Premier Oil (LON:PMO) is in advanced talk to acquire the UK North Sea assets of Eon, the German utility company, according to the Financial Times.
Eon has had its North Sea assets since November 2014. It operates the Huntington field and also has production assets in the Elgin, Franklin, Glenelg, West Franklin, Scoter and Merganser fields.
Shares in Premier Oil were suspended this morning ahead of potential takeover news, so it looks like the Pink 'un's report has more than a grain of truth in it.
The timing is interesting, as the price of oil briefly fell below US$30 a barrel overnight for the first time since December 2003.
Earlier this week Wolfe Research speculated that up to a third of US oil and gas producers could be headed towards bankruptcy and restructuring by mid-2017, while law firm Haynes & Boone pointed out that more than 30 minnows in US energy sector owing in aggregate more than US$13bn have already filed for protection from creditors so far in the current downturn.
More grim news: US industrial holding company General Electric (NYSE:GE) has announced plans to cut 6,500 jobs in Europe following its purchase last year of numerous assets from Alstom for €12.4bn.
Happier news for scandal-hit Volkswagen, which has apparently received around US$1.1bn in a dividend payment from its wholly-owned Swedish subsidiary, Scania.
How long the money remains in its coffers, what with the US regulators gunning for the company over the emissions testing scandal, is moot.
It seems an absolute age since Magners cider, made by Irish firm C&C Group (LON:CCR), was the trendy drink and in what may be a sign of the brewer's waning fortunes it has announced it is to stop making cider at its plant in Shepton Mallet, in Somerset.
The Grocer magazine reports it will bring an end to more than 240 years of zider making in the Zummerzet town, with the Blackthorn and Olde English brands to be made in Tipperary in future.
It's a long way to Tipperary from Somerset, and calling the cider Olde English is surely something the trades description chaps should investigate, isn't it?
Small caps clocking up the clicks on the company news sites include Kibo Mining and OptiBiotix Health.
Kibo Mining (LON:KIBO) has been issued with three new licences in Tanzania next to its Rukwa coal deposit.
Rukwa is the fuel source for a proposed 350 megawatt thermal power station development at Mbeya and the three new licences are immediately north, south and east.
One of last year's best performing shares, OptiBiotix (LON:OPTI) is hooking up with the company behind the SlimFast brand in the UK, Ireland and Germany.
KSF Acquisition will provider Optibiotix with funding to assess the benefits of using its SlimBiome weight management product alongside KSF's weight management dietary programme.
Shares in OptiBiotix rose 2.1% in the morning trading session, and have quadrupled in value over the last year.