Oil saw its first gain this week, boosted by a rebound in manufacturing in China and Europe. Oil on the Nymex rose for October delivery to US$104.31 a barrel. Oil fell US$3.61 a barrel, or 3.6 percent, over the first three days of the week mostly due to expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start phasing out its monetary stimulus, possibly starting next month. The oil market has been closely following the Fed's debate on when to scale back its US$85 a month bond buying program. The Fed has released minutes from its last monetary policy meeting. One concern is that the shift will hit oil demand in key emerging economies like India, where the rupee has fallen sharply against the dollar in recent weeks.
Wednesday's decline in prices came despite some fresh signs of supply outages. Libya's National Oil Company declared force majeure at its main export terminals following labor disputes, while an oil pipeline in Iraq was damaged due to coordinated attacks amid sectarian conflict.
23-Aug-13 
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