Oil steady as Cyprus bailout deal comes under renewed scrutiny

PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil was steady Tuesday, March 26, as a financial rescue package to keep Cyprus from bankruptcy came under renewed scrutiny, The Associated Press reports.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was down 1 cent to US$94.80 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.10 to finish at $94.81 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday. That was the highest New York closing since Feb 20.

Cyprus secured 10 billion euros ($13 billion) of rescue loans early Monday, just hours before a deadline set by the European Central Bank. Under the deal, the country agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large depositors in troubled banks.

The deal was initially applauded, but later sparked worry and stock market losses across Europe after Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said inflicting losses on the banks' shareholders, bondholders and large depositors should become Europe's default approach for dealing with ailing lenders.

Matt Basi of CMC Markets said in an email commentary that the drama surrounding Cyprus "has knocked the confidence of many deposit holders across Europe that policy makers will struggle to win back."

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, fell 4 cents to $108.13 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.