FT Energy News 21 February

Centrica risks competition probe with £2bn bonanza (Page 4)

Centrica, which owns British Gas, is expected to announce pre-tax profits of £2bn for last year. Critics will point out that British Gas raised electricity and gas charges for domestic customers by 7% during the big freeze in December. Ofgem is due to conclude a “comprehensive review” of the retail energy market next month.

Oil groups rush to grab a slice of east Africa (Page 19)

East Africa used to be regarded as an oil industry backwater, a poorer relative to the continents resource-rich north and west. That’s changed over the past 12 months as majors and independents invest hundreds of millions of dollars in exploration and compete to snap up licences on the continent’s last hydrocarbon frontier.

Energees Investments takes control of regal Petroleum (Page 19)

Regal Petroleum has been taken over by one of Ukraine’s largest business conglomerates. Energees Investments, a subsidiary of one of the biggest diversified holding companies in Ukraine said it had taken control of 51.7% of Regals equity.

Boost for Brazil Inc on green efforts (Page 20)

Brazilian companies have less than half the environmental impact of emerging market peers, strengthening the case for green investment in the world’s eighth-largest economy. Brazil’s electricity mix is 10 times more efficient than the global average, opening up stocks to socially responsible investment.