Libya NEWS

With a significant drop in the new coronavirus cases in the epicentre of the outbreak, oil prices increased by 1% on Thursday. Brent went up by 0.8% and was traded at $59.57 a barrel. WTI rose by 0.9% and was traded at $53.78 per barrel. On the other hand, blockade of ports and oilfields in Libya and US sanctions on Rosneft has reignited the global oil supply worries.

Libyan state-run National Oil Corporation yesterday informed that the country's oil production fell by almost 80% ever since the Libyan National Army blocked its five key ports on January 18. The blockade has pushed the oil major to enact force majeure on exports from the terminals. NOC took to Twitter to inform that Libya's oil output tumbled to 284,153 b/d on January 24, from over 1.2 million b/d.

Oil prices dropped in the international market on Wednesday, as the Libyan crude shortage was seen offset by global fuel supply. Brent crude LCOc1 slipped by 0.2%, to $64.46 a barrel. US WTI crude futures CLc1 fell 0.3%, to $58.22 a barrel. “Market participants are already starting to fade this story – believing that this is a transitory outage,” said the commodity strategy head at RBC Capital Markets.

Oil prices slipped in the international market on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off the supply concerns over tensions in Libya. Brent crude LCOc1 dipped down 0.5%, to $64.90 per barrel. US WTI crude futures CLc1 were traded 0.2% lower, at $58.40 a barrel. Libya's state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) is said to have declared force majeure on crude loadings from El Sharara and El Feel oilfields in Libya’s southwest.

Oil prices ramped up on Monday, pushed up by the shutting down of two Libyan crude production bases. Brent crude LCOc1 was priced 1.2% higher, at $65.60 a barrel. US WTI crude futures CLc1 were traded 1% higher, at $59.14 a barrel. Libya's state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) yesterday informed about commencing shut down operations at two big oilfields after forces loyal to the Libyan National Army closed a pipeline.

Libyan state-run National Oil Corp. informed on Saturday about the shutdown of the country’s largest oilfield, El-Sharara due to suspected valve closure. NOC has launched an investigation on the matter. The El-Sharara oilfield, which pumps 290,000 bpd, has often been targeted by protesters or armed groups. NOC officials have revealed that the shutdown will cut Libya’s oil production to more than one million bpd.

Expectations from the OPEC-led supply cut and hopes of strengthening US-China ties sent the oil prices uphill today. International Brent crude futures climbed by 1.15%, and were priced at $60.89 a barrel. US WTI crude futures CLc1 rose by 1.2%, and were traded at $52.25 per barrel. Market traders said that disruptions to Libyan oil exports are also lifting the prices.

On Tuesday, oil prices climbed on the back of supply disruption in Libya’s El Sharara oilfield. The National Oil Company of Libya underwent losses the previous day and had to declare force majeure due to the seizure of El Sharara at the weekend by a local militia group. Brent was up by 0.6%, at $60.30 per barrel and WTI rose by 0.4%, at $51.19 per barrel.

The CEO of energy major, BP informed that the company will start the exploration in Libya with Eni in the first quarter of next year. He said that the set of offshore rig takes time and that is why he is not sure if the activity will start this year. In October, Eni bought 85% of BP’s stake in Libya oil and gas license.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya has announced that output at the Abu Attifel field has increased. The operator of Abu Attifel, Mellitah Oil and Gas is in charge of enhancement and maintenance work at the field and has increased the condensate production by 2,000 bpd to 9,500 bpd. The company informed that depending on the work, a further increase at other wells too is expected.

Due to safety concerns and the revolution in 2011, BP denied exploration services in Libya in 2014. The energy giant has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Eni in order to resume the exploration. The deal will be closed by the end of this year so that the exploration work can be restarted in 2019.

With the recovery of Libyan production and Iraq’s southern exports creating records, the output of OPEC oil has hit a high of this fiscal year, the analysis of Reuters revealed. The production hiked in the month of August and 32.79 million barrels per day were pumped, which is 220,000 bpd more than the July numbers. The progress got restricted due to the US sanction resulting in halt on Iranian shipments.

JV of PetroCanada and Libya’s National Oil Corporation, Harouge Oil Operations recently elevated production at the Amal oilfield to 25,000 bpd. According to sources, this increase led to the slight overall oil production hike of Libya. From past few weeks the almost 1 million bpd of production was held up. After the attack in June, both Amal and As-Sarah oilfields storage tanks were damaged.

With the restoration of export activities on Libyan ports and improved supply from Russia and other oil producers, oil prices dropped down on Monday. While Brent went down by 0.6%, priced at $74.85 a barrel, WTI went down by 0.6%, traded at $70.62 a barrel. Last week witnessed the hike in prices mainly due to supply disruptions in Libya and strikes in Norway.

With the slow revival of Libyan ports and amidst hopes of continued export from Iranian crude despite U.S. sanctions, oil prices fell today by 1%. Brent crude LCOc1 was down by 1.3%, traded at $73.45 a barrel, directed towards a weekly fall of around 4%. WTI crude CLc1 was priced at $70.11 a barrel, set for a weekly decline of around 5%.

Failed wage talks have led to workers strike in Norway, adding to the existing oil crisis. Tuesday experienced hike in oil prices where Brent crude added 0.3%, to $78.32 per barrel while U.S light crude rose by 0.2% at $74.02. While Libya’s national oil production has fallen to 527,000 bpd, the power outage at Syncrude is leading to a loss of 360,000 bpd, reducing supply at U.S delivery points.

Mellitah Oil & Gas, which is a joint venture of oil majors Eni and NOC, has commenced production from the first well of the offshore Bahr Essalam Phase 2 project. Libya’s largest offshore producing gas field will have an increased production potential of 400 MMscfd, post-completion of Phase 2 of the project. Total field production from Bahr Essalam will reach to 1,100 MMscfd by October of this year.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) enforced force majeure on loadings from Zueitina and Hariga ports yesterday, resulting in supply loss of 850,000 bpd. Oil prices climbed on the back of Libyan crisis with Brent crude oil futures trading at $77.87 per barrel, up 0.7%. WTI crude futures were 1% higher from their last close, at $74.71 a barrel.