Japanese quake causes oil price slump

14.03.11

Oil fell to a two-week low in after concerns that the earthquake in Japan will limit demand in the world’s third-largest economy.

Prices have dropped 6.1 percent over five days of losses. Japan was struck by its largest earthquake on record on March 11, which unleashed a tsunami causing catastrophic damage to the country’s east coast. The country has shut refineries accounting for 29 percent of domestic processing capacity, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Petroleum Association of Japan data. Canon Inc., Sony Corp. and Nippon Steel Corp. have halted some manufacturing operations.

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