■Crude oil
It's now US$33 a barrel
Crude oil rose above US$33 a barrel for the first time in more than two years on concern the US may attack Iraq early next year and street protests in Venezuela look set to disrupt oil supplies for a fifth week. The US military will be prepared should President George W. Bush decide to use force to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of any chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. UN weapons inspectors in Iraq will report their findings by the end of January, Powell said yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Crude oil may rise to US$40 a barrel if the attack begins, he said. Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as US$0.45, or 1.4 percent, to US$33.17 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Dec. 1, 2000. It traded at US$33.05 at 2:59pm Singapore time.
■ Power industry
China breaks up sector
China on Sunday broke its massive state power company into 11 smaller firms in a move to encourage greater competition, the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency reported. The dismantled State Power Corp will spin off its power generating assets to five smaller companies, each controlling less than 20 percent of the country's electricity generating capacity, Xinhua said. Two other companies will operate power grids and four companies will handle peripheral business operations, the report said. The five electricity generators will be forced to compete for contracts with the grid operators, State Power Grid and Southern Power Grid, according to State Power Corp's Web site.
Agencies
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