Crude Oil Futures

The price of crude oil that went up  by  nearly 10% in the last few days, remained just above $90 as the markets closed for the weekend. As the analysts blamed the rise in price of crude oil on the production cuts - announced and then extended until the end of this year - by Saudi Arabia and Russia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi energy minister, justified the move this week. "It is not about jacking up the prices," said Prince Abdulaziz, while adding, "it's about making right decisions that are right when we have the data." The Saudi oil minister did not agree with the perceived notion that the Saudi move is all about earning petrodollars to fund the ambitious domestic projects at the expense of the global economy. Prince AbdulaziZ, during  his interview this week, meanwhile, singled out the IEA, International Energy Agency, for criticism that bordered on subtle mockery: "The agency has moved from being a forecaster to on practising political advoc

  Diesel Usage in India The sale of diesel in India, the world's third largest consumer of fossil fuel, has unexpectedly fallen in September, according to the latest data. The fall in sale of the commodity for the second successive month has been attributed to the low demand and heavy rains during the monsoon period by the Indian authorities. It, however, coincides with the thinly veiled warning by Nitin Gadkari, the union minister for roads and transport of levying an additional 10% tax on the sale of diesel vehicles. Mr Gadkari wants to clamp down on the billowing black smoke formed by vehicles on the roads in India that is known to be a highly polluted country. He further said that in addition to taxes levied on the sale of diesel vehicles, he might impose taxes on diesel too in order to address the growing menace of air pollution. The threat of levying multiple taxes resulted in the fall of value in the stocks in the auto industry as well as those of oil and gas sector, despite