Oil prices rise after Lebanon violenceOctober 22, 2012 - 10:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil prices rose Monday, Oct 22, after violence in Lebanon sparked fears of wider unrest in the Middle East, AP reports. Benchmark oil for November delivery was up 47 cents to $90.52 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.05 to end at $90.05 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude rose 64 cents to $110.78 on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Fears of instability in the Middle East flared anew Friday, when Lebanon's intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, was assassinated in a massive car bombing. He was a powerful opponent of Syria, which for decades has wielded political and military influence in Lebanon. Al-Hassan headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, one of Syria's most loyal allies in Lebanon. He also led the inquiry that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Syria itself has been riven with violence since an uprising against President Bashar Assad began in February 2011. "I think some security issues have spurred some buying of oil futures," said Victor Shum, energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It looks like the violence in Syria is spreading to other countries. There were hostilities between Turkey and Syria, and now it looks like Syria might be trying to pull other nations in the region into the conflict," he said. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |