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World Business Quick Take

■ Aviation
Tiger announces seat sales
Singapore's Tiger Airways has launched S$1.99 (US$1.30) seat sales to three Thai cities in a promotion lasting until Jan. 31 next year, the low-cost carrier said yesterday. The 1.5 million seats available for "early bird saver" fares to selected destinations are one-way and exclude taxes. The fares apply "even for festive year-end holidays" if passengers book months in advance of their flight departure dates, chief marketing officer Rosalynn Tay said in a statement. A S$5.99 fare is available to Bangkok and Chiang Mai, S$8.99 to Darwin, Australia and S$9.99 to Padang, Indonesia.

■ Oil
OPEC likely to keep quotas
OPEC, producer of 40 percent of the world's oil, will probably keep its production quotas unchanged when ministers meet on March 15, because crude oil prices are "normal," Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil said. "Prices are normal, we are neither going to cut nor to increase production in the next meeting," the minister told reporters in Algiers late on Saturday. "Prices are expected to stabilize between US$50 and US$60" a barrel, he said. OPEC has announced reductions totaling 1.7 million barrels a day since last October, seeking to support prices. Crude oil has been trading above US$60 a barrel in New York since Feb. 21.

■ Automobiles
Blackstone could make bid
Private equity firm the Blac-kstone Group has emerged as a leading contender to buy DaimlerChrysler AG's struggling Chrysler unit, said a report published on Saturday. The Detroit News, citing unnamed people familiar with the Chrysler sale process, reported that Blackstone was moving forward with a detailed analysis of Chrysler's finances and operations with an idea of making a formal bid. The development was the latest in a series of reports that have surfaced since DaimlerChrysler chairman Dieter Zetsche said on Feb. 14 that all options were open for the money-losing Chrysler business.

■ Banking
Citigroup could sell Nikko
Citigroup Inc may sell off Nikko Principal Investments Japan Ltd, the proprietary investment division of Nikko Cordial Corp, if it succeeds in buying Japan's third-largest brokerage, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday. Citigroup plans to concen-trate resources on the securities company's corporate business, as a recent accounting scandal will make it difficult for the investment unit to generate stable earnings, the newspaper said. The US bank plans to transfer several hundred staff from Nikko Cordial's individual investor brokerage unit to Nikko Citigroup Ltd, which provides investment banking and wholesale financial services, the paper said.

■ Coffee
Starbucks bitter about name
Coffee giant Starbucks Corp is bitter about Indian entrepreneur Shanhaz Husain's plans to start a chain of coffee cafes called Starstrucks in India, a newspaper reported yesterday. The Seattle-based multinational chain of coffee shops filed a complaint with India's Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademark saying the name was deceptively similar to its own, the Mint business daily reported. Starbucks operates over 13,000 locations worldwide and is planning to open its first cafes in India this year.

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