Oil prices drop to near $99 a barrel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil prices dropped to near $99 a barrel March 14 in Asia after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan and threatened to send the world's third-largest economy into recession.

In London, Brent crude was down $2.02 at $111.82 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange. Officials estimate a 10-meter (33-foot) wall of seawater triggered by an 8.9 magnitude quake off the coast of northern Japan last Friday killed at least 10,000 people and severely damaged the country's energy infrastructure. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell more than 6 percent, The Associated Press reported.

Three of Japan's five largest refineries have been shut down, which will immediately crimp demand for crude. Japan is the world's third-largest crude consumer at 4.5 million barrel a day, the second- largest net oil importer and the biggest importer of liquefied natural gas and coal.