VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The economy in Alberta will continue to shrink for the next two years amid weak crude prices globally. The province's shortfall in 2017 -2017 is anticipated to outstrip the October outlook by almost $5 billion.

Fortescue Metals reported a 4% decline in its first six-month net profit owing mainly to the fall in commodity prices. The company has declared an interim dividend of A$0.03 (fully franked).

Mexico is currently aiming to increase its fuel imports in order to attract investment as well as to bring down the fuel prices for buyers. This energy reform activity will boost the competition among private oil firms in Mexico.

Investment inflows into oil and gas projects are dropping significantly. The investments in oil projects in 2016 is forecast to fall below £1 billion from the five-year annual average of £8 billion.

Britain is losing its faith in the chancellor George Osborne as he is readying for the annual budget in the midst of global challenges facing the nation's economy. Poor economic conditions prevented the chancellor from achieving his election targets.

The UK's headline rate of inflation reached to 12-month high. However, it remained below the two percent target of Bank of England for two years. The consumer prices index rose following the price rise in oil, clothing and food products. Economists and consumers are looking to UK's central bank whether it'll raise interest rate or not.

Import of palm oil by India bounced after its first drop in a year. The growing demand coupled with harvest failure boosted the purchase of palm oil from overseas suppliers.

BP enters into an agreement with Oman government to widen the license area of Block 61. The company strengthens its commitment in Oman with a view to broadening its business in the country.

The average oil price has dipped well below $30 a barrel on Thursday, which has been reported to be sold at $31 on Friday. Sharp fall of oil prices on Thursday has been analyzed as the triggering factor for some bargain hunting by some traders. However, equity market has also witnessed a boost which is believed to be induced by oil price soaring.

The present government of Canada is experiencing a series of scarcity in the budget, which could reach $90 billion over the mandate period of four years. The struggling Liberal government needs to insert a minimum of C$50 billion into Canada's fading economy to assist the nation to sustain the fall in oil prices.

Stocks dipped to session lows on Tuesday. Shares of oil companies plunged as crude oil continued to slide. Three of major indexes also fell.

UK mortgage approvals grew to a four-month high in December, signifying that the housing market is ready to harvest heavy gains in 2016.

Saudi Arabia has suffered from the oil price collapse, and needs to plan a diversified economic strategy. The country has called $30 per barrel oil price is not rational, and aiming to encourage foreign investment to enter the country.

The economy of Japan struggled last month according to a wave of data released by the Bank of Japan. The industrial production was down 1.4% over the prior month.

Global investors are withdrawing from Russian stock markets as volatility is high in equities and currency Ruble. The continuous drop in oil price is impacting the Russian economy much as it's the main revenue source for the country. The gap between onshore and offshore traded equities is narrowing down as foreign investors are selling off.