Oil Jumps On Libyan Disruption, OPEC Deal Extension Hopes

March 28, 2017

Oil prices rose as much as 2 percent on Tuesday after a severe disruption to Libyan oil supplies and as officials suggested OPEC and other producing countries could extend an output-cuts deal to the end of the year.

Armed factions have blocked production at the western Libyan oilfields of Sharara and Wafa, reducing output by 252,000 barrels per day (bpd), about a third PRODN-LY, said a source at the National Oil Corp (NOC).

NOC has declared force majeure on crude loadings from those oilfields.

Brent crude LCOc1 rose 58 cents, or 1.14 percent to settle at $51.33 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 ended the session 64 cents, or 1.34 percent higher at$48.37 a barrel. Both benchmarks were up about 2 percent at their session highs.

Reuters