The world this week Business

ExxonMobil announced an agreement to take over Pioneer Natural Resources, the largest operator in the lucrative Permian Basin shale field, in a deal valued at $59.5bn. The acquisition, Exxon’s biggest since Mobil Oil in 1998, is sure to spur more consolidation. Chevron and ConocoPhillips are also reportedly searching the shale patch for firms they could buy, though the prospect of oil giants gobbling up small drillers may stir antitrust regulators into action.

BP told investors that it was still committed to cutting oil and gas production and transitioning towards renewables despite its recent leadership turmoil. Bernard Looney quit as chief executive in September after failing to disclose fully his past personal relationships with female employees. A few weeks later BP’s most senior executive in America said he was leaving the company to pursue other career opportunities.

A rebound in the world economy is in danger of fading, according to the latest forecasts from the IMF. The fund said this was in part explained by households having to “contend with a still-elevated cost of living” as savings they had accumulated during the pandemic dwindle. America’s economy is proving to be resilient, and will grow by 2.1% this year. But growth in the euro area is expected to be only 0.7%, dragged down by Germany’s economy, which could shrink by 0.5%.

The IMF also said that expectations of interest rates remaining higher for longer are squeezing borrowers, leaving small and medium-sized firms with barely enough cash to pay their interest expenses. Meanwhile the bond yields on American government debt retreated from recent highs. They had surged after news that American employers created 336,000 jobs in September, almost double the number that markets had forecast. Investors think a buoyant labour market makes it less likely that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.