Oil companies are full speed ahead in the Middle East

Western groups look to new investment opportunities despite the chaos and heightened risks caused by the conflict with Iran

Oil executives expressed their appetite for investing in the Middle East despite the war, the conflict has blown a near-£12bn hole in Britain’s public finances, and big investors are “bottom fishing” among beaten-down assets, including Italian bonds and corporate debt. Plus, China is building data centres at rapid speed across Inner Mongolia and a measure of credit risk at Elon Musk’s SpaceX rose to a record high.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Oil majors look beyond Middle East war to access region’s vast reserves

Iran war blows near-£12bn hole in Britain’s public finances

Big investors ‘bottom fish’ in Eurozone bond markets after France sell-off

China races to build AI data centres across energy-rich hinterland

SpaceX credit risk jumps on worries over its borrowing spree

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The FT News Briefing is produced by Sonja Hutson, Saffeya Ahmed, and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Our editor is Marc Filippino. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco and Kelly Garry. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello, Peter Barber and David da Silva. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT’s global head of audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com