Oil Prices Rising, Brent Crude Now Selling for Over $62 a Barrel

Brent crude has climbed to $62 per barrel in Asian trade on February 17, despite growing uncertainty regarding the Eurozone's future which has been caused by the recent failure in Greece's debt negotiations.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light crude futures for March delivery were traded at $53.16 per barrel, while on London’s ICE Futures exchange Brent crude for April delivery mounted by $0.70/1.1% reaching $62.10 a barrel.

Spain’s solar industry to collapse as govt introduces draconian profit caps

One of the main producers of renewable energy in Europe, Spain’s solar industry, is edging toward bankruptcy. Producers say they’ll be unable to repay credits after the government’s decision to cut subsidies. Banks will suffer and jobs will be lost.
Energy Minister José Manuel Soria has introduced a new compensation plan for calculating levels of "reasonable profitability" for renewable-energy production, distribution and transportation. It will reduce payments to companies serving the nation's electrical system by up to 2.7 billion euro annually. It’s hoped the move could help cope with the electricity system deficit that has been growing since 2005 and now exceeds 25 billion euro.

To sap the annual deficit, which has been estimated by the government at 4.5 billion euro this year, Spain is set to raise consumers' electric bills by about 3.2 percent starting from August, contributing about 400 million euro in extra revenue for the system this year and 900 million euro next year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Greece has finished talks with its creditors

Greece has finished marathon talks with the ‘Troika’ of creditors over its €31.5bln aid package, according to the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
“Today we finished talks on the austerity measures and the budget. We did everything possible,” the Prime Minister said on Tuesday. "Should the agreement be approved [by the Parliament], and the budget adopted, Greece will remain within the Eurozone and will go out of the crisis.”
Samaras added that Athens had achieved “significant improvement” in the deal on offer, and warned of “chaos” if the measures were rejected by MPs.