Melbourne-based resource giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) is scheduled to report its second half results today. Analysts expect the company to report a 30% gain in second half profit to $9.4 billion. That profit growth was driven mainly by higher prices in the petroleum division and production increases in iron ore.

Oil prices gained a dollar today to approach last week’s record high of $133 a barrel after Nigerian rebels blew up a pipeline belonging to Royal Dutch Shell, forcing it to cut production. This from the Financial Times:

Crude prices jumped on Monday in electronic trading as news of the attack broke, but analysts said the impact on prices spilled over into Tuesday, when exchanges on both side of the Atlantic re-opened after the long weekend.

According to AP, fears of a deep recession “drove Federal Reserve policymakers to slash a key interest rate last month, meeting minutes show.”

Fed chief and Wall Street white knight Ben Bernanke has spooked investors by uttering the dreaded ‘R’ word.

Although he denied that the US economy is in a recession, speaking before a congressional committee yesterday he admitted that a “recession is possible” in the US.

He also said that the US economy could shrink over the first half of this year.