Petroplus Starts Cressier Refinery in Switzerland After Maintenance Halt

(Bloomberg) -- Petroplus Holdings AG said it
restarted its Cressier refinery in Switzerland after stopping it
for maintenance.

The refinery, which has a capacity of 68,000 barrels a day,
started last week, company spokesman Colin Murray said today. The
plant was fully operational by the end of the week, Murray said.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Falcon-Master Prince Plans $300 Billion Metropolis in Saudi Arabian Desert

(Bloomberg) -- It's molting season in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and change is in the air.

``How a man handles the falcon tells us much of his passion
and character,'' royal falcon master Hadi al-Aimi says while 35
peregrines trained for the hunt screech and shed feathers above
an oasis of date palms outside the northwestern city of Tabouk.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

World Bank nominee Zoellick says WTO deal possible

(Reuters) - "I believe that a deal can be done. I believe a deal should be done. I believe it would make a great step for development and growth so I would like to try and help," he told reporters after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.




The comments by Zoellick, a former U.S. Trade Representative, came the week after World Trade Organisation head Pascal Lamy said a successful completion of the Doha round of trade talks was within reach.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

WTI Crude Oil Isn't Suitable as Global Benchmark, Vitol's President Says

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. benchmark crude West Texas
Intermediate is not suitable as a global marker because it's
only representative of inland supplies in the U.S. mid-
continent, Ian Taylor, president of Vitol Group said.

``It's an extremely bad marker,'' Taylor said in Kuala
Lumpur during the Asia Oil and Gas conference. Refiners and
traders ``shouldn't use WTI as a benchmark.''


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

France's CAC 40 Index Drops, Paced by Sanofi-Aventis, BNP Paribas Shares

(Bloomberg) -- French stocks declined, led by
Sanofi-Aventis SA and BNP Paribas SA.

The CAC 40 Index retreated 27.77, or 0.5 percent, to
5912.32 at 9:19 a.m. The SBF 120 Index slipped 0.4 percent.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Veolia Plans to Raise $3.5 Billion Selling New Shares to Fund Acquisitions

(Bloomberg) -- Veolia Environnement SA, the world's
biggest water company, plans to raise 2.6 billion euros ($3.5
billion) from a sale of new shares following the acquisition of
waste-treatment companies in the U.K., Germany and Italy.

Veolia shareholders can buy one new share for every eight
held at a price of 49.70 euros apiece, the Paris-based company
said today in an e-mailed statement. That's 15 percent less than
yesterday's closing price of 58.67 euros.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

India Production Grew More Than Expected in April; Puts Pressure on Rates

(Bloomberg) -- India's industrial production grew
more than expected in April, suggesting the central bank may
need to raise interest rates further to contain inflation stoked
by consumer demand.

Production at factories, utilities and mines gained 13.6
percent from a year earlier after a revised 14.5 percent in
March, the Central Statistical Organisation said in a statement
in New Delhi today. Economists expected an 11.3 percent rise.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News