Oil rises amid hopes for U.S. Federal Reserve actionAugust 23, 2012 - 10:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Crude prices rose above $98 per barrel Thursday, Aug 23 with oil markets being driven by hopes that the Federal Reserve is leaning toward action to help the U.S. economy's stalled recovery, AP reports. Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 77 cents in midday Bangkok time to $98.03 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 42 cents to finish at $97.26 per barrel in New York on Wednesday. Brent crude rose $1.01 to $115.92 on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Minutes from the Fed's July meeting suggested its members were prepared to take new steps to boost the U.S. economy. The minutes show that Fed officials spoke with increased urgency about the need to provide more help to the economy unless it improved significantly. But there were no specific details about what steps might be taken or when. Oil prices have risen about $8 per barrel since Aug. 1, partly on hopes that the U.S., Europe and China would do more to increase growth in their respective economies. Slower growth cuts into the demand for oil and other energy products. In other futures trading on the Nymex, heating oil rose 1.9 cents to $3.1559 per gallon. Gasoline futures rose 2.7 cents to $2.9654. Natural gas rose 2.6 cents to $2.852 per gallon. 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 | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |