U.S. Commodities: Oil Falls After Japan Quake Shuts Refineries
By Margot Habiby - Mar 12, 2011 4:17 AM GMT+0530
Crude oil fell, capping the first weekly drop in a month, after Japans strongest earthquake on record shut refineries and dissidents in Saudi Arabia failed to stage planned protests.
The 8.9-magnitude temblor unleashed a 7-meter (23-foot) tsunami that killed hundreds of people in Japan, the worlds third-largest oil-consuming country. Saudi Arabian police and anti-riot vehicles patrolled central Riyadh today, preventing a Day of Rage proclaimed by activists.
This is in response to the tsunami and the lack of the Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia, said Hamza Khan, an analyst at the Schork Group Inc., a consulting company in Villanova, Pennsylvania. If the Japanese refineries are down, then were going to see lower demand for crude oil.
Oil futures for April delivery tumbled $1.54, or 1.5 percent, to $101.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since March 1. The price declined 3.1 percent this week.