Monday, March 14, 2011

Japan Earthquake: Impact on Crude Oil, Fuel and Nuclear Power

By Dian L. Chu, EconMatters
A 9.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan on Friday March 11, prompting a 30-foot tsunami slamming the country's northeast coast. Media reported that one major oil refinery was caught fire while nearly a dozen nuclear plants were shut down leaving Millions of buildings around Tokyo without power.

Crude oil saw a pullback breaking the recent uptrend from the Libya and Middle East unrest.  Reuters reported that there were six refineries that account for 31% of Japan's output shut down after the quake and it was unclear when they would reopen.  Some media reports suggested the crude oil price drop is largely due to expectation that these refinery shutdowns could mean less imports of oil.

Source: http://www.econmatters.com/2011/03/japan-earthquake-impact-on-crude-oil.html

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