Oil has retreated with Brent slipping below $115 after Libyan rebels regained control of key oil towns, and unrest over the weekend was limited to minor crude exporters Syria and Yemen. Western-led military intervention in Libya prompted speculators to raise their bets on higher prices by 6 percent in mid-March, before rebels took back a series of towns including oil terminals over the weekend. A Libyan rebel official said Gulf oil producer Qatar had agreed to market crude oil produced from east Libyan fields no longer in Muammar Gaddafi’s control. “These are positive developments which are negative for oil prices potentially as they have taken back some of the main oil export towns,” said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. Rebels have regained control of all the main oil terminals in the eastern half of Libya, namely Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Brega, Zueitina and Tobruk. On Monday, they also claimed to have taken control of Sirte, Gaddafi’s hometown. A Reuters reporter in Sirte said there was no indication the city was under rebel control. Jakob also pointed to the fact that the dollar was slightly stronger this morning. A stronger dollar means that commodities priced in dollars are more expensive for those using other currencies. Output from Libyan oilfields controlled by rebels was running at about 100,000 to 130,000 bpd, which could be increased to 300,000, Ali Tarhouni, a rebel official in charge of economic, financial and oil matters, said. Libya was pumping about 1.6 million bpd before the rebellion. […]

Britain has cut its economic growth forecast and said inflation would remain above target this year and next in a budget that stuck to ambitious deficit-busting goals. Seeking to support a faltering economy, finance minister George Osborne said corporation tax would be cut by two percentage points to 26 percent from April, rather than by just the one point originally planned. A levy on banks would be increased to pay for it. Osborne cut his growth forecasts to 1.7 percent in 2011, and 2.5 percent in 2012, citing figures from the government’s independent fiscal watchdog. In November, growth was estimated to be 2.1 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2012. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is attempting to eliminate most of a deficit of 10 percent of national output before the 2015 election, while also nurturing a fragile economy back to health. Public borrowing would fall less steeply over the next four years than previously hoped but the bulk of the budget deficit would still be eliminated by 2015, Osborne said. Policymakers at the Bank of England face a dilemma, with inflation running at more than double their two percent target while the economy is still in a fragile state and needs the support of record low interest rates. Osborne said soaring oil prices meant inflation would remain between four and five percent this year before dropping to 2.5 percent next year. Uncertain backdropThe economy unexpectedly shrank at the end of last year and, although it is seen bouncing […]

The leader of the populist True Finns party, vying for a key role in the next Finnish government, has said he would demand to renegotiate a package of EU measures to tackle the euro zone debt crisis. “Considering the current preliminary information… we will not accept it,” Timo Soini told Reuters in a telephone interview. “We are not happy with socialising debts. It would again transfer more power from the national level to the European Union.” The True Finns have been gaining popularity ahead of an April 17 general election and if they emerge as the biggest party, they could complicate European Union efforts to complete a deal to address the euro crisis. The party has not led in any single poll but it has come second and third in some surveys and its Eurosceptical positions have clearly struck a chord with voters. The National Coalition party of Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen is ahead in the polls. Were the True Finns to play a role in forming a government, it could make it more difficult for parliament to ratify an agreement with EU leaders on strengthening the eurozone’s financial backstops. “Our aim is to awaken Finnish people to vote for a result that means this package will have to be renegotiated,” Soini said. The accord would raise the lending power of the existing temporary rescue fund to €440bn by increasing guarantees from member states, including Finland, and create a permanent European Stabilisation Mechanism based partly on paid-in capital from those […]

European private equity firm Cinven has kicked off a fundraising drive for its fifth buyout fund, aiming to gather up to 5bn euro ($7.1bn) for new deals, people familiar with the situation said. The buyout firm, whose investments include Pizza Express group Gondola Holdings and Dutch cable operator Ziggo, is hoping to buck tough fundraising markets in which amassing new funds can take up to two years. Cinven targeting a first close – the point after which investors are locked in and it can start investing the capital raised – in the autumn, three people familiar with the situation said. It has deployed about 70 percent of its fourth fund and has told investors it planned to extend the investment period of the fund by one year, allowing it to continue spending the remaining almost €2bn until mid-2012, they said. Cinven, which declined to comment, last raised money in 2006, drawing in €6.5bn from more than 100 institutional investors to beat its initial target of €5bn. Private equity fundraising has become more difficult in the wake of the credit crisis as cautious investors pledge less money to fewer buyout firms. Rival buyout firm BC Partners earlier in March raised €4bn towards its latest buyout fund, beating initial expectations and providing a ray of hope to the many firms ready to follow it this year. Private equity professionals attending the SuperReturn private equity conference in Berlin said they expected funds to be dramatically smaller than those raised at the peak of […]

Largely shut out by traditional international lenders, Argentina still had a place to turn last year for the billions of dollars it needed to renovate its decrepit railway system – Beijing. The $10bn package agreed with the China Development Bank was another clear sign of China’s surging influence in Latin America, transforming the region’s economies and undermining US dominance in its traditional “backyard.” China looms large over President Obama’s visit to Latin America as he sends a message that Washington remains relevant to a region that owes much of its robust economic health in recent years to Chinese demand. Even in those countries where the United States is still the dominant partner, China is catching up fast. It has lifted growth for years in commodity producers such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru with its voracious demand for raw goods such as iron ore, copper, and soy. More recently, it has followed up with a wave of investments and state-backed loans aimed at expanding its access to commodities and tapping demand from Latin America’s growing ranks of consumers. In doing so, China has emerged as an alternative source of funding for Latin American countries’ development in areas such as infrastructure and energy that were long dependent on World Bank or IMF loans that came with more strings attached. “It’s a real opportunity for Latin America if they play it right and it’s a real challenge to the US,” said Kevin Gallagher, an international relations professor at Boston University who co-wrote […]