Oil prices surge amid Libya outages

Oil prices rose as reports of outages in Libya intensified concerns over supply risks.

The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery added 1.26 USD, or 1.2%, to settle at 108.21 USD a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery increased by 1.46 dollars, or 1.3%, to close at 113.16 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Meanwhile, Libya’s National Oil Corporation on Monday declared force majeure on the Al-Sharara oilfield, a key oilfield in the country, citing pressure on workers.

The company had earlier declared a state of force majeure on the oil port of Zueitina and warned of “a painful wave of closures,” after saying it had halted production at another field, El Feel.

Libya outages coupled with the ongoing Ukraine crisis deepened fears about tight supplies, experts noted.

CGTN/Olajumoke Adeleke