71.   Shell U.K. is part of the Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos., the Anglo-Dutch oil giant.

72.   Some traders attributed the gains to a Financial Times report that said U.S. oil giants Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. are in an advanced stage of merger talks.

73.   Several Russian oil giants have complained about the export cuts.

74.   That led French oil giant Total SA to pull out two years ago, saying the project is not economically feasible.

75.   That led French oil giant Total to pull out two years ago, saying the project is not economically feasible.

76.   The Anglo-Dutch oil giant was the operator in a partnership with Mobil Oil, based in Fairfax, Virginia.

77.   The American oil giant Conoco won a landmark contract earlier this year to develop the Sirri-A and Sirri-E fields.

78.   The biggest buyer of all was federal oil giant Petrobras which purchased six lots, four of them in conjunction with other oil companies.

79.   The European Commission said Thursday it has given legal clearance to the combination of U.S. oil giants Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc.

80.   The explosion of activity in the Gulf has been largely unheralded as the U.S. oil giants pursue higher-profile opportunities in Russia and an Alaska arctic refuge.