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Fresh setback for ailing North Sea as licence fees soar: The Oil and Gas Authority is considering a dramatic increase to North Sea licence fees — up to 28 times current rates, in some cases — that explorers say will hurt investment in the industry.

Ceona sinks after oil price fall hits fleet: Fresh job losses are expected in the North Sea oil industry after the collapse of an operator of oil exploration vessels and deepwater equipment backed by Goldman Sachs.

Pressure is building as construction slows down: Activity in the construction sector slumped in July, increasing fears sparked by a disappointing performance in manufacturing that the economy got off to a bad start in the third quarter of the year

OPEC set to win battle against U.S. shale oil: Saudi Arabia gained the whip hand in its battle against America’s shale industry as new figures showed oil production by non-OPEC members is set to crash next year by the largest amount in 24 years.

Brent oil prices dropped last week, after the EIA reported that the US crude oil stockpiles advanced by 2.6 million barrels in the week ended 04 September. Meanwhile, the government agency cut the price forecast for the commodity in 2015 and 2016. Brent crude oil prices fell 3.0% to $48.14/barrel

Full-year pre-tax profits fell 2% to £77.8m at pub group JD Wetherspoon as the company continued to battle competition from supermarkets and restaurant groups. Revenues were up 7.4% to £1.5bn in the year to 26 July 2015 while like-for-like sales rose 3.3%. Chairman Tim Martin said like-for-like sales in the six weeks to 6 September 2015 were up 1.4%, with total sales increasing by 5.2%."We continue to anticipate a trading performance similar to, or slightly above, that achieved in the last financial year."

Wm Morrison: back to the future: For years, the grocers have been saying that people want to shop at convenience stores; Morrisons has just sold 140 convenience stores for £25 million (incurring a £30 million loss). For years, the internet has been one of the fastest growing areas of food retailing; Morrisons devoted just four lines to the internet in Thursday’s results. For years, it has seemed like the glory days of the standard, midsized superstore were in the past; Morrisons’ strategy puts such stores front and centre. Between 2009 and 2012 it was making twice that. Mr Potts’ plan is hardly rocket science: keep prices low, refresh the stores and tailor them to local tastes, offer additional on-site services and cut back management layers. He also plans to close 11 more stores (on top of 10 already shut this year), taking capacity out of an oversupplied sector. And yet if Mr Potts’ back to basics revamp is to work, he needs customers to play ball. The grocers diversified for a reason: customers wanted something else. Mr Potts is betting that the British public will decide that they do, after all, want to spend an hour or so every week pushing a trolley down the endless aisles of the modern supermarket. That, perhaps, is the most counterintuitive thing of all.

Bank cuts oil price forecast but says Cairn Energy well placed: An investment bank has cut its forecasts for the oil price sharply highlighting the massive oversupply of crude in the market but said Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy had the potential to achieve significant success through its exploration work

Shell exits Prince’s climate group in row over Arctic oil: Shell has left the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group after a row over its programme to drill for oil in the Arctic

Saudi Arabia shuns plan for emergency oil price summit: Plans to hold an emergency summit of world leaders to discuss the collapse in oil prices have been torpedoed by Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Opec cartel of oil exporters

UK Halifax house price index advanced more than expected in August On a MoM basis, the Halifax house price index recorded a rise of 2.70% in August, in the UK, higher than market expectations for a rise of 0.50%. The Halifax house price index had registered a revised drop of 0.40% in the previous month. UK Halifax house price index rose more than expected in the June-August 2015 period In the June-August 2015 period, the Halifax house price index registered a rise of 9.00% in the UK on a YoY basis, higher than market expectations for a rise of 7.90%. In the May-July 2015 period, the Halifax house price index had advanced by a revised 7.80%.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.33% or $0.16 lower at $48.73 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract climbed 2.75% or $1.31, to settle at $48.89 per barrel, after the EIA reported that the US crude production declined by 83,000 barrels per day in the last week to settle at 9.1 million barrels a day.

Housebuilding giant highlights strong demand for homes in Scotland: Barratt Developments has said Scotland remains a key market amid strong demand for new homes within commuting distance of cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen

U.K. house prices will end year 6% higher, say surveyors: House prices in the U.K. will end the year 6% higher than they started it, a group of surveyors has predicted

Anglo American: shrink wrap: Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani has spent much of the summer getting rid of things. He should not stop with the small scale disposals of non-core assets. Anglo announced on Wednesday its third sale since July. This time South African miner Sibanye Gold has agreed to acquire Anglo’s three high-cost platinum mines at Rustenberg for about $330 million. Sibanye will pay only a third of that up front, in shares and cash. The rest will come over six years from Rustenberg’s free cash flow. But these disposals distract attention from a more critical issue: the dividend. Anglo is generous — its shares yield 8%. Too generous. The dividend has cost $1 billion per year for the past couple of years. Analysts’ estimates for this year suggest Anglo’s free cash flow will not even cover that. Proceeds from disposals will help to limit the damage that the gap will cause to the balance sheet, but Anglo cannot shrink forever to pay shareholders. The market may not mind if the dividend goes. When the miner suspended its dividend back in 2009, there was no obvious ill effect. Indeed, Anglo’s shares handily outperformed its peers that year

Saudi oil maintains Asian market share: Saudi Arabia maintained its market share among Asian oil importers in the first half of this year but threats to its long-term standing loom, according to the U.S. energy department.

Northern Ireland leads the way as house prices soar: House prices have risen at their fastest pace in more than a year, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which has doubled its forecast for growth this year

UK house price balance advanced in August In August, house price balance in the UK advanced to 53.00, compared to market expectations of an advance to a level of 46.00. In the previous month, house price balance had recorded a level of 44.00.

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 1.39% or $0.66 lower at $46.92 per barrel. Yesterday, the contract declined 3.92% or $1.94, to settle at its lowest level since 27 August at $47.58 per barrel, as a glut in oil supplies prompted the EIA to reduce its forecast for oil prices for 2015 and 2016. The EIA has further trimmed the projected demand for oil in 2015 and next year in its monthly report. Moreover, the API reported that US crude stockpiles advanced by 2.1 million barrels last week

Barratt Developments reported a 44.8% increase in full-year pre-tax profits to £565.5m, in line with guidance published by the housebuilder in July, on revenue up 19% to £3.7bn. Chief executive David Thomas said the new financial year had started "very well", with a strong forward sales position and "very good progress" being made towards our full-year 2017 targets.