Oil nears $87 amid concerns on weakening U.S. economyAugust 18, 2011 - 10:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil prices eased to near $87 a barrel Thursday, August 18, in Asia on renewed concerns that the U.S. economy may weaken and hit fuel demand in the world's top crude consumer. According to the Associated Press, benchmark oil for September delivery was down 39 cents to $87.19 a barrel at midday Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose 93 cents to settle at $87.58 on Wednesday. In London, Brent crude for October delivery was down 21 cents to $110.39 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Oil was lower Thursday in line with falls in Asian stock markets, analysts said. Energy analyst Ritterbusch and Associates said oil prices are likely to remain volatile ahead of the release of a slew of U.S. economic data later Thursday including jobless claims, the consumer price index and home sales. Other analysts said sentiment was also negative after the Energy Information Administration data showed crude inventories rose last week. However, gasoline inventories dropped which suggested improving demand for gasoline, and this indicated refineries will also need more oil, which is used to make gasoline. In other Nymex trading for September contracts, heating oil was nearly unchanged at $2.961 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 0.2 cent to $2.738 per gallon. Natural gas slipped 0.1 cent to $3.926 per 1,000 cubic feet. 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 | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |