Regal Petroleum...Trading at the wrong price.

MOSCOW (AFX) - Ukrainian Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov appeared hopeful of a securing an eleventh-hour deal to break a deadlock with Russia over gas prices as the clock ran down on a Jan 1 deadline that could see supplies through what is a key transit route to western Europe cut off.



Russia lifted decade-old restrictions on foreign ownership of stock in state-controlled natural gas giant OAO Gazprom on Thursday, a measure that is expected to bring billlions of dollars from abroad into the already booming Russian stock market.