Oil prices rose today in international markets due to supply disruptions from the North Sea and Libya, as well as solid Chinese indicators suggesting stabilization of the economy of the world’s largest energy consumer.
In the London market, the price of a barrel of crude oil increased by one dollar to $107.68. In the American market, barrels traded at a price $1.17 higher, at $103.3, after a five-day decline, marking the longest period of oil price correction this year.
Due to concerns over delays in supply from the North Sea and disruptions in supply from the Middle East, oil prices could remain at current levels or even rise, analysts believe.
“The North Sea would not be such a problem if there had not been supply disruptions from Libya and Iran, which has made the market more sensitive to supply disruptions,” said Olivier Jakob from Petromatrix.
“The chaos in Libya is reaching a point comparable to sanctions on Iran. It is a combination of geopolitics and supply disruptions,” he emphasized.
Labor protests have already reduced oil production in Libya to its lowest level since the civil war in 2011 and more than halved its exports.
Attacks on oil pipelines in northern Iraq have also reduced supply, and work is planned at southern loading terminals in September, which could cut exports by 500,000 barrels per day, reported the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Recent data from China related to industrial production growth and stable inflation suggest that the economy there will avoid a sharp decline, which also supports oil prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced today on its website that the price of a barrel of its reference basket of oil was $104.47 yesterday, which means it was 42 cents lower than the previous day.
