Prague  - The Czech energy giant CEZ said Thursday its net profit rose by 67.2 per cent to 13.06 billion koruny (801.5 million dollars) in the second quarter of 2008, from 7.81 billion in the same period last year.

The state-controlled energy firm's April-June sales were up by 7 per cent year-on-year from 39.04 billion koruny to 41.82 billion koruny.

A hike in wholesale electricity prices, savings and an increased share of nuclear power generation were behind the strong results, the company said.

V

Hanoi - Vietnam reduced retail gasoline prices 5.2 per cent Thursday after world crude oil prices fell below 120 dollars a barrel, a government official said.

The price was reduced from 19,000 dong (1.14 dollars) to 18,000 dong per litre, Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Nguyen Cam Tu said.

"The price of gasoline was reduced because of many factors, and the most important factor is the decline of world crude oil prices," Tu told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "We reduced the price for the sake of society."

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Vienna - The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has dropped below 110 euros per barrel, OPEC announced on Wednesday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude stood at 109.09 dollars Tuesday, 2.19 dollars lower than the 111.27 dollars recorded on the previous day.

The price drop came on the same day that the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported oil production by OPEC countries in July had increased by 145,000 barrels to