The oil export duty of Russia will rise to a record $398.1 per metric ton from June 1, 2008, in line with global market trends.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to stop oil exports to the US if violence he claims it is plotting breaks out after a hotly contested weekend referendum aimed at expanding his powers.

OPEC members don't even want to publicly talk about the collapsing dollar for fear it might accelerate the precipitous decline. Of course the accidental airing of OPEC concern from a meeting in Saudi Arabia that people will find out they are concerned about falling dollar will have far worse ramifications.

The government of Iraq controls 95% of proceeds from the export of the country's oil, President Jalal Talabani said on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan's industry and energy minister has said that, despite Kazakhstan's recent pledges to continue to export most of its oil through Russia, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is still available to transit Kazakh oil.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, the most prominent armed group in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, says it has bombed three oil pipelines. Gilbert da Costa in Abuja has more in this report for VOA.