■Petroleum
Crude prices rise in outage
Crude oil rose as much as 1.2 percent in New York after power failures in the US and Canada forced at least four refiners to shut down at a time when they need to boost processing to meet rising gasoline demand. Refiners in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario shut at least 451,000 barrels a day of processing, sending gasoline futures to a five-month high. Thursday, New York crude oil gained 1 percent in floor trading before the blackouts on speculation US gasoline demand will boost crude oil processing by refiners. They had been ramping up gasoline production as demand from motorists climbed in the final weeks of the US summer vacation season. "The refinery outages caused by the power failure will probably kill gasoline supplies," said Katsunori Watanabe, director of research at oil futures trading company, Nihon Unicom Corp in Tokyo.
■ Computers
China to buy local software
The Chinese government is buying only made-in-China software instead of Microsoft Corp's Word and other programs to install in all ministries and commissions, Chinese Central Government Purchasing Center Vice Director Ren Xinhui said. Beijing has set rules banning government bureaus to buy and install foreign software applications, Ren said. "We cracked down earlier on pirated Windows operating systems installed on government computers," Ren said in an interview. "But the ministries which use legit-imate versions of Windows OS can keep them.." Ren said the purchasing center is still in the process of going through bids for software to install in the central government's 28 ministries and commissions. Microsoft spokespersons could not be reached for comment.
Agencies
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