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Oil prices remained solid today due to apprehensions that the Cyprus bailout could set a new template for reforming the banking sector in the eurozone, reviving concerns about the European economy and its demand for oil.
Brent crude slipped by eight cents to $108.09 a barrel, while US crude increased by 23 cents to $95.04, reported Reuters.
Eurogroup’s head of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said the Cyprus bailout showed a new model to resolve regional banking problems, and other countries may have to reorganise banking sectors to adapt.
Dijsselbloem’s announcement caused the euro to counter initial rallies and bear huge losses in Asia on Tuesday.
A last minute deal was arrived at with the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to close down Cyprus’s second largest bank, in return for €10bn ($13bn) in rescue funds.
Following the deal, Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, assured citizens that the agreement was in their best interests.
Prices were also influenced following Saudi Arabian oil minister, Ali al-Naimi’s, announcement on Monday that a price close to $100 a barrel was reasonable for consumers and producers.
A Reuters survey of analysts showed that US commercial crude oil stockpiles are predicted to have risen by 1.1 million barrels last week due to an anticipated rise in imports, ahead of weekly industry data later in the day.
According to analysts, gasoline and distillate inventories are predicted to have dropped by 1.2 million barrels each.
Image: Eurogroup’s head of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Photo courtesy of Rijksoverheid.
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