Shares in BP gushed by more than 4% after the oil giant surprised investors with a slight increase in its dividend, bucking the trend in what has otherwise been a bleak earnings season for big oil.

Greenwashed rhetoric is such a staple of the oil industry that it’s easy to assume every energy executive talking about climate and the transition to a zero-carbon economy is just mouthing words.

If it's a climate emergency for slow learners then Leo is the slowest in the class.

The chief proponent of a ban on oil and gas drilling in Irish waters has threatened the possibility of a legal challenge against the State in order to resurrect the proposed legislation which has been blocked by the Government.

Royal Dutch Shell reported a small drop in first quarter profit to $5.4bn (€4.8bn), but still easily beat forecasts, helped by stronger trading and liquefied natural gas earnings.

US stocks bobbed higher today as technology and consumer-focused companies regained a sliver of their losses from the day before.

US stocks slumped on Friday, dragging down the Dow Jones industrial average by more than 650 points and handing the market its worst week in two years.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has held a press conference at the White House to say that he has never considered stepping down from the job.

US stocks rose today as banks continued to climb along with interest rates, and energy companies rallied again with oil prices.

Donald Trump will announce his decision on whether to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord during a White House Rose Garden event today.

US stock indexes edged lower for the second day in a row as a sharp drop for banks and a rare loss for technology companies cancelled out gains for drug makers and consumer-focused companies.

BP’s profit nearly tripled in the first quarter of 2017 from a year earlier, buoyed by rising oil prices and production that hit a five-year high, while debt piled up in order to pay for acquisitions and costs for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill.

The Trump administration has issued a presidential permit to pipeline builder TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline.

BP says it will need a crude price of about $40 a barrel in 2021 to cover spending and dividends, down from $60 this year, as chief executive Bob Dudley seeks to reassure investors on the oil major’s growth outlook and finances.

The administration issued a list of 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking officials to identify which employees had worked on efforts to tackle climate change, says Victoria White.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

The former Exxon Mobil oil giant boss has more influence than most presidents and knows how to cut a deal. He would be an able secretary of state, says Amir Handjani

US president-elect Donald Trump has picked Michigan Republican chief Ronna McDaniel to chair the national party, in part as a reward for netting the state's first election victory in 28 years.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has formally withdrawn from consideration for a post in President-elect Donald Trump's administration.

Even as the S&P 500 Index sits near a record, analyst forecasts just turned negative for a sixth straight quarter for corporate results in the three months ending in September.

Oil traded near $46 a barrel in New York as the market weighs a force majeure declared by Exxon Mobil on crude shipments out of Nigeria against excess US oil and product inventories.

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi, the architect of the 2014 switch in Opec policy that has since roiled the energy market, companies, and entire economies, is leaving his post.

Exxon Mobil was demoted from the top credit rating by Standard & Poor’s for the first time since the Great Depression as the collapse of the biggest oil-market rally in history strangled cash flows.

The world’s biggest oil companies, set to report their worst quarterly earnings in more than a decade, are finding their cost-cutting efforts haven’t matched the decline in crude prices the past two years.

Oil prices will stay low for up to 10 years as Chinese economic growth slows and the US shale industry acts as a cap on any rally, according to the world’s largest independent oil-trading house.

Global stocks and bond prices fell after a key US jobs report painted a mixed picture of the US labour market and left investors with a muddled view on rate-hike prospects.

Royal Dutch Shell, which is on the brink of completing the oil industry’s largest deal in a decade, said fourth-quarter profit fell 44%, after the rout in crude prices deepened.

Many private firms responded impressively during the Paris attacks, but they should learn to value people all the time, not just in times of crisis, writes Lucy P Marcus

T5 Oil and Gas — the Dublin and London-based exploration firm headed up by former Tullow Oil directors — is expected to take control of loss-making UK explorer Gulf Keystone before the summer.

Apple has set a record on Wall Street as the first US company to be worth more than $700bn based on the value of its stock at the close of trading – almost twice the value of the next biggest company, oil giant Exxon Mobil.

Oil producers outside of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) should cut “irresponsible” output with excess supplies harming the market, said the United Arab Emirates energy minister.

Oil is so much more than a fuel. It’s a force even bigger than its $3.4 trillion (€2.7trn) market. It’s a weapon, a strategic asset, a curse. It’s a maker and spoiler of fortunes, a leading indicator and an echo chamber.

The US stock market closed out its best week in nearly two years on a positive note today, helped by strong quarterly earnings from Microsoft and other big US companies.

The US stock market had its biggest decline in two weeks yesterday, led by a sell-off in blue-chip bank and energy stocks.

Iraq has asked the US for air support in countering Sunni rebels, the top US general said last night, after the militants seized major cities in a lightning advance that has routed the Shi’ite-led government’s army.