Economic news

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Oil drops as European debt counters Iran tension

Sydney Morning Herald,

9 January, 2012

Oil fell for a third day in New York as bets that Europe's debt crisis will worsen and curb fuel demand countered concern that tension with Iran may disrupt Middle East crude exports.

Futures declined as much as 0.5 per cent before German and French leaders meet in Berlin today as they seek to craft a plan for rescuing the euro over the next three months. The US will act to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if Iran blocks the channel, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said in an interview on the CBS "Face the Nation" program yesterday. Brent oil's premium to West Texas Intermediate crude rose to the highest in almost two months.

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NZ: Trade deficit widens on oil, fertiliser imports

NZ Herald,

9 January, 2012

New Zealand's trade deficit widened in November as imports such as crude oil and fertiliser outstripped the country's pace of export growth.

The trade balance was a deficit of $308 million in the month of November, in line with market expectations of a $300 million shortfall, as a 10 per cent lift in value of imports was bolstered by more foreign purchases of crude oil and fertiliser, Statistics New Zealand said today. That's wider than the $177 million deficit in November 2010, and a shortfall of $208 million in the month of October.

The value of exports rose 6.8 per cent to $3.91 billion in November from the same month a year earlier, slower than the 10 per cent lift in imports to $4.22 billion. The annual trade balance was a surplus of $555 million.

"Crude oil and fertilisers were key contributors to the 10 per cent rise in imports," overseas trade manager Stuart Jones said in a statement.

Today's release comes after data last month showed the country's current account deficit widened more than expected in the third quarter of last year on weaker prices for export commodities and fatter profits for the nation's Australian-owned banks.

Imported petroleum and products gained 34 per cent in November to $591 million, and the annual $7.97 billion of imports account for about 17 per cent of the nations' $46.7 billion of imports in the year ended November 30.

For article GO HERE