Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.

Baker Hughes reports profits of £128million

Baker Hughes, the oil and gas services firm with offices in Aberdeen, has reported pre-tax profits of £127.99 million in its Q3 results.

This marks a major turnaround from last year’s third quarter results when the company reported losses of £287.56 million before tax.

Energy Voice reports that cash flow from operating activities is also up from this time last year, standing at £530.92m, a 44% increase.

Just Stop Oil bankrolled in part by oil heiress

Aileen Getty is famous as the heiress to the family oil business which made her grandfather one of the richest men in the world.

But now MPs are questioning how some of her millions are going to a non-profit organisation that is bankrolling Just Stop Oil whose activists have been arrested in recent days for bringing chaos to the streets of Britain with alleged criminal acts.

Ms Getty, 65, the granddaughter of the oil tycoon J Paul Getty, is a founding member of Climate Emergency Fund, a US non-profit organisation funding direct action across the globe.

She is reported by the Daily Telegraph today to have personally given $1 million (£800,000) to the CEF, which has handed out more than $4 million (£3.5 million) in grants, including to Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

Warmer weather puts Scottish potatoes at risk

The humble potato may struggle to grow in the UK in years to come due to climate change, researchers have warned.

The BBC reports that household favourites such as Ayrshire and Maris Piper are said to be at risk as temperatures rise.

The James Hutton Institute (JHI) at Invergowrie, just outside Dundee, is now trying to find varieties that will grow in warmer conditions.

TotalEnergies boss defends his €6m salary

The boss of TotalEnergies has taken to social media to justify his €6million salary in the midst of strikes that have triggered a national fuel shortage in France.

Patrick Pouyanné tweeted: “I am tired of the accusation that I gave myself a 52 per cent pay rise.” He posted his recent remuneration to show that his 2021 pay only increased because he had taken a voluntary 36% cut in 2020.

His pay, combined with news that TotalEnergies had raked in profits of $10billion for the first half of 2022, incensed unions and the country’s leftwing opposition, according to The Times, prompting strikes by refinery workers at the company who have been demanding a 10% pay rise.

Former Shell boss urges industry to combat ‘energy illiteracy'

A former chief executive of Shell told Energy Voice that the industry needs to focus on educating the public and politicians on the complexities of the sector, and use its people as “ambassadors”.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Energy Council’s ‘Energy Trilemma Summit; Jeroen van der Veer said that to successfully navigate the energy transition, people must have an understanding of the energy industry and see stability in it.

The former Shell boss – now a board chairman of Royal Boskalis – said: “The danger is that there is enough money in the world for investment, but maybe people don’t invest in the energy industry.”

He stressed the importance of long-term stability to ensure investment – not just in the North Sea, but in other energy transition projects.

Warning energy bills may rise above £4,000 in April

Typical household energy bills could reach £4,347 a year from April after the government said it would scale back support, an analyst has estimated.

Cornwall Insight's forecast comes after the chancellor said the energy bill help, which had been due to last for two years, would be cut in April.

The government said the most vulnerable would continue to be protected from soaring energy prices.

The BBC says forecasts could change depending on movements in wholesale energy prices.

Biden set to release oil from reserve to cut prices

President Biden announced a plan yesterday to sell 15 million barrels of crude oil from America’s emergency supply and then to begin refilling the nation’s reserve as he tries to dampen high fuel prices ahead of midterm elections next month.

The move came two weeks after the Saudi Arabia-led Opec cartel prompted a public row with Biden by siding with Russia and agreeing to a production cut, raising fears of a new jump in fuel prices in the United States.

“With my announcement, we’re going to continue to stabilise markets and decrease the prices at a time when the actions of other countries have caused such volatility,” Biden told The Times.

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