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Oil prices fall on warmer weather | |
(about 10 hours later) | |
Oil prices have fallen below $59 a barrel amid expectations of warmer weather in the United States. | |
US light, sweet crude dipped 73 cents to $58.66 in New York, while in London, Brent crude fell 57 cents to $58.33. | |
Analysts predict lower energy demand in the US Northeast, the world's biggest user of heating oil, as the weather gets milder and consumption ebbs. | |
Oil cartel Opec's statement that it would not cut output at its March meeting also eased fears over supplies. | |
Analysts had speculated that Opec may cut supplies in a bid to raise prices. | |
Any cuts would come on top of a planned drop in production announced late last year. | |
However, Iran's oil minister has said it was unlikely that further cuts over the 500,000 barrels a day that came into effect this month would ensue, if the current price trend continued. | |
Kazem Vazeri made the comments on the sidelines of an international refining forum in Tehran. | Kazem Vazeri made the comments on the sidelines of an international refining forum in Tehran. |
Oil ministers are set to meet in mid-March to decide Opec's output levels for the three months from April. | Oil ministers are set to meet in mid-March to decide Opec's output levels for the three months from April. |
Geopolitical issues could remain a concern as gunmen in Nigeria seized three eastern European oil workers on Sunday, the latest in a series of foreign kidnappings there. | |
Violence in Nigeria - Africa's leading oil producer - has meant output has been 20% lower in the past year, and some analysts say it could get worse in the run-up to April's election. | |
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