Crude edges higher as US jobs improve

Crude oil edged higher in New York after US jobless claims dropped to the lowest level in almost four months, a signal that fuel consumption may increase as the weakness in the labor market fades.

Futures gained 4 cents after the Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits fell by 24,000 to 398,000 last week, the lowest level since April 1, and contracts to buy previously owned homes also unexpectedly rose in June. Congressional leaders wrangled over proposals to avoid a default on the national debt.

$12.4bn oil windfall: Court gives judgment today

A Federal High Court in Abuja will today deliver judgment in a suit seeking to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, to disclose how $12.4 billion oil windfall money that accrued to the Federal Government between 1988 and 1994, was spent.

The suit was filed before the High Court by six civil society groups, led by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP.

Specifically, the plaintiffs asked the court for “an order of mandamus compelling the respondents, individually and/or collectively, to publish statement of account relating to spending of $12.4 billion oil windfall between 1988 and 1994, and to publish in major national newspapers a copy of the statement of account”.

It would be recalled that in 1994, the Federal Government constituted the Pius Okigbo Panel which investigated activities of CBN and recommend measures for re-organisation of the apex bank.

FTC Investigates Oil Price Manipulation

Oil prices are at it again. In June 2011 rates have dropped almost 20 percents from the $114 high that it touched 4 months earlier. Going by the current trades, oil prices are hovering slightly below $98 as we enter the third quarter of 2011. The media, scrambling for an explanation it seems, has been quick to attribute these rapid fluctuations in oil price to the unrest in the Middle East and natural calamities across the globe such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) begs to differ. In fact, extreme fluctuations in oil prices over the last few months have led the Federal Trade Commission to launch a full-fledge investigation into the oil and gas markets.culled from oil-price.net