Z Energy shares have soared 21 per cent on news it has bought the Caltex chain of gas stations.

Powerco, the energy lines company, reported a 20 per cent drop in annual profit as it paid more tax.

Contact Energy shares jumped more than 14 per cent after announcing it will increase returns to shareholders.

Is the Govt really getting double the amount of dividends from its sold down power companies?

Producer input and output prices fell in the first quarter, reflecting lower fuel costs and weakness in prices of meat and dairy products.

Infrastructure investor Infratil says it'll be taking a more wary approach to potential new acquisitions.

New Zealand shares rose yesterday, paced by Genesis Energy, Contact Energy and Mighty River Power in a relief rally as Meridian Energy's instalment came due.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully has taken Shane Jones, David Shearer and Winston Peters with him for his trip to the Cook Islands, where he is holding talks.

The ramifications of a further 113 job losses at Stockton will reverberate right down the West Coast and all the way to the Port of Lyttelton, MP Damien O'Connor says.

Solid Energy did all it could to avoid job cuts on the West Coast but the coal market made it too difficult, Bill English says.

Z Energy says work has slowed on its $20 million biodiesel plant but it will be finished in the next nine months.

The mood was grim as Solid Energy employees filed out of the NBS Theatre in Westport today, just minutes after finding out the company was cutting 151 jobs, plus up to 15 contracting jobs - from its Stockton mine. The company is cutting 151 jobs, but some of the losses will be made up of unfilled vacancies, meaning 113 current staff will lose their jobs. This cuts the number of staff at the mine from 397 to 246. It follows Solid's decision to cut 185 jobs a year ago.

The West Coast mining industry has been dealt a heavy blow today, with 113 jobs to go at Solid Energy's Stockton mine.

Z Energy posted a 10 per cent increase in full-year operating earnings, as fuel and refining margins improved and the service station chain sold more fuel.

Job losses on the West Coast have been foreshadowed ahead of meeting between Solid Energy managers and workers at the Stockton Mine tomorrow.

Vector has formed a partnership with Tesla to bring its revolutionary home and business batteries to New Zealand.

A top US Government official visiting the country has praised New Zealand as a “great model” for other countries working to boost their renewable energy generation.

Genesis Energy shares are down after the company cut its forecast for annual earnings after losing electricity and gas customers amid increased competition.

Solid Energy shelled out $4 million for redundancies between July and December last year, mostly for workers from the Stockton opencast mine.

China Steel Corp has green-lighted Kiwi-founded LanzaTech's first commercial plant.

It is hard not to be cynical about protests when we are consuming oil here that comes from countries that have no environmental controls whatsoever, writes Sam Judd.

The shale oil boom that pushed US crude production to the highest level in four decades is grinding to a halt.

Shares in Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy have been coming off the boil, but there are few obvious reasons for a recent slump in their stock prices.

Refiners are poised to make gasoline at a record pace, keeping the US crude glut from overflowing storage.