LONDON: Brent crude rose by US$1 towards US$85 a barrel yesterday, climbing for a second straight session as protests in Libya disrupted supply and the US dollar fell from four-year highs.
In Libya a commander in charge of security at the El Sharara oilfield, the country’s largest, said gunmen had forced out his men.
Exports at the Hariga oil port in eastern Libya were halted on Saturday when state security guards began a sit-in protest over unpaid wages and the El Feel oilfield was shut down on Sunday due to a power outage.
“We see an average of around 500,000 barrels a day out of Libya next year, and we could see dips down to 200,000 barrels a day,” said Geoffrey Howard, North Africa analyst at Control Risks in London.
Brent crude for December was up US$1.05 at US$84.44 a barrel by 1445GMT, after touching a high of US$84.97. Meanwhile, US crude was up 70 cents at US$79.35 a barrel.
The dollar fell 0.3 per cent against a basket of currencies in early trading yesterday, supporting oil prices. Reuters