Oil companies that are trying to expand into Nigeria face a significant roadblock in the form of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND. This Nigerian militant group has threatened to destroy a planned trans-Saharan pipeline project, if it is ever built.
 
MEND has specifically warned Agip, Total, and Exxon Mobil, the three companies still operating in the Niger Delta, that they have three days to leave before new attacks may be launched. Chevron has already cancelled operations in the area because of several attacks on its onshore operations.
 
Niger and Nigeria have already forged an agreement to …read more

Most drivers probably breathed a sigh of relief when oil prices finally came down from the astronomical levels they reached during the summer of 2008, but analysts are starting to issue predictions that we could be seeing sky-high oil prices again. Oil prices are up to around $70 a barrel, signaling the potential for a situation very similar to 2008’s oil price rise.
If oil prices are going to reach the levels they reached last year, they still have a ways to go. Oil grew to $125 a barrel last summer, forcing consumers to try and save gasoline. This time, the rise …read more

This week, Quaker State issued a bold challenge to other motor oil companies to end the “Wear War” once and for all. They’ve asked for an official side-by-side competition with Mobil 1, Valvoline, and Castrol to show that their Quaker State Q HorsePower Full Synthetic is the best oil for wear protection.
Says Quaker State president Steve Harman, “In recent months we have seen all of the claims going back and forth among the brands we have challenged in relation to their product’s wear protection abilities via Industry’s ASTM Sequence IVA test. This must be confusing to consumers. Today, if our …read more

How does the price of oil and the war affect CEO confidence in the economy? CFO.com’s survey of CFOs reveals:
…the price of oil and war in the Middle East are weighing heaviest on the minds of senior financial executives. By a wide margin, they regard the cost of energy as the most serious roadblock to economic prosperity, with a whopping 62 percent of 135 finance chiefs expressing that view. The housing market slump and the federal budget deficit, both at 40 percent, and the descent in the value of the U.S. dollar, at 37 percent, trailed far behind.
This is very …read more