There have been one or two high-profile disputes in recent years: a long-running one concerned representation on North Sea oil rigs.

ECONOMIST: Labour relations

On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said the fire started with a leak in a fuel-oil return line running from one of the ship's engines.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Now, various rival rebel factions and corrupt bits of the Russian armed forces are slugging it out for a slice of the oil money while indulging in gun-running and other rackets.

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But many cities are still without running water, and the country with the second-largest oil reserves in the world is importing gasoline.

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Some lawmakers are calling for an inquiry into the oil sector, in particular the running of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, widely perceived as the home of some of Nigeria's most explosive scandals - and the source of gigantic sums of money.

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And the loss of billions in oil revenues may simply have priced Iran out of running a two-front terror war.

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In fact, it is running what could be the definitive test of fish oil-based drugs: a study of whether adding Vascepa to a statin medicine in patients with high triglycerides reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

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That is partly because annual oil-price inflation is running at 17%, compared with 100% at its peak in 2008.

ECONOMIST: Commodity prices and global growth

Instead, the oil inflation of 2011 was widely believed to reflect a long-term structural increase in demand from China and other developing economies running into the inexorable limit of a global oil supply that is at or near its geological peak.

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