Gold futures fell Thursday for a fourth straight session to near $940 an ounce as higher stock markets and crude prices reduced safe-haven buying.

Crude-oil futures rose to trade above $43 a barrel Thursday, buoyed by a decline in gasoline inventories as well as an impending higher open on Wall Street.

Russia and Ukraine said Sunday they’ve reached a deal to resume the distribution of natural gas to Europe, ending a dispute that has disrupted the gas flow for about two weeks, hampering economic activity and leaving some people unable to heat their homes.

Under the agreement, Ukraine will get a 20% discount off European prices for Russian gas this year, and will pay European prices starting in 2010, reports said. Meanwhile, the transit fees Russia pays will remain unchanged from last year.

Dubai and Nigeria have signed a preliminary agreement worth $16 billion to develop oil and gas infrastructure in Africa’s top crude producer.

The deal will see Dubai World Corporation (DWC) wholly-owned by the emirate, investing in projects in the restive Niger Delta, which accounts for nearly all of Nigeria’s around two million barrels of crude per day.

Two Saudi Arabian cement producers said yesterday profit fell in the fourth quarter on lower sales volumes following a government decision to ban exports.

Yamama Cement, the country’s third largest cement producer, said net income in the fourth quarter of this year has dropped 33 per cent to 85.1 million riyals ($22.69m) from 126.9m riyals in the corresponding period in 2007.

Federal regulators have settled a lawsuit with environmental activists and nine states over standards for mercury emissions from cement plants, the plaintiffs announced Friday.

Earthjustice, an environmental law firm based in Washington, sued the Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 on behalf of activist groups. The firm said existing federal regulations that exempted older cement kilns failed to impose adequate mercury pollution controls.

Nine states, including New York and Michigan, also joined the suit, contending the agency had not based its standards on the latest pollution control technology.

ConocoPhillips announced late Friday it will cut 4%, or about 1,300 employees, from its payroll and slash capital spending this year to cope with falling oil prices and lower refining margins as a severe economic downturn saps global energy demand.
The company also warned it plans to take nearly $33 billion in non-cash, after-tax write downs in the fourth quarter to reflect the falling value of existing reserves and operations, including a $7.3 billion write-down of its stake in Russian oil company Lukoil.

Look to the gold sector for good news from Canadian miners. While base metal, coal and potash producers continue to trim output, companies such as Vancouver’s Goldcorp have recorded record quarterly production. Gold output at all of the company’s operations was 692,000 oz during the last quarter, bringing the 2008 total to 2.3 million oz.

Nor is that the only good news from Goldcorp. Although the calculation of operating costs for 2008 has not yet been completed, the company expects total cash costs will be $300/oz of gold on a byproduct basis.

Latin America’s crude steel production in 2008 reached 67.2Mt, the same as the previous year, the Latin American Iron and Steel Institute (Ilafa) reported.

The largest variation was seen in Venezuela, where production fell 15.4% from 5.0Mt in 2007 to 4.2Mt in 2008, while Brazilian production rose 1.5% from 33.8Mt to 34.4Mt and Mexico increased from 17.6Mt to 17.8Mt.

Costs of restoring gas supplies will mostly likely come from European gas companies.

Who should pay for the cost of pumping gas through Ukraine? That’s been a major sticking point in resolving Europe’s gas crisis. Now, it seems that European gas companies will have to shoulder that responsibility, paying at least $800.0 million in additional costs.