CRUDE OIL

The U.S. Energy Information Administration believes there are 4 billion barrels of proven reserves of oil within U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico and more than 12,000 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

U.S. equities sank, mirroring falls across Asia and Europe Monday after China cut its growth target. Worries over whether Greece can entice enough private investors to participate in a bond swap deal also dampened investors' sentiment.

Vladimir Putin declared victory in Sunday's election, but it remains to be seen how much power he'll wield over his country's vast stockpiles of oil and natural gas when he returns to the presidency in May.

South Korea, which has been under U.S. pressure to diversify away from Iranian crude oil, won the right to explore for oil in three undeveloped fields off the United Arab Emirates coast.

The nationwide average of gasoline prices are going north moving towards $4 mark per gallon.

Asian stock markets declined Monday as concerns over the impact of a slowing Chinese economy and tough speech by U.S. President Barack Obama over Iran nuclear program weighed on the sentiment.

Gas prices are a potent weapon in an election year. TransCanada Corp's proposed $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would move 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf, has suddenly become an inalienable part in the election rhetoric.

BP and three other energy companies late Friday reached a settlement with thousands of individuals and businesses affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill that killed 11 workers and fouled the Gulf of Mexico with millions of gallons of oil.

Stocks have proven the naysayers wrong so far in 2012. And the February employment situation summary on Friday could be just the ticket to keep the bulls going next week. Besides the jobs report on Friday, next week brings an ADP private-sector employment report on Wednesday.

Rising liquidity on both sides of the Atlantic boosted global bond prices Friday but equities took a breather after climbing in recent months, in one case to a four-year high, on light volume.

Stocks ticked lower in early trading on Friday in a light day on the economic calendar, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track to close their eighth positive week in the last nine.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Friday he expects consumer prices to gradually rise in the coming years as the economy recovers with support from a pickup in global demand.

A reported explosion on a Saudi Arabian pipeline sent crude prices soaring above $110 a barrel Thursday.

Gas prices have risen to above $4 per gallon in many parts of the United States, sending economists into a tizzy about its impact on consumer spending, consumer confidence and the effects it will have on the housing market.

Iran, faced with global trade embargoes and a possible attack by Israel on its nuclear installations, has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Gold rose 1.5 percent on Thursday, rebounding above $1,700 an ounceas the previous session's 5 percent plunge induced investors to buy at lower prices on hopes the tumble was a healthy correction rather than the start of a bear market.

India's exporters have begun receiving the first rupee payments from Iran, Indian government and trade sources said on Thursday, kicking off a mechanism to skirt Western sanctions which have made doing business with Tehran tougher.

In a surprise move, North Korea agreed to temporarily suspend its nuclear tests and the launch of long range ballistic missile in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid from the U.S. The breakthrough decision was announced in two separate statements released in Washington and Pyongyang on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq composite index crossed 3000 for the first time in more than a decade but finished in red following the testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke which checked market expectations of more monetary easing.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday job growth was better than expected and inflation under control, leaving markets thinking central bank intervention was a long way off. The upshot was a dollar rally that hammered gold, stocks and government bonds.

Attorney General Eric Holder says he's ready to take BP and and other defendants to court in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.