MINING.COM Staff Writer

As unrest in Libya, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries continues to put pressure on the price of oil, the head of Imperial Oil Ltd. is backing a multi-billion-dollar expansion project to bring Canadian oilsands crude to U.S. markets. The Wall Street Journal reports: A pipeline project that's pending U.S. approval is necessary to ensure the reliability and security of oil supplies to the world's largest oil consumer, the head of Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO) said. Imperial Oil is a Canadian company majority owned by Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the world's largest publicly traded oil company.

Exploration and mining in mineral-rich Nevada could be affected, CB Online reports: The Nevada Senate passed a bill nearly unanimously Thursday that ends the authority of the state's mining and defunct sugar beet industries to invoke eminent domain to take private land for their own use. Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, who sponsored SB86, said she focused on the two industries because they represent companies that take property for private enrichment rather than for the public good.