Europe:Brent crude rises above $117 a barrel

Chemical News: Europe:Brent crude rises above $117 a barrel

https://www.chemnet.com Mar 08,2011
London's Brent oil futures crossed the $117 barrier in early European trade Monday on lingering concerns that MENA crisis might hit new heights soon.

Brent crude oil futures for April 2011 delivery was trading at $117.38 a barrel, at 4.00 p.m Indian time this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange.

US Light crude oil futures for April 2011 delivery was trading at $106.27, at the same time on the NYMEX, a fresh 2 1/2 year high.

Analysts said oil prices are likely to climb further during the day as traders and investors resume buying into crude, which also driving oil prices higher apart from geo-political tensions.

The US has indicated that it is considering tapping its oil reserves as one way to help ease soaring prices, but even that news failed to calm the oil market as investors remained jittery about the unrest spreading to other oil producing nations including Saudi Arabia, OPEC's flagship oil exporter.

Libya, one of the largest oil exporters in North Africa typically exports 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, however since the country's unrest, this figure has been halved.

While other major producers like Saudi Arabia have stepped in to replace the lost output from Libya, analysts know that the redistribution of the different varieties of crudes will take some time to achieve.

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