Oil drops further as Egypt crisis ends

SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : World oil prices dropped further in Asian trade Monday after concerns over Suez Canal crude oil supply eased as Egypt crisis came to an end.
Light sweet crude for March delivery was seen trading at $85.51 a barrel at 1.00 p.m Singapore time while Brent crude was at $101.67 a barrel in London.
Analysts said tensions over Egypt that affected oil markets for nearly three weeks eased after Mubarak steeped down Friday reducing concern that civil unrest will disrupt crude shipments from the Middle East.
During the crisis, oil prices fluctuate violently as oil rose to a two-year high on speculation supplies through Suez Canal may be interrupted and protests might spread to other regions.
Also during the crisis, London’s Brent has outpaced New York futures, widening the difference between the prices to a record, as unplanned outages cut European supplies.
On Friday, March delivery fell $1.15 to settle at $85.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. While Brent crude fell 50 cents to settle at $100.94 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.
In other Nymex trading for March contracts, heating oil fell 1.49 cents to settle at $2.6958 per gallon and gasoline lost less than a penny to settle at $2.4652 per gallon. Natural gas lost 7.6 cents to settle at $3.910 per 1,000 cubic feet.

(Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Oil-drops-further-as-Egypt-crisis-ends-36430-3-1.html)