Brent oil trading at $108, Libya oil exports grind to a halt

16 March 2011 16 March 2011

BonTrade

Brent oil futures open Wednesday’s trading session around $108 a barrel as oil prices continue to follow stock markets lower, whilst the latest data out of Libya suggests that oil exports from the country have all but grinded to a halt, according to the IEA.

Latest Brent Oil Price

In London, Brent crude oil futures for April 2011 delivery was trading at $108.31 a barrel, 05.45 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange. The April Brent oil futures contract expires today.

Libyan Oil Exports Offline

Libya’s oil production will remain off the market for a considerable time, the IEA (International Energy Agency) reported on Tuesday in its darkest assessment yet of the impact of the rebellion on future of the North African oil industry.

The IEA said in it’s monthly oil report that Libya’s crude oil exports were likely to be off for months rather than weeks due both to damage on Libya’s oil infrastructure and a tightening of international sanctions against the country.

Libya oil exports have almost ceased completely from prevailing pre crisis levels of 1.6 millions barrels per day of high quality crude oil.

Brent Oil Futures Volatile

Brent oil futures are set to remain volatile in the short term as grim news from Japan has world markets pushing lower, although the situation in Libya and Bahrain supports higher oil prices, due to uncertainty over world crude oil supplies out of the Middle East and Africa.