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.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) announced that it has decided to raise the capacity of its Mathura refinery to 11 million tonnes from the present eight million tonnes and was looking forward to early clearance at the Central government level.

While addressing reports, Mr. B N Bankapur, director of  Indian Oil Corporation remarked, “We have approached the Ministry of Environment and Forest for clearance to expand our Mathura refinery."

According to the sources, the addition in Mathura refinery has been hanging fire with the Ministry of Environment and Forest for authorization as fears have been expressed about the impact the project might have on the 17th-century monument Taj Mahal.

The Indian Oil Corp demands heavy discounts to buy up to 2 million tonnes of crude from Cairn India.

The director of the company, B N Bankapur said that the Rajasthan output utility of Cairn India is producing heavy and waxy crude oil. The company has to pay additional amount to refine it, which would not be economical for IOC without good amount of discount.