Oil prices fell to a 7-month low as Egan-Jones credit ratings company downgraded Spain’s credit rating from B to Bb-. This move hurt distressed Spanish bank Bankia from another government bailout. The EUR is also being weakened by further talks of Greece leaving the EuroZone. Oil prices closed at $90.76 on the NYMEX – down 13% […]

Canadian mining business development expert Catherine McLeod-Seltzer is predicting many more mergers and acquisitions in 2012 as small producers face a credit crunch. Bigger producers, such as Kinross, Barrick, Yamana, and Goldcorp battle for higher and higher revenue streams. Smaller mines are shy of traditional financing methods, such as public equity offerings or bank loans, […]

Copper prices fell to a 4-month low on Friday after a decline in Chinese growth and the EuroZone debt crisis reduced demand. As Greece investigates options for leaving the European Union, manufacturing demands in Europe fell to their lowest levels in 3 years. Copper is a very important component in manufacturing. Chinese manufacturing has also […]

Oil prices rose Friday as the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found further proof of Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program, raising the fear of a military strike. It also lowers the chances of a diplomatic solution as these infractions are exposed. Iran has doubled their stockpiles of 20% enriched uranium in the past few […]

The Japanese government is preparing to get approval from parliament to allow Japanese companies to insure 16 Iranian oil tankers carrying Iranian oil to Asia. Under the current embargo, Western insurance companies are refusing to insure the tankers. Japan is not the only county seeking loopholes in the Iranian sanctions as the world strives for […]

Hecla Mining → up $0.25 or 6.2% to $4.31. Pan American Silver → up $0.85 or 5.2% to $17.13. Silver Standard Resources → up $0.44 or 4% to $11.37. Silver Wheaton → up $0.95 or 3.7% to $26.41. This volatility is what traders profit from. Open a free $100,000 demo practice account today with Ava FX, […]

Oil briefly falls below $90, erasing all 2012 gains, as inventories rise in the US, and EuroZone fears over Greece weigh heavily on the price of oil. US inventories of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to 382.5 million barrels of oil, putting downward pressure on oil prices due to the oversupply. Crude oil production also […]

Iran has found oil reserves in the Caspian Sea – the first new reserve there in over 100 years. Test drilling for natural gas in the region discovered the crude oil reserve, which could be as large as 10 billion barrels. This is a substantial find by the National Iranian Oil Company. Iran’s total reserves […]

Attempts to find oil off Cuba’s shores has failed, says Spanish oil giant Repsol. Test wells were dug 50km off Cuba’s coast, but found nothing. A much larger project was planned, but now looks likely to be canceled. Currently Cuba produces only half of it’s oil needed. The rest – 100,000 barrels per day – […]

Bangladesh strikes oil for the first time. Petrobangla, the state-owned company, is developing 2 gas fields in the northeast part of the country. The 2 fields are estimated at 153 million barrels, and are slated to begin production in the next 12 months. The oil was rated as light, and low in sulphur. This could […]