Crude oil futures prices are getting battered from all direc- tions. Front-month Brent has lost almost $20 per barrel, or 18% of its value in the last month alone courtesy of the macroeconomic mayhem threatening energy demand, which is largely blamed on the unrelenting eurozone crisis. Plentiful oil supplies, uncertain demand and rising stock lev- els have left oil market bears so firmly in control that they ignored the near collapse of the latest round of talks between Iran and the UN Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany last week. Positive noises emanating from the G- 20 meeting in Mexico were similarly drowned out by internal euro-bickering. The fact that Brent is the international crude benchmark makes it more vulnerable to global turbulence than the Nymex light, sweet crude oil contract (WTI).
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