advanced 5.4 million barrels last week.

Record number of rich Russians head to UK Granting of investor visas up 69% this year as Moscow economic woes worsen