Three minibus passengers, including a five-year-old girl, are fighting for their lives after a motorway crash which killed eight people.

Energy infrastructure company Greencoat Renewables is aiming to raise up to €250m from a dual stock market listing in London and Dublin in order to fund its growth objectives.

British energy supply company InfraStrata is considering a sale of its potentially lucrative Islandmagee gas storage project in Co Antrim if it fails to land a much-needed investor to help develop the asset.

Exploration-related activity in Irish waters is set to heat up further in the coming months with a new multi-client 3D seismic survey to be undertaken off the west coast.

Irish prospecting firm Botswana Diamonds has reported a 15.5% narrowing of first-half losses and further progress at assets it holds in southern Africa.

OPEC has reported an increase in its oil production for September to the highest in at least eight years and has raised its forecast for 2017 non-OPEC supply growth, pointing to a larger surplus next year despite the group’s deal to cut output.

Petrel Resources — the Irish AIM-listed exploration firm — has reported a near 28% narrowing in first-half losses.

Troubled Irish explorer Lansdowne Oil and Gas has applied for a resumption of trading in its shares to take effect from Wednesday of this week.

Irish exploration firm, Clontarf Energy, is in early talks with prospective equity partners.

Shares in Newry-based specialist technology firm First Derivatives jumped by more than 5% in London yesterday on the back of it suggesting it should “comfortably” beat market expectations with its latest set of annual results.

One51 will seek support for a dual IPO, in Dublin and London, from its shareholders next month.

John Teeling has said exploration firm Petrel Resources, of which he is chairman, has ample resources to weather the current challenging market conditions produced by the low oil price environment.

Ireland’s exploration sector is set to receive a timely boost, with drilling primed to begin at one of Lansdowne Oil & Gas’ Celtic Sea assets in August.

Lansdowne Oil & Gas — the Dublin-based junior partner in the Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea — has said its current model remains a viable growth option, despite seeing operating losses widen by 32%.

Applegreen, the Irish forecourt fuel supplier, plans to benefit from the “grim” reputation of motorway service stations in Britain as it announced a €70m placing of shares and detailed its expansion plans.

Facebook and Instagram have denied their services were hacked today, blaming a 40-minute outage on an internal systems issue.

Limerick-based exploration firm, Circle Oil, yesterday saw its share price soar by nearly 27% on the back of it finding considerably more gas than expected at the third of a current 12-well drilling campaign in Morocco.

Antrim Energy — the Canadian exploration firm, with sizeable interests off the Irish coast— has turned down a takeover approach from UK company, Sound Oil.

John Teeling’s Botswana Diamonds expects its 2015 exploration programme to include a double-digit number of drill holes tested to identify targets, as it looks to increase its focus on the southern African country.

Irish exploration firm Lansdowne Oil & Gas saw its share price jump by nearly 15% yesterday on the back of it attracting a development partner for its Celtic Sea assets.

Limerick-based exploration firm Circle Oil’s market value jumped by over €30 million to €163m yesterday on the back of it announcing a potentially transformational oil discovery off the coast of North Africa.

Circle Oil — the Limerick -based exploration firm with assets in northern Africa and the Middle East — is actively considering making its first dividend payment to shareholders.

Providence Resources could see a 500% jump in its share price this year if it successfully manages to conclude its mooted 40% farm-out at its highly-rated Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea, according to one London-based exploration analyst.

Development drilling is set to recommence at Petroceltic’s headline asset, the Ain Tsila gas field in Algeria, in the first quarter of next year, with the field expected to come on stream in 2018.

Renewables and waste-focused investment firm, One51 is expected to conclude a deal to acquire British waste management firm Straight plc in the coming weeks.

Cork-headquartered energy infrastructure firm, REACT Energy is looking to accelerate its growth by bringing current projects on stream at a quicker rate and making more acquisitions.

Cork-based company, REACT Energy has positioned itself as the market leader and main consolidator in the UK’s thriving small-to-mid- sized energy infrastructure market.

The Dalata Hotel Group is hoping to use proceeds from its upcoming flotation to expand its property network, either via single asset purchases or the buyout of rival groups’ portfolios.

The Irish exchange is back in the big time, with the US also booming again, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Employees of Shannon-based engineering equipment maker Mincon are set to be awarded around €1,000 per year of service as part of a €1.2m employee recognition payment plan.

The Dublin-headquartered prospector Karelian Diamond Resources has conditionally raised another £550,000 (€600,000), via a share placing.

T5 Oil and Gas, the new exploration firm established by five former Tullow Oil executives, is to seek a stock listing on Dublin’s ESM market in the autumn, or early next year, depending on market conditions.

Irish mining company, Botswana Diamonds has reported a near 9% drop in annual losses for the 12 months to the end of June.

Kentz has been awarded a $190m (€141m) three-year contract with Qatar Petroleum, the announcement of which helped boost its share price by over 2% yesterday.

Connemara Mining, the AIM-listed/Dublin-headquartered mineral exploration firm, has been awarded 10 prospecting licences in east Donegal.

Last week the Government moved to incentivise growth companies to use Dublin as a platform for expansion through equity finance.