Oil fell for a third day in New York as concern that Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis is delaying rebuilding efforts and European nations’ debt may cut demand, overshadowed turmoil in Libya and the Middle East. Futures slipped as much as 0.4 percent in the longest declining streak in two weeks as the European Union reduced the amount committed to an emergency support system for the euro region. Japanese equities fell after radiation hampered efforts to cool the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant and earthquake damage slowed the supply of materials to manufacturers. Libyan rebels recaptured the oil port of Ras Lanuf yesterday, while 12 people died in clashes in Syria. “Investors will be pausing for any prospects of delays in the Japanese recovery effort following this nuclear issue or radiation,” said Serene Lim, an energy and commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “The news in the eurozone has been overshadowing other news like Libya. The situation in Libya doesn’t seem to improve or worsen.” Crude for May delivery fell as much as 40 cents to $105 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $105.13 at 12:47 p.m. Singapore time. The contract has declined for a third day, the longest declining streak since the four days ended March 11. It fell 20 cents to $105.40 on March 25. Prices are up 15 percent for the quarter and are 28 percent higher the past year. Crude reached $106.95 on March 7, the highest since September 2008 and a level of technical resistance. Technical Resistance Oil prices often fail to extend gains when traders’ sell orders are clustered at specific levels, creating so-called price resistance. May futures are also below $108.25 a barrel reached on March 7, the contract’s peak this year. “We will look for resistance at May’s 2011 high,” Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania, said in a note today. “Unless something especially severe happens in the Middle East, of course, in which case all bets are off.” Brent crude for May settlement fell 11 cents to $115.48 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. The contract dropped 13 cents to $115.59 on March 25. Oil prices may fall this week on speculation that a civil war that’s slashed Libyan crude output won’t reduce supplies from other countries in the region, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Eleven of 24 analysts, or 46 percent, forecast crude oil will decline through April 1. Last week, 56 percent of respondents said futures would gain. Oil has rallied 24 percent in New York since protests began Feb. 15 in Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The conflict is the bloodiest in uprisings that have toppled the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt and spread to Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Yemen and Oman. NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed yesterday to take command of all military operations related to enforcement of the United Nations mandate to ensure the safety of civilians in Libya against forces loyal to leader Muammar Qaddafi. Within hours of that decision, allied warplanes began airstrikes on the capital, Tripoli, and on Sirte, Qaddafi’s birthplace, the Associated Press reported. The strikes on Sirte were the first of the military operation, which begun March 19. Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would offer no more concessions to his opponents and warned that his nation faces growing chaos, as a senior military official and former ally of the embattled president called for him to step down. To contact the reporters on this story: Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at crussell7@bloomberg.net

Source