The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by victims of a deadly refinery explosion to block a plea deal between BP PLC and prosecutors.
The Supreme Court’s action means a federal judge in Houston can now decide whether to give final approval to the much criticized plea deal, which settles criminal conduct by the London-based oil [...]

The head of Petrobras says global oil prices are likely to stay high, and the Brazilian state-run oil giant plans to significantly expand its fleet of drilling rigs and other vessels in the coming years.
Speaking at a gathering organized by the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce in New York, Petrobras President and Chief Executive Jose [...]

Members of the Rockefeller family, descended from the founder of what is now Exxon Mobil Corp., want the oil giant to split the roles of chairman and CEO and to put more focus on renewable energy.
The family members, who describe themselves as the company’s longest continuous shareholders, say they are concerned that the Irving, Texas-based [...]

US oil giant Chevron on Monday rejected a court report holding it liable for 16.5 billion dollars in alleged environmental damage in Ecuador between 1964-1990, saying it owes the Ecuadoran government exactly “nothing.”
“What we’ll do is challenge it point by point … and insist that the report is absurd and illegal,” Chevron’s Ecuador representative Rodrigo [...]

Oil giants Chevron Corp. and Total have confirmed that they are in discussions with the Iraqi Oil Ministry to increase production in an important oil field in southern Iraq.
The discussions are aimed at finalizing a two-year deal, or technical support agreement, to boost production at the West Qurna Stage 1 oil field near Iraq’s second-largest [...]

Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA has decided to sign some oil contracts in euros in the face of a plummeting dollar, local media reported, citing officials.
“There are some contracts in euros, contracts for crude, products and spot markets in euros. This is a subject which we are working on,” said energy minister and Petroleos de [...]

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell is to cut its reserve figures for 2007, taking about 1.3 billion barrels off its books or the equivalent of nearly one year’s production, The Observer said Sunday.
The weekly newspaper said the company would announce the writedown of at least 200 million barrels off the estimates for its operations in [...]

US-based oil giant Chevron group said it is now conducting studies on untapped oil and gas prospects in the country.
Chevron Malampaya LLC president Kevin Lyon said the conduct of such studies is part of the company’s commitment to pursue oil and gas exploration opportunities in the Philippines.
“We have received the data from the Department of [...]

Venezuela moved closer to nationalizing its oil-rich Orinoco River basin, after four foreign oil companies signed deals giving Venezuela the lion’s share of the profits and two US companies pulled out altogether.
“ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are ending their participation in the exploration ventures,” Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Tuesday at the signing ceremony with [...]

Oil giants ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. are set to withdraw from their joint venture projects in Venezuela’s Orinoco basin.
The two companies refused to sign deals Tuesday that would see the Venezuelan government taking majority stakes in their Orinoco projects.
Four other oil majors, U.S.-based Chevron Corp.; Britain’s BP Plc; France’s Total SA; and Norway’s Statoil [...]