Tech Facts

INGAPORE (AFP) - Oil prices fell in Asia on Monday after supply worries helped push prices to a record high last week.

New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, fell 41 cents to 144.67 dollars a barrel.

The contract hit an intra-day peak of 147.27 before closing at 145.08, up 3.43 dollars, on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Brent North Sea oil for August delivery eased three cents to 144.46. On Friday Brent jumped as high as 147.50, a new intra-day record, before settling up 2.46 dollars at 144.49 in London.

Investors were taking profits after last week’s record surge but the decline was likely to be brief as geopolitical tension in the oil-rich Middle East and unrest in key producer Nigeria provided underlying support, dealers said.

“It seems clear that geopolitics will continue to provide fuel for the seemingly relentless rally, with Iran and Western nations still at a standoff over the Islamic republic’s pursuit of a uranium enrichment programme,” said Linda Rafield, senior oil analyst at energy information provider Platts.

Tehran insists its nuclear drive is aimed solely at generating energy but some Western nations fear it could be aimed at making an atomic bomb and have called for a freeze of uranium enrichment.

Iran is the second biggest crude producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel. The country’s output is about four million barrels per day.

OPEC has said the cartel would not be able to replace Iran’s oil production if supplies were halted in case of a war with Israel or the United States.

“A loss of Iranian barrels on world markets would only tighten supply-demand balances further,” Rafield said in a report.

Exacerbating traders’ supply concerns is the ongoing unrest in Nigeria, where violence in the southern delta region has already reduced the country’s total oil production by a quarter since January 2006.

In the latest security incident, Nigerian forces said Saturday they were trying to track down the kidnappers of two German construction workers in Port Harcourt, the country’s oil hub.

Production in Brazil was threatened as workers for the country’s state-run oil giant Petrobras were to start a five-day strike on Monday. Brazil is the world’s 12th largest crude producer, ahead of Nigeria.

Oil prices have almost doubled over the past year and have soared since breaking through 100 dollars at the start of the year. The record prices have sparked protests around the world amid fears for economic growth.

Looks like we were right: PaidContent reported Thursday that restaurant and take-out menu listing site MenuPages has been acquired. The buyer, they say, is New York magazine.

No financial details were provided.

We reported back in May that MenuPages had been acquired, but didn’t have any hints as to a buyer. We speculated that it was possibly Yelp or IAC’s Citysearch. With New York as a buyer, it’s likely that MenuPages will stay locally rooted rather than continuing to expand nationally: there are editions for Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Miami region, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., but the buyer is wholly Gotham-centric. There’s no word as to what will happen to the non-New York editions of the site.

New York magazine, which runs an extensive network of local blogs, is owned by private equity firm Wasserstein & Co., and restaurant listings are a prominent feature on its Web site.

Broadspire, a third party administrator to employers and insurance companies owned by Crawford & Company, has announced a number of key appointments to improve co-ordination within the organisation, all of which are effective immediately.

Dennis Replogle leaves his post as chief executive officer to assume the role of chairman.

Kenneth F. Martino Jr., presently president, is to also take on the position of chief executive officer, and will report directly to Replogle.

He became president in 2007, and has more than two decades of industry experience.

Jeffrey Bowman, CEO of Crawford, has stated that his promotion comes as part of an acknowledgement of his contribution to the firm.

The senior vice president of client services, Neil Lentine, has been promoted and will occupy the recently created post of chief operating officer for claim and client services. Lentine will be responsible to Martino.

Danielle Lisenby is promoted from her current position of senior vice president of medical management to serve as chief operating officer of medical services, a recently created post, and will report directly to Martino.

Mazda will unveil a sporty, compact crossover concept vehicle, Mazda Kazamai, at the Moscow International Automobile Salon (MIAS) on August 26. Kazamai, which means “swirling crosswinds” in Japanese, expresses the powerful yet nimble image of a stylish and compact crossover. The concept is based on Mazda’s long-term vision for technology development, Sustainable Zoom-Zoom, which aims to provide a unique balance between sporty driving fun and superior environmental and safety performance. Kazamai will be joined at MIAS by the Russian debut of Mazda’s CX-9 SUV, which was crowned 2008 North American Truck of the Year in February.

The Kazamai concept further evolves Mazda’s ‘Nagare’ design language by fusing Nagare’s ‘flow’ design cues with aerodynamic proportions. The design features panel lines inspired by crosswinds in nature which evoke visual lightness. Its bold five-point grille, accentuated front wheel arches and sleek roof line, combined with large 22-inch wheels, lend it high emotional appeal.

Sporty to look at, Kazamai is meant to be spirited and fun to drive, with compact dimensions. Kazamai’s four-wheel drive powertrain will consist of a next-generation direct injection engine and a newly developed transmission. It is also aerodynamic, with an evolved lightweight body structure and enhanced the vehicle safety attributes. Were it to be built, Mazda’s latest show car would deliver exciting driving dynamics, frugal fuel consumption and greatly reduced CO2 emissions.

The Mazda Kazamai promises to be another ground-breaking show car from Mazda Design, winner of this year’s Grand Prix du Design in Paris. Created especially for the Moscow International Automobile Salon, it gives a good indication of where Mazda is going with a possible future compact crossover. And in Russia’s growing automotive market, compact SUVs are the second-largest segment, representing about 13 percent of all new car sales.

Complete information will be made available immediately after Mazda’s press conference at 10:15 a.m. local time, on August 26 at the Mazda stand.

Eventful Inc., an event-driven social Web site, announced today its release of Eventful For iPhone application. The software works on both iPhone and iPod Touch and makes it easy for users to find events and things to do in their local communities.

The application basically provides access to all of the Eventful Web site’s key functions through an iPhone-friendly interface. It automatically tailors search results and recommendations based on the user’s current location and integrates with the iPhone’s built-in applications such as Calendar and Contacts so users can easily share the events with friends or sync those with their desktop Outlook or any other calendaring software.

Eventful for iPhone has five navigational sections that users can access at any time, including Profile, Track, Featured, Search, and Demand. All of these sections are self-explanatory. For example, Demand is a tab where you can demand your favorite performers to come to your city and see which performers are most in demand throughout the world and in your location. You can also view your current list of demands and see all of the demands that your friends have joined but you haven’t.

Heath Lambert has announced the appointment of Nigel Godwin as business development director of the Risk Retention Practice.

He joins the Practice from the Major Accounts and Major Financial Professional Group (MFPG) of Heath Lambert, where he served as director.

The move is another step in the bolstering of core divisions following on from the firm’s internal restructuring.

In his new role, Godwin will be tasked with collaborating with his colleagues to identify and develop business opportunities for the Practice both within and outside the Group.

As it expands, the Practice is also to create a third client servicing to operate in Guernsey.

The Practice, which has recently been renamed, operates in both Guernsey and Malta and is led by Merise Wheatley.

Its name was changed from the Captives division in order to more properly reflect the advisory and support services available, which are available to clients with both on- and offshore risk.

Wheatley has expressed delight at Godwin’s appointment, praising his extensive experience and describing him as a valuable asset for the team.