Oil edges up in Asia on bargain hunting

SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Global oil prices recovered Wednesday following fresh crisis in the Arab world while rebounding stocks in Asia also helped the black gold.
Tokyo shares were up 4.37% on bargain hunting following the biggest two-day sell-off on the Nikkei index in 24 years on fears a nuclear meltdown after a huge earthquake and tsunami.
Light sweet crude for April delivery was seen trading at $98.11 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude was at $108.67 a barrel in London.
Analysts attributed oil’s recovery to bargain hunting by some traders to cash in on previous low prices and also to fresh clashes in Libya and Bahrain.
Oil investors kept a close eye on developments in Bahrain where martial law was declared a day after Saudi forces arrived there following weeks of protests.
In Libya, Gaddafi’s forces continued to make advances against rebels in Libya while world powers failed to agree to push for a no-fly zone.
However, analysts said the black gold is likely to fall back soon as Japan's crude oil demand, the world's No. 3 consumer, was expected to decline in the short term due to shut refineries and stalled economic activity.
Oil prices had been tumbling after Friday's magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami due to concerns it could hit energy demand in Japan. The threat of a nuclear meltdown from a damaged atomic power plant added to the concerns.
Traders are watching Japan's efforts to prevent a nuclear catastrophe as four explosions and two fires wracked the Fukushima nuclear plant and raised radiation levels around the area as well as in capital city Tokyo.
On Tuesday, Brent crude futures for April delivery settled at $108.52 a barrel, dropping $5.15 or 4.5 percent, its biggest percentage drop since Feb. 4, 2010 while US crude futures for April delivery fell $4.01 to settle at $97.02 a barrel.

(Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Oil-edges-up-in-Asia-on-bargain-hunting-37261-3-1.html)