Crude oil rose for the first time in three days after White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it was "unacceptable" for Iraq to bar scientists from talking with UN weapons inspectors.
Concern that the US will soon invade Iraq comes as a strike in Venezuela has caused that nation's exports to plummet. Iraq and Venezuela in November pumped about 7 percent of the world's oil.
Crude oil for March delivery rose US$1.03, or 3.2 percent, to US$33.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the biggest one-day gain since Jan. 9. Prices were up 1 percent this week and 69 percent from a year ago.
In London, the March Brent crude-oil futures contract rose US$0.77, or 2.6 percent, to US$30.49 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.
Hussein may try to blow up Iraq's 1,500 oil wells if the US and its allies invade, a senior defense official said at the Pentagon on condition of anonymity.
"There are a variety of intelligence sources that leave us with the impression or belief that the regime has the capability and intent to cause destruction to the oil fields," the official said.
During the 1991 Gulf War, Hussein ordered the destruction of more than 700 of 1,000 oil wells in Kuwait as his army retreated. It took 18 months and about US$20 billion to repair the damage.
The strike in Venezuela, which began on Dec. 2, is giving union officials, business leaders and former oil executives the chance to pressure President Hugo Chavez to step down or hold elections. Chavez has refused both alternatives.
As of Wednesday, Venezuela's production was about 714,000 barrels a day, striking oil workers said. The government says production is above 1 million barrels a day. Output has plunged from about 3 million barrels before the strike.
Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Mexico normally vie to be the largest supplier to the US In October the four supplied 65 percent of US oil imports, according to the Energy Department.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, pumps about 10 percent of global supply.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit today said in a written response that it respects the judicial process, takes the court ruling seriously and would not appeal in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets case. Last month, a court fined the Taiwan unit of Japan's Tokyo Electron NT$150 million (US$4.74 million) in a case involving trade secrets related to TSMC's sensitive chip technology.
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
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