Podcasts presented by Nigel Cassidy related to Personal Finance - Energy

Companies vying to build nuclear power stations in the UK have been told they must offer lower electricity prices than that approved for the Hinkley Point plant last year. Government officials have indicated that future projects will be expected to deliver a discount of at least 15-20% on the price of electricity from the £18bn Hinkley plant in Somerset - a settlement widely criticised for its high cost. To discuss this further, Dr Jenifer Baxter, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, joined Nigel Cassidy on Share Radio Breakfast.

Oil prices are sitting at their highest level in a year. For now, financial markets seem convinced the Opec cartel's new deal to limit global crude production will stick. Motoring organisations have already warned petrol prices may rise by 9p a litre, adding about £5 to the average cost of filling up a car. But what of Oil's cousin, natural gas. How has the market for that been affected? Matt Cox has been hearing from Edgar van der Meer, Senior Analyst at industry specialists NRG Expert.

OPEC has reached a deal to cut oil supplies for the first time since the global financial crisis in 2008, prices are expected to rise above $50 a barrel as countries with large oil reserves like Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies accepted big reductions in production. OPEC decided to cut 1.2m barrels a day to about 32.5m b/d for six months from early 2017 after six hours of talks in Vienna. Our energy expert in Vienna Peter Bild joined the show to discuss.

According to a key annual report annual report from energy practise Oliver Wyman, the biggest commodity trading houses have seen profits from reselling oil shipments jump more than 50% over the past five years. Roland Rechsteiner, co-author of "Reimagining Commodity Trading" at Oliver Wyman, talks on their annual oil report.

This month, Scottish wind farms have received a record £5.5 million to shut down. It’s after hurricane-force gusts produced more electricity than could be consumed. August 7th saw winds blowing as high as 115 miles an hour, while demand for power fell to record lows. But Renewable UK’s Deputy Chief Executive, Maf Smith, told Share Radio's James Brydges that wind farms turning off was actually the least expensive solution.