Oil executives and analysts meeting in London on Monday said the industry was at a crossroads as it emerges out of a rout that sent crude prices tumbling from a record high of $150 in July 2008 to under $40 a barrel at the peak of the financial turmoil.
BP PLC chief economist Christof Ruehl said consolidation was likely in the refining sector after oil companies reported billion dollar losses at the end of last year amid falling demand.
“To put it bluntly and shortly, there will have to be some consolidation in the global refining industry,” Ruehl said at Londons annual - - - - >

GM light-vehicle sales fell 5.7 percent, worse than analysts estimates, after it trimmed deliveries to fleet customers and worked to wind down half of its 8 domestic brands. Ford sales soared 33 percent last month, and Toyota jumped 32 percent, the automakers said yesterday.
“People are still concerned about GMs future and purchasing a GM car may seem like more risk than a consumer wants to take,” said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “This is a company that is still recovering - - - - >

Four years later, the practice is costing them 18 times more than it earns and is helping to drive up auto premiums at the fastest rate on record.
British insurers offer customers involved in an accident that wasnt their fault a replacement car and free legal advice. In return for directing these customers to law firms and to car- rental firms such as Helphire Plc, the insurer typically receives from law firms and car rental firms a fee of up to 900 pounds. The aggressive pursuit of - - - - >

Peanut farmers who once feared $1 billion in losses are chalking up their good fortune to a bad economy that has more people reaching for peanut butter as a cheap lunch.
Agriculture Department numbers back up the theory. Peanuts processed for snacks - items such as sandwich crackers that were heavily recalled during the outbreak - were slightly down for the accounting year ending July 31. But peanuts used for peanut butter set an all-time record at 1.1 billion pounds, topping the previous years total by 100 million pounds.
That was enough to make the years overall peanut production the third-highest in - - - - >

A Medicare rate adjustment that cuts an estimated $16 billion in nursing home funding over the next 10 years was enacted at weeks end by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - on top of state-level cuts or flat-funding that already had the industry reeling.
And Congress is debating slashing billions more in Medicare funding as part of health care reform.
Add it all up, and the nursing home industry is headed for a crisis, industry officials say.
“We can foresee the possibility of nursing homes having to close their doors,” said David Hebert, a senior vice president at the American - - - - >

The index rose 2.9 points to 42.4 from July, according to a survey by the Australian Industry Group and Housing Industry Association released in Sydney today. July was the 18th consecutive monthly reading below 50, which shows the building industry is contracting.
Central bank Governor Glenn Stevens left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a half-century low of 3 percent last week for a fifth month, partly to spur the construction industry. A report on Sept. 9 may show home loans fell 1 percent in July, the - - - - >

On the surface, the WTO will decide a 5-year-old U.S. complaint that European governments unfairly financed Airbus climb to the No. 1 position. But the ruling may also signal how much other nations should be allowed subsidize their industries. Chinas aviation industry, for example, wants to compete with Boeing and Airbus for a share of the jetliner market, expected to be worth $3.2 trillion over the next 20 years.
The WTO decision isnt expected to have much immediate effect on Airbus and Boeing. A separate WTO ruling, on a claim against the U.S. from the 27-nation European Union, is expected in - - - - >

Scientists who ran clinical trials received the most, an average of $110,869, or more than a quarter of their total funding, according to the report in tomorrows Journal of the American Medical Association. Overall, 52 percent of researchers in medical science had relationships with industry, and 41 percent said industry contributed to their most important work.
The faculty who had shared data, expertise, or materials with industry were “substantially” more likely to have reported positive results in their trials than those who didnt receive money from drug - - - - >

Industry Minister Li Yizhong complained that “disorderly competition” has pushed up iron ore prices, caused a glut of production capacity and caused “serious losses.”
Chinas steel industry is the worlds largest but has failed to translate that into clout in negotiating iron ore prices. Beijing put a state-sanctioned group in charge of negotiating this years supply contracts but talks are deadlocked six weeks after the last agreements expired June 30.
“I believe China should have some say in the international trade of iron ore, and I believe our influence is not enough,” Li said at a news conference.
Li gave no update on - - - - >

A small plane collided with a New York City sightseeing helicopter carrying Italian tourists on Saturday around noon. The accident scattered debris in the water and forced people on the New Jersey waterfront to head for cover. Authorities believe all nine people aboard the two aircraft were killed.
The Department of Transportations inspector general sharply criticized the Federal Aviation Administration in the report for providing significantly weaker safety oversight of the “on-demand” flight industry - companies hired to fly aircraft, both helicopters and planes, that seat less than 30 people - than it does of the commercial airline industry.
National Transportation Safety - - - - >