BANGKOK (AP) — Oil dwelled near $89 a barrel Thursday in Asia after U.S. crude supplies dropped more than expected and markets waited to see if the European Central Bank would deliver on its promise of bold action to overcome the region's debt crisis.
Benchmark crude was down 12 cents at $88.81 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices inched above $90 a barrel Tuesday as investors remained confident that European policymakers will deliver new measures to get a grip on the debt crisis and save the euro.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude was up 43 cents at $90.21 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 35 cents to $89.78 on Monday in New York.
In London, Brent crude was up 23 cents at $106.43 on the ICE Futures exchange.
A Chamber of Commerce study reported more than 100 new EPA rules have been forced by "sue and settle" tactics from environmental groups, The Hill reports.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Charlotte-area residents that a crack at a reactor at Duke Energy's Shearon Harris Plant did not pose a threat to safety, WSOC-TV reports.
An international group of solar trade groups issued a statement calling on the European Union and the U.S. to avoid a trade war over solar panels with China, The Washington Post reports.
The European Union has sent information requests to several commodity-trading firms as part of its investigation into potential energy-price manipulation, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser said a European Union investigation into possible price fixing has not found anything that could damage the company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
ExxonMobil Corp. said it would refocus its research on algae-derived biofuels after it invested $100 million over the last four years with few solid results, Bloomberg reports.
The U.S. Geological Survey said water levels in aquifers declined from 2000 to 2008 at a rate nearly three times greater than any point in the last century, Reuters reports.
