A former Vietnamese official allegedly kidnapped from Germany will go on trial in Hanoi in January on corruption charges, officials said Wednesday, a high-profile case that could see the ex-oil executive put to death.Vietnam's communist government has jailed or arrested scores of former officials, bankers and state executives this year as part of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown that some observers say is driven by political infighting.

OPEC and its allies outside the group agreed to maintain oil production cuts until the end of 2018, extending their campaign to wrest back control of the global market from America’s shale industry.After a day of talks in Vienna, the decision showed the strength of the unprecedented alliance between the world’s top two oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, and confounded Wall Street analysts who’d predicted Moscow would be reluctant to keep going.

The Sidoarjo regency in East Java, Indonesia is known for its cottage industries which produce traditional prawn and fish flavoured crackers. However, tourists who flock there aren’t just lured by the promise of crunchy titbits, but come to see the largest mud volcano in the world.The Sidoarjo mud flow, commonly called Lusi – an abbreviation of Lumpur Sidoarjo, “lumpur” means “mud” in Indonesian – has been spewing mud since it erupted in May 2006.

Brent crude surged to its highest in more than two years as Turkey threatened to shut down Kurdish oil shipments through its territory.Futures climbed 3.8 percent in London, and the US benchmark rose to the highest since April. Turkey can choose to “close the valves” on oil exports from Kurdistan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said as the Iraqi region holds an independence referendum.

Oil had its biggest weekly gain since late July as Texas refineries recovering from Hurricane Harvey processed more crude and global demand forecasts brightened.Futures rose 5.1 percent this week in New York, settling just below the 50-dollar-a-barrel threshold that’s kept the industry in thrall.

A nine billion dollars stake in one of the world’s biggest oil companies may not be enough for CEFC China Energy.A week after China’s largest private energy company struck a deal for a chunk of Rosneft PJSC, it’s been pegged as a possible investor in a Russian metals and power business and a free-trade zone in Georgia’s Black Sea port of Poti.The Rosneft deal has thrust CEFC into the spotlight, transforming it from an obscure conglomerate focused mainly on the former Soviet Union and eastern

Oil headed for a second weekly gain on forecasts for accelerating crude demand and as US Gulf Coast refineries continued to recover from Hurricane Harvey.Futures were little changed in New York, up 4.8 percent for the week, after trading Thursday above 50 dollars for the first time in five weeks and closing at the highest since July.

Saudi Arabia raised oil pricing for October sales to Asia, increasing its lighter grades for a second consecutive month, in an indication the world’s largest crude exporter sees strengthening demand in its biggest market.State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil, known as Saudi Aramco, increased its official pricing for Arab Light crude to Asia by 55 cents to 30 cents a barrel more than the regional benchmark, it said Monday in an emailed statement.

Cambodia on Wednesday signed a deal with a Singaporean energy company to develop its first-ever oilfield, the latest move in the impoverished country's much-delayed plan to become an oil-producing nation.KrisEnergy signed the agreement with the government in the capital Phnom Penh to develop an offshore field in the Gulf of Thailand which they hope will produce 8,000 barrels a day by 2020.Energy Minister Suy Sem hailed the signing as a "historic event" and said the nation would