Brent oil trading near $114 as Libyan oil exports resume

29 March 2011 29 March 2011

BonTrade

Brent oil prices open today’s trading session near $114 a barrel as news that Libya issued a shorter than anticipated timetable for the resumption of oil exports from the country.

Latest Brent Oil Price

In London, Brent crude oil futures for May 2011 delivery was trading at $114.56 a barrel, 06.15 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange, after slipping 0.8 percent lower in Monday’s trading session.

Libya Oil Exports Could Resume in a Week

Crude oil exports from Libya, which had fallen to virtually zero since the early stages of the conflict, could resume in less than a week, rebel representative Ali Tarhoni said, according to Agence France Presse.

Tarhoni added that current production of 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day could easily be raised to about 300,000 barrels a day. Before the conflict began, the North African nation exported 1.6 million barrels a day of crude oil.

“The market has priced in a $10 to $15 Libya risk premium. Any time you have a scaling back of expectations, the market can lop off a little bit of that premium, and that’s what we’re seeing.” said Gene McGillian, a broker with Tradition Energy.