Oil prices lift on Libya unrest [IMG] TA man waves a Libyan flag...

Oil prices lift on Libya unrest


TA man waves a Libyan flag as fighter jet flies by the Zueitina oil terminal. Picture: AFP.

• The Australian
• 8:35PM September 19, 2016
• Oil prices edged higher in London trade on Monday, after fighting engulfed Libya’s key Eastern crude-oil ports over the weekend.

Brent crude for November delivery rose 1.14 per cent to $US46.28 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading 1.51 per cent higher at $US43.67 a barrel.
“It slightly up because of the fighting in Libya,” said Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Standard Chartered PLC. Libyan officials said a shipment of petroleum was delayed as a result of the hostilities.
The Petroleum Facilities Guards, a militia that until this month had controlled Libya’s oil ports for years after the 2011 ouster and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, briefly retook two oil ports, Sidra and Ras Lanuf, in the country’s central coast on Saturday night, militia members said.
The guards were forced out again on Sunday by the Libyan National Army, a militia that had pledged to reopen the ports for exports.
Oil traders have closely watched the situation in Libya, where production now stands at about 300,000 barrels a day -- a level that Libyan officials say they could quickly ramp up again if oil ports remained open and secure for an extended period.
Investors are also watching the mixed messages coming from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil-producing nations ahead of an informal meeting next week.
In the last month members of OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, have voiced support for some action to support the price of oil. But OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo late Saturday said no decision would be made at informal talks among the cartel’s members in Algeria next week.
“It is an informal meeting, it is not a decision-making meeting,” he said, dampening hopes that any agreement could be reached to cap production in order to boost prices.
However, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said members of OPEC and non-cartel members are nearing a deal on the matter.
“We had a long bilateral meeting with [Iran’s president Hassan] Rouhani. We’re close to a deal between OPEC producer countries and non-OPEC,” he told a news conference at the end of a a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, according to media reports.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock -- the benchmark gasoline contract -- rose 1.08 per cent to $US1.44 a gallon. ICE gasoil changed hands at $US412.25 ametric ton, down $US0.25 from the previous settlement.
Dow Jones

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