Moscow  - Russia views the European Union's pledge to invest in the modernization of Ukraine gas pipeline system as "an unfriendly act" against Moscow, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"What happened in Brussels at the forum, we see as an unfriendly act in relation to Russia by both the European Union and Ukraine," foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists.

Nairobi/Abuja  - Nigerian oil workers called off a strike planned for Wednesday after union leaders met government officials, union leaders said.

The unions were planning to strike in protest at worsening security in the oil-producing Niger Delta and also at plans to deregulate the downstream sector.

Both Nigerian and foreign oil workers have been the targets of kidnappings by criminal groups and militants who claim they are fighting for a share of oil wealth.

The attacks have cut oil production by up to a fifth.

New York  - Canadian oil companies Suncor Energy Inc and Petro-Canada Monday announced a merger worth about 15.4 billion US dollars that would create the country's largest energy company and provide protection against any foreign buyouts.

Suncor is the world's second-largest oil-sands producer, and Petro-Canada is the country's second-largest refiner. The steep decline in global oil prices last year made the merger inevitable.

Suncor reported its first quarterly loss in its history in January.

State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has proposed a 50:50 partnership to operate 1432 closed petrol pumps of Reliance Industries (RIL), having 15 per cent fuel market share by the closing date of March 2008.

Other firms including Royal Dutch Shell, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) have also shown interest in partnership with Reliance.

The private firm suffered huge losses in early 2008 due to difference in retail price of petrol and diesel sold by public sector oil companies and other private firms leading to closure of RIL's petrol pumps.

London  - The first giant tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar arrived in Britain Friday amid noisy protests from campaigners who oppose the project on environmental and safety grounds.

The consignment, on board the 316,000-ton Tembek, is the first to be delivered to the deep sea port of Milford Haven, on the coast of Wales in south-west Britain, under a long-term contract signed with Qatar.

Brussels  - The European Union and Ukraine on Monday are set to agree on a programme of political reforms and physical repairs to the former-Soviet state's giant gas network, EU officials said.

One fifth of all the natural gas consumed in the EU flows through Ukraine's 13,500-kilometre network of gas pipelines, but experts say that that network will need some 2.5 billion euros (3.4 billion dollars) in investment over the next six years just to keep pipes and pumping stations in running order.