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Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez was in South Africa on Tuesday for talks with President Thabo Mbeki on strengthening ties between one of the world's largest oil producers and Africa's second-largest consumer of the commodity.

Oil slid to around $108 a barrel on Tuesday after early reports showed Hurricane Gustav had spared major U.S. Gulf oil facilities.

Hurricane Gustav's rampage through the Gulf of Mexico was a stark reminder that U.S. oil supplies are vulnerable to major storms, analysts said.

MMS reported that personnel were evacuated from a total of 626 production platforms, equivalent to 87.3% of the 717 manned platforms, in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Gustav.

Operators in the Gulf are evaluating their production assets and ensuring that all personnel are safe and secure. The Gulf's production levels have not resumed to normal output at this time, but will resume in the next few days.

Hurricane Gustav affected 74 offshore rigs, including jackups, semisubs, drillships and one submersible drill rig. Find out which of the 121 drill rigs were affected.

Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez met with his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki Tuesday in a meeting where both leaders vowed to explore joint oil projects in the Orinoco basin.

ChoicePoint Inc. scored a perfect 100 percent on its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors for the sixth consecutive year. (KO) (CCE) (NWL) (STI) (UPS)

ViewPoint Bank says its mortgage banking subsidiary, ViewPoint Bankers Mortgage, has added eight mortgage production offices in Texas. (VPFG)

Health care fraud may be one of the biggest factors driving up health care costs, to the tune of billions of dollars, new research indicates.