Oil Trades Near Two-Year High After Libya Pipeline Explosion

West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed, having climbed above $60 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since 2015. The pipeline, which carries crude to Libya’s biggest export terminal, is said to need about a week for repairs. The operator of the critical Forties Pipeline System in the North Sea lifted all restrictions on flows caused by a crack earlier this month.

OPEC’s “target of bringing global inventories back to their five-year average can be considered as soon-to-be-achieved,” said analysts led by Michael dei Michei at JBC Energy GmbH in Vienna.

Libya’s production dropped to 950,000 barrels a day on Wednesday, a person directly involved in the matter said. Output was 1.08 million barrels a day as of Dec. 18, indicating a decline of 12 percent. Loadings at Es Sider port are said to be down about 50 percent. The port was scheduled to ship 13 cargoes this month, each carrying 600,000 barrels of crude, according to a loading plan obtained by Bloomberg.

U.S. crude stockpiles dropped 5.96 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. Government data is also forecast to show inventories declined.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-28/oil-trades-above-59-as-libyan-output-falls-after-pipeline-blast