SEOUL, South Korea: A Japanese oil tanker was damaged Monday when it was attacked by a small boat in Middle Eastern waters off the coast of Yemen, the tankers owner said. Word of the attack helped to drive world oil prices to a new record.

The tanker, the 150,053-ton Takayama, was hit by an unspecified projectile during the attack early Monday morning, said the owner, Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen. The company said none of the tankers 23 crew members was injured, and the ships movement was not impaired. It released few other details, saying the attacking boat moved away soon after opening fire.

Japans coast guard said the projectile appeared to be a rocket, though information was still limited, according to local media reports.

The company said the tanker was empty at the time of the attack. It said it was in communication with the tanker, which was still investigating the extent of the damage.

The attack rattled the nerves of global energy traders, sending the price of benchmark light, sweet crude to a record $117.40 per barrel. Oil prices had also briefly touched $117 per barrel last week, after rebels attacked a pipeline in Nigeria, Africas largest oil producer.

The tanker came under fire about 440 kilometers, or 275 miles, east of the Yemeni port of Aden, the company said. It said the attack took place before dawn, at about 4:10 a.m. local time in Yemen. It said the tanker was en route from Ulsan, South Korea, to Saudi Arabia to pick up a load of oil.

BRUSSELS: Will the fight against climate change drive the makers of steel, glass, chemicals and cement out of Europe or out of business, or neither?

As EU governments and lawmakers debate proposals to curb greenhouse gas emissions more severely from 2013, the howls of protest from European industrialists are growing louder.

They are concerned that unless there is a global agreement they may pay a high price for Brussels greener-than-thou policies, losing out to producers from countries with lower environmental standards.

“If we are not careful, we will be badly hurt in our growth and jobs in Europe,” said Ernest-Antoine Seilliиre, president of BusinessEurope, the EUs main business lobby organization.

If Europe goes it alone and makes industrial companies buy auctioned permits to emit carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming, energy-intensive industries say they could face extinction on the Continent.

Some are threatening to move more of their production to emerging economies.

“If we were to relocate our industries outside Europe, we would then have to transport steel to Europe, adding emissions,” said Philippe Varin, president of the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries.

The European Commission, which made proposals in January to implement a 20 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels, says its priority is to negotiate an international agreement next year on fighting climate change.

The aim is to include countries like the United States, China, India and Brazil, which have not accepted any binding curbs on their emissions so far.

Promising special protection for specific EU industries before those negotiations would undermine Europes bargaining position, the commission says.

If there is no deal reached during UN talks scheduled for 2009 in Copenhagen, Brussels has made a provision to give the most exposed industries free carbon dioxide allowances under its Emissions Trading Scheme instead of making them buy them in auctions.

But it will not say which sectors would receive such special treatment nor what other measures it may take to protect them. Some business leaders say that is not enough, because companies cannot plan and invest without legal certainty.

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, said that oil refiners could be pushed out of Europe if they had to pay for carbon dioxide permits in the EU but not outside.

Many other industries say they, too, should be special cases, including pulp and paper, ceramics and aluminum.

EU leaders recognized at a meeting last month that “the risk of carbon leakage” needed to be analyzed and addressed urgently.

Carbon leakage occurs when emissions rise because of companies shifting production away from areas with tough environmental standards, like the euro bloc, to areas with less stringent demands.

Leftists in the European Parliament, trade unions and the French government, concerned about potential job losses, want the Commission to go further and impose a carbon tax on imports from countries that do not meet EU climate standards.

EU trade officials say any border levy on carbon dioxide would be incompatible with World Trade Organization rules and could lead to retaliation against European goods, sparking a trade war.

Some climate campaigners question the facts behind the industrial lobbying.

Claude Turmes, a Green party member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg, argues that talk of carbon leakage is often based on myths.

Less than 2 percent of cement and about 5 percent of refined oil products are imported into the European Union, he said, which undermined arguments that those industries are heavily exposed to global competition.

Besides, new production facilities in emerging countries are often more energy efficient than old plants in Europe, he said.

Nick Campbell, who negotiates climate change policies for the European chemicals industry, rejected the notion that energy-intensive industries were seeking a free ride.

Even without paying for permits they will have to make deep cuts in emissions by 2020, he said.

“One of the problems on this carbon leakage argument is that you dont see the damage until after its done,” Campbell said.

“I cant put my hand on my heart and say a factory has closed because of climate change policies, and I may not be able to for another five years. But I know it will happen if the right policies are not adopted.”

Andy Murray, looking much more his own man, took less than five minutes to snatch the initiative, less than 20 to show new dimensions in his game and little more than an hour to make a sufficiently fine New Year’s Day start to hope for significant progress during 2008.

A 6-0, 6-2 win in the Qatar Open over Olivier Rochus, a Belgian only just ranked inside the top 50, is not something to get too excited about. But Murray avoided the early stumblings he made here last year, his game was more assertive and there were signs that his psychology might be different - so much so that he twice came within a point of reaching 5-0 in the second set, in which case the match would probably have been a whitewash.

“I was quite uptight during a lot of my matches last year and you could see that by the way I walked around the court and my reactions,” said Murray. “I just didn’t look like I was enjoying the points even when I was winning them.

“Now I feel a bit more relaxed. I’ve got a great team around me, I enjoy spending time with them and I’m friendly with all of them and it’s nice to look up to the box when you have a good support team with you and I think it showed today that it’s going to help me.”

Before the match the Scot had said he would “try to dictate points with his size and his serve”. This worked a treat from the moment he attacked Rochus’s second serve fiercely to reach break point in the opening game. It continued with three forcing first serves which ensured he consolidated the break and settled those alleged nerves. And it was followed by two aces in the fourth game, one at 130mph.

Pretty soon Rochus was bullied into overstretching himself and overforcing, bringing mistakes and lowered morale, something which was quickly evident in his body language. It led to three double faults and another dropped service game at the start of the second set, as well as an increasingly carefree opponent who began to swing some improbable winners from the back. A counter-hitting, winning forehand in the ninth game produced in mid-tilt along the baseline, and as parallel to the sideline as a moving rail, was the pick.

Murray’s movement was often good enough to belie the fact that he is still doing gym work this week, continuing certain elements of pre-season training in readiness for the Australian Open the week after next. But there were a few moments late on when it seemed he might be tested a bit more as Rochus’s gambler’s pitches began to find a range.

The underdog would have made it back to 3-4 had he not played too safe with an attempted kill from inside the service court on one game point, allowing Murray’s anticipation and reflexes to carry him the right way and make a point-blank winning volley. The 20-year-old Scot served out for the match with dusk falling and a muezzin wailing. He took that in his relaxed stride too, a product of having created his own team around him instead of travelling with someone procured. His next opponent will be Rainer Schьttler of Germany.

Murray will be disappointed not to have joined his brother in the second round of the doubles after - along with Ross Hutchins - he was outplayed 6-3, 6-0 by the top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.

Jamie had a good start late the previous night with his new partner, Max Mirnyi. They upset a seeded pair in their first encounter together, overcoming the third-seeded Czechs, Lukas Dlouhy and Frantisek Cermak, 7-6, 6-2.