There is a flicker of hope for the international oil price as the London Oil prices rebounded on Tuesday, drawing support from robust China data. Although, concerns about waning demand elsewhere and supply resumptions in Norway, the Gulf of Mexico, and Libya were weighed.
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Brent crude futures rose by 60 cents or 1.4%, to close at $42.32 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose by 63 cents or 1.6%, to close at $40.06 per barrel.
China, the world’s top crude oil importer, took in 11.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in September, up 5.5% from August and up 17.5% from September last year.
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What they are saying
According to Commerzbank, “Currently, oil demand is driven primarily by China,” and according to IEA Chief, Fatih Birol, “The era of global oil demand growth will come to an end within the next 10 years, but in the absence of a large shift in government policies, I don’t see a clear sign of a peak.”
S&P Global Platts Analytics estimates Libyan crude supply could return to 500,000 b/d this month but warned that “longer-term stability remains uncertain.”
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What you should know
- Workers have been returning to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms after Hurricane Delta and Norwegian workers to offshore rigs after ending the strike, while OPEC member Libya on Sunday lifted force majeure at its Sharara oilfield.
- Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) on Oct.11 lifted force majeure on Sharara, the country’s top-producing oil field, and restarted pumping as the OPEC producer continues to restore its energy industry following the Libyan National Army’s end of a nine-month blockade in September.
- NOC received assurances from the Petroleum Facilities Guard, linked to the self-styled LNA (Libyan National Army), that it will end security violations and remove hurdles to allow the national oil company to lift force majeure and resume operations at the field, the company said in a statement.
- Libya’s total output on Monday was expected to hit 355,000 bpd. A full return of the 300,000 bpd Sharara field would nearly double that.
- Libya holds Africa’s largest proven reserves of oil and its main light sweet Es Sider and Sharara export crudes yield a large proportion of gasoline and middle distillates, making them popular with refineries in the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe.
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