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.