Chinese steel executive held in Rio probe

Beijing has detained an executive of a large Chinese steel group in a probe that has already led to four employees of Rio Tinto being held

• When political conflict becomes a staff issue
• Rio employee held on suspicion of spying

Rio employee held on suspicion of spying

One of the four Rio Tinto executives arrested by China has been detained by the authorities on suspicion of espionage, it was revealed by the Australian foreign minister

Russians raid Sibir Energy subsidiary

Interior Ministry officers search the Moscow offices of companies belonging to the oil group for documents related to their activities as pressure rises on its main shareholder

GdF and Eon fined €1.1bn

European competition authorities have fined GdF and Eon a total of €1.1bn for an illegal agreement not to intrude on each other’s gas markets

NRG rejects sweetened bid from Exelon

NRG Energy, which has been fighting off the takeover advances of rival electricity supplier Exelon since last October, rejected a higher offer worth $7bn made by Exelon last week and said Exelon should be willing to pay more

Tullow decides on more west African drilling

The oil exploration group plans to drill more wells off the west coast of Africa in the second half of the year, to explore one of the world’s most promising regions for oil discoveries

Opec predicts slow oil demand recovery

Global demand for Opec crude oil will take five years to recover to pre-financial crisis levels and investment spending on new production capacity will be sharply lower as a result, the cartel said on Wednesday

Rio Tinto workers held in China

Australian government said mining group’s iron ore marketing chief in China had been detained on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets