Fiscal Study

Oil handed back some of its early gains after surging more than $4 following an explosion at a major pipeline that interrupted crude oil imports to top consumer the United States, Reuter reports:

Prices fell from highs of more than $95 a barrel after the fire was put out, two of the pipelines affected restarted and the U.S. Energy Department offered to provide supplies from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
U.S. crude was up $2.21 at $92.83 a barrel by 1603 GMT, off a session high of $95.17. Brent crude was up $1.55 at $91.36 a barrel.

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Posted by fiscalstudy at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OPEC's finance ministers will discuss the effect of the weak U.S. dollar on oil revenues before the next meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' energy ministers in December, The Market Watch reports:

The falling U.S. dollar came up as a topic at OPEC's summit meeting in Riyadh this weekend, when a proposal by Iran and Venezuela to price oil against a basket of currencies, rather than the dollar, failed, according to media reports.

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Posted by fiscalstudy at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

THE rich world generously subsidises its farmers. Between 2004 and 2006, OECD countries spent an average of $280 billion annually propping up agriculture—29% of the value of farm receipts, The Economist reports:

Farmers in Norway and Iceland receive the highest subsidies at 66% of receipts; New Zealanders receive a tiny 1%. However support for farmers is on the wane. Only Turkey hands out more than it did in the late 1980s.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 4:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)