Oil futures extended their decline yesterday, with US crude touching its lowest since 2003, as a global supply glut bumped up against bearish financial news that sparked deeper worries over demand.

Iraq’s national oil company will develop the country’s giant West Qurna field and decide which foreign companies to work with, the country’s oil minister said today, after meeting with the top executive from the Russian oil giant seeking to resume its work at the field.

An ice-cream van stuck in melted asphalt on a Moscow street this week during the hottest five days in the city’s recorded history, freakish weather that triggered minor power failures, caused sunstrokes and led to a spate of drownings.