TOKYO (Reuters) -Shares in Japanese trading firms Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp tumbled on Wednesday after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev made comments threatening the loss of oil and gas supply to Japan.

Crude oil futures rose nearly 3% on Wednesday as investors piled back in after the heavy rout in the previous session, shifting their focus again to supply concerns even as worries about a recession mounted.

Two U.S. investment funds on Tuesday said they formed a joint venture with a Venezuelan firm to pursue oil and gas exploration and production projects in the U.S.-sanctioned South American country.

HOUSTON (Reuters) -More than 5 million barrels of oil that were part of a historic U.S. emergency reserves release to lower domestic fuel prices were exported to Europe and Asia last month, according to data and sources, even as U.S. gasoline and diesel prices hit record highs.

Fears of global recession sent U.S. gasoline futures down 9.7% on Tuesday, the biggest one-day drop in 16 weeks in a move that could cool retail fuel prices and accomplish an often-stated White House objective.

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Wall Street analysts sharply increased their Exxon Mobil Corp second-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday, after the largest U.S. oil producer projected it could almost double its first-quarter earnings.

OSLO (Reuters) -The Norwegian government on Tuesday intervened to end a strike in the petroleum sector that had cut oil and gas output, a union leader and the labour ministry said, ending a stalemate that could have worsened Europe's energy supply crunch.

Oil plummeted about 9% on Tuesday in the biggest daily drop since March on growing fears of a global recession and lockdowns in China that could slash demand.

Venezuelan authorities "frequently" bill Colombian oil companies over contamination caused by crude leaking from a pipeline that runs adjacent to the border shared by the two countries, a German non-profit organization said in a report this week.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) -A Canadian oil regulator on Tuesday said it has charged Hibernia, an offshore oil company owned by Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Suncor Energy, over a 2019 oil spill.