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The president of Opec has warned that the price of oil could hit $200 (£100) a barrel, spelling more pain for the major crude-consuming economies.

Chakib Khelil said there was nothing that the oil producers’ cartel could do to bring down the high price, which he blamed on geopolitical tensions and market speculators.

His comments, coming as oil touched a record $120 a barrel on Nymex at one stage yesterday, are seen as rejecting pleas from America and Europe for Opec to turn on the taps and help rein in the price. Mr Khelil, Algeria’s energy minister, said there is no evidence of a shortage of oil on world markets.
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Shell made profits of $7.8bn (£3.9bn) in the first three months of the year, up from $6.9bn a year ago.

And rival BP saw its profits rise 48% to $6.588bn (£3.31bn), from $4.4bn.

In January, Anglo-Dutch firm Shell reported annual profits of $27.56bn (£13.9bn) for 2007, a record for a UK-listed company.

The quarterly results come as a strike by oil workers at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland came to an end.
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A new diesel biofuel derived from sugarcane is to be launched in Brazil after an accidental discovery made while researching malaria cures, the US and Brazilian companies producing it said Wednesday.

John Melo, the head of the US company Amyris involved, explained that one of his bio-engineers stumbled on the process while working on the Artemisia anti-malaria medicine.
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Retail sales climbed 1.1% in March from a year earlier, after gaining 3.2% in February and 1.3% in January, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Monday. The March figures are the eighth-straight month of gains in retail sales, the longest streak of gains since an eight-month expansion through December 1994.
The gains were inline with consensus expectation for a 1% rise.

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Sealord Group company secretary Terry Horne said fuel was the company’s second biggest cost after labour and the price increases were having a significant impact.

Sealord had rationalised its fleet over the past few years and introduced fuel-efficiency measures. “But it will ultimately impact on pricing in the future as companies look to increase cost recovery,” Horne said.

Talley’s Fisheries director, Andrew Talley, said the cost of commercial fuel was rising alongside domestic pump prices and was a critical factor for the whole fishing industry.

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Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE) on Friday said its entire sub 100 HP range of Massey Ferguson tractors, but one, has been made compatible for use with bio diesel.

“These tractors can use the current five per cent blend of regular diesel with diesel produced by esterising vegetable
oils obtained from corn, jatropha, rape seed etc,” TAFE said in a statement.
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