Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.
Growth in North Sea wind farms ‘will eclipse value of oil and gas’
Wind farms in the North Sea will be more valuable to the UK than the oil and gas industry has been over the past decades, the UK investment minister has predicted.
Lord Grimstone of Boscobel said “anything to do with net zero” has the biggest potential for growth in Scotland as new offshore technologies are developed, according to The Times.
“All our analysis says that the North Sea will be more valuable to us with wind than it was with oil and gas,” he said. “Now that’s an amazing statement because, when you think how important the North Sea was at a time when the oil and gas revenues were at their peak, if you imagine, wind is going to be bigger than that.”
Windfall tax could kill investment and cost jobs
The UK Government believes a windfall tax on energy companies would likely kill off investment and cost jobs, Energy Minister Greg Hands has said.
The Press and Journal reports that he also said the Scottish Government's opposition to new nuclear power stations is preventing it from being part of a "renaissance" of the sector.
Addressing Holyrood's Net Zero Committee on Wednesday, one MSP responded to his comments on a windfall tax by saying the cost-of-living crisis is "killing off people".
Conservative minister Mr Hands said world events had driven up energy prices and the UK Government is not able to completely insulate consumers from this. He said UK ministers are spending £22billion this year to help households with the cost of living.
Apple no longer the world's most valuable business
Saudi Aramco has overtaken Apple as the world's most-valuable company after oil prices surged and inflation hammered technology stocks.
The oil and gas group traded near its highest level on record on Wednesday, reaching a market capitalisation of about £1.9trillion and surpassing that of Apple for the first time since 2020.
Shares in Apple fell by more than 5% in New York yesterday to give it a valuation of £1.94trillion, as against Aramco's £1.98trillion.
The Telegraph says that, even if the move proves short-lived and Apple retakes the top spot again, the role reversal underscores the power of major forces coursing through the global economy.
Soaring oil prices, while great for profits at Aramco, are exacerbating rising inflation that is forcing the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at the fastest pace for decades.
Opportunities could be lost for offshore wind work
Offshore wind sector suppliers have called on the industry and government to work together to secure opportunities for the domestic supply chain.
Port of Cromarty Firth strategic business development manager Joanne Allday was speaking during a panel session on offshore wind during the All-Energy conference in Glasgow.
Energy Voice reports her saying that, although the inbound wave of new projects was positive for the supply chain, opportunities would be lost if government and industry did not work together on a sustainable strategy.
She said the port had already been approached by many ScotWind developers, all of whom intended to install projects in 2028 ahead of the UK Government's target to reach 40GW of offshore wind by 2030.
"If they all build out at the same time, then actually most of that build out will happen abroad. It can't happen in Scotland," Ms Allday said.
"There are literally only a handful of ports that can accommodate these projects, so I think we need to have a really adult conversation about how Scotland is going to deliver them and how are we going to have a sustainable run of projects for the supply chain."
North Sea needs another Buzzard
A leading analyst says the North Sea "could do with another Buzzard" to offset production decline and plug the import gap.
Westwood Global Energy Group's Yvonne Telford underlined the need for more spend in brownfield, greenfield, and exploration and appraisal during the Devex conference in Aberdeen.
Natural production decline in the North Sea, coupled with a need for the UK to bolster its energy security after Russia's attack on Ukraine, necessitates further investment, she said.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has confirmed a new exploration round will take place this year as Westminster tries to address the ongoing energy crisis. And Ms Telford says a discovery akin to the scale of the giant Buzzard field would go a long way to maintaining domestic oil supplies.
Energy Voice says a second phase of the project came on stream last year and is expected to take the area's total production to 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Inflation drops slightly in US
The pace of price increases in the US eased slightly in April, as costs for petrol, used cars and clothing slipped.
The annual pace of inflation was 8.3% last month, down from 8.5% in March, the Labor Department said.
The BBC says that marked the first decline in months, but the rate of price increases remained at a 40-year high.
The cost of groceries, housing and items like airline tickets continued to rise, putting pressure on policymakers to rein in the increases.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that price increases remained "unacceptably high", describing bringing down inflation as his "top domestic priority".
The US central bank earlier this month announced its biggest interest rate rise in 22 years, hiking it by half a percentage point in an effort to tackle the issue.