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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE: Oil News Roundup: December 26, 2006 4:53 p.m.

Crude-oil futures fell for a third straight session, tumbling to nearly $61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, pressured by unseasonably warm weather in the Northeast and Midwest.

Here is Monday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

* * *
DEADLY PIPELINE EXPLOSION: A pipeline carrying petroleum products exploded in Nigeria’s largest city of Lagos, leaving at least 200 people dead. Witnesses said people had rushed to the ruptured pipeline to collect fuel when the flames ignited. Nigerians often tap into pipelines carrying refined fuel, scooping up the raw product in buckets or plastic bags. Spilled fuel spreading in pools sometimes ignites, immolating people nearby. In May, more than 150 people died in a similar explosion in Lagos. Monsters & Critics says this is a particularly bitter example of how Nigeria’s oil wealth is not enriching the country’s people.

ANADARKO DEALING: In its latest push to reduce debt after a pair of large acquisitions, Anadarko Petroleum announced a $1.6 billion sale of some onshore Louisiana natural gas fields to Exco Resources. The sale covers Anadarko’s Vernon and Ansley fields, which produce 192 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, or about 11% of the company total current gas production.

•Democrats Plan to Use Oil Money: House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies.

•Chinese Oil Tycoon Detained: Gong Jialong, the chairman of Great United Petroleum Holding Co., a Chinese private oil-company association, has been detained for suspected economic crimes.

•Oil Spill in Gulf: Workers were trying to contain an oil spill that dumped 21,000 gallons into the Gulf of Mexico after a pipeline ruptured.

•Belarus Fears Russian Gas Cut-Off: Residents of Belarus’ capital stocked up on warm clothes and electric heaters as fears rose that Russia is about to cut off the natural gas on which the country depends.

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