VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Oil prices fell to fresh 5-1/2 year lows on Tuesday, extending losses after a 5 percent plunge in the previous session as worries over a global supply glut intensified.

Oil prices sank to fresh 5-1/2-year lows on Tuesday, extending losses after a 5 percent plunge in the previous session as worries over a global supply glut intensified.

Brent crude LCOc1 reversed early gains to trade near $57 a barrel on Friday, as the glut of oil that has halved prices since June overshadowed investors repositioning at the start of the year for an eventual recovery.

Falling world oil prices will hurt countries across the Middle East unless Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, takes action to reverse the slump, Iran's deputy foreign minister told Reuters.

Crude oil prices on tumbled on Monday, with global grades settling down more than $1 a barrel after an early rally fizzled and prices fell to their lowest levels since May 2009.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister said there was no need for the kingdom to create a sovereign wealth fund to manage its oil wealth, rebuffing suggestions by prominent officials and businessmen.

Arab OPEC producers expect global oil prices to rebound to between $70 and $80 a barrel by the end of next year as a global economic recovery revives demand, OPEC delegates said this week in the first indication of where the group expects oil markets to ‎stabilize in the medium term.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it would not cut output to prop up oil markets even if non-OPEC nations did so, in one of the toughest signals yet that the world's top petroleum exporter plans to ride out the market's biggest slump in years.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Sunday non-cooperation by producers outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the actions of speculators had led to the oil price fall, but he was confident the market would improve.

Brent crude held steady above $61 a barrel on Thursday, bringing a sharp drop in prices to a temporary halt as companies are forced to cut upstream investments around the world.

Global demand for OPEC crude in 2015 is expected to fall to the lowest level in more than a decade and far below current output, the group said on Wednesday, pointing to a hefty supply surplus without OPEC output cuts or a slowdown in the U.S. shale boom.

Global oil prices slid further on Friday, with Brent on track for the first weekly close below $70 a barrel since 2010, as strong U.S. employment data did little to lift the oil market's bearish mood a day after Saudi Arabia cut official selling prices.

Brent rose to $71 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering some of its losses from the previous session as a turbulent market searched for a price floor after a nearly 40 percent fall since June.

Iranian hackers have infiltrated some of the world's top energy, transport and infrastructure companies over the past two years in a campaign that could allow them to eventually cause physical damage, according to U.S. cyber security firm Cylance.

The dollar marked a fresh seven-year high against the yen on Wednesday, which helped lift the Nikkei to a similar record, while oil prices recovered after data showed a drop in U.S. supply.