Crude Oil Retreats Amid Concern Japan's Fuel Consumption May Drop on Quake

Oil fell in New York on speculation demand for fuel in Japan will decline after the world's biggest third-largest crude suffered its worst earthquake on 11 March.
Futures fell to 0.6 percent, and Japan weighed a postwar reconstruction agency to oversee style repairs. The country's economy can not recover until the second half of this year, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Oil rose above the odds increased Allied air attacks on Libya prolonged supply disruptions and turmoil in other parts of the Middle East reduce exports.
"What is happening in Japan is still uncertain, there is no clear signal when to start rebuilding," said Ryoma Furumi, a broker at Newedge Group in Tokyo. "But it can be short term as financial investors who are trading in crude oil focus on the Middle East and the situation in Libya."
Crude for May delivery dropped to 59 cents to $ 104. 38 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $ 104.75 at 3:54 pm Mexico time. Yesterday, the April contract rose $ 1.67, or 1.6 percent, before expiring at $ 104, the highest close in two weeks.
The International Energy Agency said March 15 that it needed more time to determine the demand for oil in Japan after a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami devastated the north coast and shut down the plant in Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear energy . The death toll rose to 9,408 through noon today, with 14,716 missing, according to the National Police Agency.
Brent crude for May settlement fell as much as 49 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $ 115.21 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange in Europe. Yesterday, rose 0.6 percent to $ 115.70.
Attacks against Libya
Oil advanced today as the U.S. led alliance prepared to conduct more attacks in Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the owner of the largest oil reserves in Africa.
New York futures have risen 24 percent since protests against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi began Feb. 15. The conflict is the bloodiest in a series of uprisings that have toppled presidents of Tunisia and Egypt and spread to Germany, Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Oman, Syria and Yemen.
"The events in the Middle East and North Africa are the main game in the crude oil market and what to do about the direction of oil prices," Ben Westmore, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne, said Susan Li on Bloomberg Television, "for the first time."
Brent Forecast
Credit Suisse Group AG raised its 2011 forecast for Brent crude by 25 percent to an average of $ 105.80 a barrel and New York, West Texas Intermediate traded at 10 percent, to $ 93.80. The Zurich-based bank cited accelerate the growth of world consumption and production disruptions in the Middle East.
Crude inventories in the U.S., the largest user of oil, probably higher for the ninth time in 10 weeks, a survey of Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Department report today.
held commercial supplies rose 1.5 million barrels in the week ended March 23, based on the median estimate of 15 analysts surveyed. The stock previously rose to a maximum of three months of 350.6 million barrels cattle imports.
The Energy Department will release its weekly Petroleum Status at 10:30 am today in Washington. Yesterday, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said crude stocks gained 970,000 barrels to 350.8 million dollars.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-22/oil-near-two-week-high-in-new-york-on-libyan-conflict-middle-east-turmoil.html)