Paris

Stockholm - Swedish state-owned energy group Vattenfall on Thursday posted a drop in operating profits for the fourth quarter of 2008, and a slight decrease of its full-year electricity production.

Operating profit before tax and interest was 6.5 billion kronor (796 million dollars), down 2.8 per cent year-on-year.

Fourth-quarter turnover increased by 22 per cent to 46 billion kronor while a lower Swedish tax charge contributed to the 10 per cent net profit increase to 4 billion kronor, Vattenfall said.

Vienna  - The price for oil produced by the Organizatio

Hanoi  - Engineers have discovered two new cracks in the body of a 130-metre-high dam under construction in the province of Son La, Vietnamese media reported Wednesday.

The newspaper Thanh Nien (Youth) reported the cracks were in addition to another one discovered in September 2008. The largest is 31.5 metres long and 1 millimetre wide, and runs 6 metres deep into the body of the dam.

The paper reported Nguyen Kim Toi, director of the construction project, said the cracks could be due to shrinkage following temperature changes when the concrete encountered rain.

Vienna - The price for oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose to 43.85 dollars Monday, as the cartel's chairman indicated that production might be slashed further.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC-produced crude climbed 0.55 dollars Monday, the 12-member organization announced Tuesday.

Given current low prices, OPEC would consider cutting output at its next meeting in mid-March, OPEC Chairman Abdalla Salem El-Badri said Monday in London, according to media reports.

Nicosia, Feb 10: Ahmad al-Obaid, who is the head of the Kuwait Society for Safeguarding Public Funds, has said that the Society filed a suit against the Kuwait Petroleum Company(KPC) for misappropriation of public funds.

He was quoted by Al-Qabas newspaper as saying that millions of dinars had been embezzled at the petroleum training center.