Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, February 2nd, and this is your FT News Briefing.

Low crude prices are prompting some belt tightening for Europe's oil majors. And what could the Federal Reserve look like under a chair, Kevin Warsh?

Plus, consumer giants are facing a growing crisis

after a widespread infant formula recall.

Something like this can irreparably destroy a reputation of a brand

for years and years to come.

I'm Victoria Craig, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Europe's biggest oil companies are expected to slash billions of dollars in shareholder payouts.

Shell, BP, and Total energies report their full-year earnings this month, and analysts predict

the companies will slow share buybacks by as much as 25%. It's in a move to protect their balance

sheets as oil prices are expected to continue weakening due to geopolitical

tensions. In recent years, European oil majors have plowed more than half their cash flow into

repurchasing their shares. That shrinks the number of them in circulation and supports the stock price.

Overall, UBS says the industry has cut its share count by about a fifth since 2021.

In the days since U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to head up the Federal Reserve,

plenty of Wall Street heavyweights have piled on the praise. But others are wary

about Warsh's desire to radically transform the world's most important central bank. And there's

still a long road between Warsh and the top seat at the Fed. My colleague Claire Jones, the FT's

U.S. economics editor, is here to talk about what monetary policy might look like if Warsh is confirmed by the Senate.

Hi, Claire.

Hi, Victoria.

So Warsh himself was a Fed governor during the 2008 financial crisis when the Fed started its massive and controversial bond buying program.

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