
The United States government has approved at least four licenses to export crude oil to Europe, for the first time in years, showing how companies are breaking through the limits of the export ban established in the 1970s, according to Reuters which learned about the fact from a Freedom of Information Act request.

By R. Viswanathan (*) - India should take its cue from Brazil and invest in ethanol as a viable commercial substitute for costly petrol.

Brazil faces record trade deficits in petroleum products in 2012 and 2013 as a result of government fuel-price controls, problems with its refining system and rising consumer demand, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported last weekend.

Venezuela, the latest entry as full member of Mercosur has the cheapest petrol price in the world, 8 pennies per liter, (1 £ trading at 1.59 dollars on 22 August) according to the latest report from UK website, “This is money”, based on a research from Evans Halshaw.

China, the world's second biggest consumer of fuel, has cut retail oil prices by about 5% with immediate effect. This is the third cut in two months, and some analysts say could be an attempt to increase fuel consumption. Demand for oil fell for the first time in three years in April.

Brazil has become the sixth-biggest economy in the world, the country's finance minister announced. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and other economic forecasters also said that Brazil had now overtaken the UK.

OPEC oil producers on Wednesday sealed their first new production limit in three years in a deal that settles a 6-month-old argument over output levels firmly in Saudi Arabia's favour.

OPEC cut its forecast Monday for global oil demand and production, citing the slowing economic recovery. In its monthly report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it expected demand growth to drop to 1.1 million barrels per day -- 150,000 barrels per day fewer than its earlier forecasts.

Latin American stocks fell on Friday as deepening fears of a US recession and a wider financial crisis that could result from Europe's debt troubles kept investors cautious.

Asian equity markets were sharply down early Tuesday as investors fearing a possible global economic slowdown continued to flee stocks as had happened earlier in Europe, United States and Latin America.