Oil: an overview of the market situation

Oil prices rose slightly today, rising at the same time above $ 109 per barrel, after data showed that the volume of oil exports from Libya has fallen to its lowest level in two years, increasing concerns about the previously planned production cuts by other members.

The reason for the increase in oil prices were the reports that Libya was unable to start the largest oil terminals. On Monday, the authorities attempted to run the terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which had been closed due to strikes from the end of July. Export capacity of the terminals in the aggregate of 600 thousand barrels per day - 43% of all oil produced in the country. Oil and Gas Minister of Libya Abdel al-Bari Arussi tried to reassure investors, vowing that exports could resume on Thursday as workers agreed with the local authorities to end the strike.

Experts note that the unstable geopolitical climate in the region to support prices at the beginning of the fourth quarter. But traders will try to avoid over-reacting to any news because the uncertainty has become the norm for the region.

Note also that the effect of decreasing the supply of Libyan oil increased reports of disruptions to oil production in Norway. The failure of the compressor oil platform Ula has led to a decline in oil production on the Norwegian Ekofisk field in the North Sea. The volume of oil on the platform is 10 thousand barrels per day.

In addition, the dynamics of trade expectations affect the publication of data on oil reserves. According to the median forecast of analysts, U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.55 million barrels last week.

The cost of the September futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to 106.17 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

September futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose to $ 109.60 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.