Georgia has sold its first crude on the world markets.

Venezuela deprived the world's biggest oil companies of operational control over massive Orinoco Belt crude projects on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, April 25, the EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and European MPs adopted a joint statement, urging Russia to stop using its energy as a political weapon and resume oil supplies to Lithuania. The statement also says that Russia and the European Union are mutually dependent on energy, and that majority of problems arise from political disagreements.

As Iraq is debating a new law that will set guidelines under which authorities can negotiate with foreign oil firms, several energy-hungry countries in Asia hope to be among the first to sign contracts to explore the world's third largest oil reserves. Claudia Blume at VOA's Asia News in Hong Kong reports.

Russia's largest private oil producer Lukoil announced on Tuesday, April 24, that it wants to become the country's largest independent gas producer, second only to state-controlled giant Gazprom.

The bankrupt Yukos oil company in the Volga River region of Samara will auction oil production and refining assets in a single block next month.

Since the 1950s, oil has been the dominant source of energy in the world. The cheap supply of oil has been the engine for economic growth in the western world. Since future oil demand is expected to increase, the question to what extent future production will be available is important.

Mexico's state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, better known as Pemex, celebrated its 69th birthday on March 18, amid concerns that it is on the brink of insolvency and its production is falling. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, Mexico, still has plenty of oil, but internal politics prevent the investment needed to develop the resources.

China's largest oil producer reported a gain in net profit for 2006 and FedEx will begin domestic express delivery services in China. Claudia Blume at VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong has more on these and other business stories from the region.