• OPEC production fell 411,000 barrels per day to 29,343 million bpd.
• Libya's production fell 343,000 barrels per day, from 1,396,000 bpd.
• Nigeria fell 107,000 barrels per day due to Royal Dutch (RDS) Oil maintenance.

With several major developments occurring around the world, many investors may wonder how they could affect their portfolios or their lives. Here are two of the current, newsworthy events and how investors may interpret them.

Libya

The oil from Libya totaled about 2 million barrels a day before the revolution, half of which was exported. About 1 million barrels a day are no longer available to the world. That isn't enough to really affect the price of oil for a long period of time. Plenty of other countries can supply that amount without straining their capacity. But they're unlikely to step in to fill the gap when oil prices are above $100 a barrel. That price should recede once the conflict finishes and a more stable government is in place.

The Financial Times has seen a U.S. diplomatic cable from WikiLeaks that states that Iran has bought significant amounts of gold. The word is that Tehran holds 300 tons of gold, up from 169 tons in 1996.

Gold, oil and the U.S. dollar: The oil-rich Middle East sells oil throughout the world. Oil is priced in dollars. The U.S. dollar is the reserve currency for oil. That means that Mideast countries are loaded with U.S. dollars.

The Department of Energy has had to up its forecast its forecast for oil prices for 2011 and 2012 from last month. The updated forecast takes into account the loss of one million barrels per day from the Libyan conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Last month, the DOE's Energy Information Administration's (EIA) estimate for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was $91 per barrel for 2011. Now, EIA forecasts WTI crude to average $102 per barrel in 2011 and $104 per barrel in 2012. The EIA qualified its forecast with this statement: "There is significant uncertainty surrounding this forecast."

The game is changing. It's time to play defense. Two weeks ago the U.S. stock market was in a bullish trend with no end in sight. Now international events are taking center stage. How long the markets can ignore these events is the question of the day.

Brent crude oil is trading at $116 per barrel. This has serious implications for the U.S. economy. If you recall, when oil spiked in 2008, it was a major factor in the recession that followed. People simply could not afford the price of gas and slowed their driving dramatically. We must remember that many people commute 50 to 70 miles a day just to go to work. The money is coming out of the household budget. Some people spend more in gas than they do working, especially if they work part time.

Gold has been lingering around the $1,335 per ounce for the past several weeks. This prompted many hedge funds to sell their holdings.

Then came the turmoil in the Mideast. First Tunisia and Egypt, now Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and others. That was the catalyst that gold needed. It shot to a new record high of $1,432.10 in the spot market. April gold futures settled at $1,431.20 per ounce, as reported in Reuters.

BP (BP) is one of the world's leading oil and gas companies with operations in more than 80 countries. It provides customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items. It competes with other major oil companies like ExxonMobil (XOM), Chesapeake (CHK), Anadarko (APC) and Chevron (CVX).

Oil is the life blood of the world economy. The turmoil in Libya and throughout the Middle East is threatening the stability of the entire world. "Oil prices were in the danger zone and could rise further, if turmoil continued in the Middle East," Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency said, according to Reuters. "Oil prices are a serious risk for the global economic recovery."

As of 8:30 EDT, Brent crude is trading at $106.66 per barrel, up 92 cents. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped $6.29 per barrel to $96.00. Keep in mind that while U.S. markets were closed Monday, oil traded higher across other world markets.

Libyan unrest has triggered a surge in oil prices. Unlike Egypt, Libya exports 1.1 million barrels of oil per day. The turmoil drove Brent crude prices to a multiyear high of of $105.per barrel.

European equities fell 1% and gold powered above $1,400 per ounce. For weeks the Egyptian unrest did not affect the markets. In fact U.S. equities rallied to new two-year highs. Now, however, the situation is different. Libya has taken a hard line against protesters, throwing the country into a deep crisis.

When it comes to the biggest threat to world economies, oil scarcity is second only to nuclear war. What started in Tunisia, then spread to Egypt has now spreading to Bahrain and Iran, where protesters are clashing with police. In Iran, lawmakers are threatening death to protesters.

The fear of chaos spreading across the Middle East has sent the oil market into overdrive. Brent crude traded at $104 per barrel Tuesday.

It's no wonder that gold is making new highs. The World Gold Council reported that Saudi Arabia is holding twice as much gold as previously thought, making Riyadh the 16th largest gold holder. The United States holds the number one spot with 8,133,5 tons.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama), the central bank, now holds 322.9 tons, more than double the 143 tons previously reported. It's interesting that the central bank simply stated that they made an adjustment to Sama's account from the first quarter of 2008. Sama refused to comment on the change.