Top Business News

SINGAPORE – Oil prices dropped to near $99 a containerful Monday in aggregation after a large earthquake and tsunami devastated north Nihon and threatened to send the world's third-largest frugalness into recession.

Benchmark vulgar for Apr conveying was downbound $1.63 at $99.53 a containerful at midday Singapore instance in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The lessen forfeited $1.54 to $101.16 on Friday.

In London, Brent vulgar was downbound $2.02 at $111.82 a containerful on the ICE futures exchange.

Officials estimate a 10-meter (33-foot) surround of seawater triggered by an 8.9 ratio quake off the shore of northern Nihon on Friday killed at small 10,000 grouping and severely dilapidated the country's energy infrastructure. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell more than 6 proportionality Monday.

"This hardship has in gist temporarily frozen the world's ordinal maximal economy," said Richard Soultanian of NUS Consulting. "It seems country that Japan's craving for vulgar lubricator haw be impaired in the near-term which should wage previously unforeseen slack in international lubricator markets."

Three of Japan's fivesome maximal refineries have been shut down, which module directly kink obligation for crude. Nihon is the world's third-largest vulgar consumer at 4.5 meg containerful a day, the second- maximal gain lubricator importer and the biggest importer of liquefied uncolored pedal and coal.

Traders were also selling Monday on disappointing U.S. Feb retail income accumulation free Friday, which declare the recent move in vulgar prices is beginning to perceive obligation for gasoline.

"Put simply, obligation conclusion is attractive place, whether that's in Nihon or in the U.S. at the pump," energy consultant The Schork Report said. "A rattling bearish picture for vulgar oil."

Investors had been afraid about possible unrest in OPEC leader Arabian peninsula but police prevented a oppose organized by pro-democracy activists on Friday in the capital, Riyadh.

In another Nymex trading for Apr contracts, vaporisation lubricator was downbound 1.2 cents at $3.02 a congius and fuel dropped 2.3 cents to $2.96 a gallon. Natural pedal chromatic 3.0 cents at $3.92 per 1,000 boxlike feet.

Source