Business week in pictures

The chaotic political situation in the Middle East could create the biggest oil shock since the first Gulf war , analysts have warned. Up to half of Libya's oil production is now estimated to have been shut down as a result of the crisis engulfing the country Photograph: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency's chief economist, said high oil prices could put pressure on central banks to raise interest rates , especially in more developed countries such as the UK Photograph: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters A two-speed global economy has left Europe and the west vulnerable to a weak recovery and emerging economies facing severe overheating, the International Monetary Fund said in a report on the G20 finance ministers' meeting last weekend. Europe's financial sector remains fragile and could suffer further shocks while countries like Brazil and China are grappling with rising demand and soaring inflation from jumps in commodity prices Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images The Bank of England governor Mervyn King. In the UK, City expectations of an early increase in interest rates have received a substantial boost, with the news that two members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, including chief economist Spencer Dale, voted for a quarter-point rise in interest rates at their meeting earlier this month Photograph: Chris Ratcliife/Bloomberg via Getty Images Construction workers on a newly built home in Dublin, California. House prices in 11 of the biggest US cities have hit new lows , according to the latest data. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed a monthly fall in December in all but two of the 20 cities it tracks. The 11 cities that have reached their lowest point since the housing bust in 2006 and 2007 are Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Tampa Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Bailed out Royal Bank of Scotland reported losses of £1.1bn for 2010 – but still plans to pay out bonuses of £950m to its bankers Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Qatar plans to buy large stakes in Britain's state-owned high street banks when they are put up for sale , the emirate's prime minister has confirmed. Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told David Cameron at a meeting in Doha that Qatar, which has invested £10bn in Britain in recent years, was drawing up plans to buy shares in Lloyds and RBS Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA Confusion caused by the wording of a popular Halifax mortgage deal is costing Lloyds £500m as the bank is being forced to write to 600,000 customers and repay up to 300,000 of them Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Asda has sounded the alarm about fragile consumer confidence , warning that 'anxious' shoppers were behaving as though the country was heading back into recession – running down their cupboard stocks and buying scratch cards in the hope a winning ticket might provide an 'escape' Photograph: Alamy Chancellor George Osborne, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, the chief executive of BP Robert Dudley, and the chairman of BP Carl-Henric Svanberg, prepare for a signing ceremony at 11 Downing Street. BP is to invest at least $7.2bn (£4.4bn) in a deal with India's richest man as it attempts to cash in on the country's soaring demand for gas. The deal with the Reliance Industries conglomerate, run by Ambani, is one of the largest foreign direct investments in the country and will help India boost its offshore gas production and find new reserves Photograph: Lewis Whyld/Reuters And BP has put Wytch Farm in Dorset – western Europe's largest onshore oil field – up for sale, along with its gas fields in the southern half of the north sea, to focus on higher growth projects in Britain and overseas Photograph: Alamy Waitrose will take on Ocado next month in the battle for affluent customers in the south-east as it relaunches its home delivery service with a £10m investment. Waitrose said an easier-to-navigate website under the Waitrose.com brand will compete directly with Ocado inside the M25 for the first time. The relaunch comes ahead of Morrisons' planned entry into the home delivery business and fresh competition from Marks & Spencer Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Mark Pincus, chief executive officer of Zynga Game Network Inc at the annual Facebook F8 developers conference last April. A new goldrush is under way as 20somethings from New York, London and San Francisco dream of making their fortunes from a new generation of internet companies. Valuations for Twitter, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon, LinkedIn and Foursquare have raised fears of a new web bubble Photograph: Kim White/Bloomberg via Getty Images Centrica's gas rig in the Morecambe Bay field in the Irish Sea. Renewed calls for a competition commission inquiry into the energy market are expected after British Gas reported a 24% jump in profits to a record £742m last year . Around 8 million British Gas customers were hit with a price hike on 10 December, lifting an average customer's dual-fuel bill from £1,157 to £1,239. The rise came as customers were forced to reach for the thermostat when the coldest weather in 100 years swept the country Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian