TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran's oil exports have surpassed 2 million barrels per day following the lifting of sanctions under its nuclear deal with world powers, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday.“Iran’s oil and gas condensate exports are now at more than 2 million barrels per day” after rising by 250,000 bpd since March 1, the ministry's Shana news service quoted Zanganeh as saying.Iran has doubled exports since its nuclear accord took effect on January 16.Iran, an OPEC member, has the world’s

China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co., which has twice sweetened its offer to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., is engaged in a high-stakes bidding war with Marriott International Inc. to acquire the owner of the upscale Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis brands.Win or lose, the latest $14 billion bid unveiled Monday by an Anbang-led investor group makes this much clear: Chinese companies have launched an unprecedented buying spree, one far more ambitious than previous efforts focused prima

Oil’s plunge has reordered the pecking order among China’s biggest explorers. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s move to close some high-cost fields has caused it to slip to number three in oil and gas production as rival Cnooc Ltd. got a boost from new domestic offshore projects.Sinopec, as China Petroleum is known, produced almost 472 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2015, down 1.7 percent. Cnooc overtook it by pumping about 496 million, jumping nearly 15 percent. PetroChina Co. remained t

Yellen confident in U.S. growth but stresses ‘gradual’ rate hikesNEW YORK (AFP) -- Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen expressed confidence in U.S. economic growth Tuesday but stuck to a dovish stance on monetary policy, saying the Fed still had to keep its eye on international economic and financial frailty.With markets on edge over when the Fed will next raise interest rates, which would increase the cost of money for borrowers worldwide, Yellen signaled clearly that was not likely to come befo

China will end its state corn stockpiling program this year, replacing it with other subsidies, amid surging reserves in the world’s second-biggest grower, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.The government will encourage state and private firms to buy corn at market prices and offer credit support to farmers, Xinhua reported late Monday, citing a press briefing by the National Development and Reform Commission. It will also promote changes in crop cultivation and move to reduce existing st

Japan's factory output plummeted in February at its sharpest pace since the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, government data showed Wednesday, the latest setback to efforts to rejuvenate the world's third-largest economy.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying for more than three years to pull Japan out of years of deflation, stagnant wages and weak consumer spending.Unorthodox measures including a massive bond-buying programme by the Bank of Japan have brought the yen do

If Britain exits the European Union it will have a negative impact on the British, European and world economies, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Tuesday.Britons are set to vote in a crucial referendum on June 23 to decide whether to back a so-called Brexit -- or exit from the European Union.The consequences of a Brexit -- in terms of the flow of trade and economic relationships -- would have far-reaching repercussions, Lew told Charlie Rose on public television PBS."I don't think it's goo

The fight for Starwood Hotels swung back in favor of China’s Anbang after the insurance company offered $15 billion in a counterpunch to Marriott International. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which has a tony stable of hotels including the St. Regis New York, said Monday that the offer from the Anbang group is "reasonably likely" to trump a sweetened bid that Marriott submitted last week.Some industry analysts now believe Marriott will wind up on the losing end of this battle, unless other

Economic recovery in the eurozone is set to continue in the coming months, but not as fast as hoped owing to global uncertainties and slowing growth in emerging economies, the European Central Bank said Thursday. "The economic recovery in the euro area is continuing, albeit with lower than expected growth at the beginning of the year on the back of a weaker external environment," the ECB wrote in its latest economic bulletin. Recovery "continues to be dampened by subdued growth prospects in emer

The dollar strengthened against its major peers on Thursday as fresh signs emerged that the US Federal Reserve could raise key interest rates as early as next month.Recent statements by several Fed members have boosted expectations the bank may start to take a more bullish approach than signalled last week, when it held interest rates steady."You get another strong jobs report, it looks like labour markets are improving, you could probably make a case for moving in April," said James Bullard, pr

The deadly attacks at Brussels airport and at a subway station at the heart of the city have weighed on European stock markets Tuesday though the scale of the retreat has been fairly muted.Keeping Score: In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.6 percent at 6,149 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent to 9,898. The CAC-40 in France was 0.8 percent lower at 4,392. Belgium's BEL 20 index was down 0.4 percent at 3,404. Wall Street was poised for modest losses at the open wit

Global shares were mostly lower Tuesday, with European shares all in the red in early trading after explosions ripped through the departure hall at Brussels airport and a subway station. Keeping Score: Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.9 percent to 6,127.59.  France's CAC 40 was down 0.8 percent to 4,391.05. Germany's DAX fell 0.9 percent to 9,859.45. Wall Street looked set for a weak start, with Dow futures down 0.4 percent at 17,451.00 while S&P futures fell 0.6 percent at 2,029.90. Brussel Explosions

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Oil prices dipped slightly in Asia Tuesday but stayed above $41 a barrel as OPEC raised hopes of a moderate rebound from a meeting of key producers in Qatar in April.At around 0400 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May, a new contract, was five cents down at $41.47. Brent for May dropped seven cents to $41.47. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries secretary-general Abdalla El-Badri said in Vienna on Monday that about 15 or 16 nation

Chinese policy makers underscored their concern about a surge in leverage in the world’s second-largest economy, days after the conclusion of a gathering of the national legislature that showed their top priority is securing at least 6.5 percent annual growth for years to come.The comments from People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan and Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli suggest China’s leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened under their predecessors, when unbridled stimulus created