Roman’s oil share blues

Chelsea football club’s billionaire Russian owner found his fortune a little depleted yesterday.

In a fresh blow to Russia’s financial markets, oil giants Yukos and Sibneft announced that they had suspended their merger, which would have created the world’s fourth-largest oil producer.

Yukos share prices plunged 10% and Sibneft shares by 6% within an hour of the announcement, and other companies’ share prices were also falling.