Trial will begin in Italy on March 5 in a corruption case that could prove one of the biggest in the oil industry's history.

The case centers on Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Eni SpA's decade long negotiations for a joint license to the offshore oil field known as OPL 245, located in Nigerian waters. Prosecutors say company executives were aware that the $1.3 billion paid for the license would end up as bribes for a former Nigerian oil minister and Nigerian officials.

There are indications that the United States may halt crude oil import from Nigeria by 2022, as it moves closer to becoming a net export of petroleum products. The United State Energy Information Administration (EIA) has projected that the United States will become a net energy exporter in 2022 in the newly released Annual Energy Outlook 2018, primarily driven by changes in petroleum and natural gas markets.

The Director of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Mordecai Ladan says his organization has fined 20 marketers N2.5 billion over the diversion of nine million litres of Premium Motor Spirit. Mr. Ladan stated this on Wednesday on the sidelines of a meeting of Zonal Controllers from 28 states and heads of divisions in the Federal Capital Territory. The Head of Public Affairs Unit who spoke on behalf of Ladan disclosed that the marketers diverted products meant for intervention in areas that recorded acute shortage.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has further dropped to 15.13 per cent in January from 15.37 per cent recorded in December, 2017, The NBS disclosed this in its CPI report for January 2018 released on Wednesday in Abuja.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves have hit $42.8 billion, according to spokesman of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor. Okoroafor, who disclosed this at a meeting with Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, RIFAN, Wednesday, in Abuja, attributed the steady growth of the reserves to CBN policies targeting reduction in importation of goods, especially food that can be produced in the country.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a loan agreement with the African Development Fund (ADF) designed to provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan to the tune of 73.601 billion Japanese Yen (approx. US $700.9 million). The President, African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed the loan agreement with African Development Fund (ADF).

The newly elected Chairman, Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), FCT, Chief John Nzekwe, has expressed displeasure that FCT is yet to have an industrial park.

Nzekwe stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, shortly after he was sworn-in as the new FCT chairman of NASSI.

The NASSI Chairman stated that the previous leadership of the association has failed to steer the body to the right path as the engine of economic development and wealth creation.

Oil prices, long battered by a global glut in supply, have been rising recently as the market returns to balance on the back of a landmark deal between producers to throttle output, but surging shale oil production in the United States could throw a spanner in the works, OPEC said on Monday.

Crude prices fell as low as $35 per barrel at the start of 2016, but they have been rising since, reaching a three-year high of more than $70 per barrel last month, “on signs that production adjustments by OPEC and non-OPEC participating countries are balancing the market,” the

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries wrote in its latest monthly market report.

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rebounded on Wednesday after dropping for eight-consecutive days with the market indicators improving by 1.11 percent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the All-Share Index appreciated by 463.65 points or 1.11 percent to close at 42,171.80, compared to 41,708.15 posted on Tuesday.

Also, the market capitalisation closed higher at N15.133 trillion as against N14.967 trillion achieved on Tuesday, indicating a growth of N166 billion or 1.11 percent.

Yam exporters in Nigeria have announced a plan to export another consignment of yam to the United State and the United Kingdom in the first quarter.

The Federal Government flagged off yam export to the UK and USA in July 2017 as part of government efforts to strengthen the naira and enhance the nation’s balance of trade.

Chairman, Technical Committee on Yam Export, Prof. Simon Irtwang, on Tuesday in Lagos said the yam exporters were finalising processes to make it a success.