Monday 18 August 2014

Brent falls below $103 on higher Libyan output, lower geopolitical risk

Brent crude fell below $103 a barrel on Monday as Libya increased its oil output and as worries over supply from key producer Iraq eased. 

The drop came following a jump of more than $1 a barrel in benchmark prices on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday amid fresh tensions in Ukraine, where government forces engaged a Russian armoured column. 

Brent crude for October delivery had fallen 65 cents to $102.88 a barrel by 0324 GMT. The contract closed $1.52 a barrel higher on Friday. 

US crude for September delivery was 46 cents lower at $96.89 a barrel, after ending the previous session up $1.77 a barrel. 

Libya's oil production rose to 535,000 barrels a day (bpd) on Sunday from 400,000 bpd earlier in the week due to higher output at the southwestern El Sharara, El Feel fields, a spokesman for National Oil Corp (NOC) said .
Even though oil ports in the east have reopened, oil production in the North African state is still way off the 1.4 million barrels per day it produced last year before a series of strikes, protests and blockades slashed output to as low as 200,000 bpd. 

No comments:

Post a Comment