U.S. stocks are plunging and oil prices are surging on fears over the continued violent unrest in Libya.
Muammar Gaddafi vowed to die in Libya as a martyr in an angry television address on Tuesday, as rebel troops said eastern regions had broken free from his rule in a burgeoning revolt.
Crude oil prices have surged more than 7 percent this morning in New York trading, reaching as high as $98 per barrel, as the chaos in Libya raised fears of supply disruptions.
Oil prices have jumped in response to the growing chaos in oil producer and OPEC member Libya and the potential for the escalation of unrest in Iran, OPEC’s second biggest oil producer..
The son of Moammar Gaddafi has denied media reports that his father has fled Libya for Venezuela.
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said his father remains in Libya.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) has announced that it is suspending its drilling activities in Libya due to the rising tide of political violence in that country and also plans to evacuate non-essential staff and their families.
The unrest roiling the Middle East has now spread to the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.
Bahraini police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up protests on Monday in Shi'ite villages that ring the capital Manama, dampening a Day of Rage stimulated by popular upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia.
The US trade deficit of goods and services rose to $40.6 billion in December compared with a deficit of $38.3 billion in November, the commerce department said on Friday.
U.S. crude futures edged above $89.05 a barrel on Monday, recovering from a near 2 percent drop in the previous session, supported by the political crisis in Egypt and a drop in the U.S. unemployment rate to a 21-month low.
Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, led by shares of resource companies, as strong U.S. factory data and surging commodities prices offset fears that unrest in Egypt could spread to other parts of the Middle East.
Asian stocks posted modest gains on Tuesday, led by shares in resource companies, as strong U.S. factory data and surging commodities prices offset fears that unrest in Egypt could spread elsewhere in the Middle East.
Nigeria's combined crude oil and condensate production is currently 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) but output from Africa's largest crude exporter still remains within its OPEC quota, the state oil company says.
Saudi Arabia will boost contract crude sales by 10 percent to Asia's biggest refiner Sinopec this year as the world's top oil exporter cements its share of the world's fastest growing fuel market.
Disappointing earnings reports from blue chips Johnson and Johnson and 3Com cast a pall on U.S. stocks
Algeria expects oil production to remain steady in 2011, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts will be met despite reduced capacity, the head of state-owned energy giant Sonatrach said on Tuesday.
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OPEC may consider raising production in 2011 in order to meet higher demand, according to the oil minister of Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah al-Attiyah, who spearheaded the Gulf state's crude output expansion in the 1990s and, more significantly led the country's emergence as the LNG capital of the region, has stepped down as the energy minister following his appointment as the Chairman of the Emir's court.
German precious metals refinery group Heraeus reports massive demand for bars and coins, even as ETF trust funds and Comex futures contracts saw considerable profit-taking driven liquidations by institutional traders.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has pledged to make as much as 6 million barrels per day of surplus crude production capacity available in the event of a strong rise in demand or sudden disruption in supply, a Platts release said on Tuesday.
