Oil prices rise sharply on U.S. jobs growth reportMay 6, 2013 - 14:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The price of oil rose sharply Monday as an increase in U.S. hiring raised the prospect of higher energy demand, AP reports. Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 72 cents to $96.33 per barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.62 to finish at $95.61 on Friday after U.S. employers added a surprisingly solid 165,000 jobs in April. That drove down the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5 percent and suggested the U.S. economic recovery may be gathering pace. Demand for oil also tends to increase when the economy picks up, as factories produce more, people drive more and businesses use more fuel to ship goods. Rising oil prices are “just a matter of improving sentiment around global growth,” said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne. Brent crude, which is used to set prices of oil from the North Sea used by many U.S. refiners, was up 58 cents to $104.77 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. 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. |