Oil companies that are trying to expand into Nigeria face a significant roadblock in the form of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND. This Nigerian militant group has threatened to destroy a planned trans-Saharan pipeline project, if it is ever built.
 
MEND has specifically warned Agip, Total, and Exxon Mobil, the three companies still operating in the Niger Delta, that they have three days to leave before new attacks may be launched. Chevron has already cancelled operations in the area because of several attacks on its onshore operations.
 
Niger and Nigeria have already forged an agreement to …read more

In both 2007 and 2008, Wal-Mart was on top of the Fortune 500, while Exxon Mobil finished in second place. For 2009, Exxon Mobil leapfrogged Wal-Mart and is now first while Wal-Mart finished in the second slot.
The Fortune 500 is released by Fortune magazine on a yearly basis and it lists the 500 richest corporations in the United States by using gross revenue as the measure. This year, Exxon Mobile topped the list with more than $440 billion in revenue. Wal-Mart was second with revenue of more than $405 billion.
Overall, the national economic woes was felt in the Fortune …read more