UK-based energy services provider Altera Infrastructure has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a few months after filing for it, Offshore-Energy.biz reported. Thanks to a charter for an FPSO, which is expected to be deployed at one of the largest undeveloped oil fields in the UK, the firm expects to strengthen its balance sheet further, as it sees this as a foundation for long-term growth if this project goes ahead. Back in August 2022, Altera Infrastructure, formerly a part of Teekay, entered a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the U.S. to address its debt of over $1.5 billion.

Over 800,000 UK households will see their mortgage rates more than double this year as they come off low fixed-rate deals, adding to the pressure on living standards, Bloomberg News reported. In total, more than 1.4 million fixed-rate borrowers will have to renew their mortgage in 2023, with 57% currently on deals of less than 2%, according to an Office for National Statistics analysis of Bank of England data. The average variable rate mortgage is currently 4.41% and fixed-rate deals start at around 5%.

Switzerland’s government will not receive a payout from the Swiss National Bank for 2022, as the central bank projects the biggest loss in its 116-year history, Bloomberg News reported. The SNB expects an annual loss of about 132 billion francs ($143 billion), more than five times the previous record, it said Monday in preliminary results. The largest part of this, 131 billion francs, stems from collapsed valuations of its large pile of holdings in foreign currencies, accrued as a result of decade-long purchases to weaken the franc.

Spain will seek European Union permission to extend its temporary cap on reference prices for natural gas and coal used by power plants until at least the end of 2024, Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said on Monday, Reuters reported. The so-called Iberian mechanism, in place in Spain and Portugal after the two countries reached a deal with the European Commission in the spring of 2022, is a joint scheme through which fossil fuel plants' power costs are subsidised in a bid to bring down soaring electricity prices.

France's power suppliers have agreed to offer small businesses struggling with price rises a guaranteed tariff of 280 euros ($298) on average per megawatt hour, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, Reuters reported. "This is a guaranteed tariff and it is an enormous relief," said Le Maire after a meeting on Friday with energy executives. President Emmanuel Macron had on Thursday urged energy suppliers including EDF and TotalEnergies to do more to help customers cope with the surge in energy prices that has in recent months driven inflation to record highs.

Britain will introduce legislation to ensure key public services maintain minimum safety levels during industrial action, as the government seeks to limit disruption from strikes now involving tens of thousands of workers, Reuters reported. The government said on Thursday it would bring the bill to parliament in the coming weeks and would consult on the minimum safety levels to be set for fire, ambulance and rail services. "While we hope that voluntary agreements can continue to be made in most cases, introducing minimum safety levels...

European bond traders face greater volatility in early 2023 as governments look set to sell record volumes of debt to a market no longer propped up by central bank purchases, Bloomberg News reported. Net government supply will climb to a record of nearly €500 billion ($530 billion) in 2023, according to Barclays Plc. “There will be a big test of market liquidity,” Tom Prickett, head of rates trading for Europe, Middle East and Africa at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in an interview.

German exports unexpectedly fell in November as high inflation and market uncertainty continue to weigh on Europe's largest economy despite fading supply chain problems, Reuters reported. Exports fell by 0.3% on the month, data from the federal statistics office showed on Thursday. November's drop comes after October's figures were revised up, to growth of 0.8% from an initially reported 0.6% fall. Imports also posted a bigger-than-expected drop of 3.3% in November, compared with consensus for a 0.5% decline.

Germany supports the World Bank modifying its country-based business model and is in favour of the Bank setting incentives for issues like climate protection, the German Development Ministry said on Thursday, Reuters reported. On Monday, Reuters reported that the World Bank was seeking to vastly expand its lending capacity to address climate change and other global crises and will negotiate with shareholders ahead of April meetings on proposals that include a capital increase and new lending tools.