this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. higherfuel prices in the pipeline? opec nears a deal to cut production and push up the cost of crude. plus, $3 million, 2,000 horsepower and one plug. british sportscar maker lotus gambles on an all—electric hypercar. and on the markets: asian shares get a boost as president trup says us china trade talks are "moving right along." —— trump. crude close to a two—month high as opec and its allies close in on a deal to cut oil production and support prices.

we start in the austrian capital, vienna, where a deal is being been done that will affect how much we pay for fuel next year. 0il ministers from the organization of petroleum exporting countries — or opec for short — and their allies, including russia, have been meeting to try and prop up the price of crude. let's show you why. back in 2017, they agreed to cut oil supplies to boost flagging prices. as you can see, until the end of last year it was working very well. but as prices rose, it encouraged shale oil producers in the us to invest heavily, meaning american production is now at a record high.

that meant too much oil. prices coming down again and financial problems for countries who rely on oil exports. so, they are planning to cut production further, by another 500,000 barrels per day. if the deal is signed off, that would mean total production cuts of 1.7 million barrels per day, equivalent to 1.7% of the world's supply. analyst roger diwan is at the meeting. he said a deal is crucial for saudi arabia, which is selling shares in oil giant saudi aramco and needs higher prices to make that a success. opec 0pec once to reaffirm their willing to continue to manage the market. i think saudi arabia wants to show it is still in charge here and they wa nt to ta ke is still in charge here and they want to take the lead both with the ipo today and show some leadership in this meeting and need to try and get the organisation to agree to another cut. simon watkins is an independent oil analyst and author.

hejoins me now. simon, it's interesting, whenever they have these 0pec meetings, the anticipation production cards tend to cause the price to rise and in some cases quite significantly, and thenit some cases quite significantly, and then it falls back slightly. why is that? -- then it falls back slightly. why is that? —— production cuts. then it falls back slightly. why is that? -- production cuts. there is a spike because of the announcement, but the announcement is worked out to be very much meaningless. then us shale producers increase production to avail themselves of profits above $40 per barrel. how important is a high praise for saudi arabia, given the saudi aramco, the state owned oil company's the saudi aramco, the state owned oil compa ny‘s flotation? the saudi aramco, the state owned oil company's flotation? that is somewhat part of it. the crown prince has staked his reputation on that. but they need a level of $85 per barrel at least in order to

achieve a breakeven budget price, because the saudis are looking at a budget deficit of at least, until the mid—20 20s. budget deficit of at least, until the mid-20 20s. and we look at the kind of cuts they are agreeing, it's a fine balance to make, isn't it? if they cut production then they are selling — there is less they are putting in the market to sell. do you think they should go further on what they have agreed, or is that ambitious enough as it is? well, what they say in what they do to disparage things. there is a history of saying we're going to cut by x amountand a of saying we're going to cut by x amount and a practicality of leakage on deals, particularly with people like iraq and nigeria and libya in the past and so on and so forth. so there is a disparity there, but the only detail really looking at having

was the one with russia in 2016. it was the one with russia in 2016. it was1.8 was the one with russia in 2016. it was 1.8 million barrels a day. currently we are on 1.2, they are looking at another 500,000, taking us looking at another 500,000, taking us to1.7 looking at another 500,000, taking us to 1.7 million barrels a day. but to have any effect on the oil price overall, you're looking at 1.8 million barrels a day but with almost total compliance by all members to produce exactly what the cap is. ok, that's a big ask stop simon, we will leave it there, thank you very much, simon watkins stop thank you. let's go to the us now, where investors await official employment numbers for november. the ‘non—farm payrolls', to use the wall streetjargon, are a closely—watched index of the health of the economy. there has been growing concern about the impact of the trade war on american manufacturing. but as vivienne nunis reports, the figures could give a welcome boost to president trump. president trump is well known for celebrating the strength of the us

economy. when the latest official jobs that is released later today it's likely he will send a celebratory tree, the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged and near record lows at 3.6%. the labour department is predicted to announce 180 new —— 180,000 labour department is predicted to announce 180 new ——180,000 newjobs we re announce 180 new ——180,000 newjobs were added outside of the agricultural sector. economists are seeing it as a sign the economy is expanding with high employment and increasing wages generally resulting in stronger consumer spending. however, carl remains over manufacturing where 13 million americans are employed. it's still dealing with uncertainty caused by the trader. figures released on monday showed manufacturing contracting in america for the fourth consecutive month. vivienne nunis there. president trump says trade

negotiations are moving right along. let's go to our asia business hub where shara njit leyl is following the story. there you are, sorry, too many screens around me. it's been a to psy—tu rvy screens around me. it's been a topsy—turvy week with this because it seemed as though there was fading hopes of a deal, renewed hopes of a deal, where we are well, you're right. to be fair his assurance, those stray talks were moving along, it is actually helping push asian markets here higher. and data out just a few hours before, very likely, made him quite happy because it really showed that american firms we re it really showed that american firms were buying fewer chinese made consumer goods in october, and that was following a week of new tariffs. it's been one of the key goals of

the us president trump and his administration's trade talks with china, the two as we know have been embroiled in a fatuous trade war for months. that trade between the two nations is unfair, trump says in the chinese need to buy more us products, and the us needs to do the opposite. the us imported few were things like drugs, cellphones, electronics, clothing, and toys, much of it from china, making imports from china shrink by $2 billion. the decline in imports reflect the up—and—down pattern, depending on the timing of the new us tariffs on chinese companies, a lot of them rushed to import consumer goods from china in august before scheduled us tariffs went into effect. so that is why we are seeing these slight changes and

anomalies in those numbers. sharanjit, thank you very much indeed. british sports car maker lotus has been in business more than 60 years. mention the name and you may well think of something driven byjames bond in the 1970s. but since a takeover by chinese firm geely two years ago — it has been betting on an electric future. this car is the first old british electric hybrid car. it will be the most powerful production car in existence when it goes into production next year.

what that does is it gives us unbelievable acceleration so we can go from zero to 300 kilometres an hourin go from zero to 300 kilometres an hour in less than eight seconds. we are working with partners to develop ultrafast charges, which means we can charge this current less than nine minutes to 100%, and 80% in six minutes. so everything on this car, you will see hints of it in more affordable sports cars. that's it for the business briefing. up that's it for the business briefing. up next, news briefing. see you

shortly. more than 22,000 customers of the defunct tour operator, thomas cook, are still waiting to get their money back. those with atol—protected holidays are due a refund after the company's collapse in september. the civil aviation authority says it's only managed to pay back two thirds of those who immediately applied for a refund. colletta smith reports. when thomas cook collapsed, the firstjob of the civil aviation authority was to make sure everybody got home safe and sound. for those 150,000 people abroad, we will be bringing them back, and we will be bringing them back, and we will be bringing them back when they have finished their holiday. but because

thomas cook's packages were protected under atol, anyone with a future holiday could have a full refund. those holidays are now cancelled, affecting 800,000 people. so they are now entitled to a refund under the atol protection scheme. and they should get that money back within about two months. today marks that self—imposed deadline. the caa said 60,000 people filed valid claims on the first day, and two—thirds of them have been paid back. but that means more than 22,000 people who were hopeful of a refu nd 22,000 people who were hopeful of a refund before christmas are still out—of—pocket. coletta smith, bbc news. police investigating the death of a 12—year—old boy who was hit by a car outside a school in essex have charged a man with murder. harley watson died in hospital after a vehicle struck a group of children in loughton on monday.

terence glover, who's 51 and from the town, has been charged with murder, ten charges of attempted murder and dangerous driving. breakfast is coming up at six o'clock with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. they'll have plenty on those stories and more. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a nationwide strike in france enters a second day — unions warn it won't stop until the pension reforms are scrapped. a woman whose heart stopped beating for six hours has been brought back to life by doctors in spain. teenage activist greta thunberg heads to madrid to join the climate protest at a major un summit. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media

across the world. we begin with the financial times — saudi aramco raised a record 25.6bn us dollars in its initial public offering. the ipo is at the heart of prince mohammed's ambitions to transform an economy still dependent on oil at a time when the global shift to cleaner fuels is accelerating. meanwhile, leaders from around 200 global businesses are gathering for the world climate summit on sunday, and they have much to discuss including the need to stop all carbon—dioxide emmissions. the philippine star reports that the country ranks second among those most affected by extreme weather events in 2018 — with japan ranking first, and germany third. le figaro headlines the demonstrations in france against emmanule macron's pension proposals. the nationwide strike will continue for a second day with trade unions warning it won't stop until the government scraps planned

pension reforms. as the democrats press ahead with the impeachment process, the washington post reports that president trump has routinely communicated with his personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, and other individuals speaking on cellphones vulnerable to monitoring by russian and other foreign intelligence services. and of course making an appearance in many uk papers this morning, the bbc‘s andrew neil, throwing down the gauntlet for prime minister borisjohnson — the metro carrying the headline ‘oven—ready and set to grill. good to happy with ours. let's start with the financial times and saudi aramco. $25 billion raised. not bad. but it's not as much as they were hoping for. they were looking