VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Oil settled down for a second straight session on Monday as Iran and six world powers tried to negotiate a deal on Tehran's nuclear program that could end Western sanctions and allow the OPEC member to ship more crude into an already flooded market.

Oil settled up about 3 percent on Wednesday as a weak dollar, fighting in Yemen and speculative buying boosted crude prices in spite of U.S. inventories building to record highs for an 11th week.

The dollar resumed its fall on Monday after its steepest weekly drop in 3-1/2 years, as comments by a top Federal Reserve official added to last week's dovish policy message.

A possible deal over Iran's nuclear program that would phase out economic sanctions against Tehran is unlikely to flood world markets with more oil any time soon, despite Iran's declared intention to claw back market share lost because of the curbs.

Saudi Arabia's subtle change of energy policymaker line-up since the accession of new King Salman in late January appears to give the monarch's inner circle a firmer hand on the kingdom's oil strategy than previous rulers have enjoyed.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced a budget aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit.

India may slash its food and fuel subsidy bill by about $8 billion in next week's budget, two sources said, but despite the impressive headline, the cut is not as radical as free market champions had hoped for in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first full budget.

Oil markets edged up on Friday to halt a two-day drop, helped by expectations that data later in the day would show a continuing decline in the U.S. oil rig count, a clear sign of the pressure the tumble in crude has put on oil producers.

Oil dropped below $62 a barrel on Wednesday, failing to build on gains of more than 1 percent in the previous session as analysts said a recent rally in prices was overblown.

Oil rose to $62 a barrel on Tuesday, close to its 2015 high, supported by threats to Middle East supplies and expectations lower prices may prompt a slowdown in U.S. output.

Oil rose above $60 a barrel on Friday for the first time this year, bringing its gain this week to almost 4 percent, supported by signs that deeper industry spending cuts may curb excess supply.

An oil tanker has docked at Libya's port of Hariga for the first time since security guards ended a strike this week and a storm passed, a port official said on Thursday.

The recent slide in global oil prices is a benefit for the world economy and could lead to some upgrades of economic forecasts, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday.

Commodity price-dependent currencies such as the Australian dollar and Norwegian crown were the main movers on major foreign exchange markets on Tuesday, gaining up to a third of a percent on talk of more economic stimulus in China.

Oil’s dramatic price fall since mid-2014 cannot be explained by changes in production and consumption alone, with hedging and energy firms' high debt levels also playing a part, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Saturday.