Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with word oil. 23 news.

Oil prices headed slightly lower Monday, marking a quiet end to a record-breaking year, although rising demand and geopolitical ...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Credit-market turbulence, interest-rate intrigue, record high oil and a deflated U.S. dollar made for a white-knuckle quarter that capped a volatile year for bond mutual-fund managers. Their jobs may not get any easier in 2008.

Crude looks set to finish a volatile year with the biggest yearly price gain since 1999.

The latest do-it-yourself auto trend for eco-conscious drivers: "Grease cars" are diesel vehicles converted to also burn leftover food-grade vegetable oil.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks drifted slightly lower at the open Monday, the final session of 2007, amid sharply lower volume. Early action saw shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jump as much as 24% to $19.30 a share after Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced it was taking a 35% stake in the company at $19 a share. But the news failed to spur gains elsewhere in the group. The Amex Oil Index was off 0.2% at 1,574 points, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index was down 1% at 303, and the Amex Natural Gas Index was essentially unchanged at 580 points.

Oil prices have risen solidly, pushed higher by concerns about instability in Pakistan and tensions on the Turkish border with oil-rich Iraq.

Oil prices were flat Monday on the final trading day of the year, after a decline in the previous session on concerns about the U.S. economy. Light, sweet crude for February delivery traded down one cent at $95.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp will pay $684 million to acquire a 35 percent stake in Delta Petroleum Corp , the independent oil and gas company said on Monday.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jumped in Monday pre-market trading after the oil and gas exploration and development company said it would sell a 35% stake to Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., a move that will help Delta fund its development and drilling activities in Colorado and Utah.

Reuters - Oil steadied near $96 a barrel on Monday, heading for its biggest annual gain this decade as dwindling fuel stocks and growing concern over political turmoil offset the impact of a softening U.S. economy.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil steadied near $96 a barrel on Monday, heading for its biggest annual gain this decade as dwindling fuel stocks and growing concern over political turmoil offset the impact of a softening U.S. economy.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil giant ConocoPhillips said Monday that it signed a production-sharing contract with Malaysian national oil company Petronas for the exploration and development of natural gas fields offshore Sabah, Malaysia. Petronas will hold a 40% stake under the contract through its unit Petronas Carigali, while Shell and ConocoPhillips will each hold 30%.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures saw a slight pullback while oil futures were steady in early action Monday. Gold for February delivery slipped $2.90 to $839.80 an ounce and oil futures for February delivery rose 5 cents to $96.05 a barrel.

Oil prices edged up Monday amid continuing awareness of tighter U.S. inventories, recovering ground after a decline in the previous session on concerns about the U.S. economy.

Oil prices ended the year near $96 a barrel, or 57 percent higher than where they began, and analysts expect rising demand and geopolitical instability to keep upward pressure on energy costs early in 2008.

Oil has risen above $96/barrel, heading for its biggest annual gain this decade.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Europe stocks weakened out of the gate on Monday, a half-day of trade ahead of the New Year's holiday. Air France-KLM shares rose 1% in early trading Monday, following Friday's news that it's the preferred bidder to buy Alitalia . Cairn Energy , the Scottish oil explorer that surged last week on the back of deal speculation, strong oil prices and its re-entry into the FTSE 100, slipped 1.6%. London Scottish Bank tumbled over 16% after taking a provision and warning it won't be able to pay its final dividend. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 6,462.70 in London and the CAC 40 dipped 0.2% to 5,616.79 in Paris. German and Swiss markets were shut.

Russia is not only rich in oil, but the precious metal titanium, which is underpinning so much of the US aerospace industry. This deal is a massive win for VSMPO-Avisma and also for Boeing, which has locked in a reliable supply for badly needed titanium parts.