DUBAI: International Petroleum Investment, of Abu Dhabi, has invited six companies to bid for the engineering and design contract on an oil pipeline to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, the company said Wednesday.

Over 13 million barrels per day of crude oil, over 15 percent of the global supply, flows from Gulf producers through the shipping bottleneck, according to the International Energy Agency.

Analysts fear Tehran could seek to impede trade through the route if Western powers resort to military action in the dispute over the Iranian nuclear program.

The pipeline is to carry 1.5 million barrels per day and would allow the United Arab Emirates, the worlds sixth-largest oil exporter, to pump more than half of its 2.3 million to 2.4 million barrels per day of exports to the terminal of Fujaira on the Gulf of Oman.

International Petroleum has invited Chicago, Bridge Iron; JP Kenny of Britain; the British-based Penspen International; Technip of France; the U.S.-based VECO Engineering; and WorleyParsons of Australia to bid for the front-end engineering design contract.

The contract will be awarded in early August, International Petroleum said in a statement.

The 320-kilometer, or 200-mile, pipeline would link the state oil firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Companys Habshan oilfields to Fujaira, a major ship bunkering port for vessels refueling as they enter and leave the Strait.

ILF Consulting Engineers, of Germany, will manage the project.

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Forget window shopping the photos of million-dollar manses in the real estate shops on Southamptons Main Street. If you really want to know how the housing market in the Hamptons is faring as summer beckons, Steven Gaines suggests an unusual yardstick.

He says the best barometer of how people in the Hamptons are doing is the price of the lobster salad at the local gourmet shop in nearby Sagaponack. Right now, its selling for $100 a pound.

When youre spending $100 a pound for lobster salad, whats $15 million for a home? says Gaines, a local author and aficionado of all things Hamptons.

With Wall Street booming and stock markets hitting record highs nearly every day, the real estate trade in the Hamptons couldnt be better. And money appears to be no obstacle.

Houses are routinely selling for $10 million to $15 million, and people dont think twice about shelling out $200,000 for a summer rental thats Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Last week, it was reported that financier Ron Baron paid more than $100 million for a 40-acre East Hampton property no home, just land located next to his sprawling estate.

The houses in the $10-$20 million range are selling very well, which, of course, reflects the boom on Wall Street, said Gaines, who hosts a radio program on Hamptons culture every Sunday from the lobby of the American Hotel in Sag Harbor.

Going back nearly a century, the Hamptons an unincorporated confederation of villages and hamlets stretching 40 miles along eastern Long Islands south shore has traditionally welcomed the rich and famous from near and far. Pristine sandy beaches and bucolic country roads have been a haven for the blue bloods and the wannabes alike, all willing to plunk down parts of their fortunes on Hamptons palaces, big and small.

Judi Desiderio, president of Town & Country Real Estate, estimates 75 percent of her customer base comes from Manhattan power brokers. As long as the economy in the city and on Wall Street is doing well, our high-end market is also doing well, she said.

While the national real estate market has been described as soft, the same does not hold true for Manhattan or the Hamptons, says Stuart Epstein, the owner of Devlin-McNiff Real Estate.

If theres an imaginary bubble over Manhattan, Id say that bubble extends 125 miles out to the end of Long Island, he said.

By all measures, times have been very good on Wall Street. The banking sector has been on a tear, driven by a spate of mergers and acquisitions in recent months. The Dow Jones is getting closer and closer to 14,000. And Wall Street paid out about $24 billion in year-end bonuses last years.

These folks, Epstein said, theres a lot of them, theyre making great money and there are not all that many ways they can spend it.

That cash inevitably tumbles into the Hamptons as people start flocking to the beach and boarding the sailboats and yachts this weekend.

Desiderio said many potential buyers remained on the sidelines the past year or so, but with the Dow soaring to record highs this spring, sales are beginning to sizzle.

We also have the aging baby boomers who are looking at retirement, she said. What better place to retire to than in the country?

On the rental front, Paul Brennan of Prudential Douglas Elliman says its been a pretty typical year.

Good rentals always go, no matter how much, each year, he said. I wouldnt say prices have jumped significantly on rentals.

Epstein said the majority of the houses this summer are renting for between $50,000 and $200,000. For that, youre likely to get a 4,500-square-foot home, with plenty of amenities, including a swimming pool.

Some fancier houses have rented for as much as $750,000 or $800,000, but those are the exceptions. (For the record, an $800,000 rental from Memorial Day to Labor Day comes out to about $8,000 per day.)

When prices climb that high, many people opt to buy rather than rent, brokers said.

Its the same old, same old, says veteran real estate executive Diane Saatchi of the Corcoran Group. People are spending an incredible amount of money to be in the Hamptons. It will be as crowded as ever.

Naysayers keep saying, it cant last, it cant last, but every year the crowds keep showing up and the restaurants are jammed. Its the Hamptons. 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TORONTO—Aluminum producer Alcan Inc. () has begun negotiating toward a merger agreement with Rio Tinto Plc () to fend off a hostile bid from U.S. rival Alcoa Inc. (), a Canadian newspaper said Wednesday.

The Globe and Mail, citing sources, said global mining company Rio Tinto hired investment banker CIBC World Markets recently to help it prepare a bid for Alcan.

Britain’s Times newspaper also reported that Rio was poised to launch a $34 billion takeover of Alcan, saying that Wall Street investment bankers believe the rival offer “is ready to go hot” with a formal approach within two weeks.

An Alcan spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment. A Rio spokesman in London had no comment.

Alcan said last week that the $28.6 billion hostile offer from Alcoa remains inadequate and it is pursuing alternatives such as talks with other groups.

However, Alcoa said Monday it extended its $28.6 billion offer for Alcan by a month.

($1-$1.06 Canadian)