Berlin  - Russia's ambassador in Germany, Vladimir Kotenyev, affirmed Friday that the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea would be built.

Speaking two days after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow would be just as ready to export its natural gas by ship, the ambassador said on ARD public television that Russia remained committed to the pipe.

"As far as Russia is concerned, this means a stable supply of gas to Europe," he said.

"Mr Putin was not making any threat," he added.

The controversy blew up as the Russians were about to meet with European Union leaders in Nice, France.

Dusseldorf - One of the main business backers of the Nord Stream gas pipeline to be built under the Baltic Sea, the giant German chemicals company BASF, affirmed the plan Thursday after seeming doubts in Russia.

"My most recent talks with Alexei Miller, the chief of Gazprom, confirmed that all the parties are working with firm resolve ... to create the Nord Stream pipeline in the time frame," BASF chief executive Juergen Hambrecht said.

His response was released by the German business daily Handelsblatt a day in advance of publication.

Vilnius - The Lithuanian foreign ministry said Thursday it backed a suggestion by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to abandon the Nord Stream gas pipeline project due to be built under the Baltic Sea.

On Wednesday Putin said Europe must decide whether it wants the 10-billion-dollar pipeline to link Russia and Germany or not.

New Delhi, Nov. 13: ONGC Videsh Ltd. and its partner IPR Red Sea Inc. have made a second oil discovery in the North Ramadan Concession, Gulf of Suez, Egypt.

The discovery in well North Ramadan-2 (NR-2) is the second oil discovery in this block. The discovery well, NR-2, is located on a separate fault block north of IPR''s first oil discovery, NR-1A ST1, which produced approx. 3,000 BOPD (barrels of oil per day) and 1.5 MMSCFPD (million standard cubic feet per day) during the testing phase.

Vienna - The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell to 49.94 dollars Wednesday, reaching yet another record low for this year.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude was priced 2.30 dollars lower than on Tuesday, the Vienna-based cartel said Thursday.

Oil prices fell as markets reacted to plans in the United States to shift some of its economic rescue package to consumer debts, away from buying up bad mortgage assets from finance firms, analysts at JBC Energy said in Vienna.

New York - US utility owner Exelon Corp's bid to acquire power producer NRG Energy Inc turned bitter Wednesday, with Exelon taking its 5.71-billion-dollar offer directly to shareholders after being rejected by the NRG management.

The acquisition would make Exelon the largest power producer in the United States. NRG is said to have rejected the bid partly because it believes that Exelon couldn't guarantee financing.

NRG chief executive David Crane said Tuesday that Exelon was undervaluing his company, according to Bloomberg financial news agency.