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BP Sells Petrochemicals Arm to Ineos for $5 Billion

US Border Patrol: Crash Killing 7 Resulted From Human Smuggling Attempt in Texas

U.S. Border Patrol officials said a crash in El Paso, Texas, left at least seven people dead, blaming human smugglers for the incident. “Human smuggling is not a victimless crime,” El Paso Sector Border Patrol Chief Patrol Gloria Chavez said in a statement about the incident on June 25. “This is a tragic loss for our El Paso Community.” Three of the victims were illegal immigrants, including one from Guatemala and two from Mexico, the Border Patrol said on Saturday. The other four victims were residents of El Paso, including the 18-year-old driver, according to officials. The incident started on Thursday morning at around 1:30 a.m. when a border sensor sent out an alert about a suspicious vehicle with several passengers, officials told the El Paso Times. The vehicle was…

BP Sells Petrochemicals Arm to Ineos for $5 Billion

LONDON—Oil and gas company BP has sold its global petrochemicals business to Ineos for $5 billion, part of its plan to shift activities to renewable sources of energy.

The company said in a statement Monday that the overlap of the petrochemicals business with the rest of the company is “limited” and that it takes “considerable capital” to grow these businesses. Petrochemicals are derived from oil and gas production and used to make industrial products like plastics or paints, among other things.

CEO Bernard Looney said the sale represents “another deliberate step in building a BP that can compete and succeed through the energy transition.”

The proceeds will be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and means it has reached its targeted amount of business sales a year earlier than scheduled.

Ineos will pay BP a deposit of $400 million and a further $3.6 billion on completion. An additional $1 billion will be deferred and paid in instalments next year.

Subject to regulatory and other approvals, the transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2020.

Focus News: BP Sells Petrochemicals Arm to Ineos for $5 Billion

US to Ship Remdesivir to States With Rising COVID-19 Cases

NEW YORK—The U.S. government will ship more of Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral treatment remdesivir to states experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases including California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) website. The government reallocated remdesivir to states with increasing cases, White House task force coordinator Deborah Birx said during a briefing on Friday. The HHS said on its website that the doses will ship starting Monday and extinguish the full amount of Gilead’s donation of 120,647 treatment courses. It said it would continue to work with Gilead to determine how the company’s anticipated inventory of 2 million doses by year’s end will be allocated. California will receive 464 cases of 40 vials each, Texas will receive 448 cases of 40 vials, Florida…