Britain’s BP will invest $1bn in electric vehicle (EV) charging across the US by 2030. On February 15, the oil and gas major announced plans to bring fast-charging stations to more than a dozen US cities including Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York and Orlando.

In a statement dated the same day, BP said the investment builds on its 2022 agreement with Hertz to provide the car rental company with fast-charging infrastructure at its locations across the country. 

BP’s plan includes large-scale, fast-charging installations known as ‘gigahubs’, which will serve ride-shares, taxi drivers and car rental customers at high-demand locations such as Los Angeles International Airport.

Last year, BP announced a partnership with Iberdrola to invest up to €1bn into EV charging infrastructure in Spain and Portugal. 

EU adds Costa Rica to tax haven blacklist

The EU has updated its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes by adding Costa Rica, Russia, the Marshall Islands and the British Virgin Islands. The European Council announced the changes on February 14 after determining the countries do not comply with international standards in taxation, such as transparency and fairness.

Costa Rica is included due to harmful aspects of its foreign source income exemption regime. Russia’s inclusion is due to its special regime for international holding companies.

The Council also removed North Macedonia, Barbados, Jamaica and Uruguay from its blacklist after they implemented necessary reforms to their tax systems. The EU introduced the list six years ago to help curb international tax evasion and profit shifting.

Itochu powers tech giants

Japanese conglomerate Itochu has announced deals to provide renewable power to tech firms Meta and Amazon. On February 15, Itochu said it had invested in a 160 megawatt wind farm known as the Prairie Switch Wind Project which is under construction in Texas. The project, which is located near Houston, has an offtake agreement in place with Meta.

On the same day, Itochu announced a long-term offtake agreement with Amazon to power its operations throughout Japan. Via its subsidiary Clean Energy Connect, the company will develop solar plants across 700 sites to supply electricity to the US tech giant from 2024.