Oil Declines to Two-Week Low as Japanese Quake May Limit Demand
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Oil fell to a two-week low in New York on speculation that the worst earthquake in Japan’s history will hurt growth and reduce fuel demand in the world’s third-largest economy.
Prices have dropped 6.1 percent in five days of losses, the longest losing streak in more than a month. The temblor that hit northern Japan on March 11 has shut 29 percent of domestic refining capacity, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Petroleum Association of Japan data. Fighting continued in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, as Muammar Qaddafi’s forces repelled insurgents from the oil port of Brega, the fourth rebel-held city re-taken by the nation’s leader.