Friday 8 June 2012

Dubai cloud darkens Sunland

PROPERTY company Sunland Group - once backed by James Packer - has lost its civil case against the Melbourne businessmen it accused of deceiving it in a $14 million Dubai property deal.

Justice Clyde Croft yesterday said Sunland's case had ''failed in all respects'', and he would forward his judgment to the corporate regulator to consider Sunland's conduct during the long-running spat over a piece of land in Dubai.

''Sunland's case fails in all respects and will be dismissed,'' Justice Croft told the Victorian Supreme Court. ''I will forward a copy of the reasons for judgment … to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission with a request that the commission consider the corporate governance issues for Sunland (including its ASX announcements) which are raised by these proceedings and take action as considered appropriate.''

BREAKINGVIEWS-OPEC ill-placed to stop oil price slide - Yahoo! News Maktoob

OPEC will be seeking harmony in Vienna next week. It won't be easy. Some of the oil cartel's worst infighting in its 50-year history looms. That could make it tougher to cope with the euro crisis, which shows no signs of easing and augurs poorly for the price of crude. The evidence suggests the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will not be able to do much about it.
Threats abound for convening oil ministers. America's shale boom is starting to sap demand from their most important customer. OPEC members are also consuming more of their own product, leaving less to export. But the events in Europe are shaping up as the most pressing concern.
The euro zone accounts for a mere 12 percent of global oil demand, according to BP, or about half as much as the United States. But the 20 percent price decline since March provides a taste of what could be in store if the continent's woes tilt developed countries back toward recession.