Oil Prices Rise Amid Disruptions to Libyan Oil Exports

Investing.com - Oil prices rose on Wednesday in Asia following reports of a production loss of 315,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the El Sharara oilfield, which was seized at the weekend by a local militia group.

Meanwhile, Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) reported an additional loss of 73,000 bpd at another oilfield, El Feel.

Crude Oil WTI Futures for January delivery gained 0.52% to $52.22 per barrel at 12:37 AM ET (05:37 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

London’s Intercontinental Exchange showed that Brent Oil Futures for February delivery gained 1.0% to $60.81 a barrel.

The higher oil prices came amid a broader increase in Asian stock markets after China said it would cut tariffs on cars made in the U.S to 15% from the current 40%.

OPEC announced Friday that it would reduce overall production among its members by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first six months of 2019 to stave off a global glut in supplies and prop up prices.

The producer club will curb output by 0.8 million bpd from October levels, while non-OPEC allies contribute an additional 0.4 million bpd of cuts, in a move to be reviewed at a meeting in April.

Oil prices jumped on Friday following the news, but gave back some of their gains this week, as markets are not convinced the cuts would be sufficient to end oversupply.

"Overall, flows remain limited in our view as discretionary trading is at a minimum as we approach year end as the market is unsure on whether to pay attention to the concept of less oil from OPEC and Canada, or pay attention to sagging demand possibilities due to what the market perceives as a global slowdown," said Scott Shelton, broker and analyst for ICAP (LON:NXGN) in Durham, N.C.

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