oil

Section 163 of the Mining Act, Section 51 of the Mineral Resource Authority Act and Section 159 of the Oil and Gas Act protect the confidentiality of these contracts.

Without Legislative amendment at this stage, agreements could only be made public with the approval of both the company and the Department of Petroleum and Energy, or the Mineral Resources Authority.

Civil Society organisations have called to have this changed in the interest of greater transparency.

But despite popular health claims about coconut oil, a report from the American Heart Association recently advised against its use, stating that it increases LDL cholesterol (a cause of cardiovascular disease) and has no known offsetting effects.

When he was growing up in the 1960s, vegetable oil was still a precious commodity and used sparingly.

Fast-forward to today and oil is now so abundant and cheaply available that most of us use it liberally in our cooking - chucking it in anything from salad dressings to deep fat frying.

It's not only in our home cooking, oil is also an ingredient in most of the items we buy from the supermarket.

In July, Exxon agreed to buy out InterOil for $US2.5 billion in a deal approved last month by Supreme Court of Yukon in Canada where the natural gas producer is incorporated.

However the court has now upheld an appeal against the sale, filed by the founder of InterOil Phil Mulacek.

Mr Mulacek has objected to the sale terms, saying it did not properly remunerate InterOil shareholders.

The company owns a 36.5 percent stake in large PNG's Elk-Antelope gas field, which is operated by French energy giant Total.

The local YakutiaMedia website says a central heating system accident in the village of Chersky resulted in three tonnes of oil leaking into the water supply. The oil also made its way into a nearby river and contaminated the soil.

U.S. oil rose $3.96, or 10.3 percent, to $42.56 in New York. The last time it posted a similar gain was a 10.3 percent jump on Dec. 11, 2008. Brent crude rose more than 9 percent in London.

Oil has been trading near a 6 ½ year low because of worries about the health of China's economy, concerns that had punished other commodities as well as global stock markets.

The economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, shrank at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.2 percent from January through March, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That's better than last month's estimate of a 0.7 percent decrease.

Harsh winter weather slowed spending by keeping consumers away from shopping malls and auto dealerships. The trade deficit ballooned, slicing growth by the most since 1985 as exports fell and imports rose.