Oil prices fall as traders, investors take profitsNovember 30, 2012 - 15:37 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil prices fell Friday, Nov 30, after traders who believe crude prices may be too high unloaded their investments to lock in gains, The Associated Press reported. Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 19 cents to $87.88 per barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.58 to close at $88.07 on the Nymex on Thursday. "Some traders and investors in the market fear that the gains (in prices) over the last few days have been excessive, given the weak fundamentals in oil markets," said Victor Shum, energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It's really profit-taking." Oil demand is not expected to spark dramatically in the coming months as the world's major energy consuming economies struggle to maintain growth. Ample crude supplies will also likely keep prices in check. There was no progress Thursday in closely watched budget talks in Washington. U.S. lawmakers are trying to hammer out a deal to avoid a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could drag the U.S. economy into recession if they go into effect. Markets have been volatile ahead of the Jan. 1 deadline for an agreement to be reached to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. In other trading, Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, fell 21 cents to $110.55 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 | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. 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. |