Oil projects on ice, Brexit plans and Turkey’s flagging growth

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

The oil price plunge will curb output for years to come – global energy groups have slashed or postponed more than $100bn of spending on new projects.

At least 26 projects across 13 countries have been affected as companies including Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Statoil try to curtail capital spending. Industry-wide retrenchment has already seen thousands lose their jobs and slowed down the US shale boom. (FT)

In the news

Deutsche Bank’s Brexit plan The German lender is reviewing whether to move chunks of its large British operations to Germany if the UK leaves the EU. It currentlyemploys 9,000 people in the UK and this move is seen as an early attempt to sway the debate in favour of the UK staying in the EU. (FT)

Boko Haram commits mass rape The militant group has made sex slaves of hundreds of the women and girls it has captured, some of whom are being deliberately impregnated. Officials and relief workers believe this is a deliberate strategy to create a new generation of Islamist militants in Nigeria. Hundreds of pregnant and battered women and girls have been showing up at a sprawling camp for the displaced outside the Borno State capital. (NYT) 

Finance chiefs urge action on bubble fears The heads of companies including HSBC, UBS and BlackRock released a statement urging authorities around the world to beef up their crisis-busting tool kits over fears of risks from prolonged ultra-low interest rates. The executives back the use of macroprudential tools but warn that applying rules too narrowly could push risk into the more thinly regulated sector of shadow banks. (FT)

Europe to tackle human traffickers The EU set up a military mission to tackle people smugglers in the Mediterranean and quell a swelling crisis. However, strikes against vessels are contingent on a UN mandate and an invitation from warring Libyan authorities to take action in their waters. (FT) 

DJ baristas Now that Starbucks has stopped selling CDs in its stores, it is partnering with Spotify to make the streaming service part of its mobile app and let its baristas choose music inside cafes. Starbucks says its mobile app is used byabout 16m people across the US. (NYT)

Universities teach ethics through investment Cambridge has established a working group to outline socially responsible investment rules for its endowment – the biggest of any university in Europe at GBP5bn. Oxford has already decided that its GBP2bn endowment will shun direct investment in coal and oil sands companies and avoid investment in “sectors with high social and environmental risks”. (WSJ, FT)

It’s a big day for

Retail stocks Walmart, Home Depot and TJX report first-quarter earnings, which are expected to have been hit by the long, cold winter. They are the first in a dozen retailers reporting this week, including Target, Lowe’s and Staples on Wednesday, and Best Buy and Dollar Tree on Thursday. Analysts will be keeping an eye on the effects of  rising labour costs as retailers start increasing wages for their lowest-paid workers. (MarketWatch, NYT)

Food for thought

TPP won’t tame China Gideon Rachman argues that Obama’s Pacific trade deal is “not a significant enough step to justify all the geopolitical hopes invested in it”, and it will do little to curtail China’s economic and political power in the region. “It is too lateto prevent China becoming the core of the Asian economy – with the political and strategic gains that implies.” (FT)

Europe will not solve Cameron’s problem Gerrard Errera, the former French ambassador to the UK, argues that David Cameron should “refrain from any form of blackmail” when dealing with the EU so as to avoid the mistakes of Alexis Tsipras, his Greek counterpart. “One cannot seriously ask for the maximum of benefits, the minimum of obligations and be always at the table to check EU initiatives.” (FT)

In defence of Amtrak Europeans swear by their rail networks. Americans, not so much. The recent fatal crash has renewed calls to reprivatise Amtrak, to make it run more like the airline industry. “By the standards of today’s airline industry Amtrak is a hot mess of excessively consumer-friendly practices, and is forgoing millions, maybe billions, in fees and fines that airlines collect”. (New Yorker)

Wall Street is back Finance has bounced back from the depths of the financial crisis with a vengeance, with salaries, employment and bonuses up, in a development that will do little to shore up its battered public image. Now, if they want the bank bashing to end, perhaps they might publicly admit that the industry screwed up. (NYT, FT)

Video of the day

Turkey’s flagging growth The country’s economic model has come under increasing strain: growth has fallen sharply from 9 per cent in 2010 and 2011 to just under 3 per cent in 2014, consumer confidence is near a five-year low and unemployment has risen to 11 per cent, around a five-year high. Now a debate is smouldering within the government over whether the country needs to fundamentally shift its economic model. Daniel Dombey reports from Istanbul on the prospects for the emerging market bellwether. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: An employee fills a test tube with oil. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin.