Sydney - Russia's incursion into neighbouring Georgia had prompted Australia to think twice about shipping uranium under a deal negotiated last year by the former conservative government, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday.

Under a deal yet to be ratified, Australia agreed to sell Moscow uranium as long as it was used for power generation rather than for making nuclear weapons.

Nicosia, Sept 18 : The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its latest monthly report has lowered its forecast for 2009 world oil demand to 0.9 million barrels a day (b/d), that is 1.00 per cent, compared with 1.03 per cent, as was the previous estimate.

Oil consumption next year OPEC forecasts will average 87.7 million b/d. The basic reason for the lowering of the forecast is falling demand in the United States which is the largest consumer in the world

Vienna - The price of crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped below the 90- dollar mark on Tuesday, OPEC said on Wednesday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 86.69 dollars Tuesday, down 4.57 dollars from 91.26 dollars on the previous day.

In its latest Monthly Oil Market Report, OPEC lowered its forecasts for global oil demand growth.

Washington - US lawmakers revived a stalled debate about energy on Tuesday and considered comprehensive legislation that would expand oil drilling off US coasts while boosting investment in alternative fuels.

Majority Democrats introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that was touted as a compromise. It allows limited new offshore drilling and offers tax incentives for renewable energy by repealing tax credits for major oil companies.

But on what has been the major sticking point for weeks, minority Republicans in Congress said it did not go nearly far enough in allowing oil companies to drill offshore.

Vienna - The price for cru

Rostock, Germany - Cost over-runs may double the cost of a world project to build a new kind of nuclear reactor that leaves behind practically no nuclear waste, according to the deputy chief scientist Monday.

The 5.5-billion-euro (7.7-billion-dollar) ITER project, run by the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and South Korea, is building a fusion reactor to generate electricity in Cadarache in southern France.