Brent crude up more than $2/bbl on supply issues

19 February 2008 15:03  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Prices rose by more than $2/bbl on Tuesday to take Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures above $97.00/bbl, due to supply issues and expectations that OPEC was likely to leave output unchanged at its March meeting.

 

By 14:30 GMT, April Brent crude had hit a high of $97.40/bbl, a gain of $2.49/bbl over Monday’s close of $94.91/bbl, before easing back to around $97.15/bbl.

 

At the same time, March NYMEX crude was trading around $98.21/bbl, having hit a high of $98.55/bbl, a gain of $3.05/bbl over the previous close. NYMEX futures did not settle on Monday due to a national holiday.

 

Crude prices have been rising mainly due the ongoing dispute between Venezuela and the ExxonMobil Corp during which the OPEC member had threatened to cut exports to the US.

 

Worries over reduced Nigerian supplies also added to this upward pressure after a pipeline leak earlier in the month led to the loss of 130,000 bbl/day of output and a force majeure declaration on exports from the country’s Bonny terminal.

 

Moreover, the market was expecting OPEC to keep output unchanged at its next official meeting in March.

By: Giovanni Coiro
+44 20 8652 3214

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