EIGHT persons, including a pregnant woman and a naval rating, were yesterday burnt to death after a 33,000 litre tanker loaded with product suspected to be diesel, exploded at Orile Iganmu, in Lagos.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo signed each bid document for oil blocs twice, as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as Minister of Petroleum Resources, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee probing the activities of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), its subsidiaries and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) heard in Abuja yesterday.

Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has said majority of the people of Niger Delta believe in continuous dialogue despite the cancellation of Niger Delta summit by the Federal Government.

Air Namibia says the rapidly increasing prices of fuel may have had a negative impact on its financial projections but scheduled flights and operations have remained unchanged.

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries yesterday discovered that the whereabouts of the sum of $210 million paid by Shell Petroleum to the Federal Government as signature bonus for the allocation of an oil block (OPL 245) was yet to be traced.

FEDERAL Government and the Lagos State government yesterday maintained sealed lips over the sixteen petroleum tank farms in the state barred from use of the bays to take delivery of imported petroleum products owing to the traffic jam caused by articulated tankers which load from their depots.

Mystery now surrounds the whereabouts of the sum of $210million paid by two oil companies for oil blocks in the 2003 bid round carried out by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as officials of the department were yesterday unable to account for it in the ongoing investigation by the House of Representatives ad-hoc Committee into the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum ...

The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the award of oil blocks by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday queried the discrepancies in the record of payments for oil blocks under the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Standard Chartered Bank in its strategic move to support Nigeria's Oil and Gas sector has struck a deal with 8 other Nigerian banks to provide $220m bank debt financing priced at Libor +275 bps for the National Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Mobil Producing Nigeria's NGL II project.

Worried by the lingering crisis in the Niger Delta region, the House of Representatives yesterday resolved to constitute a special ad-hoc committee to conduct public hearing on the crisis.

RUSSIAN gas and oil monopoly Gazprom yesterday claimed it was inevitable oil prices would rise to $250 a barrel next year.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has warned members of the House Committee on oil sector probe, who might have any hidden agenda contrary to their terms of reference to simply resign the position.

AT A time when many cringe at the thought of filling up their cars, the last thing one needs is a dire warning from Russian gas and oil monopoly Gazprom, that the price of oil could rise to $250 a barrel.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Abubakar Lawal Yar'Adua, has said that government was considering building additional refineries in the country in order to derive full potential of the nation's hydrocarbon resources.

With a sound military background on intelligence, Major A. A. Mohammed (rtd), a former chief security officer to President Ibrahim Babangida, highlights the dangers in establishing foreign military commands in the Niger Delta area. As a professional, he would want to stand and be counted among patriotic Nigerians that are against the establishment of these commands. Speaking to our man BABANGIDA ...

Stocks in the Petroleum (Marketing) sub-sector on Wednesday topped the losers' chart on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as majority of the oil stocks recorded major share price depreciation, dropping by the maximum five percent allowed.

RISING from a meeting under the aegis of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni (MOSOP) Ogoni have said they would want to be part of any process that would cause any oil firm to resume oil exploration in their area.

Manufacturers have complained that the rampant electricity load shedding is forcing them out of business.

Minister of State for Energy, Petroleum, Mr Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, yesterday advised Ugandans who are in Nigeria to learn how to grow their newly discovered petroleum in commercial quantity not to make the mistakes Nigeria made.

THE rising cost of energy is causing pain to those, chiefly the poor, on whom the costs of adjustment sit the heaviest. With that caveat, and it is a big one, oil at $130 a barrel or higher is a good thing. Our children will be the better off for it.

The Federal Government has said that it would consider the request of the Republic of Benin for increased crude oil supply to meet its increasing fuel needs.

President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Bashir Borodo, yesterday raised alarm over high cost of diesel and gas and urged the Federal Government to bring down the price.

Quite recently, the Nigerian government deployed soldiers and war ships to dislodge the militants in the oil producing communities. This development is in direct response to the repeated attacks by militants on flow stations and other oil installations, thereby causing disruptions in oil production and substantial cut in revenue.

Following a threat yesterday by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), to attack oil pipelines in the next 30 days to prove it had not received payment from the government to end its campaign, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has issued a statement confirming that it did not make the payment.

Govement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has disassociated itself from the claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that it paid $12million to militants for pipeline protection.